Ammar India Restaurant — Restaurant in Zanesville

The first Indian restaurant in Zanesville was located in the basement of a motel on Fifth street during 1970s. Ammar India Restaurant is the second Indian restaurant in Zanesville. The entrance is on the 3rd Street. There are two concrete steps without any handrails. Inside, there are more steps without any handrails leading to the dining area. Lack of handrails makes it hard for people with physical disability. I doubt if the restaurant complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). I tried following items. Samosa, the order had two Samosa. The pastry shell was good, not oily. The large shell had only about two Tablespoons of filling. It was served with three condiments. Everything was good except the amount of filling, one would feel cheated looking at the size of the shell. Mango Lassi. For sweetener, they did not use gur (jaggery), instead they used white table sugar. Ordered Aloo Naan, got butter Naan instead. Butter Naan was excellent, wish they had paid attention to the order. Raita. Normally, it has coarsely grated Cucumber, and thinly sliced shallots, sea salt, crushed roasted cumin seeds. This version was made with diced Cucumbers and chopped tomatoes. Disappointing. For the main dish ordered, Lamb/Goat Rogan Josh. The name Rogan Josh implies bright red color. It was made with yogurt based orange color sauce. They don’t serve goat or mutton meat. The word 'Goat' is used as a marketing ploy to imply authenticity. They use small bite size pieces of lamb. Better restaurants would have cut large pieces called botee along with shank, there was no shank. The main dish is about one cup of lamb curry served with a plain white rice on the side. The lamb was tender and savory. It was not traditional lamb Rogan Josh; it was just an average lamb curry. The main dinner did not include any accompaniments, they are all extra. The service is poor. The waitstaff is too busy kibitzing with each other. You wait, till they show up to take order. After serving food, no one shows up to ask if the food was satisfactory, or you wanted something else. They watch from a distance to bring the check. The wait-staff wore Black western uniforms. I expected at least a hostess wearing a saree, and/or a gentleman wearing a Kurta Pajama. That would have added to the atmosphere. In a better restaurant there would also be a 'finger bowl' with lemon and warm water to rinse fingers, after all Indians eat with their fingers. For this area, it is a very expensive restaurant, $40.00 per person without tips. I am...

I've eaten at hundreds of Indian restaurants around the country, and around the world. And I am so glad that we finally have one "locally" - its about a 35 minute drive, which is closer than the next one over an hour away.

We have been twice now since they opened. The first was for the buffet, and the second ordering off the menu.

The buffet - if you are new to Indian food, and do not know what to try, this is a great opportunity to try a selection of good food. It isn't spicy. If you already know what you like, but want a variety, then the buffet is also great because the food is still flavorful without being too hot.

The menu - is extensive. If you are vegetarian, there are lots of options. If you like chicken, lamb, goat, or seafood there are plenty of dishes to choose from. There are the staples that every Indian has, and some that I haven't seen in many. The food is fresh, warm, and very tasty. Like all good Indian restaurants the food is ordered to your liking on the hotness (spice) level.

We ordered the Chicken Saag and Kadai Ginger Chicken. Saag is always a mildly disturbing color...but it tasted great! I like my curry mildish and was a little concerned because ginger can sometimes be overpowering. But the ginger was spot on and the flavors came together really well.

I am incredibly picky when it comes to naan bread. Their bread was just the right consistency of fluffy in the middle and slightly charred around the edge - just as it should be.

The decor. They have done a great job decorating the building. It is an old commercial building and it is a weird shape and size. They have done a good job of making use of the space. It does get busy for the buffet, so if you want something a little more romantic (based on our 2 visits) going when they don't have the...

This place isn't ready for prime time. I really don't know what I walked into. There are still urban comfort signs and decore. The buffet is in a terrible location set up on what look like card tables. My wife and I stood for probably 10 mins with little to no interaction waiting to he seated but people are pushing past you to get to the buffet and back to thier seats. The buffet is tiny maybe 5 or 6 options.I didnt get a chance to try the food because it was so discombobulated we decided to just hit the breeze. Maybe I'll try again in a few months once they've gotten their game together. I'll update if and when I go back.

UPDATE!!!!

So its been a little while and my wife and I decided to go back and try again and I've gotta say 180 degree experience. Food was flavourful. Service was top notch. We didn't get buffet we ordered off the menu. Chicken Tikka Masala was tender and creamy and lightly spiced but flavourful. Lamb vindaloo had punchy flavors and at a 4 on their 1 to 6 rating was pretty spicy. Breads were excellent especially the batura. At this point I can highly recommend it. Every bit as good as their equals to north(bombay sitar,...