Where to Eat in Louisville: Sitar

By Michelle on March 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5) | Bardstown Road , Highlands , Louisville Dining , Louisville Restaurants , Restaurant Review , Where to Eat in Louisville

My review of Sitar could exist solely of the following sentence: "In the not too distant past I ate at Sitar three days out of four." What? You want more than that? Fine.

Sitar is the new Indian restaurant on Bardstown Road next door to Cafe Metro. It's part of a small chain that has four or five locations in Tennessee and other Southern states. I am by no means an expert on Indian food. Sitar makes a grand total of two Indian restaurants I've eaten at, ever. The first was Kashmir and while I loved the food I frequently felt like my presence was a burden to the staff so eventually I just stopped going there. While the staff at Sitar doesn't fall all over themselves taking care of you they are pleasant and efficient enough.

I feel the need to confess my relative newbie status in relation to Indian food so you'll know that I'm not an expert on whether Sitar's food is absolutely traditional or how it compares to other Indian food here in town. I just know it's good. The fact that it's a comfortable walk from my house probably doesn't hurt matters but the food sold me on the place all on its own. Every single dish I've tried there has been, in my opinion, excellent.

Seven days a week Sitar has a lunch buffet for $6.99. Several staples have been on the buffet each time I've gone (allo gobi, sag, naan, rice pudding) while the meat dishes and curries have been different on various visits. If you order from the menu the portions are served family style with a massive platter of rice. A word about the Sitar's naan: it's so, so good.

In the interest of full disclosure I'll share that my friend Sammy over at Louisville Lunch disagrees with me on how great Sitar is. He likes it ok but digs Kashmir much more. He should be thankful to Sitar then because since they came to town with their seven days a week buffet Kashmir has expanded their buffet from weekends only to seven days a week as well.

Sitar Indian Restaurant

1702 Bardstown Road

Louisville, KY

5 Comments

Joel said:

I've been meaning to check out Sitar, but the C-rating they earned from the Department of Health a few weeks back was kind of a turnoff.

March 11, 2008 12:59 PM

Michelle

said:

They had a A or maybe B rating when I went so I feel ok about it.

March 11, 2008 1:11 PM

schnuerle.pip.verisignlabs.com

said:

Yeah, they currently have a B, as of their updated rating on January 22. Take a look here:

http://www.metromapper.org/bm.php?m=9d5cbc739bc295b1097d8021deb71562adf3e9d3

That's the most recent info published by the city on Monday.

March 12, 2008 10:28 AM

ViVi said:

Thank you so much Michelle for the great review of the Sitar restaurant. I just noticed it today on my way to Wild and Wooly Video. I really like East Indian cuisine. Especially naan and the rice pudding.

I've not been to Sitar yet, but will definitely try it now. I couldn't remember the name of the other East Indian restaurant I spotted, just knew it started with a K. Now I know that is Kashmir.

April 19, 2008 6:22 PM

Michelle

said:

You'll have to let me know how you like it when you go ViVi. We took some out of friends there last weekend and they had a really good time and very much enjoyed the food.

April 21, 2008 3:06 PM