Indian restaurants and casinos go together about as often as rigatoni and curry.
In fact, outside of Las Vegas, I couldn’t find a single casino in the United States that features an Indian restaurant.
That didn’t stop Dr. Arman Roy and the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel Atlantic City, which recently debuted Sitar, a stunning, 7-figure upscale Indian restaurant located right off the Boardwalk and a few steps off the casino floor.
“I look at it as a challenge, and that’s where I thought, ‘You know, it’d be a great opportunity to be the first Indian restaurant on the East Coast in any major casino,’” Roy said. “Indian food has become really mainstream. You can go to Costco and have chicken tikka masala and butter chicken — not better than ours, but they are available at Costco. So, you think of Costco selling chicken tikka masala … I think I’m onto something.”
While Indian food is a far cry from becoming as popular as international cuisine like, say, Mexican, Roy is absolutely on to something. And when you combine the recent popularity of Indian food with the culture’s love of gambling, you have to wonder, “Why hasn’t it happened sooner?”
It actually has.
Sitar, located right under Soundwaves behind the escalators that lead to that showroom and the former connector to Showboat, once housed an Indian restaurant when it was Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort many moons ago called Royal Albert’s Palace.
It was known for its lavish decor, including a hand-carved marble model of the Taj Mahal set within a lagoon and two intricately carved elephants. In the casino’s later years, the property also hosted a fusion concept called Maharaja Express. So, I hate to say it, but President Donald Trump was ahead of his time when he built the casino that was once called the Eighth Wonder of the World.
That over-the-top, lavish décor is nowhere to be found at Sitar, named after the string instrument heard in most Indian music and made famous by Ravi Shankar and George Harrison. Instead, Roy and his business partner went for a more upscale décor with hints of Indian architecture in a sleek design that trades the kitsch for class.
“We took what we call a white box and converted it into this beautiful, elegant dining room,” Roy said of the 120-seat space. “It just turned out tremendous. It’s just an elegant place overlooking the boardwalk, where we hope to offer outside seating next year. A lot of the clients come from New York and Pennsylvania and are looking for an elegant place to enjoy fine dining. And that’s what we are doing.
Not his first raga
Roy is certainly no stranger to Indian culture and food.
Although his background is in the medical and government sectors — Roy is the longtime Director of Emergency and Disaster Preparedness for Ocean County, and his wife is a prominent oncologist — he also owns Nizam’s, a popular Indian restaurant in Egg Harbor Township that was named the No. 2 best overall restaurant in the entire state by NJ.com, an unexpected but deserved honor for the restaurant that Roy and his partners purchased from Nizam’s creator Syed Abba in 2020.
“When we were named the No. 2 restaurant, that was just unbelievable,” Roy said. “It made us realize we were on to something. And we looked for more opportunities, and we had a meeting with Hard Rock President George Goldhoff, who reminded us there used to be an Indian restaurant when it was the Taj and he said, ‘We’d like for you guys to come back and see if you could do something in Hard Rock? We have about 3,000 square feet for you. So, that’s when I looked over there and it was a great space on the boardwalk, and we started the project.”
Although Roy’s main profession is in a completely different world, he belongs in the restaurant business. Personable, passionate and driven, Roy is the driving force of Sitar.
“I love hospitality,” he said. “I remember you always telling us on your show that we should all invest in Atlantic City and the local area, and this is my give back to the area and the city. I wanted to do something creative and something I really love. And I’m very passionate about food.”
But as much as Roy loves food, he doesn’t know how to cook it.
Enter Chef Corda
So, Roy turned to Executive Chef Christopher Corda, a native of Mumbai, India, who moved to the U.S. when he was 17 years old and began his culinary journey working as a busser and butcher on New York City’s Upper West Side before training in French Michelin-starred kitchens.
Corda helped pioneer French-Indian fusion and was part of the opening team of Bayleaf Indian Brasserie — one of the early French-Indian fusion spots in New York — and later worked at the acclaimed New York City restaurant Tamarind before serving as executive chef at Tanjore Modern Eclectic Indian in Boca Raton, Fla., and Kohinoor/Deccan Spice in Edison.
He brings his modern, refined approach to Indian gastronomy to Sitar, where he refines and elevates heritage flavors into contemporary dishes with layers of flavors and using heat to orchestrate rather than dominate.
“He is putting some great dishes together,” Roy said. “With his training, he has a different take on some of the Indian food that we all know. So, he’s created a whole different menu from what we have at Nizam’s — It’s completely different. There are a few overlaps but these are Chef Corda’s recipes and his creations.”
One of the obvious distinctions between the two menus is Corda’s use of high-end ingredients, particularly seafood.
