Sitar Indian Cusine

Sitar Indian Cuisine, Lunch Buffet

Sometimes Smalls and I meet Beardy for lunch. A few months ago, we tried the lunch buffet at Sitar Indian Cuisine on Jordan Lane in Huntsville, and we’ve been back several times since then. We (Beardy and I, Smalls didn’t exist yet) lived in England for a few years, where we became addicted to Indian food. But for some reason, we’ve been avoiding Indian food in Huntsville in the four years we’ve been back in Huntsville. Maybe we thought it wouldn’t live up to what we remembered in England, I don’t know. Anyway, the food at Sitar is wonderful, and the buffet is fresh and well-stocked with chicken and vegetarian curries, tandori chicken (you can smell it from the parking lot!), spinach and potato dishes, naan bread, and pickles and chutneys (I haven’t seen lime pickle yet, but I have hope.)

Smalls likes the naan bread, the orange slices, and the mango pudding. She also likes an extremely limited amount of gulab jamun (which, I’m sorry, Indian food purists, I refer to as “those sweet balls in syrup”). She knows her limit and stops at about ¼ of a ball. Any more than that would probably make her start making the crazy horse noise that signals sugar overload. She’s made the noise twice—once after a giant pink cupcake at a church “singin’” in Walnut Grove, and once after my birthday party at my sister in law’s house. Storebought icing was involved in both incidents.

I haven’t encountered anything extremely spicy on the buffet, so I expect I can start getting her to try some of the vegetable dishes and chicken curries soon.

There are plenty of highchairs at lunchtime because the crowd is mostly businesspeople on lunch break. We usually get there early, about 11 or 11:15, and at that time it’s not crowded, so we don’t have to wait around for a table. It starts to fill up a little more at about noon, but I’ve never seen every table full. The staff is always really nice. We are only charged for two buffets (obviously, since Smalls only eats a piece of naan and a few orange slices). But it’s nice to think she’s eating free anyway.

The only disadvantage I can think of, if you’re bringing a small child, is that it’s a buffet, so once you sit down and get your baby settled in the highchair, you have to get up and fill a plate. This is fine when Smalls and I meet Beardy for lunch, but if you were by yourself with the baby, do you want to leave her there at the table while you load up on delicious rice and curries? Probably not. Do you want to haul her up to the buffet with you, or try to corral her with your feet while you overload your plate, in an attempt to get all the deliciousness you need in one trip? Probably not. I guess this is an obvious issue with any buffet, but it's one of those things you just don't think about until you're dining out with a baby. 

Toddler friendliness ratings:

Atmosphere: 5 out of 5 booster seats (No complaints. Smalls seemed perfectly welcome.)

Food: 3 out of 5 booster seats for the buffet (You’ll probably need to bring food from home for kids to eat to supplement the naan bread and the orange slices to make it a healthy lunch.)

Sitar Indian Cusine

420 Jordan Lane, Huntsville