Guru India

Best Indian food in NKY. The Chicken Tikka Masala, Mater Paneer, and Lamb Vindaloo are all freaking delicious. I moved away from the area, but every time I come to visit, Guru is a necessary stop.

The food was great but the service was horrible. If I lived in the area I’d probably go back just to enjoy the food and ignore the poor service. Cheaper for me in the long run. Poor service equals less tip. Doesn’t make me happy, but you get what you work for.

When Guru India first opened in Crescent Springs I had two thoughts — I really need to try their food soon … ’cause I don’t think they’ll be in business very long. Since that was over seven years ago, I’ll focus on the half I got right — people REALLY need to try their food soon!
Tucked unassumingly inside a strip mall just off Buttermilk Pike (I refer to the shopping area as the «International District» because of its peculiar proclivity for exotic cuisine restaurants). At an interstate exit perhaps most known for overpriced gas and cheap fast food, I could not fathom that a restaurant serving Northern Indian food would survive more than a year or two. It would be easy to drive past a hundred times and never notice it – but just one visit and it’ll never escape attention again!
Having become a vegetarian about the time they opened, I thought the place was a gift from above. At some restaurants (especially ones with drive thru windows) there’s seldom a vegetarian option available. At most restaurants there’s one, maybe two to override the «vegetarian veto» when a group of people decide where to eat. When I first looked at the menu at Guru India they offered a seemingly incomprehensible 18 vegetarian entrees, since expanded to 23! That’s beyond amazing!!! (Yes, I saved my original carry-​out menu like a sacred sutra).
I have now had the pleasure of dining-​in or (more often) carrying-​out from there probably about 50 times, from more than seven years ago to less than seven days ago and the food is, in one word — out-​freaking-​standing!
Guru India offers a plethora of options (56 different entrees veg & non-​veg by my count) and they do them all well! But, and I want to make sure I express myself properly — the dishes don’t have a cookie-​cutter consistency, there’s actual variety in the same dishes from one experience to the next — but not in a bad way. Sometimes it’s the spice you love, sometimes it’s the vegetables that stand out, sometimes it’s just the rich consistency of the sauce that has you licking your lips — one can order the same thing, three different times, each will be excellent — but each time striking different chords on the palate.
My favorite, «go-​to» dish — the one dish I tell people they have to order especially if they’ve never tried Indian food is Malai Kofta. This dish has become for me, the transcendent epitome of what Indian food is and all that it can be! My sister, who inexplicably detests Indian food, after copious amounts of cajoling I finally got her to take a bite and she begrudgingly confessed … «okay, that’s pretty good». My other favorite dishes are NAV Rattan Korma and Dal Tarka — so perfect! Then just slightly on the next tier down would be Bhartha, Aloo Mater, Saag Choley, and Bhartha Mushroom. What I like to do is, in the Money Mailer and Reach magazine, Guru India has coupons — $ 4 off a second carryout entrée ($ 5 for dine-​in) — which is all the excuse I need to order a second entrée! I usually get one of my favorites then try something different for variety. The entrees are large enough that two people can split one, or as I like to do – get multiple meals from them, especially since a day or two later the flavor seems to evolve. Not sure what happens on day three — the leftovers have yet to make it that far!
As for the sides at Guru India their rice is about perfect — the spices make it a delight all on its own. When it comes to bread I usually skip the naan and instead get the roti or occasionally the partha. Also sometimes I treat myself to the assorted vegetarian appetizers. They’re fantastic, but they’re all fried so that’s why it’s a special indulgence and not an every-​time occurrence. Though I do have one caveat, twice (though that’s out of MANY times ordered) I have found an appetizer included in the veggie assortment that had meat. One was a bizarre hunk of fried chicken and the other was a piece of chicken pakora.
When I do dine-​in they have an average beer selection with a few Indian beers (I usually order Flying Horse) and a couple times I’ve even managed to not completely gorge myself on dinner and I was able to try their desserts — the Gulab Jamun in terrific and the Mango Ice Cream is pretty good too!
Having such a wonderful restaurant like Guru India so close to where I live has been a delight! And over the last seven years I’ve enjoyed every step in the journey from Indian food novice to aficionado. I’ve developed the passion so much I’ve even bought two Indian cookbooks. Although the food I’ve made never seems as good as what I can get from them — and I’m a pretty good cook … but I think they’ve just set the bar too high!
If you’ve never tried Indian food, there are not many better places to get your first bite than Guru India. And you definitely should hurry — not because there’s any danger of them going out of business, the danger is depriving yourself of a fantastic dining experience!

