The Collingswood Foodies

Collingswood Spring Restaurant Week: Menus and Specials

Who's participating in the multi-course prix fixe week? We've got the list here.

Collingswood Restaurant Week starts Sunday, and what a great week for “foodaholics” like us. Not only are we fans of the food itself, but also the creativity and culture it brings to town.  For the unfamiliar, Collingswood Restaurant Week models itself after Philadelphia’s Center City version, where participating fooderies create multi-course, prix fixe menus ranging from $25-35 per person. Restaurant week is a celebration of food: an opportunity for chefs to flaunt their culinary creativity, and diners to experience something special. Although food options may sometimes include items from a restaurant’s regular menu, oftentimes chefs choose to have fun and create limited and exclusive dishes. For example, Ecuadorian grill El Sitio’s …

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From Finicky Eater to Gourmand

A Food Columnist Bids Farewell

As he hangs up his dining utensils, Dave Valiante offers his parting thoughts on the restaurant scene in Collingswood and the surrounding area.

Last week, I said goodbye to one of my favorite TV shows, 30 Rock, as they themselves bid farewell to the audience that supported them through seven slapstick and hilarious seasons. By the nature of show business, television shows rarely get a chance to say a proper goodbye. If its ratings are good enough, the network will typically renew a show until it inevitably becomes a parody of itself, viewers abandon ship, and the show goes out with a whimper. 30 Rock was afforded the unique opportunity to go out on its own merit, to close Tina Fey’s vision the way she intended. I bring this up because I, too, am saying farewell. Please, hold your gasps. It’s true. Your beloved food columnist is packing up his keyboard and hitting the road, onto …

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From Finicky Eater to Gourmand

Not Cooking for Thanksgiving? Here Are Some Local Dinner Options

A handful of restaurants in Collingswood and Haddonfield will have Turkey Day specials.

(Editor's note: David's original column ran last week; here, we're running it again in a slightly re-shuffled format.) If a big turkey dinner isn’t in the cards this year, fear not! Seek out one of these spots, make your reservation, and find something to be thankful for. It’s the holiday season. Cross Culture Cross Culture of Haddonfield is hosting a three-course Thanksgiving dinner from noon to 5 p.m. for $15.95 per person. The food will be traditional Indian food, but it will also be delicious. In a lot of ways, that captures some of the spirit of the first Thanksgiving. Cross Culture is located at 208 Kings Highway East in Haddonfield; 856-428-4343. Indiya This new favorite of mine is also open from noon until 2:30 p.m., and will be …

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From Finicky Eater to Gourmand

Indiya Offers Bold New Lunch Options

The new Haddon Avenue restaurant offers a refreshing change from the usual Restaurant Row fare.

Does Collingswood need another Indian restaurant? That may seem like a silly question. Haddon Avenue is, after all, not exactly the definition of diversity. Despite a plethora of options, Collingswood tends to lean on an Italian-heavy influence when it comes to cuisine. Therefore, the opinion of many folks I’ve spoken to is that anything new that’s not Italian is acceptable. I only ask that question because Collingswood is already home to one of the premiere Indian restaurants in South Jersey. I’m sure you’re familiar; Indeblue has been established in the area for some time and has grown quite a reputation. When you’re talking about a style of food that’s generally considered as foreign and exotic as Indian cuisine is, it seems an …

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From Finicky Eater to Gourmand

Thai Basil Brings the Heat

Its Asian-fusion cuisine strikes a delicate balance among flavor, presentation and ambiance.

In the past year, I must have ignored Thai Basil in Collingswood at least two dozen times. Usually I pass it on the way to another restaurant, or I just wander by while strolling around, enjoying the evening. Aside from a momentary glance in the window, I had never really given much thought to stopping in.  There’s probably a good reason for that. I’m not a huge fan of Asian cuisine, so when my girlfriend and I are hungry and searching for a place to pop in for a quick bite, the Asian options around Collingswood aren’t typically on our radar. Then there’s the location; the entrance to Thai Basil is in this strange cubbyhole that it shares with Fusion Bay. A few doors down sits Chow’s Chinese and Japanese, bearing the huge, yellow sign of …

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With Ribbon Cut, Indiya to Open Tues.

Collingswood foodies, polish up those forks.

Restaurant Row formally welcomed its newest addition this week, as Collingswood Mayor James Maley cut the ceremonial ribbon on Indiya, the contemporary Indian cuisine concept from Coriander Bistro owner, Vipul Bhasin. "We're happy to have a new ethnic restaurant opening on the avenue," Maley said. Its grand opening isn't slated until Tuesday, however—so slake those appetites elsewhere in town until after the weekend. And if you're a server looking for work, Indiya is hiring. Can't wait until Tuesday? Read our advance feature on Indiya right here on Patch.

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At Indiya, Expanding the Definition of Cultural Cuisine

Coriander owner Vipul Bhasin hopes his new concept will draw Collingswood diners interested in contemporary Indian food.

In terms of culture, says Vipul Bhasin, “India is like Europe put together.” There are 26 official languages and hundreds of dialects in the country, he says, which means that “food changes overnight.” That’s a metaphor well chosen by the restaurateur, whose contemporary Indian concept, Indiya, will replace Raymond’s Restaurant and Pizzeria at 620 Haddon Ave. this September. Bhasin, who is also the proprietor of Coriander Indian Bistro in Voorhees, says that India has become a far more cosmopolitan nation since prior generations of emigrants first came to the United States, a diversity reflected in its cuisine. “The same dish my mom cooks, my neighbor’s mom could cook it completely different and they could call it the same thing,” he said…

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