Sitar Cuisine of India — Restaurant in Spring

WATCH OUT INDIANS - We visited this restaurant while traveling from Dallas after seeing its reviews, but unfortunately, they seem quite misleading.

The overall experience was disappointing. Surprisingly, there were no Indian staff members or anyone who seemed to understand Indian food preferences. One of our group members follows Jain dietary restrictions, and when we inquired about Jain food, the manager was completely clueless. When I asked to speak with someone familiar with Indian cuisine, the manager shockingly admitted that no one in the entire restaurant is Indian.

I requested buttermilk, and instead of the traditional Indian version, I was served an Oak Farms ready-made buttermilk, which was awful. When I asked for Nimbu Pani (Indian-style lemonade), the manager had no idea what it was. I then asked for lemonade, only to be served a Minute Maid Pink Lemonade—a completely different drink, We asked for Paratha’s they brought us Frozen Malaysian Paratha. So Frustrating, If I wanted to eat frozen food, I would just buy myself. Next we said get us any breads which are not frozen in wheat, Manager denied again. We stood and left the restaurant.

To the owners: If you are running an Indian restaurant, please have at least one person who understands Indian food! It felt like walking into an English school where everyone speaks Hebrew, and no one knows English—frustrating and baffling. Would not recommend for those looking for an authentic Indian...

The manager is extremely rude, belligerent, dishonest, and uncooperative. I specifically asked if the food on the buffet is spicy. I made it a point to let them know that I cannot eat spicy food, due to health conditions. Rather than be honest about the spice level of the food on the buffet, which would have given me the chance to order from the menu, instead of take-out buffet, he insisted the food was extremely mild and had nothing spicy on it. When I got home and tried to eat the food, taking 2 bites of each type of food I got, my mouth was on fire, and it took forever to get my mouth to stop burning. When I called to share this experience with the manager, all he did was argue, insist it was my fault, refuse to express even an ounce of an apology, and kept lying by insisting the food on the buffet was mild, even though I kept trying to tell him about my experience with his food. I would not recommend this restaurant as a place to get East Indian food. I’ve been going there for the past 20 years (usually once or twice a year), and the food gets worse and worse every time I go. Normally, I order from the menu, but I wanted to try something new, which is why I ordered take-out buffet. The price they charged me for the buffet was ridiculous as well since I made it a point to not fill up any of the containers I used (less than 50% capacity for each container). Unless you enjoy being lied to and charged way more than the food is worth, GO...

I made a new friend recently and we decided to have lunch a few days ago. I had craving for Indian. Lo and behold, upon arrival the place we’d decided on was closed down completely. Thus, we quite serendipitously ended up at the next closest Indian restaurant around, Sitar Cuisine of India.

We were immediately welcomed by a friendly host at the door and invited to pick out a table for ourselves. The restaurant was just starting to get busy for the Friday lunch hour, and we picked a spot mid-room. We left our jackets on the backs of our chairs and headed for the buffet line.

The plethora of options made it impossible to be too modest in filling our plates. Among other things, I went with Chicken Biryani, Matter Paneer, and Curried Chicken. Warm naan was delivered to the table, the perfect exclamation point on a surely delicious meal.

The warm, earthy aroma of spices, chicken and naan complimented the conversation well. My new friend and I spent an hour or so talking about our childhoods, our respective marriages, and our tastes both culinary and musical.

It always amazes me food can be a Trojan horse of sorts. A good meal can be the impetus for letting guard down, for opening up, for inviting someone in. Sitar Cuisine of India accomplished this phenomenally. It’s the perfect place to bring an old friend...