By Scott Cronick
If you love food, prepare for something original and special.
My wife and I weren’t prepared for the mind-blowing experience of Jasmine Desi Asian Grill, a new Indian, Thai and Chinese eatery located in the former W.L. Goodfellows on the White Horse Pike in Galloway.
Sure, we love Indian food, but trust us when we tell you Jasmine takes Indian cuisine to another level for several reasons – its beautiful space, the melding of different ethnic cuisines, the originality, the passion – and that’s saying something … because South Jersey already has some very notable Indian restaurants.
One thing that no one can argue is that Jasmine is different from anything else in South Jersey. It’s original and unique to the area, and it’s certainly welcome.
“We are a multi-cuisine restaurant that is Indian with inspiration from Thailand and China,” said Romesh Ruthnaswamy, a native of India whose love of travel and food led to him opening his first restaurant with two terrific chef/partners, Rikhi Pandeya and Navjot Arora. “India is a very diverse country, and it has a lot to offer with menu items that we have included in our menu here. But we believe that anything you taste has to be an experience, so we are big on getting the textures, the flavors, the sweetness, the saltiness, the spiciness in every dish. It’s what diners are looking for.”
Meet Team Jasmine
Ruthnaswamy, a radiologist by trade who felt burned out by the COVID pandemic, decided to switch careers and go where his passion truly lies: food.
Having traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia and experiencing its food and culture, he knew he could bring something different to South Jersey if he took a shot.
That shot was buying the former W.L. Goodfellows, a landmark American restaurant on the White Horse Pike in Galloway that was originally built as a T.G.I. Friday’s but then converted into its own American chain-looking brand when the former owners didn’t get the franchise. Goodfellows was a huge part of the community, and Ruthnaswamy wanted to bring it back from the ashes since it has been sitting vacant since 2019.
While Ruthnaswamy had the passion for food and the business mind, he knew he needed some great partners who knew the back of the house.
So, he recruited two of the best chefs he knew, Pandeya and Arora, to bring the Jasmine Big 3 together.
Both chefs have stellar credentials.
Arora is the chef/owner of Chutney Masala, an acclaimed Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant that has been voted the Best of West Chester, N.Y., six years in a row. His romance with Southeast Asian cuisine was kindled by many trips to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, where he spent weeks immersed in authentic Asian gastronomy, which invigorated and excited his passion. Not only has his restaurant gotten some Michelin credit, but he has also been on “Beat Bobby Flay” and was a judge on “ShopRite Cooking Star.”
A few years ago, he teamed up with Pandeya to create Sambal, a Thai/Malaysian restaurant on the banks of The Hudson in Irvington, N.Y., that has become one of the best restaurants in that area.
Pandeya grew up in Nepal in humble surroundings with a deep passion for travel. He started his career working with the tandoor – a large, vase-shaped oven – and moved to Delhi, landing at the Taj Delhi, where he went on to win the coveted “Taj Culinary Award.” The chef then found an opportunity with Asian cuisine working in Shangrila, Delhi’s premier Asian restaurant, which properly began a culinary journey and other travels to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, which you can taste in his cooking.
He eventually landed in New York and was mentored by Arora, where he fine-tuned his skills and began a creative partnership that now expands to South Jersey, where they feel they can make an impact.
“I am so blessed to have good partners,” Ruthnaswamy said. “They work together well and created this special place with me that we are very proud of.”
Introducing Jasmine
For starters, Ruthnaswamy and his crew had to make Goodfellows not look like a chain restaurant anymore. With lots of dark woods to compete with, they decided to work them in as much as they could.
They accented those woods with some stunning chandeliers, a yellow-and-green palette and upscale touches like beautiful two-seat, flowered banquettes for some of the seating. The 85-seat main dining room, which is in the former bar area where a bar no longer exists, offers an elevated private area for a decently large group.
“We brightened up the space, renovated it extensively, used fantastic color combinations for the walls, and it’s a clean, chic and bright environment with beautiful lighting,” Ruthnaswamy said. “It’s very airy and comfortable, and you can enjoy your meal in a very open setting.”
The former main dining room will now be the Jasmine Banquet Room, an equally beautiful space that holds up to 150 people that is filling a needed void in the Absecon and Galloway area. It has already hosted weddings, fundraisers and banquets, and it is booked four times next month for parties of up to 150 people.
“I think that part of the business is going to be a tremendous boost to us as a business,” Ruthnaswamy said. “It was something needed in the area.”
Experience Jasmine
The name of the restaurant is inspired by the flower Jasmine for its exotic fragrance, elegant stature and deep cultural meaning that has earned it the coveted position of “flower of choice” widely across the globe. Jasmine has become synonymous with the unity, purity and innocence of love, and is commonly used in various festivities and religious ceremonies.
The main attraction, of course, is the food, and Jasmine offers a layer of cuisines that is unique and unrivaled in the area.
“These are dishes that are not regular things you see on other regular menus,” Ruthnaswamy said. “While we have items that will be familiar, we thrive on menu items that really differentiate us from another Indian place you might have gone to.”
