New Little India

FOOD

New Little India’s lunch buffet brings Indian meat dishes and vegetarian cooking into the same spread, with biryani, curries, tikka masala, kebabs and naan among the choices. The selection changes, with chicken, lamb and goat represented across the main dishes. A salad bar, desserts, tea and coffee round out the meal.

Biryani gives the buffet a prepared rice dish alongside the curries. It is a different choice from having bread with a sauced main, and one of the recognizable Indian preparations around which lunch can take shape.

Tikka masala is another of the named buffet choices. The restaurant describes its tikka masala preparation as marinated meat grilled in a tandoor and then cooked in sauce. That gives the dish two stages of cooking, rather than simply a meat-and-sauce name. The buffet’s other curries widen the selection, with vegetarian dishes alongside the meat preparations.

Kebabs bring the grilled part of the cooking to lunch, while naan supplies the bread. The restaurant’s larger menu has several naan varieties, but the buffet’s bread selection is its own. Naan’s place here is with the main dishes and their sauces, rather than as a separate meal.

The salad bar gives the meal a separate fresh selection before or alongside the cooked dishes. Desserts provide the finish, with the individual sweets changing rather than a fixed daily list. Complimentary tea and coffee are part of the buffet offer, leaving a simple choice of a hot drink with lunch or afterward.

The weekday and Friday-through-Sunday lunches share this broad buffet format. Their appeal is the combination of Indian main dishes, bread and rice preparations with the smaller accompaniments and sweet course. The day’s spread decides the details, while those main elements give the meal a consistent identity.