Indian food is a culinary strength of Columbus. 7 places to try
With clever riffs on Indian flavors being showcased in “top 10”-quality eateries recently opened by chef Avishar Barua — casual Joya’s Cafe in Worthington and fine-dining Agni in the Brewery District (note: Agni now offers a la carte bar snacks instead of just a $125 tasting menu) — you could say Indian food is having a moment locally.
Clearly, “Indian food” is an expansive topic with multiple and geographical variations. Still, what’s under its big umbrella is so prevalent in our area that someplace is likely cooking delicious Indian food in your neck of Greater Columbus now. And this availability of good Indian dishes is a culinary strength of our region. And if you smell a curry-tinged roundup coming, you have a reliable sniffer.
Whether you don’t know your bhel puri chaat from a hole in the ground, or can expound on differences between northern and southern Indian cuisines (northern is generally more meat-focused; southern is generally more focused on rice, lentils and spices), here’s a something-for-everyone sampling of Indian restaurants. Taken together, these strong-performing establishments point to the diverse range of local places that offer this ever more popular, world-changing cuisine.
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Aab India Restaurant
1470 Grandview Ave, 614-486-2800, aabindiarestaurants.com
This frequent “best Indian restaurant” winner of readers' polls of various local publications is a great place for cuisine newcomers — but also veterans — to get a fine taste of crowd-pleasing classics. And you’ll find many such dishes on Aab’s lengthy and well-prepared buffet, like marinated and grilled tandoori chicken, robust lamb curry and saag paneer (a curry dish with spinach and house-made farmer’s cheese). If buffets aren't your thing, Aab (like many other Indian eateries) offers thalis — veritable buffet-on-a-tray sampler platters. Also noteworthy: Versatile, accommodating Aab serves its northern-leaning fare on white tablecloths in a Grandview space that’s nicely appointed but decidedly unstuffy.
Dosa Corner
1077 Old Henderson Road, 614-459-5515, dosacornerrestaurant.com
For over two decades, this humble, little, to-go-oriented Northwest Side eatery has sold terrific vegetarian southern Indian fare at inexpensive prices. Dosa Corner’s namesake is a must: Dosas are big yet thin, rewardingly crisp yet pliable crepes made from a batter of fermented rice and lentils. Like other dosas here, the easy-to-love masala dosa filled with curried mashed potatoes comes with sambar — think zesty veggie soup — and perky chutneys for dipping. Other go-tos are wadas (crunchy, savory lentil doughnuts) and uttapams (somewhat like Indian pizzas, but with pancake-style, rice-lentil bases).
Neehee's
6080 Sawmill Road., 614-389-6304, www.neehees.com
Super-sized menus are basically the rule in local Indian eateries, and Neehee’s menu is one of the biggest. But this vegetarian, southern cuisine-leaning operation out of Michigan distinctively devotes a significant portion of its menu to street food favorites like sandwiches, veggie burgers and the garnish-happy snacks called chaats. And Neehee’s does most everything well — no small feat for a huge, usually bustling, fast-casual eatery. Some favorites: the 2-foot-long Mysore masala dosa; special bhel puri chaat — a flamboyantly adorned, tangy, spicy and minty avalanche of crispies (black chickpeas, peanuts, puffed rice, fried chickpea-flour balls); and the characteristically over-the-top Bombay veggie grill — a triple-decker, panini-style sandwich of potatoes, beets, cucumbers and tomatoes enriched with mozzarella and a panoply of condiments.
Tandoori Grill
808 Bethel Road, 614-326-3777, tandoorigrillcolumbus.com/23477
Kebabs are popular in northern India and Pakistan, where they’re often chargrilled in clay tandoor ovens. That background is pertinent to this overachieving northern Indian/Pakistani eatery whose big flavors can hardly be contained in its modest, Olentangy Shopping Center space on Bethel Road. The humongous family platter corrals multiple items like crispy naan (wheat-based breads are big in Pakistan and northern India); fluffy basmati; fantastic seekh kebabs (sausage-like, spicy ground-lamb logs); first-rate tandoori chicken; and cumin-kissed reshmi chicken tikka. But do not sleep on less-common, spicy triumphs like the outstanding haleem chicken — a fiery but nuanced stew made with lentils, barley and wheat; and Tandoori Grill’s various blazing-hot but complex and tomatoey karhai curries.
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Awadh India Restaurant
2584 Bethel Road, 614-914-8884, awadhrestaurant.com
This terrific, upscale-casual restaurant in the Carriage Place Plaza on Bethel Road namechecks Awadh (a region historically located in the modern-day north India state of Uttar Pradesh), so Awadhi favorites are a great way to go. These include galouti kebabs — spicy, seared, fragrant and inhalable little lamb patties; chicken korma — a spicy and wonderful curry whose chuggable gravy is enriched with yogurt and faintly sweetened by golden raisins and ground cashews; and the killer Awadhi lamb biryani — tender meat and a hard-cooked egg dispersed in fluffy basmati enhanced by clove, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, cilantro and substantial chile.
Rooh
685 N. High St., 614-972-8678, roohcolumbus.com
“Broken raspberry” and truffle oil aren’t ingredients you often see on menus in local Indian eateries, but you don’t see many local Indian eateries as modern and snazzy as this Short North hot spot. Following suit with its creative takes on a cuisine with ancient roots, Rooh also offers stylish cocktails that align with principles of ayurvedic healing that long predate the “Common Era.” And that aforementioned broken raspberry? It goes into a chaat made with sweet potatoes, yogurt mousse and crispy kale tempura — an updated spin on a classic-style dish. Similarly, Rooh’s best-in-town butter chicken is drenched in a velvety sauce uncommonly enhanced by roasted red peppers. Rooh also dabbles in molecular gastronomy and produces artful desserts destined to wow palates and Instagram followers.
Mehak Indian Kitchen & Bar
5720 Cleveland Ave, 614-392-4070, mehakindiankitchen.com
Open less than a year, Mehak is a great example of what to expect nowadays from a good neighborhood Indian restaurant in Greater Columbus — and it’s a lot. Stationed in the Columbus Square Shopping Center on the Northeast Side, this seemingly unassuming eatery cooks most everything on its gigantic menu well, but Mehak has a regional slant — it leans Punjabi (Punjab is in northwestern India). So, you’ll get an excellent thali brimming with dishes from throughout India, but if you target Punjabi fare, you’ll get an even more special meal like lamb choley: A potent curry with tender lamb and chickpeas in an intense, tomato-based gravy that is served, in proper Punjabi-style, with bhatura — fried, puffy flatbread — to mop up every last drop of the addictive sauce.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 7 Indian restaurants to try in Columbus