That is no lie, but don’t expect fusion cuisine.
“You don’t see the dishes crossing over,” Ruthnaswamy said. “They all stand on their own as Thai, Indian or Chinese. There are any similar ingredients that tie them all together, but is the way they are cooked what really differentiates everything?
“For example, you will see many Indian items coming out of the tandoor, and if you get a tour of the kitchen you will see the Asian chef cooking in a wok over a high flame controlled by his leg while his hands are occupied cooking and getting all of the spices, sauces and proteins together. That quick heat injection is the key to the Asian side of the menu.
“And Indian cuisine is more of letting things simmer and take time, so the spices all blend together nicely. The way you approach the cooking of these cuisines makes all the difference,” Ruthnaswamy said.
Make sure you start off with some zero-proof cocktails – Jasmine is BYOB – including the spicy guava margarita and my favorite, the Thai iced tea, that offers some half-and-half to cool down some of the spicier moments of your meal, if you choose to order that way.
The hardest part of your meal will be deciding what to order from the voluminous menu that is nicely labeled into sections and styles.
For starters, check out the spinach cheese dumplings ($11.95) that are handmade daily and have very little spice, letting the ingredients speak for themselves in these gorgeously made dumplings; the crispy honey chili lotus root ($11.95), which is fantastically crispy, savory and sweet; and the show-stopping Pani Poori ($9.95).
“The Pani Poori is a fun experience and fantastic to look at,” Ruthnaswamy said. “It has such rich flavors. It’s a semolina shell that is deep fried, and we add chickpeas, mint, tomato and a little bit of the tamarind sauce. It comes with a vessel to pour more tamarind sauce in those balls made out of mint, coriander, rock salt and green peppers. Then you take that entire thing in your mouth and get ready for the flavors to explode in your mouth.”
There are also homemade samosas, salads, soups – check out the sweet corn soup – and biryani, a fragrant combination of long grain Basmati slow cooked in a copper vessel with fresh herbs, spices and served with Raita, a cucumber yogurt cooler served in a variety of ways including with chicken, vegetables, lamb, shrimp and even goat.
The Tandoori specials and breads, as well as Naan, are incredibly popular and all made in house.
“When you cook in the tandoor, that high temperature with heat rising from the bottom just makes the most succulent piece of chicken that you could ever want,” Ruthnaswamy said of the Melai chicken kebab, which is served on a skewer after it’s barbecued.
There is also Tandoori chicken, paneer Tikka, chicken tikka masala, rice and noodle dishes including Pad Thai and what is possibly the most sold dish, so far, the pineapple fried rice ($16.95) served beautifully in a half pineapple.
“The tikka masala is also very popular because people are familiar with it, and I think we have an amazing version of it,” Ruthnaswamy said. “It is creamy and tasty and made with such complex flavors.”
On the Indian side, don’t sleep on the Raarha goat ($24.95) served on the bone stewed to perfection; the prawns Blachao ($24.95), shrimp sauteed in a chunky garam marsala; and the Malai Kofta ($17.95), homemade cheese and potato dumplings in a creamy sauce that I will be trying on my next visit.
On the Asian side, must-haves include the green, yellow Penang or red curry ($16.95); the whole red snapper ($27.95) with crispy whole fish, oyster garlic sauce and chili-garlic reduction; and the lamb shank Massaman ($28.95) that is slow simmered with diced potatoes, peanuts and tamarind.
“I think what we are seeing is that people are yearning food that has different flavors and experiences,” Ruthnaswamy said. “I am blown away by the amount of customers who are experiencing Asian and Indian food for the first time, and they are loving it. They keep coming back, so that’s a good sign.”
Don’t be intimidated
The best advice I can give is to not be intimidated. The chefs will cook to your spice level, and many of the dishes are mild by nature. Have a question? Just ask!
“When people think of spice, they think heat, and spices are not just heat, they add flavor,” Ruthnaswamy said. “People think of curry when they think Indian food, but it’s so much more complex with all of the spices we have to offer. And we are going to introduce people to this cuisine and use stepping stones, so they learn about the flavors of what this style of cuisine offers. And everyone is always very surprised by the range of flavors and heats that are here.”
And, if you come for just one dish, get this dessert: Daar Saan ($8), honey-glazed, crispy noodles with sesame accompanied by homemade, creamy vanilla ice cream. I am still thinking about it days after eating it.
“It’s something to die for,” Ruthnaswamy said.
As for Jasmine’s future, Ruthnaswamy said they are already exceeding expectations, doing well for lunch and dinner.
“I really didn’t set high expectations,” Ruthnaswamy said. “I knew it would take time to introduce people to the various cuisines and flavors we offer, but I am blown away but he support we have been receiving. We have been rocking every night.”
Jasmine is located at 310 E. White Horse Pike, Galloway, and is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week beginning at 11:30 a.m. Call 609-380-7831 or go to JasmineAC.com.
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com, and he also co-owns Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, while working on various projects, including charitable efforts, throughout the area. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
