By: Brandy

Brandy — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:10:39 +0000

I was a little surprised after reading this article. Since changing hands roughly 4-5 years ago, I have sadly watched the Indian restaurant that was once, hands down, my favorite place to eat Indian food, go downhill. When I first discovered Ajanta I loved it for the homemade paneer, and the fresh cut vegetables in my Nav Ratan Korma or my mixed vegetable dish. For the always fresh and juicy chicken I enjoyed in the Chicken Korma and the Chicken Sabaz. I can say with certainty that in the past three years I have not eaten a dish from this restaruant that has left me thinking: “man, I can’t wait to come back!” In fact I always leave thinking: “Why did I come here, I knew this would happen”. Every time I order a vegetable dish, the vegetables are from a frozen bag bought at your local grocery store. The carrots are round and have ridges in them and I am pretty certain zucchini is not a vegetable you find in typical Indian fare. To make matters worse the zucchini in the dish I ordered along with the snow peas (yes snow peas in an Indian dish) had that soggy texture you often get with frozen vegetables. It saddens me to write this review, but I couldn’t read one more review in the City Paper about how good Ajanta is without commenting about how bad it REALLY is. Sure the service is nice, and the owners and employees are very friendly. But I wish they would stop cutting corners and use fresh ingredients once again. The sauces are delicious and the bread is phenomenal, but what good is that if the ingredients in the dishes leave much to be desired? I would say take the extra time to head over to Namaste India or Maharaja of Dayton by the Fairfield mall. The service there is AMAZING and the chai tea….well, WOW, is all I can say. I have been to nearly every Indian restaurant that has existed in Dayton for the past ten years. I have also had the pleasure of having a mother-in-law who was Indian and cooked amazing Indian food. I’ve also had the pleasure of regularly enjoying the Indian food from the famous Devon Street in Chicago. So with that being said, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur; using the word connoisseur loosely perhaps. So, I just couldn’t read one more rave review of Ajanta without responding with my experiences and opinion. I should also add, that as far as the inside decor goes: there once again is room for improvement. This afternoon I sat through a lunch that was eerily silent. Itook a moment to listen to the background noice and all I heard was the muffled voices of various conversations and the clanking of silverware. The sounds of Indian music was noticeably missing in the background. I feel the quiet sound of the sitar makes for a nice ambience when eating in an Indian restaurant. I was also disappointed with the junkiness of the little foyer by the restrooms. There was a stroller with miscellaneous items thrown in it. There was also an extension cord in the women’s restroom that snaked from the outlet, above the door and down the side of the door to a little carved out space underneath the door to somwhere in the unknown. WOW, I think I’ve said enough. I’m sorry if I upset anyone, I just want people to know that there are other much better Indian restaurants in the Dayton area!

Comments on: Ajanta Indian Restaurant

By: Brandy