Bittoo's Tikka — Restaurant in Dickson City

Photos are of the view from the parking lot. I couldn’t resist ☺️

I can see why others give this place 5 stars. I’m really wanting to do the same. Especially after my last Indian cuisine fail back home.

But, I’m sticking to my guns here on strictly judging food. I am a foodie after all, and I want others to trust my judgement.

Location:

Excellent location here in Dickson City located along the highway. Not far from the Home2Suites, right next door to Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Unfortunately it is difficult to walk here from the hotel are there are no sidewalks, I’ll continue to complain about this until the city fixes this issue.

Decorum:

While the restaurant is located in a small strip mall next to a Verizon, and the building itself is older. Think everyone will be happy with the inside of the business. It is bright and airy with plenty of seating. It gives off fast food vibes, but would is great for casual dining. Definitely not a fancy place.

Food:

I’m pretty basic. And I stick to what I know. Ordered the Butter Chicken, Veggie Samosas (lamb, as I’m quickly discovering, is extremely hard to find!), and the Garlic Cheese naan.

Butter Chicken: sauce itself is amazing, perfect thickness, packed with rich flavor, perfectly seasoned, and not overly spicy (I forgot to ask if you can pick the level of heat). The chicken itself was okay. Was moist, but it lacked some seasoning. IMO the chicken would benefit from a longer marinade.

Serving size there are actually two sizes. The main on the menu is $19. Believe the man at the counter stated it is 24oz. I went for the cheaper option at $15, that included the rice total of 15 oz.

15 oz to me is a lot of food. And I did not finish it.

Samosa: very normal samosas served with 2 chutneys. The one I usually like is the sweeter one with tamarin and dates (just found out last night that is the contents 😋)

I swear I’ve tasted these exact samosas before. So maybe frozen? 🤷🏻 If not, very exacting recipe.

Naan: Had the cheese-garlic naan. The bread itself again reminded me of a frozen one I’ve had, but the flavors are there. Really really good. Great texture and smell. Part of me wants to say that they used “jarlic” or pre-minced jarred garlic. It had that kinda sweetness of this particular garlic. Either way I did not mind.

Overall this meal was actually really nice.

My biggest suggestion would be to marinade and season the chicken a little bit more/longer.

I’ll definitely visit again when I...

Suffice it to say there were many Indian patrons there! I point this out as an indication of acceptable food preparation from those that have better reference than me.

But let me give you Gringo Rob's perspective... The food was delicious! Seemed of good quality, very flavorful, and chicken was cooked perfectly. Girl at counter was nice and helpful and the owner was cordial. Good experience and we would definitely go back.

Some things that kinda bothered me as follows. There was gross lack of atmosphere. Yes, an enticing aroma greets you when you walk in but it ends there. Décor is low budget, the place looks like a recycled strip mall front (which it is), few lamps were added but bright high hats remain and the place is too clinical. I don't recall if there was even background Indian music playing.

Food is served in cardboard dishes which get soggy, deform and absorb the yummy sauces. Sorry, I would sacrifice the environment for another lick of the sauce!

And a big pet peeve with this place and others in general (yes, I know this is common practice now) is that after I stand in line and place my order and go to pay the point of sale device gives me options for a tip (with the girl staring at me as I have to make a decision). I hate this! I have not yet tasted the food. I have not yet experienced any service. This is not a tip at all. This is simply a strong arm technique to extract more revenue. Just raise the prices and dont do this!

But the chicken tikka was yummy. And the chicken curry was yummy. Ooh, and the garlic naan was soo good. And I am old and grumpy. So I will go back and I encourage all to try this place! And if the owner reads this, think about the décor and cardboard pates and see what you can do.

By the way, I did cave and gave 18% tip at the register when I paid. And to my surprise, the girl said 'thank you' - I think the first time the POS tip was ever acknowledged at any of the many places that I have been to that do this! Kudos to...

First and foremost, the friendliest staff imaginable, but more details of that later. I rarely get a chance to try Indian food, so finding out about this place was a godsend. Explaining my lack of experience in the food, the man behind the counter asked a few questions of what I like, spice tolerance, etc, and I landed on Bittoo's Grandma's Curry with lamb, and as a personal pick onion naan.

The only real criticism I have is, I was led to believe it would be spicy. But likely it caters to the average person's idea of spice, bite into a jalapeno and it'd be spicier. But, the flavor was pretty damn nice. Hard to describe, since I rarely have the spices used in this sort of food. The lamb was tender enough to cut with the plastic spoon you get to eat it, and for a single word description of the lamb, 'meaty', it was good. Mix the curry with the rice they provide, and I practically inhaled it. Only criticism would be a lack of vegetables or changes in texture, but I see in pictures that they do offer such things, just not this dish, so not a negative. The onion naan I wasn't a fan of, but I chalk that up to expecting a naan with just onions or something cooked in it, while it looked like a strange sort of little pizza when I got it. Not a fan, but not saying it's bad.

Back to the friendly staff, when asked about the food, I was honest and mentioned my distaste for the onion naan. Instantly apologizes, and offers a different naan for free. I'm not looking for free stuff, so I turn him down. But yet he insists on something, so goes to get something. That something being a mango lassi, which I did agree too. To put it simply, imagine a delicious, thick mango smoothie. The lengths these guys go to to ensure a customer is satisfied is insane, and appreciated. I'll definitely try to find the time to come back and try...