Indian

i just love eating the lunch buffet at India Garden in Pittsburgh. I just love this food.

Why aren't there more places Like this.

Greg

The best Indian food in America is at restaurants located in areas where there is a large Indian populace.
Fortunately for us in Dallas, we have no shortage of excellent, authentic Indian restaurants serving everything from Goan to Madras to Northern Indian style cooking.

Greg,
Twinwillow got the issue exactly right. The owner clears < 50 cents per $8-10 buffet plate after taxes, health insurance, Social Security, laundry, cleaning costs, labor,  etc. are met.
 
In every big city there is the inescapable organized crime "rent" to be paid, too. In the US, it is all very civilized & institutionalized, i.e. you hire XYZ garbage company, PQR produce supplier & so on.
 
Therefore, unless there is a good night time crowd who spend on higher price items & drinks, the restaurant cannot function. Americans are conditioned to associate "Indian" with "cheap food", so in the smaller cities, unless there are Indians or subcontinentals ordering their favorites, there will be no call for the high-ticket menu items.
 
Additionally, it is very difficult to get a truly good chef from India to come here owing to visa & wage issues. Most smaller restaurants run with amateur staff or Hispanics hurriedly trained to be cooks. I know this because I was an Indian knowing scarcely anything about Thai food promoted within 2 days of joining to sous chef in a Lao-Thai restaurant!!!!! No one could tell the difference, and I wondered, WT......!!
 
So now you can appreciate that the buffet table is just one aspect of a complex operation. In fact, not having one would give the staff that much more rest and prep time from 2 p.m. onward, and a more relaxed atmosphere to clean the premises & get ready for the 5 p.m. opening. Remember that staff do not get to go home until at least 2 a.m. IF they are lucky!

I am praying that this thread encourages a spate of indian recipes in that forum.

Be happy to write down your favorites in the appropriate thread: which one is it?
 
more than the recipe, careful attention to technique counts.

Thanks pimple2 ... I am just introducing myself to indian food (I know ... it is many different cultures). I am a fairly proficient cook but am certainly not accustomed to such powerful spice mixtures and the complexity I taste amazes me. Perhaps a few of what you might consider "starter recipes"? Thanks again for your kind offer. And I assume it would be appropriate to post in the recipes & cooking techniques forum.

Pimple,

Any thoughts on Vatan in NYC?
 
Thanks.

I came across many good Indian restaurants in the UK. Because they DO have a large Indian population the places seem to proliferate and they are very good. Idid not see any buffet types because I think the concept is alien to them. Once I got the spices down, I began to really enjoy them. More fortunately for me I have a co-worker who is married to a native of Mumbai and he has guided me to many an outstanding Indian eatery here in north Austin. I believe the same problems are true for Chinese buffets which are all over north Austin like a rash.

The Chicago area has a large Indian population. For many years it was concentrated along Devon Avenue in Chicago but Indian restaurants and grocery stores can be found in most of the suburbs as well now.

The Indian food is just as diverse as its people and cultures.Indian Food and Indian Restaurants are common in many parts of the world.I love to eat Indian foods.

Indian/Pakistani food is the most popular food in England.    I love most ethnic foods and am lucky that I get to travel to places where there are a variety of them.

There are some good ones here in San Antonio like India Oven and some others,which i haven't tried yet.I want to try Sichuan Cusinine on Northwest Military. Their chinese menu is authenic,no americanized foods here.
Caravali up in New york, near Piermont has good food according to my sister.they have several locations. Unfortunately the ones here aren't close to where I live, got to drive clear across San Antonio to get to them.but hey,vacation is coming,so I think I'll try it out.

goodfoodwarehouse


The Indian food is just as diverse as its people and cultures.Indian Food and Indian Restaurants are common in many parts of the world.I love to eat Indian foods.

 
Me too. I love them hot and spicy. My favorite Indian dishes are the Sambhar Chawal , the Dahi Gosht and the Mughlai Chicken. They are simply delicious...

bunch of great place in the bay area :)

Difficult as buffets rely on grease and sugar. Indian food is always high in both.

I thought we had some good options here in the Bay Area...but then I went to England and my head exploded. Loads of Indian restaurants and the ones I went to were all quality.

@seank: you can thank the late Idi Amin for all those great Indian restaurants in London. England is where most of the Indians settled when Idi Amin "kicked" them all out of Uganda. And, it was in London that I had my first love affair with this great, sub-continent cuisine.
 
In Dallas, our favorite Indian restaurant is Cafe Mughlai.
http://www.mughlaidallas.com