Tiffin’s Munish Narula Goes South with a New Indian Concept

Munish Narula, owner of the Tiffin empire of Indian restaurants, just revealed some very exciting news to the Restaurant Club. He’s opening a new Indian restaurant in South Philly — at Broad and Catharine Streets in the 777 South Broad building developed by Dranoff Properties — which will not be a Tiffin.

The restaurant, which the restaurateur hopes to have open by December, does not have a chef attached yet, but there are some details to mull over: it’s more of a fine dining operation than Tiffin, although Narula says, “we don’t want it to be too stuffy” — and there will be no delivery. What it will have is an open kitchen with a custom-built tandoori oven, a sigri (a char broiler) and a tawa (a cast-iron griddle); the menu will consist of small plates . The space, which holds 110 guests, will also have a liquor license and a lounge that seats 30. There will also be a private dining room and plans for outdoor dining.

South Philly-ites have been clamoring for an Indian restaurant for quite a while now, and while this isn’t exactly East Passyunk territory, it’s close enough to split the difference between Center City and the Deep South.

The restaurant doesn’t yet have a name, but Narula says he may end up asking customers to help him pick one, via his massive Tiffin email list. We’re curious to hear what Restaurant Club readers might consider a good name for this spot? Let us know in the comments.

Read more about Munish Narula in this article from the June 2010 issue of the magazine.