Ambassador Dining Room

Baltimore Business Journal Article on New Owner

• Baltimore Business Journal
• By Amanda Yeager
• Dec 12, 2019

A one-time employee of the Ambassador Dining Room is now its proprietor.

The stately Indian restaurant in Tuscany-Canterbury, renowned for its cuisine and elegant decor, switched ownership at the start of December. Gopal Bishwakarma purchased the Ambassador from its founders, brothers Keir and Binda Singh, for $400,000, according to documents filed with the city’s liquor board.

Bishwakarma’s familiarity with the restaurant stretches back two decades. He worked there in the late 1990s, toward the start of his career in the dining business, and has also worked at Banjara, another restaurant the Singhs previously owned in Federal Hill.   In 2008, he opened his own business, Arlon’s Carry-Out, which has since expanded to five locations in the Baltimore region.

When he heard through a broker that the Ambassador was for sale, Bishwakarma decided to put in an offer. The brothers, he said, “trust me to carry on their legacy. I’ve been a hard worker. I know the business.” He said he plans to hold on to much of what has made the restaurant an enduring favorite since it opened in 1997. The Ambassador will still offer a lunchtime buffet and has retained half of the staff who worked there under the Singhs’ ownership, including its chef.

There will be a few tweaks, too, including some new menu items — mushroom karahi and lobster among them — and “slight” changes to the layout. Bishwakarma said he wants to add some new furnishings as well as color to the walls to make the space more “elegant and welcoming.” He’s looking to expand the restaurant’s catering and private party business, too.