Philadelphia is packed with plenty of good Indian restaurants, but a good Indian lunch buffet can be hard to find. With that in mind, we selected Karma, Tandoor India, Sitar India and Uduppi Dosa House to find the best Indian lunch buffet around. Is it an exhaustive list? No, but if we didn’t limit ourselves we’d still be eating…
Without further ado, here’s how we ranked each Indian lunch buffet:
Bensalem’s Uduppi Dosa House is a bit beyond our normal scope of Philadelphia’s city limits, but that’s where we had to go to get some decent Southern Indian food. Adamant that we need to include a South Indian candidate in our Lunch Buffet Roundup, Tushar pointed us north of the border to sample some southern delicacies. I’m happy he did.
Emerging in January, Vietnam Cafe displays all of the characteristics of it’s successful Chinatown brother: excellent food in a comfortable, contemporary environment. Located in up and coming West Philly, Vietnam Cafe offers a smaller, more intimate environment complete with modern touches that are unusual for the neighborhood.
Something was amiss during our return trip to New Trieu Chau. Pulling up to the restaurant located at 1807 Washington Avenue in South Philly, something was different. At first, I thought it was me: Did we drive by and miss it? A second lap around the block proved that we hadn’t. The hole-in-the-wall spot offering great Southeast Asian food had been usurped by another! After some quick deliberation, we decided to give the replacement a shot.
Tandoor India is the third stop on the Indian Lunch Buffet Round Up and it did not disappoint. A popular place for lunch in University City, Tandoor India offers a great mix of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian items in a well-lit, comfortable environment.
Disposing of the pleasantries, we got down to business immediately after entering Tandoor India and being shown to a table. The buffet was attractively presented and well laid out; the cold salad items and a variety of chutneys displayed first with the hot entrees and desserts afterward. All items appeared to be freshly prepared and appetizing.
Cafe Pier One is the “other” coffee shop on Baltimore Avenue that the local hipsters have yet to discover. Owner Pamela Williams has created more than just a cozy, Afro-Beatnik joint for superb coffee, hot chocolate and tea it’s an excellent spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I happen to live right around the corner from Cafe Pier One. As of a week or so ago, I’d only had one item on their menu, the Bistro Salmon Salad. It is so awesome, I could eat it every day. A nice marinated salmon steak (or fillet, excuse me if I cannot recall this detail) atop of a bed of greens with apples, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, nuts AND the most amazing dressing, I don’t know what is in it but it’s tangy and terrific.
University City’s Sitar India is the second stop on our Indian Lunch Buffet Roundup. Still basking in the glow from an excellent experience at our first stop, Sitar already has some tough competition. Fortunately, Sitar India’s Indian Lunch Buffet would prove to be a worthy challenger.
I couldn’t wait to check out Sitar India for a couple reasons. First, it was recommended by several of my friends from Penn who know what they’re talking about when it comes to Indian food. Second, Sitar India claims to serve both Northern (Mogulai) and Southern Indian cuisine, which is rare. Lastly, I’m a freak for Dosas. They are my crack. I go to northern New Jersey and Queens to get my “fix.” But enough about my personal pecodillos, I digress!
Curious about Russian food? Chaikhana Uzbekistan in Northeast Philly is a good choice for the adventurous diner. Featuring cuisine from Uzbekistan, a Central Asian province of the former Soviet Union, Chaikhana offers an assortment of traditional foods designed to remind area expatriates of home. Thankfully the rest of us can get a “taste of home” too.
We would never have found Chaikhana Uzbekistan if it wasn’t for our Russian culinary guide Denis, who gave us the 411 on good Russian food in Philly. Having emigrated from Ukraine and now living in the area, we couldn’t have found a better source. It doesn’t hurt that his family used to run a restaurant just a few blocks away, either.
What do you get when you combine the best parts of a diner and a cool club? Spring Garden’s Silk City Diner Bar & Lounge. That’s what.
A long time favorite, The Silk City Diner was reopened in June after falling on hard times. Owner Mark Bee took some of the best parts of the original, added a heavy dose of renovation and a sprinkle of the magic that made his first project great (Northern Liberties’ North 3rd) to produce a hipster hot spot that everyone will enjoy. Any questions? Silk Citys MySpace page says it all.
Indian lunch buffets can offer some of the best food around, so in honor of Diwali we set out to sample some of the better Indian lunch buffets in Philadelphia to find our favorite. With Tushar at the helm (God save us), we’ve chosen a few promising candidates to investigate.
“What’s Diwali?” Trust me, don’t ask. Answers vary, so be satisfied with learning more about Diwali at Wikipedia.