At dinner, I really enjoyed my meal of Chicken Vindaloo and Chicken Tikka. It was delicious and nicely spiced. I’ll surely go back for more.

We like this place! I usually get the saag paneer and my husband likes the chicken curry. They give generous portions too. They have messed up on carryout but bent over backwards to make it right.

Average fare. we go there because there’s literally not much else in the Florence, KY area.

We’ve always gotten great food from Guru India for dinner. We stopped in to try the lunch buffet, which is very good. It’s great to try a variety of things, and we have yet to try anything bad from here. One thing that surprised me very much was the chicken wings that were on the buffet. They were fantastic!

We spent a night in Cincinnati and looked up on Unilocal a good choice. We were not disappointed. The variety of choices were great. There were 7 of us so we got to try an number of items. The curry chicken dish was amazing. The service was good but not the best I have experienced. I would give it a try if you are in the area

I went for a quick lunch buffet. I being a vegetarian, always have less options to choose from. I had the chole masala, matar paneer and bhindi masala. The taste was alright.

As always this place provides the best Indian food in the Northern Kentucky area, they are a little pricey but you get a lot of food for the money. We usually get takeout and it is always still steaming hot when we get home in Hebron. We are always trying new dishes and have yet to find a dish we don’t like so we will keep going cause it seems to all be good!

Let me start by saying that I love Indian food, and this is some very good Indian food. The chicken saag and naan and white rice… mmm… I’m a big fan. On the side of the expensive side, but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’ve been going to Guru since they very first opened. Since that time, I’m there every few weeks for the buffet. Oddly enough — I loath buffets. But I give this place a pass. I’ve introduced many friends and family to Indian cuisine via Guru. They never have let me down. Everything they serve from Chicken Masala down to the Naan is freaking awesome. Go. Eat. Enjoy.

5 stars for tasty food but they messed up our order so docked a couple stars. I ordered and picked up the carry out order on my way home. I’m already across the bridge in Ohio when I get a call that they forgot parts of our order. She said they’d give me the missing item on my next visit. The person on the phone did not speak English and she said that she’d have the manager call me. 10mins later the manager calls and offers sincere apologies and said they’d give me the missing item on my next visit. It turns out that they had actually given me the WRONG item so at least we had enough food for everyone. The wrong item was veggie and still pretty good. Food was a tad on the expensive side in my opinion ($ 53 for 3 dinners and bread).

Overpriced for the quality. I got the saag paneer after reading great reviews on it here, and was underwhelmed. I also got the chicken Mo-​too, which appeared to be a batura folded over and stuffed with finely chopped tandoori chicken and onions and bell peppers. Too little chicken and too much onion. I eat here when I’m in Erlanger on work, because there aren’t any really good Indian options, but wouldn’t voluntarily choose it

For a $ 10 lunch buffet, I expected better. Only 3 chicken dishes on the buffet – no lamb, etc. even offered. Dessert was some sort of cream of wheat but it was burnt, so didn’t taste good and the rice pudding was very watery. Ordered a Coke and was brought a can – no fountain drinks, so no free refills. Disappointed in the variety, but the cleanliness was fine and it was pretty crowded. I probably wouldn’t go back as I feel I can get a better deal and better food elsewhere. Oh well – checked it off my list.

Coming from New York, I was apprehensive about getting Indian food in the Midwest. I was pleasantly surprised to find a place where the quality is just about on par! Having only been here once I can’t vouch for consistency, but it was definitely a top-​notch experience.
(They do have a few dishes with beef, so I’m not sure what that means in terms of authenticity or regional specialization. There’s probably a reason for it that I don’t know about.)

An undiscovered gem of Indian buffets. Want some Indian food in northern Kentucky after getting into town at the airport… take me there, Unilocal.Nondescript strip mall location and some of the better Indian buffet food I’ve had. Wide variety of options, food was fresh, well-​prepared and had much better flavor and spice than you’d expect.

