Indian restaurants Archives

Sitar Chattanooga is a delicious Indian restaurant located in Downtown Chattanooga Tennessee, near the Tennessee Aquarium.

Sometimes choosing new places to eat (and write about) can be daunting. I’ve written a lot of blog posts! There are times that I feel like I’m running out of restaurants. I know that’s far from the truth, but sometimes it feels that way when I’m trying to find a place that (a) is open when I want to do a restaurant post; (b) serves something I’m in the mood for; and (c) fits into my budget (we try to save the upscale places for special occasions. Now, I know there are a ton of restaurants around that I haven’t tried, so if you have suggestions, feel free to make them!

In an attempt to make Saturdays my “blogging day” we are going to start doing as many of our restaurant trips as possible on Sundays (adjusting that schedule, of course, for those restaurants that are not open on Sunday). This week we decided to try out Sitar Chattanooga, an Indian restaurant located next door to 212 Market downtown. We’ve been on a bit of an Indian cooking kick around the house lately. We’ve heard lots of great things about Sitar and considered going for our anniversary two weeks ago but I ultimately decided that I just wanted to enjoy my evening with Philip rather than concentrate on blog-type things, so we went to Sweet Basil instead.

Now, we don’t go out on Saturday nights very often because we don’t do crowds. Sunday night definitely turned out to be the right time to head downtown for dinner and Sitar was gloriously uncrowded (though there was a steady stream of diners while we were there). We were seated immediately. The floor plan is open and the place is not very decorated…tablecloths, goblets, cloth napkins, and paper placemats on the tables and some Indian artwork scattered around (particularly behind the bar). A server poured water for us immediately and our glasses stayed filled the whole time (we drank water, of course).

The menus were fairly large, divided into the following sections: appetizers/condiments, roti char (homemade bread), lamb/seafood (yes, an odd combination), chef’s specialties, chicken, vegetarian, biryanis (rice dishes), and desserts. Philip had a different menu from me and his menu included goat dishes in the lamb/seafood section (more on that in a minute). We decided to order some panir pakora-cheese fritters made with the fresh Indian cheese panir (also spelled paneer). The fritters were large chunks of panir with spices wrapped in dough and deep fried. They were served with a sweet, thin dark sauce that I did not get the name of. The pakora was good, but I didn’t really fall in love with it. I did really like the sauce and thought that it added a lot to the flavor of the pakora.

I had a difficult time deciding whether to order sag panir (spinach and homemade cheese with ginger and spices) or vegetable biryani (basmati rice cooked with fresh vegetables). Ultimately I decided to order the sag panir so that I could compare the version that I make at home to theirs. They offer you the option to get the spice level at mild, medium, or hot; you guys know that I opted for mild (once I made this dish to the specifications suggested on Food Network’s website and had to make myself something else for dinner because it was so hot). Each dish was served with basmati rice and we also ordered a side of homemade naan bread (pictured below with Philip’s food). The sag panir (by the way, that’s also spelled saag paneer and I’ve also heard the same dish called palak paneer) was delicious, perfectly spiced with decent-sized chunks of cheese. The rice was cooked and seasoned perfectly as well. For me, though, the naan was the crowning glory of this meal. It was slightly charred, crispy around the edges, chewy, and dripping with butter. What more could you ask for? I could have made a meal out of naan alone.

Okay…back to the goat. When we visited India Mahal last year, Philip noticed goat curry on their menu and decided that he wanted to try it. Now, here in Chattanooga we don’t eat a lot of goat and it kind of gave me a little shiver…I’m not very adventurous when it comes to trying new types of meat (Philip, on the other hand, will try anything once). The meat was cut into large chunks and was served still on the bone, which was not an issue since it had been cooked in the spices and its own juices until it was completely falling apart. Philip compared it to a combination of beef and pork, so I gave it a try. And it was good! It was extremely tender and you guys, I promise that goat doesn’t taste weird at all! The curry spices were delicious.

