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YouTubeUdipi and Dosa Corner are both great vegetarian (South Indian) restaurants in Columbus. When it comes to North Indian I stick with Taj.
People are telling me to go to Bayleaf at Polaris. Anyone tried it?
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Dining
Aab India Restaurant on Grandview Avenue
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Mister Shifter
Lewis Center
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Posted 2 years ago # -
vestanpance
Harrison West/at work OSU
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Mister Shifter wrote >>
People are telling me to go to Bayleaf at Polaris. Anyone tried it?
yup... but you knew that.
Bayleaf is really good. A little more expensive then taj (only been for dinner so not sure about lunch) But the menu is also bigger.
I'm excited to try this new place! When does it open?
Posted 2 years ago # -
GW_Justice
Grandview Hts.
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Urban Knight wrote they produce odours that are "foul and unpleasant" as Thomas Paine described it.
Troll. No instances of this quote found on a quick search.
Posted 2 years ago # -
pixiecrinkle
Old North Columbus
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hungrywoolf wrote >>
There are a few places in Columbus that offer thali that I know about and I am sure there are others.
New India on Bethel
Dosa Corner
Amul India
I think Udipi Cafe does as well but I don't think they have a website.
A thali is a great way to try a few different dishes and is similar idea to ordering a Japanese bento box lunch.Everyone I know loves Dosa Corner, but it's not my favorite. Udipi on the other hand....awesomeness. And Ambar's thali is the only one I've had that beats Udipi, so that accounts for my excitability in this thread. :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
catnfiddle
Giant Corncob District
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takeasiesta wrote >>
As a person of Indian descent, I am thoroughly offended by your post. "The excitement" stems from the fact that there are two Mediterranean places and no Indian restaurant in that vicinity. I currently drive 15-20 minutes out of my way to eat at a good Indian restaurant. Just because your body can't handle Indian cuisine does not mean you have the right to put down the food of the second highest population in the world. It's rude and immature of you to insult something that has a complex flavor profile that you don't understand.
India is one of the hottest places on earth and the point of those spices was for preservation of meats before there was refrigeration, which many people still don't have because of the extreme poverty that is still there.Wow, you SO totally rock. Rockmastermike and I agree we'd love to meet you at this new place for dinner when it opens. Can you help me order as I'm never sure what to get?
Posted 2 years ago # -
pecuniadea
victorian village
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hungrywoolf wrote >>
pixiecrinkle wrote >>
Ambar in Cinci is one of those awesome places where you can get a sampler dinner on a "silver tray" (that looks like a metal cafeteria tray) and get tastes of all kinds of great stuff on the menu. I am crossing my fingers this one is true.The sampler plates you are talking about are called 'thali' or sometimes 'tali'. It means plate in hindi. Quite often restaurants will have a vegetarian and meat thali. The South Indian version is sometimes served on a banana leaf instead of a plate. There are a few places in Columbus that offer thali that I know about and I am sure there are others.
New India on Bethel
Dosa Corner
Amul IndiaI think Udipi Cafe does as well but I don't think they have a website.
A thali is a great way to try a few different dishes and is similar idea to ordering a Japanese bento box lunch.just a little clarification from cbus south indian...thali is actually the necklace that a bride is given during a south indian hindu wedding ceremony (kind of like a wedding ring) so the "thali" plate, as it's a circle, is in a way a symbol of the hindu marriage (the wedding is sealed by the bride and groom walking around the fire seven times, after receiving garlands, after the bride receiving the thali, etc). so the "thali" plate is the complete meal; rice, lentil, vegetable, yogurt, maybe an idli (steamed rice cake) or a chapati (wheat bread), and a sweet.
in south india, the banana leaf is used at temples and weddings, frequently because the plates are too expensive, and banana leaves are readily available (like, you can get them from the street if need be).
ambar is for sure a north indian restaurant. amar india in dayton's sister restaurant is here in columbus if anyone wants to try it (amul, on sawmill next to the old thai orchid. great vindaloo). udipi is food from one region of india (my home region actually), the state of karnataka, specifically the mysore style of cooking, whereas banana leaf is a mix of all vegetarian indian food. i'd definitely recommend going for high tea, where you get a sample of the chaat (like indian nachos), south indian filter coffee or chai.
