Arkensen and Nanzaro had an eye checkup in Vancouver during the winter break. Normally, they have their checkup in January but this time I was given the appointment during winter break. I’m so glad because I don’t have to worry about them missing classes for their eyes checkup.
Arkensen and Nanzaro wanted to eat at the New India Buffet & Restaurant which is located in the same building where their optometrist is.
Arkensen and Nanzaro had tried the $5 lunch box take out here before. It was during their previous year visit to the optometrist during a school day. Since we had to rush back to school, they just had the lunch box take out and eat it in the car on the way back to school.
New India Buffet & Restaurant has a nice view of Vancouver. I can imagine the night scenery from here will be very beautiful.
The interior of the restaurant is made of multilevel dining area. It is big and decorated festively.
We came here for the buffet. Actually, for Arkensen, he only wanted butter chicken with rice. Arkensen does not care for variety. When we go to Kedah House for their buffet, Arkensen will only eat rice with beef rendang. His new slogan is know your limit, stay within it. Hm, that sounds familiar.
Ice water is served on the table. You can also have ice tea or mango lemonade from the buffet.
The above is Nanzaro’s butter chicken with fries. I find that the butter chicken is not as creamy as I liked it to be.
The above is my lamb curry. The lamb is very tender and the curry is slightly tangy. This is good.
The above saffron sweet rice is served on the buffet. The boys avoided this because they saw raisins in it. I enjoyed it though. The drumstick on the top right is Tandoori Chicken, I think.
For appetizers, we tried the Mini Samosa and Vegetable Pakora. The Mini Samosa was crispy but the pakora is not crispy and quite doughy. So, the pakora is a disappointment.
I had some of the vegetable dishes. On the right with cauliflower is Aloo Gobi and on the left is a dish with eggplant. I cant recall the dish name.
Naan is good with any curry. The naan is pre-made and not freshly made like some other Indian restaurant. So, they are not as crispy on the outside.
I also tried some Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding) and Raita (Indian Yogurt side dish). I had to ask for the small bowls as they were not found on the buffet table.
Lastly, for dessert, I had some cantaloupe melon, jello and Gulab Jamun. I love the combination of the different textures and flavours, sour and sweet.
Indian Chai Tea and Coffee is included in the buffet. I had the Chai Tea.
The bill came to $50.22 before tips. Apparently, during the holiday season, they charged the weekend price i.e. $14.95 on weekday too. The regular price will resume on 2nd January.
You can click on the above menu to have a larger view.
BUSINESS HOUR7 days a week
Lunch: 11:30AM to 4:00PM
Dinner: 4:00PM to 10:00PM
I hope Arkensen didn’t take up gambling recently, LOL !
We used to go to New India fairly often as we lived 2 blocks away. That was maybe 10 years ago, when their buffet dinner was only $12 (around $9 for lunch). Over the years their prices crept up and IIRC they changed ownership once. Since we don’t do much of AYCE-anything these days (age, trying to stay healthy) we don’t visit these places. But I should say for an AYCE place, New India has a great venue and view. Their predecessor was a short-lived Irish gastropub, hence the decor (hasn’t changed).
Do they still have spring rolls and chowmein ?? LOL
Dear Ben,
Hi there, this place looks familiar to me, did ur son see a doctot there named dr mcintosh, cuz this building looks like the same i have been to before,
whhops made a mistake, the name is actually dr macintosh.
The wonders of internet, eh ?
http://www.yellowpages.ca/bus/British-Columbia/Vancouver/MacIntosh-J-M-Dr/2387567.html
There are so many doctors working in that building, Raymond. Nope, it was not Dr Macintosh.
This is my preferred Indian buffet restaurant. The selection is good and the chicken is tender and tasty. And the view is superb.
I don’t like that you have to specifically ask for bowls for everything, though; I’m sorry, but curries and sauces just don’t work on a plate! I haven’t always gotten the best service from the daytime staff. And they could Indian-up the decor and music a bit too. (Last time I was in there they had some sort of infomercial playing on the TV, but they did turn the sound off when I asked.)
My favorite dish: I don’t know of you tried them, but my favorite dish here is the bright red pickled carrots – the best in town, as far as I’ve found. When they’re done right, I adore these – and this place gets them perfect! Not too hot, and with a really nice sweet fragrant spice. Oh, they also have sweet rice – which I love.
If anyone has suggestions for other downtown Indian buffets, let me know your favorites! I’m dying to try more. 🙂
As far as I know (from Web):
Salam Bombay
755 Burrard St
India Bistro
1157 Davie St
Atithi
2445 Burrard Street
Robson All India Bar & Restaurant
1256 Robson
But maybe they don’t necessarily provide dinner buffets, only lunch. Call ahead.
I found Indian Bistro’s buffet to be very small and dull. If you order from the menu, the food is good but the portions can be tiny!
All India on Davie (across the street from India Bistro) also has a buffet, which is boring and mild and spiceless, but I often order delivery from the menu…which is really quite good. Their lamb curry is lovely (ask for boneless if you want no bones) and the tikka paneer is really tasty, but can sometimes be dry. I like thier stuffed breads too. Overall I like the place…and they have a nice Indian atmosphere with largescreen TVs playing Bollywood music videos!
I have not tried any of the others you list yet.
This one ?
http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2008/06/16/carrot-pickle-gajar-ka-achar/
That’s the one. But all carrot pickles are not created equal! New India’s are the best!
(ps. I also subscribe to Manjula’s Kitchen – but so far I’ve only tried her Gujar Halwa recipe – yum!)
(oops – that’s “gajar ka halwa” – http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/04/26/gajar-ka-halwa-carrot-halwa/)
I’m not much a pickle-anything person …… had past bouts of gastro reflux which fended me away from things too acidic. But there’s nothing like a big honkin’ kosher dill pickle, eh !!
I just scanned Manjula’s recipe – no sugar listed – Hmm…
Hi Peter E: Pickled carrots? Never tried them but they sound good. Have you ever tried Saffron on Kingsway? That is my preferred Indian buffet restaurant. I always ended up regretting going there as I almost always overeat! Ben
Overeat …… isn’t that the point of buffets ? 😉
Oh, I don’t know… I like buffets because you get to try many items for a small price rather than having to settle for 2-3 items…especially if you have only 1-2 people in your party!
I was being facetious, Peter 😉
And I agree, buffets are useful for that reason.
Never heard of it Ben. Thanks…I will try it!
Saffron is pretty good: http://goo.gl/XWCGL
I find Saffron’s foods a bit heavy on the ghee and salt to my liking.
IMHO Mezbaan is solid: http://goo.gl/YytjZ
You all seem to be very up on Indian cuisine in Vancouver and wonder if Simba’s (I think it’s in New Westminster) is in the same category but it’s Indian cooking from Africa. Or is this comparing oranges to grapefruit?
Hi Liz,
I’ve not been, only heard of Simba’s Grill (sigh, so many restaurants so small stomach …..). They’re on Edmonds in Burnaby IIRC. AFAIK they’re cuisine that originated in India but “fused” with East African ingredients and styles of cooking. I’m not really sure what to call it, really.
4 of us went to New India Restaurant on Saturday. The guy (owner?) had a table for us until we told him we have a groupon. He said one groupon per table so we asked for 2 tables. He said he can’t cos we “came together”. We were shocked. All of a sudden he said they were full and turned us away. Of course we are mad. We are asking for a refund from groupon.