Mahoning Valley Eats & Treats: March 2013

Thursday, March 21, 2013

BOMBAY SITAR

Even if you're not an aficionado of classic Indian cuisine - and I admit it's not at the top of my preference list - it's hard to imagine you won't find something (or several somethings) to love at Bombay Sitar. My husband Jack and I not long ago discovered the treasures inside courtesy of our son Scott and daughter-in-law Lilla - a friend from India had recommended it to them. Ever since, my mouth has been watering for a return visit. The only reason for the delay is that its location in the Belden Village Mall in Canton means close to two hours of driving time for us coming and going.

It is, however, well worth that driving time, especially if you like authentic Indian cuisine. All food here is prepared fresh daily with no additives or preservatives, or so says the website, which also notes that the curry used isn't the supermarket variety. If you're among the some who like it hot, you'll find it here (or you can request that any dish be spiced up to your liking). And if you think all curry is spicy, think again; in fact, most of the dishes we tried were full of flavor but totally without "heat."

If you're unsure of what you'll like - or if, like us, it's your first time here - I strongly advise visiting during lunch hours (on weekends, it's around noon to 3 p.m.). The cost is a very reasonable $8.49 Friday through Sunday ($7.99 on weekdays), and you'll be able to sample a little bit of everything. As we quickly learned, it does get a bit crowded on weekends, and it's not a large restaurant, so plan to arrive as close to opening time as you can to avoid what could be a rather lengthy wait.

We did just that and were seated almost immediately (and almost immediately afterward a line of hopefuls were lined up all the way outside the door). Our server brought glasses of water right away and took our drink order - you can get bottled beer and several wines by the glass if you want.

There were five in our party, including Lilla's wonderful mum Sheila, and every single one of us signed on for the buffet. My first round included a cup of sambar, a spicy soup that was delicious with a mild (to me) kick - turns out that was a favorite of Scott's as well. I also liked the Tandori-style chicken with grilled onions and peppers - a wonderful flavor that wasn't at all hot. This dish, I decided, would be fine as a stand-alone meal, which I'll consider the next time we're there - but only if I can pass up that wonderful buffet, which is doubtful.

"We all thought the vegetable pakora were excellent (fritters of onion and other vegetables), but everything was very good and there's nothing else I'd single out," Scott told me later. I concur; there were a few standouts for me as well, but on the whole there wasn't much I tried that I didn't like.

The mixed grill has an assortment of bone-in and boneless chicken, shrimp, seekh kebob and chicken tandoori and is quite delicious, and I loved the Chicken Tikka Masala, or boneless pieces of chicken tikka in a creamy butter sauce with fresh tomatoes. Most of the buffet items were in a sauce best eaten over rice, and there were at least two kinds of rice for that purpose.

The buffet items when we were there included onion chutney and achar, or Indian hot and spicy mixed pickles, as well as "hot sauce." I tried them all, and the achar was quite hot, but I wasn't fond of the in-your-face flavor. The hot sauce, however, was another story entirely; filled with hot pepper seeds and extremely spicy hot, it went very well with a couple of the bread-type items like the veggie-stuffed appetizer pitas cut on the diagonal that were next to the soup. It is not for the faint of heart, however - just a tiny bite took my breath away.

Other buffet items I enjoyed are the vegetable samosa, dal makhni (lentils) and chana saat (chickpeas and tomato sauce with a potato here and there) and a similar-sounding chana saag, with chickpeas, spinach and ginger. The latter was good but not a favorite - ginger isn't my favorite flavor unless it's almost unnoticeable.

There wasn't much room for dessert, but I did try the kheer (rice pudding) that's made with almonds and pistachios. I'm not even close to a fan of rice pudding, mind you, but I love both of those nuts and figured maybe the flavor would come through. It did, but not enough for me; the pudding was a bit on the bland side, which might be on purpose to counter the spice in the regular dishes. However, it tasted way too much like milk with tiny lumps - and there's no way to express my distaste for milk. But then inspiration struck, and I added a bunch of sugar; it may not have qualified as Indian cuisine after that, but it sure made it taste great to me.

If you go:

Bombay Sitar
4633 Belden Village St. N.W.
Canton, Ohio 44718
(330) 493-0671

http://www.bombaysitar.com

Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Closed from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Why This Blog?