Guru is a sister restaurant to Ambar in Cincinnati. In my opinion, the food tastes the same in both locations. Unlike Ambar, Guru offers a lunch buffet. Although I’ve tried it, I prefer to order off the menu so I can determine how spicy my food will be. Another difference is that the folks who work at Guru are more friendly and less uptight than those who work at Ambar.
In terms of food, everything is good, but I recommend the vegetable samosas, the garlic naan, the chicken curry, and the aloo saag.
The only downside of Guru is the location. It’s in a busy strip mall next to the always popular Outback, so parking can be a bit of a headache at times. Also, Ambar has a quaint feeling because it is so small. My guess is that Guru was another restaurant previously and was later converted. It just doesn’t have the same feel as Ambar.

I have been coming here since they opened and I cannot believe that I haven’t written a review a review on Guru India. Well I have to tell you that Guru India is my favorite place to get my Indian fix.
The service is outstanding and the food will put you in a trance. It is amazing. I was so happy when I seen the signs while we were eating at Ambar starting that they were opening up a restaurant named Guru India in Crescent Springs.
Living in Northern Kentucky we used to have to travel to Clinton to get the best Indian food around. Now we have Guru India right here. By far the best in Northern Kentucky.
I’m totally addicted to this place. My little piece of Indian food heaven.

Meh… I’m a seasoned traveller and a big fan of Indian food. I’m more of a vindaloo guy, but I’ve been into Biryani lately, so I ordered that with some chicken. Also ordered a cup of Dal, which was pretty watered down and flavorless.
The biryani serving size had me afraid for my waistline, but as I dug in, that feeling turned to disappointment as I began to notice it was also lacking in flavor… So much so that the peas became the dominating flavor and I eventually began to scrape them to the side with my fork because it didn’t seem to jive well with the rest. The chicken was also pretty dry and the chunks were enormous. Kinda wish they had smaller chunks for more surface area to absorb what little flavor the dish had to offer. I’m no expert, though and perhaps I’m just spoiled by my biryani go-​to spot in Ann Arbor. Before I was halfway finished, my fear that I would destroy that giant portion of food faded to a feeling that it wasn’t worth the calories.
You might laugh, but as I paid the bill, I couldn’t help but wish I had opted for a steak at outback next door.
And I’m pretty sure the customer that just walked by my table crop dusted me, so it’s time for me to bounce

I grabbed takeout today. It was good, but nothing insane. I’ve heard great things, so I think I’m going to head back for the lunch buffet before making a final decisions.

Their lunch buffet is pretty good but I can’t say I’m overly impressed. I’ve been to much better Indian places in the Cincinnati area. I was here for dinner today and got the chicken tikka, a tandoori dish. The meat itself was good, if not a little dry. What threw me off were the vegetable. Almost completely raw. The tomatoes and peppers were cold and the onions didn’t seem to be cooked at all either. Most other places sauté them to be tender and delicious. I didn’t even eat them. My spice level was a 5 on their scale of 1 – 6. I didn’t even finish my water. The service was pretty lacking too. As I said, not impressed. I’ll just go downtown next time I am craving Indian.

I love love love Indian food and Guru India has consistently provided me with a number of great meals. I have most recently had the Paneer Tikka and as a fan of all things paneer, this dish delivered big cubes of the stuff. The service is fast although not the friendliest. I will be back and am glad that I can satisfy my Indian cravings in another area besides Clifton.
Pros: Parking is easy and free in the lot. Great menu and prices. There is a private party room that one can reserve for parties (please invite me).
Cons: Unlike some Indian restaurants, they are not BYO. Some might be put off by their bland décor. It doesn’t bother me.

My husband and I went here for a date night. We had some excellent Indian food on our last vacation, so we wanted to try out the local Indian food scene. (Which is sadly lacking in NKY.)
It is located in a strip mall and doesn’t really stand out from the street. It’s also a bit lacking in ambiance. When you walk in and smell the wonderful Indian spices, none of that matters. We were promptly seated and had wonderful service for the entire meal.
The menu was extensive, and we were especially happy with the variety of vegetarian options. We both ordered Nan bread which was hot and delicious. I ordered the Vegetable Jalfrezi and it was excellent. The spices were wonderful. I got the spice level of 2 and was glad I didn’t go any higher because it was plenty spicy. My husband got the Bhartha and enjoyed it very much.
I would definitely recommend trying it out. I think this will be a place we will frequent in the future. I’m already craving it again!
It is located right next to Outback Steakhouse. All those people waiting for a table there would be much better served to check out Guru India.