While I’m not the biggest fan of rice pudding, Philip loves it and he really wanted some kheer. Kheer is a lightly sweetened rice pudding made with basmati rice and spiced with cardamom. It was nice and creamy, a little thinner than what us here in the States usually expect of rice pudding, and just sweet enough to taste like dessert. I loved the cardamom kick in it-that was definitely my favorite part.

Including the appetizer, two entrées, an order of naan, and the kheer our dinner was $35 pre-tip…not inexpensive but definitely not exorbitant. The staff was very friendly and attentive. As I mentioned before, the place was not packed out but there were quite a few tables occupied, many of them by regulars. The food was tasty but I’m not qualified to testify to how authentic it is. They serve a buffet for lunch and a full menu for dinner (can someone explain the Indian lunch buffet to me? All of the Indian restaurants around here do it). Sitar is actually a very small (five locations) chain that, based on my reading on their website, I believe is based out of Knoxville.

If you like Indian food, give Sitar Chattanooga a try!

Sitar Chattanooga is located at 200A Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-894-9696. You can check out their website: http://www.sitarknoxville.com and “like” them on Facebook. They serve lunch from 11-2:30 Monday through Friday and 11:30-3 on weekends; dinner is served Sunday-Thursday 5-9:30 and Friday & Saturday 5-10.

Parking: Park on the street or in one of the lots. Carta lots are less expensive than Republic lots. If you are willing to walk you can save some money (and if you are really willing to walk-which we are-you can find free parking in some of the lots at night and on the weekends).

Accessibility: Sitar is located on a city street with wheel-chair accessible sidewalks. The entrances are a little cramped. The open floor plan allows a bit of space for maneuvering a wheelchair. There is a handrail in the restroom.

Other restaurants in the area: 212 Market, Bluewater Grille

Several months ago, I wrote about the BLT pizza that I ate at a restaurant named Kudzu Grille on Philip’s and my first date. Yesterday was the fourteenth anniversary of that day! While we don’t really “celebrate” the day (as all of the anniversary glory belongs, of course, to the anniversary of our wedding in July), we always remember it. Eating at a new restaurant, drinking coffee at Rembrandt’s, walking on the bridge, wondering what the coming days (months, years…) have in store. The excitement of a new relationship…which, in our case anyway, eventually gave way to the excitement of a longterm (i.e. lifelong) relationship, but the kind where holding hands and talking about when we first met (at Chuck E. Cheese’s, where I was convinced that he hated me for months before we eventually became friends-we didn’t date until much later) never gets old. Or just hanging out on the couch and pretending like the rest of the world doesn’t exist, which is what we do most nights.

Yesterday, though, we actually hung out with a friend, our old friend Rachel, who took the photo below. We had planned to have lunch with Rachel last Saturday but then the snow kind of threw off those plans so we ate at Subway with her after church on Sunday in about twenty minutes because I had a photo shoot to do. We had to have a real lunch with her! I can’t remember what, but something had gotten Philip thinking about saag paneer, which I made one time after seeing Aarti Sequiera make it on her Food Network show Aarti Party. This dish consisted of making my own cheese from whole milk & lemon juice, which you know I’m always game for, cutting it into cubes and frying it then combining it with a spicy, creamy spinach mixture. Only her spice measurements lit me on fire and I had no idea that was going to happen. I think I ended up having a grilled cheese while Philip happily ate the spinach bowl of death.

Anyway, as I was saying….Philip wanted some saag paneer, so we had to decide where we were going to go for said dish. There are three restaurants in Chattanooga that we are aware of (perhaps there are more, please tell me if you know of any!) that serve Indian food, and they each serve a lunch buffet daily. This had us a little suspicious because we are not buffet lovers, but we eventually decided to give it a go. We decided on India Mahal because (a) to our knowledge it’s been around the longest; and (b) we had a buy one get one free coupon. We’d been seeing India Mahal for years (it’s been around since 1995) but I was always afraid to try it (truth be told, I’m not a super-adventurous eater. I was a junior in college before Philip and my roommate convinced me to try Chinese food.)…but we’d been talking about it for a long time.

