FOOD

Flame India’s lunch buffet works best as a focused sampler of a much larger Indian kitchen. The line is not built around sheer numbers. Instead, it circles the combinations that make this format useful: tandoori chicken for roasted depth, a creamy chicken curry, paneer or chickpeas for the vegetarian side, rice and bread for structure, then a few supporting starters, soups and sweets. The lineup can shift, but the recurring vocabulary is recognizable enough to build a plate with purpose rather than simply collecting one spoonful of everything.

Tandoori chicken is the obvious place to start. Yogurt, mild spices and herbs season the chicken before the tandoor adds roasted edges and a drier, more direct flavor than the sauced dishes beside it. That contrast matters on a buffet plate. A piece can stand on its own, then pick up a little raita or chutney before the plate moves into richer territory.

Chicken tikka masala supplies that richer center. Flame’s version is built from lightly broiled chicken in a tomato, onion and butter sauce, giving the buffet the creamy curry that practically asks for naan. Chicken makhani can push the same idea in a softer direction with butter, cream, tomato, nuts and raisins. Chili chicken can turn up as a sharper, less cream-driven counterpoint.

The vegetarian side is where a second plate can become genuinely different. Saag paneer brings cubes of house-made cheese into spinach and cream; chana masala turns chickpeas into an earthy, sturdy anchor; vegetable jalfrezi keeps peppers, tomatoes and onions visible instead of dissolving everything into sauce. Dal makhani adds black lentils, butter and cream, while raita cools the plate and gives the heavier curries somewhere to go.

Bread deserves its own strategy. Garlic naan is the easy companion to tikka masala and saag paneer, but the buffet can also bring poori or bhatura into the mix. Those fried breads change the texture of lunch completely: crisp or puffed at the edges, richer than naan, and especially good with chickpeas or dal. Rice can move between plain basmati and more aromatic preparations; biryani adds spiced basmati and more independence from the curries.

Starters and soups keep the first pass from becoming curry-only. Vegetable samosas provide the familiar crisp pastry shell around potatoes and peas. Dal soup can open the meal in a quieter direction, while tomato soup adds a sweeter counterpoint. Gobi Manchurian is worth noticing when it appears: cauliflower coated in a tangy chile-forward sauce that nudges the plate toward the Indo-Chinese side of Indian restaurant cooking.

Dessert brings the meal down gently. Kheer is the natural buffet finish, cool rice pudding with pistachios and enough richness to feel complete without demanding another full plate. Ice cream may also provide a simpler ending. Flame India’s food story is ultimately one of edited abundance: enough variety to make the second trip worthwhile, but compact enough that breads, contrasts and changing plate combinations remain part of the experience.