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EATS
FEATURE STORY
Divided Loyalties
Rating the Clifton area Indian restaurants
by Donna Covrett
Of the 18 or so Indian restaurants in Greater Cincinnati, six reside
in a square-mile area surrounding the University of Cincinnati.
While it’s not unusual for ethnic restaurants to locate within
walking distance of a college campus, two of these — Ambar
and Amol — reside infamously next door to each other on Ludlow
Avenue, with Mayura several blocks east and India Palace several
blocks west. Krishna — more carryout than restaurant —
is a mile south of the others at Clifton and Calhoun, while Sitar
is scheduled to open this month around the corner on McMillan.
We’ve
heard the loyalists’ debates for years regarding who has the
better food and atmosphere — especially with the longer established
Ambar, Amol and Mayura — but CityBeat was curious as to how
the loyalties were determined in the first place. Why are customers
standing in line for a table at Ambar when they could get seated
immediately next door at Amol? Why will Mayura customers tenaciously
circle the streets for the elusive parking space when they could
drive up the road in half the time to India Palace with its own
private lot?
We at CityBeat,
in an effort to bring our readers answers to the questions that
keep us awake at night — and to sponge several free meals
from our boss — assembled an ace team of highly focused diners
to rate five of the six restaurants. (Sitar wasn’t open yet
for business.)
Much like the scale of spiciness offered in each of these restaurants,
we used a 1 to 10 scale to rate first impressions, atmosphere, service
and food — with 1 being the equivalent of bland and 10 a truly
hot experience.
Joining me on our panel were Arts and Entertainment Editor Rick
Pender, Music Editor Mike Breen, Art Director Sean Hughes, Copy
Editor Jessica Turner, Art Editor Stacey Recht and her fiancé,
James Czar. We gorged our way through Masalas, Paneers, Tandooris
and Vindaloos over a 10-day period.
Thank the Hindu gods for Pepto-Bismol.Mayura
Mayura
Mayura was our panel’s highest rated restaurant in nearly
every category. What separates it from the other Indian dining establishments
is the effusive and often theatrical service provided by its owner,
Kalayan Swami Naidu Sunkara — or “Swami” as Mayura
diners know him.
Mayura is a
more chef-oriented restaurant, a fusion of Southern and Northern
Indian with some American familiarity. Swami claims that all of
the recipes — even standard Tandooris, Masalas and Saags —
are less traditional than they are personal creations inspired by
his own passion for food.
Overall rating: 9
Most of our panelists felt that Mayura was above comparison with
the other neighborhood Indian restaurants: “The ‘Swami
Show’ is well worth the trip.” “If you like specialized,
almost obsessive attention, this is your place.” “Excellent
food, service and ambience.” “Exotic vibe, excellent
food.” And Sean wondered, “Why the hell did I wait 10
years to go back to Mayura?”
Ambience: 8
Perhaps because Mayura reincarnated from its previous life as the
groovy Emanon with its own swami of sorts, Jazz pianist Ed Moss,
it retains a “hash den” vibe, as Mike described it.
Warmer and cozier than the others, with dim lighting (“Dim
is good,” Mike added), it’s more of a date night setting
than the other restaurants we visited, with nooks and crannies that
create more privacy.
Service and Hospitality: 7
You either like or don’t like the “Swami Show”—
the lavish personal service — which is why Mayura received
its lowest, but still considerably high, rating here. While most
of us loved Swami’s attentiveness and his tendency to order
for the table, a couple of us were ambivalent about his flash and
charisma.
Comments ranged
from “Swami is a blast!” and “Super-attentive
and knowledgeable” to “Swami is almost too hospitable
… if I were just there for a (normal) dinner, I would have
been overwhelmed and slightly irritated.” Mike summed it up:
“If you are sensitive to overly friendly service, try someplace
else.”
Food: 8
The colorful food is a perfect counterpart to the colorful atmosphere,
so expect dishes to arrive with fanfare and sizzle, especially if
Swami is delivering them personally. This is the one restaurant
that won’t ask you what level of spiciness you prefer, as
all of the dishes are prepared — according to Swami —
at their “proper” heat index. If you’re the sort
who enjoys a good sweat while you eat, ask for a side of the Vindaloo
sauce — Mike claimed it was the hottest Indian “anything”
he’d ever tasted. “A touch got the motor running in
overdrive,” he declared (which in itself is amazing for laid-back
Mike).
There were almost no disappointments but certainly a couple of standouts.
Everyone raved about the lamb chops, and the Saag Paneer —
a dish we ordered at every restaurant — was voted the best.
Its intense, less creamy and stronger leafy vegetable flavor was
preferred by nearly all of us.
Ditto for most of the chutneys, often the litmus test for the meal
to come. Stacey and James — who we discovered to have an unusually
compulsive obsession when it came to Indian cuisine — carried
on very enthusiastically about the chutneys. “The mint chutney
was the star,” Stacey noted, “fresh and actually minty,
and the addition of ginger enhanced it even more.”
Mayura, 3201 Jefferson Ave., Corryville, 513-221-7125
Ambar and Amol
On most nights
of the week, especially the weekend, the sidewalk outside Ambar
overflows with customers waiting for a table. The most interesting
aspect of this popularity lies in the buzz regarding the rivalry
between Ambar and its next-door neighbor Amol, where there’s
seldom a wait.
Fueled by a long-standing rumor that the owners are somehow related
and that a family quarrel caused the estranged family member to
open a nearly identical restaurant bisected by a zealously guarded
parking lot, customers have divided into separate camps. Even among
our panel, several participants began our tour as staunch “Ambar
people” or “Amol people.”
Not surprisingly, when all of the data were tallied, we found the
restaurants similar, with Ambar maintaining an edge for better food
overall, concluding that most of the other differences were a matter
of personal taste.
