The Indian Bistro Restaurant — Restaurant in Union Township

They were great at hosting (although the old Sikh man speaks very little English, he was still very nice, but an ineffective host for those who don't speak his language), and went out of their way to please us. I was very impressed with the quality of their customer service!

The atmosphere is somewhat Indian, with paintings and (mostly modern) Indian music playing. The bathroom was clean but lacked any nuance of India.

On the 1st visit, I told them we love genuine Indian food and didn't want the Americanized version, and about our dietary restrictions, which they were very attentive to. We had aloo choley, navratan korma, garlic naan and samosa, all of which were quite good, although the samosa lagged behind the rest and Flavorfull India has better samosa. In fact, the main dishes that come with basmati long-grain rice were delicious; so delicious, in fact, that my son stopped himself once he ate half because he wanted to take the other half home to have for another meal, it was that good! The garlic naan unfortunately has dairy in it, but it is the first time I've EVER encountered spiced naan, and it was great! I left full, replete and very pleased! They even gave us a free dessert I've never had before, which was mildly sweet cookie balls that were nice.

On our 2nd visit, we told the hostess about our dietary restrictions but forgot to mention that we didn't want "fake" food. We had shrimp vindaloo (a spiced tomato sauce with boiled potatoes), mushroom matar, special aloo tikka and regular naan (I'm fairly certain it was made in a tandoor), which tasted just as it should. The vindaloo tasted quite nice but the potatoes had not been boiled long enough. When I pointed it out to the hostess and showed her that I couldn't even pinch the very large piece (another piece had flown off the table when my son tried to cut it with a spoon), she immediately offered to replace or substitute it for free, and didn't take it away, so my son ate it (minus the potatoes). THAT is smart service because they keep building up a positive image even when they make mistakes! By the time the replacement came out with more rice, he was so full that he took it home.

I lauded praise on them and told her how much I love real Indian food, so she said she was going to make a traditional recipe of tarka daal (lentils in a sauce of garlic, onion and finely diced ginger, which reminds me of a Southern Indian recipe as well as an Indonesian one) at no charge for us. I was very surprised and pleased by this. It was quite a nice dish and my son really liked it (possibly more than me), which became my lunch today as I was too full to eat it.

As I told the daughter of the old Sikh man, out of all the Indian restaurants I've been to in the US, Indonesia and Singapore, this is in the top 5!

It's a bit expensive to eat here, as most Indian restaurants are because of how much labor they put into their sauces and spices, I suppose, but it's definitely worth the money! One dish and one appetizer should be enough to sate most people, and maybe even leave them with left-overs.

The only other Indian restaurant that I can think of that may match it is Swad on the west side, but there are many...

I was craving Indian food but wasn't in the mood to drive to my usual Clifton and Oakley favorites. Googled Indian restaurants near me and The Indian Bistro popped up. I'd seen coupons for the restaurant in the neighborhood circulars but figured anyplace that had to use coupons couldn't be that good. So much for that theory!!

I called in a carry out order for Chicken Tikka and onion naan. When I got there it wasn't quite ready, which was OK because it didn't take me as long as thought it would to find the restaurant. It is a bit hidden in a strip mall behind the Family Dollar store. My food was ready about 2 minutes later. Got home and was impressed! Container was filled to the brim with delicious, flavourful chunks of chicken tikka with onions/tomatoes and lemon slices, two pieces of onion naan along with rice. I ordered spice level 3 (scale of 1-4) and for me this was the perfect amount of spiciness. I was surprised to find a generous cup of Dahl in my order (another favorite). I could have just had that for dinner and been happy. One more added bonus (and delightful surprise!) was a foil packet with several pieces of carrot halwa. It was all so delicious! Very generous portion; I'll be set for dinner for the next 3 days, and all of this was less than $15.

If you like Indian food, skip those "other" east side restaurants and drive a few more miles up Beechmont Ave (aka Ohio Pike).and try The Indian Bistro Restaurant, You won't be...

If you like Indian food this is the place to go. I was recently introduced to Indian food in downtown Cincy and have been dreaming about it ever since. I wanted to check out some local home places with the husband since I work downtown. This place had great reviews and it was nearest. Now I am just one good review in a VAST SEA of good reviews; and for good reason!

The atmosphere was great and everyone was incredibly friendly, one person was kind enough to explain in detail how the mint Chutney was made because we were curious and trying to guess the ingredients for fun. This place was booming. While we were there, probably 20-25 take out orders went out, but we had to wait only a normal amount of time to get food.

Speaking of food... Perfection. So so so good. Their hot and spicy naan was chefs kiss. and the samosas.... I'm hungry again just thinking about them. I got chicken Tikka masala and it was so delicious. It was rich and tomato-y and had just the right amount of spice. My husband got the bistro special and it was equally good.

You could tell that the way the folks working there Interacted with some of the customers, that the dine in people were all regulars. I believe 4 more sets of regulars came in just while we were there, and even more came just for takeout and knew the staff by name. This, to me, is always a great sign.

We will 100% be back, and I highly recommend this place! I'm ready to go back right...