“You don’t generally see a lot of fish dishes on Indian menus,” Roy said. “That’s not the case here. We have lobster and fish and prawns that are from India. And the desserts are completely over the top.”
Sitar, which is open 7 days a week and serves the same menu for lunch and dinner, features some of the most creative, innovative Indian dishes South Jersey has ever seen.
Signature dishes include the Pastooni Lobster Masala featuring a 10-ounce lobster tail cooked in a rich, creamy coconut and tomato reduction with Chablis, methi and honey; Darbari Chaamp Masala, farm-raised lamb chops with five-spice onion reduction, rich, velvety tomato sauce and herb oil; Sultan’s Nalli Korma e Khaas with slow-cooked lamb shank in a creamy onion, almond and cashew sauce; Classic Parsi Patrani Machli, which is whole pompano with coriander and poppy seeds in a mangosteen reduction and banana leaf; and Truck Stop Karahi Chicken, a playful take on a classic dish with hand-pulled tandoori chicken with tomato yogurt reduction, kasuri methi, slivered ginger, roasted garlic, cilantro and green chilies.
The entire menu is an adventure and education in Indian cuisine. While you will find familiar staples like biryani with chicken, goat, paneer and Nalli Gosht, curries and rice dishes such as Tikka Masala, butter chicken, various curry dishes, fresh-baked naan varieties — get the cheese garlic naan — kabobs and more, our favorite dishes included the Lamb Al Pastor Tacos, a fun and scrumptious appetizer with ground lamb mixed with mild spices and topped with a mint cilantro salsa and tomato aioli in a taco shell that seemed to be similar to naan dough; Dosa En Croute, potato-stuffed dosa croquette with curry leaf and mustard seed tempering, tomato chutney and coconut chutney; Dilli Walli Samosa/Chaat, Delhi special street samosas, which are crispy turnovers with potato and peas, smothered and layered in imli and mint chutneys; Paneer Methi Chamman, shaved paneer cheese with double cream, onion reduction, tempered with fresh herbs and garam masala; and Coastal Prawn Xacutti with large Indian prawns and desiccated onions in a coriander cumin reduction with cipollini onions and jaggery.
There are plenty of vegetarian options, which is quite common in Indian cuisine.
And, when it comes to spice and ingredients, don’t fret: The staff at Sitar can explain anything and everything, and the kitchen is accommodating to make things as spicy or as mild as you wish.
“There are some dishes that we just can’t take the spice out or the flavor will be gone,” Roy said. “So, our staff will inform the diner to try to choose something else if they pick something that is too spicy that can’t be changed. We don’t want to take out the spice on a dish that requires it and have them experience a bland dish. But, in most dishes, the spice level can be adjusted.”
The desserts are beautiful and creative, particularly the Rasmallai Tres Leches with cottage cheese dumpings, saffron-infused three-way cream and cardamon; and the show-stopping Gardenia Falooda, a floral bouquet of kulfi falooda, condensed milk saffron-infused reduction, soft noodles, tapioca seeds and edible flowers served in a bowl that arrives at you table in a smoking treasure chest.
The menu is pricier than most Indian restaurants in South Jersey, but it is approachable enough for everyone to enjoy. But the price matches the experience, which is unlike anywhere else in Atlantic City.
Sitar also offers a full bar with a nice wine list and a creative cocktail menu with drinks you won’t find anywhere else.
“It’s a little more upscale, but when you compare it to some of the more upscale restaurants in the casinos, it’s not expensive,” Roy said. “We want it to be accessible. This is a family restaurant. I want everybody to enjoy our take on our culture through our food. So, I would say it’s very moderate on the pricing side. The goal is to really showcase our cuisine and have our locals experience this type of food that they will not experience in this area. They would probably have to go to a big city like New York or Philadelphia or Los Angeles to find signature dishes like the ones we offer at Sitar.
Looking ahead
Roy hopes Sitar is the first of many upscale Indian restaurants he and his partners can bring to Hard Rock and other destinations around the country.
It does make sense.
“If you look at Indians in worldwide numbers, we’re about 1.4 billion people … very close to the Chinese,” Roy said. “I think we’ve overtaken the Chinese in population. And, I am told after the Chinese gamblers, Indian gamblers are the No. 2 market (for high rollers). So, yes, gambling is part of the culture. Folks come and go to shows and eat and gamble. So, with us on the boardwalk in a beautiful location inside a casino just works. Hard Rock has embraced us in such a meaningful way, and we know we have a strong future together.”
Sitar is open 1 p.m. to midnight daily. Go to HardRockHotelAtlanticCity.com for more information.
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
