Namaskar, Somerville, MA (Battle of the Davis Square Indian Buffets, Part 2)

Namaskar
234 Elm St., Somerville, MA

Now comes the long-anticipated conclusion in our quest to find out which is the better Davis Square Indian buffet. Let's get down to business...

The Offerings:

Chutneys:

tamarind: Weak. It tasted more like sweet and sour sauce. It was lighter in color too.
mint: n/a
onion: n/a
raitha: This stood out in my mind as tasting quite better than the usual. More tang to it.
hot chutney: While I didn't try it, I did observed that it looked almost identical to pickle.

(left to right, top to bottom): lettuce, green pepper, not sure, not sure, orange wedges, not sure, red onion, carrots, cucumber, hot chutney, kheer, raitha, tamarind chutney.

Salad: First, I'm going to apologize, for I can't seem to remember, or make out in the picture what some of the items in the salad section were. This tells me that the salad section was quite expansive. Apparently the 'build you own salad' platform is popular in Davis Square. Overall this one was bigger, however, less fruit and more veggies.

Bread:






































naan: It was delivered to my table. I liked how it was cut into strips. it saves me having to rip it on my own :). This naan was slightly on the thinner side and very flavorful> I kept wondering if it was garlic naan and then telling myself 'no'. I'm pretty sure what I was tasting was the oils and maybe a little seasoning.

Soup:

the hot and sour soup is in the bottom, left pan. (also pictured (top 3): mixed veg. pakora, saag, raswala bataka, and(next to soup) pindi chana)





































hot and sour soup: I've had a soup called 'hot and sour soup' at Chinese restaurants, but this one is different. I would say I'd pick the Chinese version. It didn't have much flavor. There were carrots in it...not too exciting for me.

Appetizer:

mixed veg. pakora: These were of good size. They all seemed to be the same vegetable, despite the name. I think the vegetable was mushroom.

Entrees:

(clockwise from upper left:) raswala bataka, mushroom chicken, tandoori chicken, beef curry, and chicken tikka masala.









































































(above, clockwise from upper left :) raswala bataka, mushroom chicken, chicken tikka masala, and kadhai paneer.

saag: It was just spinach curry; no paneer, no vegetables, nothing. After I got past this, it was fine. It still scooped up nicely into the pieces of the rather tasty naan.
pindi chana: Essentially chole or chana masala. The sauce was a little thin though. It made up in flavor; tangy and spicy
raswala bataka: I'd never seen this before. Once again, a popato dish with a confusing name. It consisted of potatoes in a white, creamy, sauce. I enjoyed it though. I'm not sure how to descibe the flavor... almost lentily, definitely mild. I suppose one could say "savory".
kadai paneer: I enjoyed this kadai paneer alot more than that which I had at Cafe India. Less spicy and more all-around flavor.
mushroom chicken: It was boneless chicken pieces and mushroom in that classic brown curry sauce I always see when a dish has curry in the name. It's a tangy, cinnamony, taste that I enjoy. On a low note, the chicken was dry for my liking. That killed my buzz a skoatch.
chicken tikka masala: What I said about the chicken in the last dish, I'll ditto for this one. Which sucked because the tikka masala sauce was damn good.
tandoori chicken: This may be the worst tandoori chicken I've tasted. The chicken was pretty dry (no surprise there), and it just kinda tasted burnt.
beef curry: This was odd. I was sure that Indian food never used beef. I'm pretty sure this was the same curry sauce that was used in the mushroom chicken. It drove like goat curry, but the beef gave it something slightly heartier and milder in taste. i need to read up on Indian food and if it does or doesn't use beef.

Dessert:

kheer: This was right on. Perfectly seasoned with coriander, not too thick or thin, sweet but not too sweet. A win in my book.

Price: $9.62 weekday (MA sales tax included)

Final Score: 4.0/5

A TIE! There you have it. If you ever find yourself in Davis Square and can't decide which Indian Buffet to choose, in my opinion, flip a coin. As far as food quality goes, both places aren't bad. If you want fancier environment and more common Indian dishes, go to Diva, but beware the stange seemingly non-Indian offerings. For a slightly wider selection and more unusual dishes, than Namaskar is for you. Either way, I intern down the street and have a culinary goldmine (i.e. Davis Square) a stone's throw away. In the end, I win.