Tandoori Grill

FOOD

The tandoor earns its place in the restaurant’s name. Tandoori chicken is marinated with yogurt and herbs before cooking, while naan gives the sauced dishes their natural companion. The bread is brought to the table, a welcome detail when the first plate includes more than one curry.

Butter chicken uses boneless tandoori chicken in a mildly spiced tomato-and-butter sauce. Chicken tikka masala also starts with baked boneless chicken, but pairs it with a creamy tomato sauce. They offer familiar introductions to the buffet without making the whole meal depend on one large curry order. A little of both, followed by a return to the favorite, is an entirely defensible lunch plan.

Saag paneer brings homemade cheese and creamy spinach into the selection. It gives the vegetable side of the meal a substantial dish of its own, with naan as useful here as it is beside the chicken. The buffet changes, so these are representative choices rather than a fixed menu for every service.

Chicken biryani combines basmati rice and boneless chicken with saffron and herbs. It deserves to be treated as a dish, rather than simply the rice beneath a spoonful of curry. Tawa pulao offers another approach: potatoes, peas, onion, tomato and bell pepper join rice seasoned with pav bhaji masala and coriander. Between the biryani and that vegetable-filled pulao, plain rice is hardly the only way to accompany lunch.

The wider à la carte menu is worth knowing about, although its dishes should not be mistaken for guaranteed buffet inclusions. Khaman and fafda-jalebi introduce Gujarati snacks, with saffron and cardamom in the jalebi syrup. They give the restaurant another regional interest beyond its North Indian buffet staples.

Chicken Manchurian, Chicken 65 and Gobi Manchurian add Indo-Chinese choices to the separately ordered menu. That broader range helps explain the kitchen, but the lunch buffet is best enjoyed on its own terms: tandoor cooking, curries, paneer and rice dishes, with warm bread arriving at the table. There is plenty to make a meal of before considering what to order on a return visit.