The Mahoning Valley region of Ohio is perhaps most often thought of as part of the so-called "Rust Belt" -- if it's thought of at all. Tucked up in the northeastern corner of the state about 15 miles from the Pennsylvania border, it's arguably best known for a former U.S. Representative who spent time in jail, the "Mob" and shuttered steel mills. I know that how? Because every single time we travel to another state -- any other state -- and tell folks we meet where we're from, it's guaranteed that we'll get a question about one or all of the above.

Add in a reputation for somewhat lousy weather, and it's enough to make a body wonder why anyone would want to visit, much less live here. But I don't see it that way. I've been in this part of Ohio for close to 50 years now, and while I'd love to see more sunny days, I firmly believe this is a great place to be. The cost of living is remarkably low compared with other parts of the country. It brings together the best of the city and country; cornfields and other amber waves of grain dot the landscape right along with interesting museums, shopping centers and parks.

Oh sure, the weather can be iffy -- if you don't like what you see, just wait 5 minutes, we're fond of saying. But on the other hand, it never gets boring, and not much compares to walking along a tree-lined path amid brilliantly colored foliage on a crisp fall day. Besides that, within an easy hour-or-so's drive we can be walking barefoot on a sandy beach, climbing an historic lighthouse or trolling for wildflowers in one of at least 15 state and national parks.

Then there's the food. My husband Jack and I travel as much as we can, and when we do, we love to eat. We've had dinner at some pretty well-known restaurants in quite a few states, and you know what? Every single time, we say to each other, "This is great, but there's nothing here that's better than what we can get back home every single day."

Of course, I can't discount the familiarity factor and learning to love what you're used to; there's a reason they call it Home Sweet Home. Still, we've always insisted that the Mahoning Valley's cuisine is pretty hard to beat. And just for the record, we include the Shenango Valley in that sweeping declaration; just over the Pennsylvania border are plenty of other fantastic restaurants and attractions just waiting to be discovered by me and you.

I do admit to one exception to my "home" rule, though: As seafood moves inland, it tends to lose ground. Not surprisingly, absolutely nothing compares to fresh-from-the-ocean "lobstah" at The Lobster Dock in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, the huge, almost no-filler-added crabcakes from The Crab Claw in St. Michaels, Maryland, or the steamed spiced shrimp at Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar on the North Carolina Outer Banks. That said, there seems to be a direct correlation between distance from water and how long fish is cooked; by the time you reach mid-Ohio, all too often it's barely recognizable. Sorry, Charlie, but the fish is dead. No need to kill it again (and again!) by leaving it on the grill or in the oven till it's tough and tasteless.

The reason for this blog is to showcase some of the eateries and other treasures our little part of the world has to offer. There's no set schedule for updates, but the plan is to add something new every couple of weeks. For the most part, what you'll see is what we get in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania. But once in a while -- especially since I'm an official "Ohio Ambassador" charged with promoting what the Buckeye State has to offer -- I'll stray into other parts of Ohio (and maybe even another state or two) to bring you a look at a special restaurant or attraction we've found.

If reading about these places entices you to come visit, that's wonderful -- y'all come on down (or up, or over as the case may be). And if you have questions about anything you see here or want to suggest a favorite restaurant of your own, zap me an e-mail. I'm always up for a new adventure!

Just for the record, I've had a bit of experience at not only eating and traveling, but writing about it as well. I wrote about local restaurants and travel for The Business Journal in Youngstown for several years (and Jack penned 100 "Dining Out" restaurant reviews for that newspaper over a period of four years). Besides that, I've posted similar "stuff" on a number of travel Web sites since then.

In the interests of full disclosure -- and the letter of the blog law -- I'll emphasize here that no one associated with any restaurant pays me, or gives me free meals, or in any way influences what I write here. As I mentioned before, I'm open to suggestions for places to visit -- but whether or not I go there or write about it is completely my choice. I'll also say, though, that while I don't mind pointing out a flaw or two here and there, my purpose is to showcase what's good about the region's restaurants and attractions. As such, I'll stick to what my mama always taught me: If you can't say something good about somebody, don't say anything at all.

I'll try to add something new here every couple of weeks, give or take, so check back often. If you want to be notified when a new entry is made, there's a place here to sign up for that as well. And finally, if you'd like to see some of my photos, you're invited to visit my galleries at Zenfolio. Enjoy!

Monnie Ryan

Mahoning Valley Eats & Treats

Thursday, March 21, 2013

BOMBAY SITAR

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