ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A full-service restaurant known for its vibrant international flavors is now serving guests in Lehigh County.
The first Lehigh Valley location of Spice Route, specializing in authentic Indian cuisine, held a soft opening on Nov. 7 at 845 W. Linden St. in Allentown, owner Kailash Goswami told 69 News.
A new location of Spice Route operates at 845 W. Linden St. in Allentown.
Ryan Kneller
Spice Route was established around 10 years ago, with the restaurant’s first location opening in 2016 at the Shops at Crossroads on Route 611 in Bartonsville, Monroe County.
Another location, Spice Route Melange, opened in 2018 in Parsippany, N.J.
Goswami has also operated another Indian restaurant, Nanking, in Queens, New York since 2011.
“We are very excited to open in Allentown,” Goswami said. “A lot of customers from the Lehigh Valley travel to our location in the Poconos and have requested a restaurant closer to them.”
Spice Route
The Poconos and New Jersey locations of Spice Route also offer Thai and Chinese dishes such as pad Thai, sichuan chicken and panang curry, but the Allentown location will offer only Indian cuisine to start, Goswami said.
Thai and Chinese cuisines will likely be introduced at a later time at the Allentown restaurant.
“We will start out offering only Indian food in Allentown because we want to get situated first, and more cuisines require additional chefs,” Goswami said. “But probably within a month or two, we’d add the Thai and Chinese dishes.”
Spice Route offers an expansive menu of Indian specialties, including appetizers such as vegetable samosas and lamb pepper fry; chicken options such as chicken korma and saag chicken; seafood selections such as shrimp vindaloo and kadhai shrimp; and goat and lamb dishes such as goat curry and lamb rogan josh; and vegetarian specialties such as kadhai paneer and aloo ghobi masala.
Spice Route
Customers also can enjoy breads such as tandoori naan, garlic naan and roti (whole wheat); biryani platters (with basmati rice, fried onion, mint and cardamon) such as chicken, lamb, goat, shrimp and vegetable and kathal (jackfruit); and desserts such as gulab jamun, gajar halwa and mango cheesecake.
“Some of our most popular dishes are butter chicken, chicken vindaloo, palak paneer, channa masala, lamb chops, tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, garlic naan and chili naan,” Goswami said.
The Allentown location of Spice Route takes over the space previously occupied by Crispy Halal, which is continuing to operate at its original location on North Seventh Street in Allentown and planning to open another location on East Third Street in Bethlehem.
A new location of Spice Route operates at 845 W. Linden St. in Allentown.
Ryan Kneller
Spice Route’s Allentown location, with seating for around 75 guests, operates 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. A lunch buffet and catering for any size event also is offered, Goswami said.
The restaurant, which also features a private party room, will hold a grand opening celebration at 11 a.m. Dec. 10, Goswami said.
For the latest Spice Route updates, follow the business’ pages on Facebook and Instagram. Info: spicerouteusa.com.