Shalimar of India

Did lunch here, was a buffet so its kind of hard to comment on staff, however the guy filling the water and keeping the table clean did a great job and was very friendly.
The buffet chicken tikka masala was weak, way too much like tomato soup and the chicken didn’t taste like it was done in a tandoori oven either, i understand the need to make it mild for the masses but a little spice would have been nice.
The chili shrimp on the other hand was pretty good, as were the pakoras, samosa’s, tandoori chicken and naan breads. Their chicken curry wasn’t that bad either although it did seem very reminiscent of «irish» chicken curry you get in some pubs (sans the peppers and onions)
$ 9 for the buffet is a decent price too.

Our family of five comes here a lot, and we have for years, mostly on Friday nights when we want to recover from a long week of school and work. We love this place. The food is really really good. …not the best in the world but perfect for what we are looking for. The service is attentive and good natured, a must for tired kids. The «décor» is a bit faded but very comfortable and homey. It is always very clean. It is what it is, and it is a perfect place to relax unwind, and have some delicious samosas, lamb korma, Masala tea, etc. Etc. Thank you Shalimar. My kids heart you!

I first ate at Shalimar of India over 20 years ago and I have continued to go back whenever possible. The quality has remained top notch over the years and the customer service is on point. I am Indian and I know my Indian food. I have eaten at almost every Indian food restaurant in the Boston and Cambridge area. The food is soooooo delicious! Each of their dishes has deep flavor you can really tell they’re using the right spices and cooking techniques. I recently moved out of state and I constantly crave the food from Shalimar. I mainly eat vegetarian dishes and my favorites are Matar Paneer, Saag Paneer, Aloo Gobhi, Samosas, and Mango Lassi. Ahhhh I want some now. Do yourself a favor and check this place out.

This place was a little dingy and threadbare but you get what you pay for. 8 $ for a lunch buffet isn’t bad considering lunch in central runs you 12 – 20 $ on average. The service was prompt and polite and there is the added bonus of hypersexualized Indian music videos to watch. At least it’s not sports commentary on mute.

Update — despite my last unpleasant experience, I’ve come here for t he lunch buffet twice this week, and it was hands-​down delicious both times. I really like the selection.

In celebration of the Indian festival of lights, Diwali, we decided to visit Shalimar of India (SOI), a long standing fixture of South Asian gastronomy in Central Square, located on Mass Ave. south of Pearl St. SOI should not be confused with the bustling Indian spice and packet retailer, Shalimar Food and Spices, located across the street.
Given that Diwali is the Indian festival of lights, we were surprised by SOI’s exceedingly dark interior, so dark that the menu was hard to read. These limitations did not appear to deter the faithful, as SOI appeared to be hosting a ~20 person Diwali party seated at a long table in the center of the restaurant. As expected the gathering was almost entirely brown except for one isolated white person who appeared dazed in the midst of the surrounding boisterous Hindi chatter.
As many of you know, Yogi is about as white as a brown man can be — his love for Indian food being his singular tie to his Indian heritage. Usually restaurateurs pick up on this quickly, but this time the waiter addressed Yogi entirely in Hindi.
SOI’s menu consisted of standard Indian fare and we were unable to find any typos (‽).Our shock was only heightened when we turned to SOI’s beef section (‽). We concluded that the business aspiration of the Shalimar empire led them to sway from their Indian heritage as well.
SOI’s food was decent but fell short of what the occasion demanded. The aloo gobi ($ 10), the vegetarian eigendish, had good cookitude but its spice level fell far short of what we expected given that the waiter clearly thought Yogi was an authentic Indian. The shrimp biryani ($ 15) was good, with nice raisins, whereas the vegetable pakora ($ 4) lacked crunchitude. We were delighted to find that the peshawary naan ($ 3) lacked pie filling, was buttery, and not overly sweet. The chapatis ($ 3) were far too dry, but the mango lassi ($ 3) was viscous with a decent taste.
Despite some reasonable dishes, SOI had many key missteps, making it a clear three samosa restaurant with a two rupee price tag, leading to a samosa to rupee ratio of 1.5. Although the Shalimar name has been a fixture of Central Square for many years, the next time you are looking to celebrate the victory of light over darkness, we recommend you choose one of the SOI’s better lit neighbors.

I had a very quick two person late night dinner here. The food was absolutely delicious and reasonably priced. The service was kind of slow but very friendly, enough to make up for it.