Overall rating: Ambar: 7, Amol: 6
First impressions generated nearly identical comments about the
nondescript storefronts (“Former American food diner”
and “Wasn’t this a gas station in its last life?”)
and cramped parking lots with “aggressively protective staff”
standing guard.
Ambience: Ambar: 5, Amol: 6
Ambar consists of one brightly lit room with tables and booths crammed
into every available space, which makes for great socializing if
you live in the neighborhood. The atmosphere isn’t so great
if you care for some intimacy on a date or are seated family style
at one of the center tables next to a couple who are tediously airing
their laundry-list of grievances. Some of our panelists liked the
elbow-to-elbow scene (Rick noted he finds the crowded dining room
enhances the “cozy and busy atmosphere,” and Jessica
agreed it “seems to have a sense of community with families
and friends eating together”) while others found it “exciting
but stressful.”
I’ve always thought the lighting oppressively bright, but
I’ll concede that it’s due to a neurotic impression
that it exaggerates every pore of my skin.
Our panel was divided by Amol’s ambience as well. Mike thought
it was “unintentionally funky, with Christmas lights around
the bar and kitschy Indian iconography in the artwork” but
added, “the bathrooms were rough.” Stacey delivered
her professional critique as only an art editor can: “Velvet
paintings mingle with Indian pop to enforce a nostalgia for the
early ’80s. The fact that the place is nothing special is
precisely why it is so special.” Jessica appreciated the dimmer
lighting (as did I), but Rick wasn’t as comfortable here —
he prefers the intimacy of crowds.
Service and Hospitality: Ambar 5, Amol: 5
Unlike Swami’s high-octane service, the service at Ambar and
Amol are representative of most Indian restaurants — generally
attentive but non-intrusive and not particularly engaging. Our server
at Amol was slightly warmer (and “eye-catching,” Jessica
noted) but got a bit frosty when I tried to extract information
from him regarding the vendetta between the two restaurants. He
brushed it off as folklore and gave us a much more benign interpretation
that we refuse to believe, because, as James aptly put it, “it
(the urban myth) makes for healthy fan fun.”
Food: Ambar: 8, Amol: 5
Overall quality of food was the most obvious difference and the
likely answer to why Ambar has the longer lines. The food at Ambar
is undoubtedly richer with a higher cream content and seems to be
preferred by the Indian community over Amol for that reason.
While most of us worship the higher fat content, Stacey felt that
the heavier cream masks the intensity of the spices, resulting in
a blander flavor. The excellent chutneys at Ambar rivaled the ones
served at Mayura, but, unfortunately, the chutneys at Amol were
so inedible from excessive salt — think salt lick —
that it dampened the rest of the meal. James and Stacey (self-described
“Amol people”) vehemently swear it was an anomaly, but
most of the comments regarding the dinner were tepid.
Ambar continued to win over our panel with Fish Tikka — a
Tandoori-style dinner devoid of any cream — producing a feeding
frenzy, even among those who declared they’re not fond of
fish. We’re wondering, though, if we should be concerned about
Mike and his “newfound, crack-like addiction to Nav Rattan
Korma.”
Ambar, 350 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, 513-281-7000
Amol, 354 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, 513-961-3600
India Palace
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Indian
Palace
Photo: James Czar
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On a stretch between Clifton and Northside, across from Cincinnati
State and near the District 5 police station, residents and commuters
watched in 2003 as a long-empty former fish house came slowly to
life. A deli? A bakery? No, another Indian restaurant!
Despite the speculation about whether the UC area would support
more Indian cuisine, India Palace opened quietly (in typical Indian
modesty) and appears to be holding its own. Our panel found it to
be of average quality, with few exceptions.
Overall rating: 5
Even though it sits isolated by apartments and houses at a busy
intersection with no other neighboring businesses — if you
don’t count the business of learning across the street —
India Palace received its highest marks for the inviting quality
of a roadhouse, complete with outdoor patio and an actual, roomy
parking lot without guards. A couple of us admitted that even though
we’re nearby residents, it had escaped our notice —
something to do with its close proximity to the police station,
no doubt.
Ambience: 5
The atmosphere is quiet, and the large dining room won favorable
remarks for roominess and the late afternoon sunlight streaming
through the front window. But, as Mike noted, “It doesn’t
seem to have its own vibe yet.” James, Stacey, Rick and Mike
made note of the music, which Mike perceived as sounding like Indian
versions of “popular Western Top 40.”
Service and Hospitality: 5
Several Amol defectors, whom James observed looked happier in their
new digs, staff India Palace. Overall the service rated “efficient”
and “satisfactory” with nothing to neither detract nor
elevate it either way.
Food: 5
The food was standard for most of us, comparable to Amol but lacking
“really expressive flavor,” according to one, and “inconsistent”
to another. We know it happens, but a long strand of human hair
baked in to Rick’s pappadam (lentil wafer) compromised the
experience.
India Palace, 944 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, 513-221-8111
Krishna
A basic yet excellent Indian carryout owned by an Information Technology
corporate dropout, Krishna is just the sort of place you would expect
to reside across the street from university dorms.
Overall rating: 7
Sean called it “perfect college food — right prices,
right speed, right service. It fits the neighborhood just right.”
Ambience: 3
None to speak of, and none really expected.
Service and Hospitality: 6
“Pleasant and jovial,” according to James.
Food: 6
Simplified, no-frills version of Northern Indian fare. Rick had
to hunt for the chicken in his Chicken Tikka Masala, but James swears
by the Chicken Makhani, which he calls “truly remarkable.”
And Stacey is adamant that Krishna has “the best Samosas this
side of New Delhi!”
Krishna, 313 Calhoun St., Clifton Heights, 513-961-2878 ©
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