Singh family deepens roots Uptown with new Indian restaurant

A new restaurant has come to stake its claim as a player in Cincinnati’s Indian culinary scene. Deep India opened earlier this month in the former Jersey Mike’s sub shop space located on W. McMillan Street in the Uptown neighborhood of Clifton Heights.  The new restaurant comes to challenge the beloved hole-in-the-wall establishment, Krishna, located just around the corner on Calhoun Street, for some of its North Indian food loving business. Like Krishna, Deep India serves hungry college kids and nearby Uptown residents more carryout Indian food inspired from the country’s northern region than they can handle, for a very reasonable price. Inside, Deep India can seat up to 18 people comfortably, and even more can wait for their carry out items to be cooked up without feeling squished. The restaurant is a 50/50 partnership owned and operated by Amandeep Singh and his cousin Rajwinder Singh who also serves as the head chef for Deep India.  The establishment is a family business that employs four, which makes sense as Amandeep’s father worked for several years at Baba India, and it was the Uptown area that inspired Amandeep to open the restaurant after moving to Cincinnati six years ago from the  Punjabi region of India. “My family was already established here, and it made sense for me to come as well,” said Rajwinder.  “I chose to open my restaurant in Clifton Heights because there are lots of people here – with the University of Cincinnati close by, it was a good choice.” The Singh family definitely has a handle on quality food – Rajwinder has worked in the Cincinnati area for several years, helping to open nearby Krishna and also cooking at Cumin which was ranked as one of Cincinnati’s top ten restaurants by Cincinnati Magazine in 2010.  The North Indian cuisine has a wide variety of items on the menu, and Rajwinder lends his expertise to give excellent flavor to well known dishes. “Our most popular items on the menu are the chicken tikka masala and the saag paneer,” Rajwinder said of the curry chicken and spinach and cheese over rice dishes.  “People don’t even look at the menu, they just come in and order it.  For those with dairy restrictions we can make many of our items without dairy if requested, like the aloo gobi which is made of potato and cauliflower.” The inside of Deep India is currently clean and plain, and even features traces of the former Jersey Mike’s restaurant.  However, the Singhs have plans for the future that will change the interior’s look. “We want to change the interior, add seats and carpet, update the look.  We want people to come hang out and eat our food,” Rajwinder explained.  With a liquor license looming, diners will soon have a chance to sip their Kingfisher, chomp on their tandoori, and watch sports or a movie on one of the televisions inside Deep India all while enjoying a casual, delicious meal. Deep India is located at 211 West McMillan Street in Clifton Heights (map), and is open Monday through Friday from 11am to 10pm, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 10:30pm, and Sunday from 11:30am to 9:30pm.  Prices range from $1.50 to $11.95; call 513-421-6453 for carry-out and delivery orders. Writer: Jenny Kessler Photography by Scott Beseler Stay connected by following Jenny on Twitter @recycleDbin