Ambar in Clifton is a favorite of many Indian food aficionados. It serves excellent examples of the familiar Mogul dishes most popular in Indian restaurants.

I am partial to Sitar in Blue Ash, which has some more unusual items on its menu.

Sitar serves a buffet on Sundays that is a sampler of regional cuisines from around the subcontinent, including many new and surprising tastes.

Most Indian restaurants have a lunch buffet. One small but well-done example is at Taj Mahal in a Sharonville strip mall. The buffet offers a fresh selection of standard lunch dishes.

If you're looking for further adventures in Indian food, try Udipi Cafe, recently opened in Roselawn. It serves a vegetarian menu that makes use of all kinds of breads, grains and vegetables - and it's inexpensive.

Also just a few months old is Cumin in Hyde Park, a tiny boutique of a restaurant with modern interpretations of Indian cuisine.

Polly Campbell