The restaurant wasn’t super-crowded but it wasn’t dead either. The man who greeted us at the door, whom I assume was the owner, seated us in a booth and shook our hands (he shook Philip’s hand again as he was paying). One thing I read over and over about India Mahal is that the owners were extremely friendly and remember people from previous visits. As people came in, it seemed that the man knew several of them. They definitely have some regulars.

The buffet was a couple of tables set up with a cold unit and warming (chafing) pans. Each item was labeled with the name and a description. I was immediately disappointed by the fact that there were no samosas (Indian turnovers stuffed with spiced potatoes and peas) on the buffet….I had been hoping to try them for quite some time. I will have to make them at home….perhaps to share with you? Anyway, I was not disappointed by the naan bread, which is a traditional Indian flatbread cooked in a tandoor oven till it’s crispy and bubbly. Like the best pita bread you’ve ever eaten. I could have eaten nothing but this amazing bread, but I held myself to two pieces so I wouldn’t be miserable when I was done.

I had read up prior to venturing to India Mahal to find out what dishes were safe for someone with mild tastebuds like mine to eat in an Indian restaurant. I was happy to see chicken curry (according to their menu, boneless chicken cooked with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and fragrant spices) and chicken makhni (also known as butter chicken, described as boneless pieces of tandoori chicken cooked in Oriental spices with tomato gravy and butter). Neither dish was hot, but both were deliciously seasoned. I loved the flavor of the tomato gravy on the makhni but thought that the chicken in the curry tasted fresher than the butter chicken.

As far as vegetarian items, there were many options and I definitely could have easily made it out with a full stomach without eating a single bite of meat. I was frightened of the saag paneer since the menu describes it as “spicy spinach cooked with pieces of fresh homemade cheese” so I just put a tiny spoonful on my plate, but it was definitely within my heat range and was delicious. I ended up going back for a larger serving, along with more of the vegetable biryani, basmati rice cooked with vegetables, nuts, and spices….similar to fried rice but not. It was amazing and I didn’t even bother with the plain basmati rice (by the way, basmati rice is nuttier than plan old white rice). The channa masala-chickpeas cooked with tomatoes, onions, and spices-were quite tasty but I especially loved the eggplant and potatoes (I didn’t write down the name and it isn’t on the menu) cooked with tomatoes, onions, and spices. It sounds like an odd combination but it really works. There was also a vegetarian dish called dal makhni, made with black lentils, but I did not try this one.

Clockwise from top (starting with the bowl): raita (cooling yogurt sauce with cucumbers and mint), chicken makhni saag paneer, channa masala, potatoes & eggplant, vegetable biryani, naan bread, and curry chicken

Philip was extremely excited about the desserts: kulfi badam pista (basmati rice cooked in sweetened milk with raisins and almonds) and gulab jamun, deep-fried balls of dough soaked in syrup. He loved the rice dish, as he is a huge lover of rice pudding, but I wasn’t really a fan. I don’t know what it was….perhaps the fact that it was made with basmati rice which infiltrated the flavor, or maybe there was some rogue spice that I didn’t care for in a sweet dish. Philip described the gulab jamun as “like deep-fried Munchkins”, which was an apt description. He filled the bottom of his bowl with syrup that he then slurped from the bowl (I was having flashbacks to his Cracker Barrel maple syrup drinking days) and said it tasted like cotton candy. I was dying to have a mango lassi but decided to save my sweet tooth for some ice cream that we got at Bi-lo last night (I’ve had an ice cream craving since December and my beloved Nana’s is closed for the winter).

The only thing that might border on a complaint or suggestion that we had was that our friend pointed out that, while the food definitely wasn’t cold, it also wasn’t piping hot….the danger of sitting in a chafing dish, I suppose. I want to go here at night so we can order off of the dinner menu. The total for two lunch buffets plus a fountain drink was $23.09. If you like well-spiced food with a friendly atmosphere, I would definitely recommend India Mahal.

India Mahal is located at 5970 Brainerd Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421. You can call them at 423-510-9651. They serve a lunch buffet daily from 11:30-3:00 and a dinner menu from 5-10. You can like them on Facebook.