Bangladesh buffet

I was in a real multculti neighborhood in Queens, NY today and we passed an Indian (really Bangladesh) buffet around lunchtime. It was pretty crowded with locals so we tried it. The food was OK, a bit greasy, but the price was right (6.99).
More interesting was the regular lunch menue: Tandoori Chicken $2.99, vegetable curries $1.99, nothing over $4.99. These were Bangladesh prices!

When I said these were Bangladesh prices, I meant it as a joke. But I am curious about these Indian buffets. We have some nice ones in, or all places, Santa Fe. Who else enjoys them?

Indian buffets are about the only buffets I like. I like the opportunity to try small amounts of several different things. I am amazed at how much some people eat, though! Our favorite Indian place in KC is Korma Sutra, about 5 minutes from our house. They have a lot more vegetable dishes than many places. And great salads and chaat, which are little snack type items.

The tradition of buffets in Indian restaurants goes back several hundred years in India. It isn't done because it's cheaper, in fact a guy I know who owns a restaurant said it is rather costly for them, but it is an old tradition of offering your guests a lavish variety of food. Saveur Magazine had an article about the history of the Indian buffet a couple of years ago. It was very interesting.

Years ago I went to a Bangladeshi Restaurant in NY, sort of close to St. Mark's Place. It was great! I think the name was Sonali. It was night time and there wasn't a buffet, but the food was fantastic.

the Jackson diner off Roosevelt Ave. in Elmhurst, Queens was a favorite for years,$5.99...no buffet, but still enjoy bargain Curry In A Hurry, 119 Lexington Ave. NYC after shopping around the corner at Kalustyans for spices and other high quality ingredients...now here in NJ i've been blabbing about how much i love the buffet at Rajpoot in Sayerville for acouple of years - however, the quality of the food has been changing recently in a not-too-positive way...(hope it's just a bad day or two...)

Food of Bangladesh is really so testy and I am Bangladeshi and proud for our food.
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Sneetch,
There is a difference between restaurants (1) OWNED by people from Bangladesh and (2) restaurants SERVING Food OF Bangladesh to NON-Bangladeshis, i.e. anyone who cannot speak Bangla, regardless of skin color!
 
The # of category (1) is huge and at one time included >80% of all "Indian" joints [emphasis on joints] in the USA & UK. This is where you get the "buffets" with the foods familiar to the US public as "Indian", i.e.  type of Restaurant Punjabi much as Restaurant Cantonese became the face of  "Chinese" cuisine here.
 
#2 is vanishingly small! In NYC, around McDonald Ave in Brooklyn, there is a concentration of TRUE BANGLADESHI restaurants that would serve TRUE Bangladeshi Food: fish with bones in that you would need to eat with your hands! Ditto for meat! All of these have thin gravies that need to be mixed with a LOT of rice, NOT SPOONED UP NEAT!!
 
SAGAR is one of such restaurants. There are many more. You can go to the area & ask, and will be rewarded IF you are willing to jettison your pre-conceived notions of what food should be.
 
The people who own Kalustyan's are from B'desh. Across the street, is an Indian vegetarian restaurant named PONGAL. The Kalustyan owners had opened a true B'deshi restaurant called SWAGAT right next to PONGAL, in the early 90s. Absolutely authentic, truly excellent home-style B'deshi food, which is EXACTLY the reason it could not survive! Not a single rubbish Indian resto item on the menu!
 
Edison, NJ is the heart of the Indian ghetto & eateries abound!! The best place to find Indian food! Some examples follow, by no means an exhaustive list.
 
Bengali Sweets, Jalaram, Chowpatty & Jassi are 4 names that stand out for Indian sweets & savory snacks including the composed items called "chaats". These are to be eaten quickly on site, and the rest can be carried home.
 
Good reports about SWAGATH at Sugartree Plaza; this is a South Indian vegetarian place without a buffet. Ditto SAPTHGIRI. HOYSALA serves the food of Karnataka.
 
SIGIRI is a branch of the Manhattan Sri Lankan restaurant, in Edison,  reputed for good food. No buffet, but prices very reasonable.