Indian buffet

Taste of India
858-566-0806
http://www.tasteofindiasd.com/
6780 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, California

In the theme of buffets, I had to include an Indian buffet. Indian is my personal favorite cuisine of all time for two reasons: it has so many vegetarian options and it has so many different variations that a dish is completely different each place you have it.

The second part might be considered inconsistency to some people and it might be the source of frustration. However, the reason for all the variation is due to the thousands of cultures that comprise India. There are 23 different languages recognized by the Indian Constitution, for example. This even makes many of the dishes appear under different names and different spellings. For instance, some restaurants will refer to a creamed spinach dish as Palak Paneer while others will call it Saag Paneer. Some places with deep fry the paneer cheese (a soft, homemade, tofu-like cheese), others won't, and some will offer Saag without cheese at all! And that's just a single dish!

Obviously all this variance means that people are going to have many preconceptions of what Indian food should be. If I were to define what I think it should be, it would be best exemplified by the Taste of India on Miramar Rd. There are a bunch of places that call themselves "Taste of India" and I have no idea if there's a common owner of them to explain the name, but the food is very different from one to another, so even if they are under common ownership, do not go to one thinking you'll find the same dishes as at another location.

Nearly all Indian restaurants offer some form of buffet. The lunch buffet is the most popular. The lunch buffet at the Taste of India is only $9 and it's a great option if you need a quick lunch (and you're really hungry). The dinner buffet is $13 but they do bring out some more expensive dishes.

For dinner, they always offer a Saag Paneer, Chicken Tandoor, Dal (lentils), Alu (potato) and chickpea dish. They're all very good and have very different flavors. Their basmati rice is very good (unusual for a buffet where it usually gets dried out and isn't evenly cooked). They also have pakoras (deep fried veggie fritters) and samosas (super-buttery, curried potatos and peas in a deep fried shell).

But here's their big winning factor: they don't make the mistake, that so many Indian buffets make, of leaving the Naan (a buttery, fluffy flat bread) out on the buffet where it gets tough and dry. They bring it to your table and when you finish it, they bring you another. It's super fresh, hot and delicious. For dessert they have the standard Kheer (a sort of thin rice pudding) and Gulab Jamun (deep fried cheese balls...they're awesome). The Gulab Jamun in particular is better here than any other place I've had it. Most places I've had it, it comes out cakey rather than spongy and tender. It sounds weird but you have to try it.

Another place to try (especially if you're vegetarian) is the Madras Cafe. It's all vegetarian and it's Southern Indian cuisine (which is radically different than all other Indian food). There's still some curries and lots of potatos, but they have a bunch of different breads including one that is paper thin that's about 1.5 feet in diameter.

In case you haven't picked up on this yet, I'm in love with Indian food and I get excited just by writing about it. There's a completely new twist on it at every place you eat, so if you've had Indian before and it was either too spicy, not spicy enough, or just didn't suit you, try it again, at least twice more, at different places. You're sure to find one variety of it that you like.