Gulzar's Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Dayton

The person who served us was very hospitable and extremely friendly. Bonus points for that, but below is a review of the items we ordered and what we felt about them.

Mix platter- Bad. I've never had kebabs slathered in sweet sauce. Generally kebabs are just char-grilled with spices- the sweet sauce on the kebabs is straight up an abomination. Maybe mention it on the menu? Also the boiled pieces of chicken breasts are a very poor excuse for Chicken Tikka. So maybe not call it that? The experience with the mix platter is honestly a deal breaker.

Spinach Pakoda- Good.

Paneer Makhani- Average. It was too sweet and does not have enough cream in it.

Vegetable Biryani- Good

Tandoori roti- Good

Chicken Biryani- Average. The rice was on point with dry fruits and peas, but it had boneless white meat chicken instead of the dark meat with the bone, which I was not a fan of, as traditionally it is supposed to be made with bone-in dark and white meat. I'm sure every other Indian who tries it will feel the same.

Dal Makhani- Good. The best of all the items we had.

Nans/garlic naans- Good.

Gulzar Karai with Lamb- Average. Again, It just had boneless pieces of lamb. PUT THE BONE IN.

Now when it comes to pricing, it was expensive. Here's my problem with it- when most of the items in your menu are expensive (north of $15 per item on average), it is imperative that you atleast make sure you're serving quality and authentic Indian food. I would not pay 19 dollars for that Mixed Kebab Platter. Neither 15 dollars for the chicken biryani. Especially when you have another Indian restaurant that serves world class Biryani for 14 dollars.

The service was really good though. I did not pay the bill as we went in for a friend's treat, so I don't know if we tipped. In case you did not recieve a tip, it is probably because your food was too expensive to taste average overall.

I can see how a non-indian person would like the food. But as an Indian, my advice to other Indians is to go in with very low...

So, I had a business meeting in Dayton downtown so thought to visit Gulzar for lunch, my first time. Here are my thoughts from the solo visit:

I was greeted with a smile by the hostess, perhaps owner's wife. Food options are reasonable as compared to other Indian places. For the first 20 minutes or so that I sat there, not even a single person stopped by to ask me if I needed something else or if food was okay. Not a single person replenished my glass of water, which was finally done after about 20-25 minutes. Indian restaurants are known for their Basmati Rice aroma. Rice here was of very poor quality. Three curry dishes, all tasted the same. I could not tell any difference. Hostess (perhaps owner's wife) spent about 15-20 minutes talking with a couple. I wish she would spend more time taking care of all of her customers and visit their tables at least once. She did not even once stop by to check if I needed anything. Pakoras were good. Grilled chicken also tasted good. After I had been there for about 30 minutes, someone came out of the kitchen and I think this person walked around all of the tables and asked everyone if food was okay or if we needed something else. At least this one person did ask me too. Sometimes it is better to hire a local college student to wait on people. One guy in this role was not the best person for the job. A simple smile goes a long way.

These are my views only. If they want to be around for a long time, I hope the owners pay some attention....

Blown away; will be back! The restaurant is as clean as it looks in online pictures. They have tons of vegetarian dishes. I ordered the paneer makhani and my dining partner ordered Chicken Saag. The paneer makhani was the perfect blend of flavors. One flavor didn't over power the others. I also ate a bit of the saag. My first bite was shocking. FULL of flavor; velvety smooth and creamy! I highly recommend the saag. The mango Chile drink tasted like all the best spices india has to offer. The after taste was an aroma that set me at ease. I eat moderately compared to most Americans, so I wasn't able to finish my meal. However, my more traditional dining partner did eat all of his, but said he was full. Two entres, naan, and two alcoholic drinks ran us $62. That's about $30. less than what we usually spend on a Friday dinner out. I'm not very tolerant of spice. I ordered a spice level 2 (of 10) and was not able to detect any heat. My partner ordered a 6 and it was fine for him, but slightly too hot for me. The only reason I couldn't give 5 stars is because I asked two different employees for drink recommendations and neither could begin to help. If not educating servers on the drinks, it would be nice to send someone to the table who could advise on the drink selection. Overall, it was a lovely experience. I already know what I'm ordering next time we...