Rangoli, Auburn Hills, MI

www.detroitrangoli.com
Walton Village Plaza Shopping Center, 3055 E Walton Blvd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326
(248) 377-3800

Weekday lunch buffet - 5/10 average overall, although the shrikhand (yogurt based dessert) was nice.

Zaike lamb chops - 8/10. well made, marinated and juicy. Some pieces were a bit stretchy (chewy) though, but overall tasted good

Hyderabadi chicken biryani - 6/10. Not much Hyderabad to it. Wasnt spicy, but that is subjective. It did have a dominant taste of a mix of cumin seeds and perhaps coriander/mint, which did not help the flavor.

Priya, Detroit, MI

priyarestaurant.com
72 W Maple Rd, Troy, MI 48084
(248) 269-0100

Lamb Karai - 8/10. Well made, spicy semi-dry lamb dish. Tasty, with juicy lamb chunks.

Tandoori combo platter- This was largely a disappointment.

Lamb seekh kabab - 4/10: was coarsely ground and had whole coriander seeds in it, that, when chewing, gave a dominant 'raw coriander seed' flavor for many seconds (not a good taste by itself). Repeat that taste for each bite ... and the experience is not good.

Chicken tikka - 5/10 was dry and not very well marinated either, besides the spices being limited to the top surface of the chicken.

Naan - 7/10 fresh and lightly buttered plain naan.

Kool break, Hazratganj Lucknow India

1. Tekarees Chambers, Ashok Marg, Hazratganj, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226001

Tried the chili chicken "dry" here in the ongoing quest for the original style from many moons ago... Dark brown chicken nuggets with green chillies. No capsicum or onions. Simple. This came close, but not the same thing. 

Chili chicken dry - 7/10

Havelie restaurant, Nice France 7/10

http://www.restaurant-havelie.fr/

Address: 35 Rue d'Angleterre, 06000 Nice, France

Phone:+33 4 93 88 99 40 

One of the better Indian restaurants in Nice (there arent many there to begin with).

The maitre d  is a knowledgeable lady with a background in hotel management and local history, besides the food.

Lamb madars - 7/10. Well made and flavorful, thick gravy. Tasty. 

Chicken biryani - 6/10. The chicken could have been better (marinated) but was still tasty.

Kanapina (food card at Canary Wharf) London, 6/10

https://www.google.com/search?q=kanapina+canary+wharf

Address: Reuters Plaza, London E14 5AJ, United Kingdom

Phone:+44 20 7519 6288

 

Nice fast food card just outside the Canary Wharf tube station.

 

Chicken tikka and Lamb seekh kabab roti rollups or in-salad plates - 6/10

Singh's Cafe, Wellesley MA

http://www.singhscafe.com/
312 Washington St, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481

(781) 235-1666

Good spread in the lunch buffet, and an overall 7/10. The buffet features a 'tawa' with different types of food on it.
 

Veeraswamy, London

Address: Mezzanine Floor, Victoria House, 99-101 Regent St, London W1B 4RS, United Kingdom

Phone:+44 20 7734 1401

http://www.veeraswamy.com/

 

Great location and good ambience. UKs oldest Indian restaurant. Food was below expectations commensurate with the grandeur and history of the place though. 7/10 overall.

Tried their 'tasting menu', a thali of sorts.

Lamb chapli kabab - 8/10

Green prawn - 8/10

Naan - 7/10

Various curry dishes in the thali - 6 to 7/10

 

 

Kebab Indian Cuisine

Kebab Indian Cuisine, (978) 454-7777
1270 Westford St. (Drum Hill RD.), Lowell MA 01851

Nice place, new. Daily buffet, including weekends. Buffet generally has 4 non veg entrees and a similar veg variety. Nice dessert (kheer or gulab jamun).

Update Sep 2008
Goat curry - 7/10. Tasty, with rich gravy. However, the pieces were a bit dry, and the aroma of "goat" :) was missing from the overall entree.

Update 3/26/08
Butter chicken - 6/10
Chicken Aachari - 6/10
Chicken curry - 5.5/10
Chicken seekh kabab - 6.5/10

They also had a nice 'vaghare baigan' (eggplant in rich curry sauce). They seem to be always out of lamb seekh kabab, so call ahead.

3/2/08
Buffet - 6.5/10

Tandoori combo platter was some nice and some average. It has
Tandoori chicken - 6/10
chicken tikka - 6/10
boti kebab - 5/10

They also had a shoe-lace-fluorescent-green dry paneer dish - I forget the name - Paneer hariyali/kofta (paneer with spinach covering) maybe - which was useless and tasteless (despite asking for spicy) - 4/10.

