For your convenience, I'll link items and terms that I have a hunch you may not understand to a corresponding Wikipedia article (or something of the like).
Now, on to our first review!
India Palace in Nashua is the closest Indian buffet to my house, which means I am lucky, because for the typical Indian fare, this place (or "palace") has quite the delectable buffet. It is part of a chain, of sorts, that has restaurants in Manchester, NH and Chelmsford, MA. I've yet to visit either of these buffets. I plan on it, though, to see if they can match (or better) the saucy excellence of their Nashua location.
The Offerings: (This is where I describe the buffet's offerings, a.k.a., the meat, potatoes, and spices of the post. (pun intended))
Chutneys:
A little info to get us started: These saucy accompaniments are an integral part of any Indian buffet. It can be used on your salad as a dressing, or as a sauce for your appetizers (pakora or samosa, for example). Think of it as the Indian equivalent to blue cheese or ranch dressing. I don't find it necessary to use with the entrees, as they already have their own sauces. I find it rather redundant.
-mint chutney: Looked like pesto. More pale in color than mint chutneys I've seen elsewhere. This chutney combines the taste of mint with cilantro. The result is a cool (in palatal terms) tastiness
-onion chutney: Looked like diced up onions, dyed red. Tastes like diced up onions, slightly seasoned.
-mango chutney: It looked like peach jam, and tasted like honey with a hint of mango; not bad, but too
-tamarind chutney: My favorite of all chutneys. It has a vinaigrette consistency and taste that is a balance of sweet and tangy. This buffet's tamarind chutney leaned more on the sweet side.
-mixed vegetable pickle: All buffets I've been to in the past include an Indian pickle accompaniment. I had never tried it up until this visit. Theirs' was a "mixed vegetable pickle". All I could taste was salt, with a hint of vinegar. The taste proved for too abrasive for the likes of my taste buds. I'll bet you could get the same flavor from filling your mouth with salt and then slipping a small piece of carrot, onion, or cucumber in there too.
The Salad Set-Up:
Most commonly (in my observations) the salad can include a mix of iceberg lettuce, sliced carrots, sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, chopped cliantro, and lemon wedges.
That said, this buffet proved to be an anomaly to the aforementioned system. There was straight iceberg lettuce and, in a separate bowl, a diced, relish-like, mixture of (what I think to be) all of the previously listed Indian salad veggies. My natural instinct was to combine to two, which is what I think you're supposed to do.
Bread:
Indian cuisine features various breads. The breads are flat, which makes them perfect for scooping up all of the delicious sauce your lame-ass fork left behind. Personally, I often find myself substituting the bread for a fork. I'll introduce each type of bread as we encounter it.
-naan: is the most common of South Asian breads. It comes in various flavors. India Palace really delivers with their naan. It's slightly crispy and oiled. They keep it hot and stocked in a pan on the buffet line, I highly prefer this as opposed to places that serve baskets of naan to your table, I always end up have to bug the waiter for more. They also offer Garlic flavored naan! This is the only place I've ever witnessed regularly offering 2 flavors of naan at their buffet. Big points here.
Appetizer:
We'll encounter various forms.
mixed vegetable pakora: This was the only appetizer being offered today :/. It was good though. Light and crispy bits of what appeared to be fried spinach and potato. As always, I dipped them in the tamarind chutney. The result was delicious.
mixed vegetable pakora: This was the only appetizer being offered today :/. It was good though. Light and crispy bits of what appeared to be fried spinach and potato. As always, I dipped them in the tamarind chutney. The result was delicious.
Entrees:
Various meats (usually chicken or goat), vegetables, lentils, and/or paneer in savory, spiced, sauces. Oh, and tandoori chicken.
-dal makhani: This is a dish composed of lentils in a creamy tomato sauce. The dal that I tasted here had no tomato taste to it, as promised in its description. I felt slightly let down. Its taste was purely bean-y, like black bean soup.
-palak paneer: One of my personal favorites; Indian fried cheese cubes in a spiced spinach sauce. Theirs' did not disappoint. The sauce was smooth, creamy, and slightly spicy all at the same time.
-mushroom mattar: This dish featured mushrooms and peas in a brown sauce that was savory and slightly tangy. This dish is slowly teaching me to appreciate peas.
-vegetable vindaloo: This is a dish which featured vegetables (green beans, peas, carrots) and potatoes in a brown sauce, which tasted very similar to the Mattar sauce.
-chicken curry: It consisted of boneless (thumbs up), cubed chicken in a brown sauce. I will note that at the time I tried it, there was barely any chicken left in the pan, so I mostly got to try the sauce. The sauce was tangy and I could taste hints of something sweet, like cinnamon or cardamom. They lose points for not keeping the chicken stocked, but gain points for the sauce being so damn delicious.
-chicken tikka masala: This dish, I've observed, is usually the starting point for most people's venture into the world of Indian cuisine. It features pieces of (usually boneless) chicken in a creamy tomato sauce. I could eat India Palace's tikka masala for every meal of every day, and I wouldn't grow tired of it. As a matter of fact, I'm craving it right now. From the deep red hue of the sauce, to the twice-as-large pan the kept stocked, to how it delivered in its creamy-yet-tangy, flavor, the Palace has surely knocked this one out of the park.
-tandoori chicken: I didn't have any room left to try their tandoori chicken this visit, but it looked like what I'm used to seeing at the buffets: Red-colored grilled chicken drumsticks sprinkled with cilantro and garnished up the wazoo with sliced onion and lemon wedges.
Desert:
-kheer: This is essentially what everyone one knows to be rice pudding, given an Indian spin. The spin involves a thinner consistency, the addition of pieces of (one or two of the following) pistachio, almond, cashew, saffron strings, and the hint of cardamom. India Palace offers a thicker rice pudding. I've never really tasted bad kheer, but I think I would've enjoyed their Kheer more if it was thinner and milkier.
-mango pudding: Delicious. Its thinner and lighter than American pudding, which makes it that much more addictive. India Palace even goes the extra mile by tossing in bits of other fruits too.
Price: $10.36 on a weekday (including N.H. tax). Not bad.
Final Score: 4.5/5
For now, we'll be using a five-point system in half-point increments. Why? Cuz I said so.
-If I was scoring the India Palace buffet solely on their ability to serve up standard North-Indian delicacies, this place may have scored a perfect 5, but that's not entirely what I'm looking for. Sure, quality is a huge part of the point-system, but I have a dream. That dream is that there is someplace out there that can provide a buffet, at a relatively low cost, with relatively high quality, and offer both North and South Indian delicacies.
I'll be going to a buffet that specializes more in South Indian dishes in the near future, so stay tuned. For now, I bid you farewell. Keep it spicy.
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