Ambar India Restaurant — Restaurant in Cincinnati

My first memory of Ambar comes from toddlerhood. When I was very young and before I understood anything in this world, some of my fondest memories came from my parents driving my siblings and I to Clifton to play on the slide at Burnett Woods and then walk to Ambar for dinner. For some reason I was scared to try rice, so my favorite meal was my self-invented “naan tacos” where I would tear up little pieces of garlic naan and put chicken tikka inside. It was the tastiest thing in the world to me and I felt like a revolutionary. When I was in middle school the owners of Ambar opened Kanak India about 5 minutes from my parent’s house and that became our new go to spot. It was almost as wonderful as Ambar, but for some reason I always held on to the memory how Ambar simply just hit your taste buds different. When I started going to college at the University of Cincinnati I entered an Ambar dry spell because I was young and dumb, hopping around Clifton Heights and abandoning Ludlow all together. This all changed in 2020. Not long after businesses began to reopen after the shutdown, I decided to meet up with a few trusted friends for a movie night. As we had not seen each other in many moons, it only seemed appropriate that we go all out on a nice food order. One of my friends suggested Ambar and my brain swiftly threw me back in time to my days as a child with naan tacos in front of me. But this? This was a new era. I wasn’t some rice hating toddler anymore. This was my moment to experience the much more authentic version of chicken tikka, the sought-after chicken tikka masala. Hoping it would be worth it, I followed my friends and we all got individual orders of the chicken tikka masala. The first thing I noticed upon receiving my food from Ambar was astonishing packing job by the staff. To this day I will never understand how they get the rice containers so perfectly filled to the brim each and every time. Within a few bites of my meal, a new man was awakened in me. I eat out in Cincinnati quite frequently. I consider eating out a good opportunity to relax, get a new experience, and provide a reliable space for being social when we aren’t living in a global pandemic. That first moment I got the chicken tikka masala with my friends, it was unlike anything I had ever consumed before. I don’t know what comes over me when Ambar is in front of me, but I just turn into a complete beast. Since this moment, I have become so strongly Ambar motivated that I specifically budget my money to buy Ambar with the money I’m not saving. I have probably spent hundreds on Ambar in the last 2 months and always ruthlessly advocate for it to my friends. I don’t care how much money it is, or whether it yields one meal or three. This is the best food I ever have and ever will eat, and it crushes literally anywhere else in Cincinnati. I never think about going anywhere else with anyone unless Ambar is closed. That being said, Ambar has very reliable hours. I tell everyone I know to get Ambar. There is not a single moment where I won’t shout from atop a hill in support of Ambar, and there is not one moment when ordering it at the end of the day isn’t in the back of my mind. I got Ambar 2 days ago, and I am already counting the days until I can order it again. Ambar India has been apart of my life for as far back as I am mentally capable of remembering. It’s a beacon of goodness in a world where it feels like we have less and less good things every day. I know I can always count on Ambar to get my amped up and make the woes of the day worth fighting through. If you can afford to support a local business during this time of pandemic,...

I’m very sad to give this place a 3 star review. They served the BEST SAAG PANEER I’ve ever had!! Seriously delicious. I agree with another reviewer who raved about the garlic naan, so do yourself a favor and order it. However, the service was terrible. Absolutely the worst. There were three ladies in the front of house on our visit. The lady who happened to be our server was beyond rude. She asked if we would like to order when we sat down and my husband replied that we would need a minute. She came back about 1-2 minutes later asking for our order and seemed put out that we wanted to look at the menu. Once we did place our order, she rolled her eyes at me when I asked a question about a dish. The two other ladies who were working were incredibly polite and very friendly to other customers and Uber Eats drivers. This would explain the 5 star “amazing service” reviews and the one star “awful” reviews. One of the other ladies went out of her way to pick up our server’s slack by refilling our beverages and offering more rice when we were packing up our leftovers. I sincerely hope that they don’t share tips, because we would have tipped the second lady very well. We are usually very generous tippers but left a small tip that was much more than our waitress deserved. I would drive all the way form Columbus to Cincinnati for their Saag Paneer - but if I do, I’ll be...

First (1st) and still the absolute best in Cincinnati, Ohio. To be honest, the best in the whole tri-state area. I ordered the chicken tikka masala, my wife and girl had chickpeas and cream sauce? My son, chicken curry. Had four bhatura ( puffy bread) , hot from the oil. Bhatura had no to little oil taste, and puffy, puffy. Biggest bhatura in town. Besides the delicious indian food at its best, I also had a import indian beer, Taj Mahal. Went very well with my Masala. Yes, I claim the right to name it My Masala GREAT JOB AMBARS, always fast service, my wife and children always had their only beverages full to top. That would be the water. I hear rourmor, that Ambars has always filtered their water. I myself had a water at retire. Then I went to the parking lot. It is very small. Our family SUV. was parked backed in, which I would advise if it is nearly full. Well, for bigger trucks. Everyone who pulls in from Clifton has to swing wide. (For big rigs). It will fit. Extended mirrors will have to be folded in, Before entering parking off road (Any direction). Thanks again everyone at AMBARS Indian. (Cooks, owners, cash register, bar tenders, waitress, waiter, janators (went men's room, twice. Clean smell). And door man. Well, I was missing him! How is he? (Back door, cook?)....