Imli: South Indian cuisine in Queen Village
Paul Samy, who owns Cafe Spice Express in Liberty Place, is behind Imli Indian Kitchen, a BYOB.
You might get a thorough tongue-twisting while trying out Dhanapalan Perumalsamy Sankaralingam's name.
Relax. He goes simply by Paul Samy, and he plans to bring the tastes of South India to Queen Village later this month. (Opening hinges on a city inspection.)
Imli Indian Kitchen, a BYOB, will take the corner spot at Catharine Street and East Passyunk Avenue that formerly housed Ulivo (it's known alternately as 767 E. Passyunk Ave. or 521 Catharine St.). Imli is Hindi for tamarind.
Samy, who comes from a restaurant family in the state of Tamil Nadu, has owned the Cafe Spice Express at the Shops at Liberty Place since 2007. He started working for Cafe Spice, then in Old City, in 2001.
He's a lamb fan, so count on pudina (lamb cutlets with mint), as well as lamb shank.
Also planned for the menu are prawn masala chettinad style, the fried chicken dish known as kozhi varutha curry, and kori gassi (also known as Mangalore chicken).
Figure on $22 to $24 for an appetizer plus main dish.