Khyber North Indian Grill

FOOD

Warm naan arrives at the table while you make your way through Khyber’s lunch buffet. It’s worth keeping some beside you: this is a meal of North Indian curries, spinach and cheese, lentils and rice, and the bread is useful almost everywhere. The selection rotates, so think of the dishes below as the kitchen’s familiar buffet offerings rather than a fixed daily menu.

Chicken tikka masala and butter chicken are natural starting points. Khyber’s tikka masala combines tomato, cilantro and cream, while its butter chicken begins with grilled chicken breast finished with onions, tomatoes and butter. Both are rich, sauced preparations, but the grilled chicken gives the latter a connection to the restaurant’s grill cooking. A spoonful of each is a more enjoyable comparison than trying to settle your allegiance from the names alone.

The vegetable dishes deserve the same attention. Saag paneer folds pieces of cheese into creamed spinach, while dal makhani combines black lentils and red kidney beans with tomato and cream. Add the vegetable curry, with its onion-and-tomato gravy, ginger and garlic, and you have several good reasons to leave space beside the chicken. The pleasure is in moving between the greens, the lentils and a differently seasoned curry, with a piece of naan close at hand.

Chicken biryani is worth a separate helping. Long-grain basmati and chicken are steam-cooked with saffron, dried fruit and nuts, giving the rice its own seasoning and a little sweetness. Try it before adding a spoonful of another sauce; there is already quite a bit happening in that rice. It also makes a satisfying center for a plate with a little saag or dal alongside, especially if you would rather spend lunch on biryani than on several chicken curries.

Table-served bread keeps the meal from feeling entirely self-service. You can return with the dishes that caught your eye, pass the naan around and settle back into lunch. Dessert is included too. After the curries and rice, a small sweet course is a good reason to pause before declaring that the last savory helping really will be the last.