dusmesh indian restaurant

i was all fired up to go to dusmesh ever since i read veggie option's glowing review. i was not disappointed. some friends and i decided to go a couple weeks ago before a movie at the esquire. the food was delicious.

we wanted to try different things but somehow we ended up with both chicken tikka and chicken tikka masala. we also got the navratan korma which looked irresistible in VO's photos and the lamb saag.

a welcome addition to the hopping cincinnati indian food scene

everything was excellent. i especially loved the lamb saag. it was really flavorful, tender, juicy, and not at all gamy. when it is done well, i am a huge lamb saag fan. that and eggplant bharta or whatever that dish is called are my indian restaurant favorites.

everyone i know is always claiming that the food at ambar, baba, etc. are all the same, but the only place that makes a decent lamb saag is baba. ambar's lamb saag is gamy, dry, and flavorless. ambar also makes the worst bharta known to man. if you want good bharta, go to amol. but anyway i am supposed to be reviewing dusmesh.

i thought dusmesh serves the best indian food i have ever had in cincinnati (caveat: i have never tried krishna or new krishna, both of which i have heard many rave reviews about). sorry for that preposition at the end of the sentence, grammar nazis.

avani also really liked the food. i can't remember what laura thought. but emma didn't think it was that amazing. she always gets chicken tikka and she thought it is better at ambar. however emma is from cincinnati and very much a food traditionalist so i am pretty sure she just likes ambar the best because of her food nostalgia rather than because it is objectively better.

chicken tikka

the chicken tikka masala was really excellent. it was not as creamy and was much more complexly (grammar nazis, is that a word?) spiced than at the other indian places in town. to me this means that the cook at dusmesh is just more skilled than at other restaurants, where they would rely on the richness of cream to carry the dish.

navratan korma was awesome. the vegetables were fresh and not overcooked. the spices were again really complex and interesting. the flavors of the dish just flowed.

clockwise from top: chicken tikka, chicken tikka masala, navratan korma, lamb saag

it is worth noting that the menu is very comprehensive. they just have more, and more interesting, dishes than most indian places around town (which have a lot). things i had never heard of. i can't remember what any of them are though, sorry.

service at dusmesh was... odd. we went for dinner so we did not have the buffet experience. the waitress was extremely friendly but we felt like she was trying too hard. i think she was probably just inexperienced as a waitress. we had a couple issues (charged for an item that we ordered but never got, served the wrong kind of tea, etc.) but she was really nice and resolved them all without a problem.

we got these little fried dough dessert balls for free, probably because i was taking pictures

the decor is fine, nothing special. it's just a big room with tables and a few decorations here and there. it is a little loud in the restaurant but then i am loud so it doesn't bother me. one thing that was weird is that however they make their grilled dishes makes them extremely smoky. we all had watery eyes every time one of those platters of tikka came out. i have seen the smoky platters at other indian restaurants but have never experienced watery eyes and sneezing from it so that was weird. i don't know if it is the particular spices they use or what. and the food was damn tasty so we didn't really care.

note to drinkers: they don't have a liquor license so it's byob, at least for now.

dusmesh is awesome and a million times better than shitty india palace which used to be in that building. ambar diehards, step out of your comfort zone and try dusmesh. you will be happy you did. and even if you aren't, it's not like ambar is going anywhere.