ThisWeek Community Newspapers Grove City Record
Page B4
January 20, 2011
Cumin Indian Restaurant a fine replacement for Bayleaf When I heard Bayleaf was going out of business, I grimaced. The Polaris-area restaurant was one of my favorite places for Indian food. But when I heard the Cuisine of India people were taking over, I cheered up. You see, like Bayleaf, Cuisine of India is modern and authentic, serving both beloved classics and lots of contemporary-style dishes popular in cosmopolitan Indian cities. So when I waltzed into Cumin Indian Restaurant my expectations were pretty high. After a few visits, I realized this newbie was destined to shoot to the top of my Indian food list. Other than closing off the formerly open kitchen, Cumin’s owners haven’t performed any drastic cosmetic makeovers. It’s still a big, modern, open and airy room with few, if pleasant, decorations (chiefly multi-hued, saucer-shaped chandeliers) to distract visitors from
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Cumin 1025 Polaris Pkwy. 614-854-0775 Cuisine: Indian
by G.A. Benton the task at hand — masticating on fabulously flavored chow. While buffets aren’t usually my thing, Cumin’s is, especially on weekends. That’s when the chaat station gets cranking, and I’m an inveterate fan of chaat. If you’ve never had them, chaats are Indian street-sold snacks that are meat-free riots of bold condiments, wild flavors and manifold textures. Fortunately, this generalization held true on a recent — and blissfully lengthy — lunchtime stopover at Cumin’s great buffet. In front of a longish line and manning a mammoth round pan, the buffet’s chaat guy began with a crispy puck of a potato pancake. To that he added a scoop of soupy,
By Daniel Sohner/ThisWeek
The Mixed Kabob Platter at Cumin: lamb, mixed grill and chicken.
highly seasoned chickpeas. Then came the garnishing : tart yogurt; chutneys of coriander (spicy) and tamarind (sweet); diced raw onion, tomato and cilantro; plus a finishing dusting of exotic, eggy-tasting chaat masala. It’s a crazy mess to eat, but I find its push-me/pullme flavors and textures to be an incomparable delight.
Post-chaat, there’s a dizzying array of buffet choices — the thing goes on forever. I counted six meat entrees (two in kabob form); five veggie entrees; two soups; two rice dishes; a large salad/condiment bar and four desserts. I liked everything I tried, but was especially fond of the Baigan Bharta (wonderful eggplant stew),
Aloo Cabbage (addictive mixed vegetable curry), and spicy, sweet and sour chicken dumplings. As for non-buffet appetizers, the huge, dense and firm chilimarinated homemade cheese kabobs (Paneer Shaslik, $9) had a great grilled flavor but their accompanying veggies (onion, garlic, peppers) were disarmingly uncooked. For an explosive curry, go for the Cumin Melthi Harydi ($12). Featuring a complex, aromatic, rich, carrot-colored gravy with a sneaky heat, the head-spinning dish was cleverly equipped with refreshing, mouth-cleansing sticks of ginger. Awesome. On the tamer side, but still terrific, was Cumin’s sizzling grill
($15, easily feeds two). Like a giant platter of mixed Indian fajitas, it’s a great way to sample several items on Cumin’s large menu. The “grill” was a round-up of about five kinds of smokily seared, delicious kabobs, my favorites of which were Haryali Tikka (juicy, boneless chicken chunks in a zesty pesto) and Lajwab Seek kabob (huge logs of ground lamb with minced green pepper, onion and cilantro). The mammoth dinner came with fluffy basmati rice and excellent dal. While none of Cumin’s desserts disappointed, the Gajar Halwa ($4 — milky, cardamomy, nutty and fruity shredded carrots) — was especially fun to munch. To read G.A. Benton’s blog, visit ColumbusDiningGuide.com
Greek diner near UA takes simple approach to food, ambience Yiagos and Stratis Kostoglou had simplicity in mind when opening Greek to Me. The menu, for the time being, is a small and manageable collection of breakfast and lunch fare served in a humble dining room with blue and white gingham tablecloths and some Greek accents. “We want to make sure we serve good Greek food. We don’t want to make things complicated,” said Stratis, who opened the store with his father at 4697 Reed Road in Northwest Columbus. The breakfast items consist of the familiar – omelets, pancakes, French toast and typical sides, such as bacon, links and home fries. The lunch menu offers similarly approachable dishes, such as gyros, subs, moussaka, pastitsio and souvlaki. They wanted prices
to be inviting, too, as most entrees run between $6 and $8. It is the first restaurant for the pair. Yiagos worked as a steward on Greek cargo ships, helping coordinate three meals a day, not to mention private functions, for 30 hungry sailors. He eventually opened A Matter of Steak in Westland Mall, which he later sold. Meanwhile, his son was an assistant kitchen manager at Texas Roadhouse. Greek to Me takes over 1,300 square feet of space that was most recently occupied by Pizzano’s. It seats 50. The Kastaglous have loftier ambitions for their
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Yiagos Kostoglou shaves gyro meat in his new restaurant, Greek to Me, at 4697 Reed Road in Northwest Columbus on Jan. 13.
bill of fare. They want to slowly introduce daily specials and hope to have a beer-and-wine license in place by this spring. They also plan to have dinner services available by summer. The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch daily. For more information, call 614-725-4323.
including falafel, babagannoush and hummus, plus soups, salads, kebabs and fish dishes. It also serves up several Greek classics, such as pastitsio and moussaka, and an array of desserts. He stresses freshness in his products. For example, he is grinding the meat in-house for his kebabs and burgers. Most items are $6 to $10. Large entrees Lashish, the Greek, offering a large and reason- are in $12 range. There is no alcohol. ably priced Mediterranean menu, has opened in The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner hours Northwest Columbus. daily. For more information, call 614-457-5800. The restaurant, owned by Mohammad Ballouz, has taken over 1,200 square feet of space at 788 Bethel Road, ramping up the international flair of the Olentangy Square shopping center, which includes Banana Leaf (vegetarian Indian), Min-Ga ■ Even wine connoisseurs (Korean) and Bamboo Café (Vietnamese, Thai). find refreshment elsewhere. The cornerstone of the menu is genuine shawarWine Wisdom columnist Chris ma: skewered sheets of lamb and beef, marinated Dillman recommends Jolly for 48 hours, cooked on a vertical rotisserie. The Pumpkin Brewery’s Oro de Caljuices of tomatoes and lemon, placed at the top of abaza online at www.thisweekthe assemblage, gloss the meat and add flavor. “You’ve got to go to New York to get this,” Balnews.com/foodandwine. Chris Dillman louz said. Recipe of the week With the pita option, he brushes the bread with hummus and adds Bermuda onion, mint and tart sumac. He finishes it off on a Panini grill to crisp the bread. A shawarma platter is an alternative. Ballouz is a familiar face on the central Ohio restaurant scene, having worked for a number of years for Niki Chalkias, the proprietor of Fisherman’s Wharf restaurants. Ballouz left the restaurant business and was a cultural adviser for the defense industry. But the restauRaspberry brie chicken, courtesy of John rant business kept tugging at his apron strings. Lashish offers a variety of Middle Eastern sides, “Guido” Magnacca of Cimi’s Bistro.
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