Sitar Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Huntsville

EDITED FOR MORE RECENT EXPERIENCE - ORIGINAL (EQUALLY BAD) REVIEW BELOW.

I couldn't remember why my fiancée and I hadn't been to Sitar in years, and finding ourselves in the area - ostensibly looking for Korean places, but apparently these have all shut down - we ended up at Sitar.

Unlike our few previous trips, it was near empty, though admittedly we arrived not long after it opened. Perhaps it bucks the trend of sunday night dining in Huntsville, and it gets busy later, who knows.. Or maybe it's just continuing to go downhill. Based upon the state of the restaurant, I suspect the latter.

Sadly our trip did not last long. After being told to sit "at the last table by the window" by a greeter who didn't deign to leave his podium to sit us himself, we sat down for nearly 5 minutes, staring at the sadly faded and miserably decor before a waiter came over with water and papadums. Whether they were free or we would have been charged was unsure, since they had a long hair cooked right into them. The waiter came back to refill our water and we pointed this out, so he went off to get more.

The greeter finally came over with menus (now 15 painful minutes in), and the delay was enough to make the decision for me. I explained we wouldn't be staying due to the hair, and we got a dismissive shrug and a "he's getting you more" as a response. I said we weren't interested, to which we got another shrug.

For the love of everything good, don't waste your time or money on this awful excuse for a restaurant. My original recommendation has since closed, but fortunately we have discovered a great option: Saffron in Madison. Great buffet there too. Ended up going yhere for dinner, and wondered why we didn't go there straight away.

ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS:

Went there based on these online reviews as I had already been to Cafe India, as as someone keen to find the best Indian food (albeit lunch buffet), I was disappointed. As mentioned previously in a review, all lunch food is "toned down" to meet the needs of the clientele, but left normally flavorful dishes bland and lifeless. Normal staples of Indian buffets - kormas, biryanis and rogan josh - were noticeably absent, and the limp chicken pieces in the chicken curry (though name aside, you'd never know a curry leaf had ever headed its way) were disappointing. The tandoori chicken got my hopes up, but as I tasted it, it tasted like plain smoked chicken. I doubt they went into a tandoor, and I pushed them aside. On the plus side, staff are friendly and attentive, and its got a decent crowd in there, so at least you...

I lived in India for the first 27 years of my life and travelled for the most of part with opportunity to taste food from all over. Myself and my two other friends visited Huntsville yesterday to receive my friend from the Airport and after reading positive reviews on Google, we decided to try Sitar Indian Cuisine at Huntsville AL. Here are my thoughts.

To begin with food is not even remotely “Indian”. They serve some local homegrown recipe and claim that to be “ Indian”. Taste and flavor can still be argued as preferences but one cannot overlook the quality of ingredients especially if it is abysmally and alarmingly poor. Oil literally dripped from the Samosa and Pakkora, clearly the food was prepared days ago and refried just before serving. The minced meat in the meat Samosa was stale and gave away a foul odor. Post which we ordered Paneer masala and Chicken masala with Tandoori roti. The rice served with curry was dry and undercooked again indicative of not being fresh at all. Although Chicken masala was bearable the Paneer masala was an absolute disaster. The dish had overwhelming quantities of harmful food coloring apparently to enhance the visual appeal however with complete disregard for its side-effects. For those who are familiar with Indian cuisine would agree that artificial food colouring is never used in authentic Indian cooking. The harmful side effects of such adulterants are well known and need not be elaborated here. Tandoori Roti is supposed to be an oil free oven cooked bread which here was literally dipped in oil reason for which one fails to comprehend. Understand some chefs prefer to use butter to grease it but this had oil beyond measure.

I don’t mind paying a premium for a good evening’s meal but this is not worth the deal. If you want to eat authentic Indian food with even slightest of concerns for your body and its wellbeing then stay clear...

I think he is the manager. He has long hair and is a very rude person.

On January 9, 2025, at 1:10 PM, our group of four entered the restaurant, and we started preparing the buffet for us. Meanwhile, I received a very important phone call and was talking on the phone. I took two plates to the table and came back to grab one bowl. I thought my brother was there getting food, so I said I would take the bowl and grabbed it. While I was grabbing the bowl, I was very close to the manager guy unknowingly(bc i thought that person was my brother), and he rudely said some words in Indian. I asked him why he was being unnecessarily rude to me, and he started staring at me in a hostile manner.

I told him, ‘We are customers, and we came here to eat.’ This is probably the 30th or 40th time we’ve come here, but his inhumane behavior toward us made me very angry. He even came close to the booth where I was sitting, holding a pan and utensils. We decided to leave the place without eating, but I told him I would pay for the food. He refused and said he would not take any payment.

This is a very honest review for management: this is not the right way to treat customers. While you may currently be getting business, his behavior could cost you a lot in the future.

A personal message to him: if you think you’re strong or have a lot of anger, or if you want to fight with customers, go to a professional fighting championship instead of working in customer service.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge the uncle who is usually at the register. He has always been great and very supportive toward customers. He deserves to be praised. I thank him sincerely because this will be my last visit to...