Indian buffets offer up delicious flavor at the right price


DAYTON EATS

Turn to us every Sunday in Life & Arts for the latest menu updates, special dinners and events, new chefs, interesting new dishes, and culinary adventures brought to you by contributing writer Alexis Larsen. Bon appetite!

HOW TO GO

What: Ajanta India Restaurant’s buffet

Where: 3063 Woodman Drive, Kettering

Cost: A $7.99 lunch buffet is available from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The $10.99 dinner buffet is served up from 5-9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays only with menu service the other Wednesday through Sunday.

More information: 937-296-9200

Earlier this year while perusing The Washington Post, I came across an article titled, “Why delicious Indian food is surprisingly unpopular in the U.S.” by Roberto Ferdman.

In it he interviewed New York University professor Krishnendu Ray — a food studies professor who has been focused on this particular cuisine for more than a decade.

What floored me are the stats that Ray shared. There are more than 40,000 Chinese and 40,000 Mexican restaurants in the U.S., but only about 5,000 Indian restaurants across the country. Grocery sales in this cuisine category are even more dismal accounting for only 1.2 percent of total ethnic food sales in 2011, according to the Specialty Food Association.

I love food of all varieties, flavors and kinds, but Indian is one of my very favorites.

I love it so much that sometimes I find myself daydreaming that an Indian restaurant will someday open downtown close to home and work. Dayton resident Kate Ervin clearly felt the same way, starting a petition to bring an Indian restaurant downtown writing, “we’re desperate for some saucy spicy goodness around here and we’re sick of driving out to the end of the earth to get it. We promise you’ll be the most popular thing around, especially if you include a lunch buffet, and maybe some of those little fennel candies at the register.”

For those like Ervin and myself, Indian food can best be described with one word — intoxicating. It’s beautiful to look at, even better to smell, and the complex, intense combinations of wonderful spices like curry, turmeric, tamarind, cumin, coriander and cardamom in those creamy, wonderful sauces are the stuff that foodie dreams are made of.

We are lucky to have quite a few good Indian restaurants in Dayton including Amar, Ajanta, Jeet, India Chaat, India Oven and Taste of India.

The buffets that many of these spots offer are perfect for those looking to familiarize themselves with this magical cuisine. One of my favorites is the one served up at Ajanta India Restaurant, housed in a shopping center near Dorothy Lane and Woodman Drive.

The interior is as unassuming as the exterior, which you will risk missing if you’re not on the lookout. It may be dated, but you’re not heading there for the decor. A generous $7.99 lunch buffet is available from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. A $10.99 dinner buffet is served up from 5-9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesday evenings. It’s food that’s sure to please without breaking the bank.

The spread includes crowd favorites like Chicken Tikka Masala (chicken in a creamy tomato curry sauce), Chicken Tandoori (roasted chicken made with yogurt and spices), Saag Paneer (spinach with Indian cheese), Aloo Chole (chickpea potato curry) and Mater Paneer (a vegetarian dish made with peas and Paneer cheese in a tomato sauce). There’s also Chicken Curry, Fish Pakora, different soups, fresh fruit, vegetables, wonderful chutney, Naan and savory samosas. It’s a nice spread with plenty to choose from, and you can’t beat the price at $7.99.

The large, tender chicken pieces simmering in flavorful sauces featured in several of the dishes are a great introduction for those who are uninitiated and looking to try something new. Place several scoops on a bed of rice and prepare to be amazed.

As with all buffets, you want to get there before it’s been sitting around for several hours, so shoot to arrive in the 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. range. My only real complaint about the buffet is the Nan — it was a little limp and sad. It would be better if they brought it out fresh to the table as folks arrive so it doesn’t sit so long in a chafing dish getting soggy.

“Indian food is basically where Chinese food was a generation ago,” Ray was quoted as saying in the Washington Post article.

All I can say is a lot of folks are missing out. It’s an entire world of ethnic cuisine that is so delicious that scientists have gone to the trouble of studying what makes it so tasty (if you want to know, Google “why is Indian food so good?” — it’s a pretty interesting explanation).

It can be very healthy, with many vegetarian options, some dishes that are high in fiber and most that are packed with Indian spices that can have anti-inflammatory properties thought to be good for the immune system and overall health — just stay away from the fried foods and heavy curry dishes.

It’s hard to go wrong with Indian food — honestly, my only complaint is usually the drive.

Dayton Eats looks at the regional food stories and restaurant news that make mouths water. Share your menu updates, special dinners and events, info about new chefs, interesting new dishes and culinary adventures. Do you know of new exciting format changes, specials, happy hours, restaurant updates or any other tasty news you think is worth a closer look at? E-mail Alexis Larsen at alexis.e.larsen@hotmail.com with the information and we will work to include it in future coverage.

About the Author