Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Nirvana Indian Bistro opens in Eagleville
Restaurateur Nabin Chhantyal has opened his third Nirvana Indian Bistro in the former Dosa Hut in Eagleville.
LOWER PROVIDENCE >> For years, fans of authentic Indian cuisine in the Eagleville-Trooper-Jeffersonville realm have needed to travel to Lafayette Hill for a taste of Nirvana.
Now Nirvana has come to them.
Successful restaurateur Nabin Chhantyal has opened his third Nirvana Indian Bistro in the former Dosa Hut in Eagleville, and the name recognition that the Nepal native has established in Lafayette Hill and Wyomissing is paying off yet again.
From the day Nirvana opened its doors, it was clear that customers were ready to embrace the warm and elegant fine dining ambiance and rare attention to culinary detail.
“Customers who are familiar with the Lafayette Hill location have been coming here, and we have a much more extensive menu here to offer them. Everyone is saying they’re so happy that we’re here and they no longer have to travel so far,” Chhantyal said.
Soon, Chhantyal will give his customers something else they’ve enjoyed in Lafayette Hill — an ample lunch buffet, available every day, beginning the first week of February.
“So many people were asking for buffet and we didn’t have it,” Chhantyal said. “It’s about serving the community. It should not always be about being prosperous. Sometimes you need to focus on serving the people.”
This Ridge Pike stretch of highway has seen a stunning influx of Indian restaurants in the last five years, resulting in the exodus of some of the more seasoned purveyors of Indian food, such as the Dosa Hut and Spice Kitchen.
Chhantyal, who purchased the building that also houses two upper level apartments, said he was not intimidated by the wealth of options still remaining in the area.
“No, not at all. We’re build-
ing our own clientele and we are not taking their clientele because they have all Indian-based customers,” he noted. “Others serve typical Southernoriented Indian food, very spicy and you will see very few Americans in there. It’s good to have competition,” he added, “and we are so different from the others.”
A veteran chef who honed his skills at Aman’s in East Norriton for a decade, Chhantyal is fond of saying that the Nirvana philosophy is “healthy plus delicious. What I came up with is a healthy version of Indian food. Others use a lot of the dark meat chicken but I prefer to use the chicken breast, which is much healthier. I really want to serve the people in this area healthy Indian food. So many Indian restaurants do it so wrong in a way that isn’t healthy. I’m very health conscious myself, so if you look at our menu you will see a lot of vegan items, and people love it.”
The most popular dish at the previous Nirvana locations has also disarmed taste buds here in Eagleville: Gobi Manchurian, crispy cauliflower in chili garlic soy sauce, is a favorite with vegans and non-vegans alike, Chhantyal said.
Other signature dishes include Nirvana’s famous Vegetable Samosas, mounds of crispy pastry stuffed with potato filling, and all manner of Momo Himalayan dumplings, enclosing delicately seasoned chicken, or cottage cheese, Paneer style.
Chicken Tikka, the goto dish for many aficionados of Indian cuisine, is made up of tender chunks of chicken in a velvety tomato-based sauce that just may render your previous encounters with this legendary dish obsolete.
The Dosa specials are a popular holdover from the former tenant, as is much of the original Dosa Hut staff, noted Chhantyal, whose entrepreneurial determination fuels an inspirational story many will relate to.
“In 2011 I finally got my green card, but it took me 10 years,” he recalled. Having toiled in the Aman kitchen all that time, Chhantyal jumped at the chance to realize his dream of restaurant ownership when his boss offered him a partnership.
“I said ‘let me buy you out.’ He agreed, we made a deal, and after two years I wanted to move on with my own concept with my own name. I always liked the name ‘nirvana,’ which exudes eternal peace.”
Chhantyal briefly introduced the Nirvana brand at the old 401 Diner in Conshohocken in 2014, but decided he didn’t like the building after all and relocated his concept to Lafayette Hill a year later.
Motivated by that success, he launched a second Nirvana Indian Bistro in Wyomissing, Berks County.
Completing the full-circle scenario, Eagleville customers will find a welcoming and familiar face from Chhantyal’s days at Aman’s: Nirvana manager Happy Grover.
Together the men are determined to build Nirvana into a destination like no other Indian restaurant around.
“I couldn’t be doing any of this without Happy,” Chhantyal said. “I believe in working hard. You have to be very focused. For 10 years I cooked in one place and I was very hard working. If you look at any restaurant’s history you’ll never find anyone cooking at one restaurant for 10 years. I believe in staying focused, treating customers right and being patient and it will come to you. It’s not about getting rich overnight,” he added, smiling. “I just want to make a living, make my kids’ life better. It’s not about being selfish about my own success, but being an inspiration for the next generation.”
Nirvana Indian Bistro is located at 2864 Ridge Pike, Eagleville. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; 5 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 3 p.m.; 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 3 p.m.; 5 to 9:30 p.m. For more information, call 610-631-2787.