A Retrospective

Since this is my last post that will be made to fulfill an assignment in Dr. Silverman's course, I decided to use this post to look back over all of the buffet visits we've made this semester, and pick out superlatives.

Most frequently seen dish: Chicken Tikka Masala. 6 out of 10 buffets had it. I'm not surprised by this, seeing how it is probably the best known dish in Indian Cuisine. It was the first one I had heard of prior to gaining interest for Indian cuisine.

Cheapest buffet: Rasoi of Albuquerque, NM. $9.45 on a weekday, tax included. The out-of-towner wins it! Perhaps it has to do with a relatively low cost of living in New Mexico, or perhaps it can be attributed to the relatively small buffet selection. The small selection didn't take away from my enjoyment at all, the offerings were high quality.

Most expensive buffet: Pongal of Billerica, MA. $11.66 on a weekday, including tax. Conversely, this buffet had a relatively large selection. I would've been sold on this price if I really like the selections, but that didn't happen.

Highest rating: It's a four way tie between Priya of Lowell MA, Rasoi of Albuqurque, NM, Bombay Mahal of Waltham, MA, and India Palace of Chelmsford, MA, all with 4.8's. I still can't decide which one I like the best. The three buffets in MA are what I'd recommend to the reader of this blog who hasn't been to an Indian buffer before. What made these the best (in my book), was that each had high quality dishes at relatively low costs.

Favorite dish and where: I'm going to pick two: The saag paneer at Rasoi and the Chicken Tikka Masala at both India Palaces. Take heed from my inclinations. This curry is GOOD. These dishes are not to thick or thin and are bursting with flavor.

Most items (not counting sauces, naan, plain basmati rice, and salad): Bombay Mahal with 18 items. Well, no wonder the buffet was so pricey. I just wished the food was more to my liking. It seems very South Indian-centric. Which is good for dosa, yet bad in my book when it comes to entrees.

Least items (not counting sauces, naan, plain basmati rice, and salad): Rasoi with 8. it must be no coincidence that these two buffets (Pongal and Rasoi) are, respectively, the most expensive, and cheapest. I'm pretty sure I'd rather have a small selection of delicious items, than a wide selection of "meh" items.

I hope one was able to deduct some useful conclusions about these buffet stats so far. As to that the future holds for endless spice, perhaps branching off into other cuisine, or showcasing the cooking of me and those I know. All I do know is that the possibilities are wide open from here...