i am hoping ambar's buffet is great--will look forward to not having to drive up to bayleaf for quality weekend fixes :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
takeasiesta
Harrison West
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@catnfiddle - Haha, I'm flattered. I would love to! My heritage is a very complicated story so I don't claim to be an expert on Indian food but I know enough to fake my way through it. There are so many regional variations of Indian food and pecuniadea just put everything I know to shame. Menus can be intimidating but they aren't totally impossible to navigate if you know what you are looking for. Usually the naming of dishes is very deliberate and there are key words to look for. For example "aloo" means potato and "gobhi" means cauliflower so Aloo gobhi is potatoes and califlower in a north Indian style flavorful spiced sauce usually served with rice. Chole is one of my favorite dishes which is a chickpea central dish. I tend to go vegetarian when I'm at Indian restaurants just because it's "safe" and if they get that right I might spring for lamb curry or chicken curry next time. Usually the rule for me is if they can't get a vegetarian dish right then they probably suck at everything. I'm a little biased but my mom's cooking will always be the best for me since she's figured out how to make it flavorful without being greasy which is my #1 complaint with most Indian restaurants. Also she'll go out of her way to make her own spices, like toasting cumin in the oven before grinding it in a coffee grinder which gives it an extra depth of flavor. I can cook a little Indian food myself but that woman puts me to shame. Maybe next time I go to Cleveland to visit her I can bring some back for you guys. :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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Urban Knight wrote >>
they produce odours that are "foul and unpleasant"*shrug* a lot of people hate the smells of sesame oil or garlic, too.
*edited to add* I once walked into a house where chitterlings were cooking. Once.
@takeasiesta Great comment about a vegetarian entree as a test, that's a keeper.
Posted 2 years ago # -
goldenidea
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I enjoy rolling into Udipi for their weekday lunch buffet special. It's all very interesting but I'm never quite sure what I'm supposed to put in those little metal bowls... fill them w/one of the chutneys or one of those soups(?), or something further down the line? Then do you eat the bowl of chutney by itself or use it as sauce for the rice cake or something else??? There's lots of great flavors, but I suspect I do the equivalent to pouring ketchup on my oatmeal.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Core_Models
Columbus
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heh...it isn't the cooking that's the worst alex, its the cleaning. One experience I don't plan on ever repeating.
Posted 2 years ago # -
JonMyers
HCMC ✈
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@TakeASiesta - Well put. I do think the complex flavors can be intimidating and overwhelm American palates.
Writing off Indian food with a broad stroke would be like writing off "American food" (whatever that may be) with a broad stroke.
I remember in India there were 30 - 40 languages on some forms of their currency the Rupee. There is an enormous amount of diversity there, in many ways more diversity than here in the US and definitely more religious diversity and religious tolerance. That range of diversity is reflected in the infinite amounts of subtleties in "Indian food" that break down by regions, ethnicity and tons of other variables.
@pecuniadea @takeasiesta - Thank you for sharing those details on Indian food. I love Udipi and Dosa Corner and some of the other Southern Indian options in town. Now if we can convince them to set up shop downtown. There would be a line down the street. :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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clark909 wrote >>
Tonight I saw a sign on the old Thom's Grandview building announcing that it will become an Indian restaurant by the owners of Ambar India in Cincinnati. Based on some quick Google research, this seems like fantastic news. Anybody tried Ambar or know anything about what its owners have in mind for Grandview?
http://www.ambarindia.com
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ambar-india-restaurant-cincinnatiPosted 2 years ago # -
Bear
The woods
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Urban Knight wrote >>
The spices used are often overpowering and offensive, they produce odours that are "foul and unpleasant" as Thomas Paine described it.Well, consider the source: Paine was described by one of his most prominent biographers as "intemperate... dirty... hypocritical... friendless... parasitical... unpatriotic... [and] wretched" (James Cheetham, The Life of Thomas Paine). I guess we can add "crappy taste in food" to the list.
Posted 2 years ago # -
rosta
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Please, now you're just throwing more bad journalism on the fire (or in the tandoor). Cheetham and Paine had a lifelong hatred of each other and this book was a complete bash on Paine after his death. Even given the law and slander people could make at the time, and Cheetham owned a strong right wing paper in the day, Cheetham lost a libel lawsuit on that book you quote for his lies.
Thomas Paine was a complex character - loved and hated, often by the same person. He could apparently be gracious on one hand and say something hated on the next. A true patriot? idealist? extremist for sure. Restauranteer?
Having read a couple books on his life, we know very little about him that is true for certain, as the "man" paid for some serious bashing of him after his death (british govt and religeous groups), most of it propogated by that book by Cheetham.
He was British, came to the States and, as I recall, only ever went to France. Was this even a quote regarding Indian food?
I think we can all agree that an excentric 16th century revolutionary firebrand brits opinion is very pertinent to the state of 2010 Indian food in Grandview, Ohio.
We're very much looking forward to this new restaurant!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Columbusite
Minneapolis
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Not the most creative restaurant name, but it picks up where "Korean Restaurant" just north of Lane (where BW3 stands) left off. This is certainly one of the most entertaining restaurant opening threads I've read.
Posted 2 years ago #
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