Aangan

Aangan Fine Indian Cuisine (717) 909-7777
3500 Walnut St, Harrisburg, PA

Nice dinner buffet.
Goat curry - rich and tasty - 6/10
Tandoori chicken - 5/10
Chicken tikka masala - 5/10

Gajar halwa - 5/10
Gulab jamun - 5/10

Mantra

Mantra
52 Temple Pl, Boston, MA
(617) 542-8111

Update 1/1/10

Custom ordered a few items from the menu (vs the lunch buffet)

Goat curry - 7/10, made well if you tell them exactly what you want and how you want it

Lamb boti kabab - be very specific on how you want it, they made it well, twice 7/10, and messed it up bad, once 4/10

Lamb seekh kabab - 7/10

Naan - specifically asked for the freshest ones from the tandoor and they obliged. 6/10. They could have been a bit fluffier.

The ambience of this place is worth mentioning. Mentioned. Decorated differently than the usual rows of chairs and tables.
They are a Indian buffet place by day and a fusion food place by night (which I heard is better than the day food).
The weekday buffet had:
Tandoori chicken (with a mint - aka "pudina" - marinate) - 6.5/10. This one was marinated well, with the flavor well below the surface of the chicken, unlike most other restaurants. But the food was not even moderately hot (otherwise this would have been a 7/10)
Chicken tikka masala - 6/10. This was nice too. Tasty, but not hot.
Chicken biryani - 4/10. The biryani was not worth it. No taste, utterly bland. Not even spicy.
Naan - 6/10. They made fresh naans, thinner than the usual Indian naans (kind of like the thin crust pizza at Dominos).
Paneer tikka masala - 5/10. Average.
Rice kheer - 6/10. Nice.
Heard that their vegetable "pakodas" (deep fried dumplings) were slightly on the raw side. They did make fresh "aaloo tikkis" onsite. They were ok.
Definitely better than the nearby Tantric Bar & Grill restaurant.

Rangoli Restaurant
129 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA
(617) 562-0200

Chicken biryani - which was tasty, but wasnt the layered style (you know, rice-meat-rice-meat-rice). It looked and felt like pulao, which is ok as long as it tastes good. - 6/10
Some other vegetarian stuff was ok.

Jaipur Cafe - closed.
500 Providence Hwy, Norwood, MA 02062
(781) 551-9797

Decent rich food.
Chicken tikka masala - 6/10.

Update: the place closed.

Indian Village - closed.
Sun Plaza, Nashua, NH
603-891-1140
Directly across from the Pheasant Lane Mall

Rich food (creamy, oily, but in a good way, with taste), better than average buffet - 6/10

Tandoor chicken had the usual 1/2 mm problem.

Update: the place closed.

Udupi Bhavan Lowell
1717 Middlesex St, Lowell, MA
(978) 654-6653

Generally nice food. Vegetarian only. 6/10
I like their "Chana bhatura" (ironical, given that this is a South Indian restaurant). The chana (aka chana masala) is a bit creamy though, but tastes ok. Some other chana masalas elsewhere have an overdose of spices and an overbearing raw-spicy taste.

Punjabi Dhaba Restaurant

Punjabi Dhaba Restaurant
225 Hampshire St, Cambridge, MA
(617) 547-8272

12/31/08 update

Chicken tikka masala - average 5/10

Chilli paneer masala - 6/10 (you can ask them to make it spicy, that will add an edge to the cream sauce)
The veggie omlette stinks a bit - 4/10
Lamb seekh kabab - 6/10
A few other items are between 5-6/10
Nan is generally fresh and puffed, not flat - 5/10.
Small hole in the wall, unkempt.

India Palace, Chelmsford, MA
313 Littleton Rd, Chelmsford, MA (978) 244-1235

Chilli paneer (dry) - 6/10. My wife gave it a 8/10.
Its an appetizer, so you can eat a couple. Its not the kind you get in India (the ones with MSG :), but American Indian instead. Its still better than the wet chilli paneers that many restaurants serve.
Their buffet is average - 5/10.

Hot Breads, Woburn, MA
438 Main St, Woburn, MA (781) 933-7557

Chicken Biryani - 7/10 (nice)
They also have nice Indian style pastries and puffs (although the filling leaves you a bit unfulfilled :) and "dabeli" too.