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Posted on Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 10 a.m.

Former Shalimar manager opening Indian restaurant on Ann Arbor's Plymouth Road

By Lizzy Alfs

Longtime Shalimar Restaurant manager Binod Dhakal is opening his own Indian restaurant on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor next month, Concentrate Media reports.

famous_hamburger.jpg

Cardamom Indian restaurant is opening at 1739 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor in the former Famous Hamburger space.

AnnArbor.com file photo

The restaurant, Cardamom, is opening in The Courtyard Shops at 1739 Plymouth Road, in the former Famous Hamburger space.

From the restaurant’s website: “Cardamom is a full-sensory food experience offering modern fusion and traditional dishes from all regions of India.”

The 1,700-square-foot space will have 65 indoor seats and 36 on the patio, the report says. Dhakal hopes to open Cardamom in April.

Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.

Comments

revras

Thu, Mar 14, 2013 : 12:53 p.m.

A good quality restaurant would be welcome on the north side of town. It is a wasteland for dining options

northside

Thu, Mar 14, 2013 : 12:09 p.m.

Great news for the north side! In just a year's time we'll have gone from having no Indian restaurants to two. Curry Up, also off of Plymouth, is very good.

rossianroulette

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 9:59 p.m.

To those looking for Indian take-out in that part of town, have you tried yet Kitchen of India in the Broadway shops? Next to the Pizza Inn delivery location there...

bluetonguedlizard

Sun, Mar 17, 2013 : 8:43 p.m.

LOVE Kitchen of India!

Hmm

Thu, Mar 14, 2013 : 12:02 p.m.

Kitchen of India is very good and also reasonably priced.

Local Yocal

Thu, Mar 14, 2013 : 1:56 a.m.

There is also a new Indian carry out called Curry Up. Located in the Plymouth Mall fronting Nixon, just up from the old Domino's location. It's advertised as Street Indian Food. Have yet to check it out.

JRW

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 6:20 p.m.

Good to hear about the new Indian restaurant! However, I hope his restaurant inspections are better than his peer Indian restaurants around town.....which are not good. Almost went to Curry Up one day and after reading the inspections, changed my mind. He should focus on high quality ingredients, fair prices and a CLEAN kitchen. Best of luck to him.

Ann English

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.

Lovaduck, I continue eating Indian food because I'm like Jorge Mario Bergoglio--I cook all my food myself.

seldon

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 9:33 p.m.

Pfft, I've never gotten sick at any restaurant in Ann Arbor.

annarbordude

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 8:52 p.m.

I visit Curry Up pretty frequently and will give this new restaurant a shot as well. JRW, do all the places that you go to have 0 violations? If so, I would love to know all the places! After this, I did some research on Indian Restaurants around town, and looks like Curry Up had the least amount of Violations. They had 1 Critical that looks like the issue was resloved at the time of inspections. I would give them a shot, really like their food. I think Chinese restaurants hold the award for the worst inspections in this city. How do some of these places operate after repeat offenses?

Lovaduck

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 6:53 p.m.

Amen! I stopped eating Indian food because of bad restaurant inspections!

cmb

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 5:42 p.m.

I hope the prices are a little more reasonable than other Indian restaurants in town. I take-out option would be great. Can't wait to try it.

ArthGuinness

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 4:45 p.m.

Wrong side of town for me, but I love Indian enough to make the trek ... especially now that Mahek closed.

EyeHeartA2

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 4:26 p.m.

Much more likely to eat at the new place than the burger place. VERY overpriced, those burgers were. Not that good either.

Hmm

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 3:17 p.m.

I didn't even realize Famous Hamburger had closed. They had good food too bad. Good luck to the new restaurant opening up

Goofus

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 3:06 p.m.

I wonder if they will still always deny that they "ever" had a lunch buffet. They always do deny this, even though I know they did.

Local Yocal

Thu, Mar 14, 2013 : 1:48 a.m.

They had a very good lunch buffet when they were on Main St. I was told by a waiter that the using the space to stage it was not cost effective.

Goofus

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 10:26 p.m.

This is kinda a running joke for me when I go there now, I always ask about the buffet and 9 times out of ten the server denies they ever had it. The 1 out of 10, the server reminded me it was for when they briefly were at Washington St. (where Blue Tractor is now...), when it was Cafe Shalimar. But this is a red herring...the Main St. store had a lunch buffet prior to that brief move to Washington St.

sigdiamond

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 7:49 p.m.

WHAT IS SHALIMAR TRYING TO HIDE?!? Seriously...the real question is how you would even find yourself in a position where they would be denying such a thing to you in the first place? Is this something you do...go around to local restaurants and ask them if they ever had a lunch buffet? Even if they did have a lunch buffet, and admitted to it, where do you go from there? Are you just self-satisfied by the fact that, yes, they did used to have a lunch buffet and they acknowledge it? What is the endgame here?

Jessica Webster

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 4:10 p.m.

Definitely. I used to go there often for lunch when Borders headquarters was still downtown in the mid-90s.

seldon

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 3:32 p.m.

Maybe they haven't under the current management, but they absolutely had one in the 90s.

Jessica Webster

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 3:29 p.m.

Shalimar says they never had a lunch buffet?

UM owns

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 2:53 p.m.

Cool! If they have a relatively inexpensive take-out option (at the price point of the neighboring No Thai), they'll have a lot of business from students.

enwMKE

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 2:47 p.m.

Oh, I can't wait! I like how he says they are going to bring in dished from different parts of India. YUM!

FrankOZ

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 2:47 p.m.

Wait....Famous Hamburgers is gone? I'm shocked I tell you, shocked!

Noel Winkle

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 2:45 p.m.

With the experience and expertise behind this venture, Cardamom is sure to be a success!

Arboriginal

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 2:31 p.m.

Sounds good to me!

Local Yocal

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 2:23 p.m.

Never understood why Famous Hamburgers opened next door to Wendy's. Knew that would not work out.

Local Yocal

Thu, Mar 14, 2013 : 1:45 a.m.

It may have been a different business model but the menu was the same, did you ever check it out. I did, expecting something different or even exotic

notnecessary

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 3:24 p.m.

Famous hamburger was a different business model than Wendy's ... Furthermore similar businesses always open up next to each other and thrive. How many times is there a McD's next to a taco bell that's next to a burger king?

a2xarob

Wed, Mar 13, 2013 : 2:13 p.m.

Oh Welcome!! Welcome, welcome, welcome, Mr. Dhakal. Wonderful news. I hope we will give a loyal and long-lasting following to your delicious food.