Their lunch buffet is not incredible. But it’s $ 8.95 and I probably ate $ 9 worth of bland tandoori chicken so jokes on them.

I went for dinner last night and ordered chicken makhni. It was the crappiest chicken I have even eaten. Waste of money. They need to work on the food quality.

Do NOT waste your time nor your money. Although the buffet is affordable (about $ 9), it is wayyy too salty, which is usually a bad sign. The food lacked flavor and spices (for indian food??). Bottom line, the food probably sits there for days. Do not get me started with the service. These guys are not welcoming (with one exception, guy with the glasses, usually nice).

Shalimar is pretty close to where I work and it’s convenient/​relatively cheap (8.99) for a weekday lunch compared to other neighboring options. There are certainly times where the food can be lukewarm or overspiced, but I’ve had it be generally good — more times than not. Their buffet has a slightly larger selection — and I’m thinking that it may be a bit much to handle sometimes, leading to the above phenomenon. That being said — their tandoori chicken is great; it’s not overcooked like some other places and therefore hard and dry.
Service is attentive towards re-​filling my water or taking away my old plates and that’s all I expect. It’s a reliable lunch choice.

The food was good. Please do not try the chats I ordered and aloo chat and dahi papdi chat both were bad. The veggie platter was good.

I work down the street so when I want good cheap food, Shalimar is the place to go. But I wouldn’t come here for the service, I always do take out anyways. The waitress and waiter that is always there never greets you nor smile (its a rare thing to see, like bigfoot.) Hence the two stars, which is mainly for the food, not atmosphere or service.
The buffet is only about 9.50 and I pack as much food as I can into the take out container. I guess that’s why the waiter and waitress aren’t very happy when they see me. Oh well, like I said I only come for the food and nothing else.

I can see people’s beef with this place. If Shalimar of India were a person at a party, it would be in the corner talking to the cat. It’s dowdy, almost depressing looking on the inside. I think it has low-​self esteem.
But that’s not why I came. I walked in for the lunch buffet, and my experience fits snugly into the category of «got exactly what I came for,» and here’s what you come for: Speed, convenience, price, and a full warm tummy of something that is not a burger and fries.
I enjoyed the spices. Far from being bland as a few reviewers noted, what I ate was possibly over spiced, and I, my friends, and into that. The veggie fritters were most notably heavily spiced and delicious. I dipped them in the mint chutney, which I found to be average but serviceable in cooling the spice. It was a buffet so food was naturally left out, but we came early, around noon, and the food was full, warm and moist — you know, in a good way. Things that should be moist were moist.
Aside from the fritters I enjoyed Chicken Tika, the veggie rice, and a chickpea curry that I put on the rice. I am not sure if I was supposed to do that, but I do not care, because it was very tasty.
The waiters are emotionally absent. Their activity is better described as «haunting» than «attending,» though like any devoted ghost, they fulfill the base requirements often and dispassionately: water, cleanup and checks were quick and handy.
This would not be a date place. Between the décor’s color palette («1990’s Emergency Room» themed) and the spectral service (sometimes seen but never, ever heard) it would be the saddest date place. Do not come here on a date. Come here for a quick, satisfying lunch on a day when you feel particularly put off by talking to strangers, because they will not talk to you ever.
It was hella cheap and I want all the fritters.

The first few months of you stay in USA coming from India makes your crave for all Indian dishes. Walking on the Central square path found this place and the tomato soup on the menu pulled us in. After ordering for Tomato soup, Veg Platter and Mango lassi we felt we made a wrong choice of coming there. We just liked the mango lassi which was just above average. Platter and Tomato soup were below average for me.

Came for a nice & spicy night buffet which is advertised on their web site.
The girl said there is no buffet and we are not welcome. Ruined the night.

Went to this place for lunch twice. Top quality Indian food, and reasonable buffet price. Do not expect great service though.
Update: start to like the veggie dishes now.

Fairly small Indian grocery that shares space with Dosa Factory. Mix of fresh produce (okra /​bhindi, potatoes, garlic, curry leaves, etc), Indian frozen food (they stock Deep chili paneer samosas now, my favorite — and lots of different frozen breads like paneer and gobi parathas), and dry foods — dals, spices, packets to make Indian food, etc. Also paneer, which is what I usually come in for.
Solid place, especially for anyone living close to Central Square. I always find whatever I’m looking for.
Of course — this is nothing like a Patel Bros or any place in Queens. But for Boston, the best and most convenient that I’ve found so far.

I’ve been coming here forever since I was a kid. My mom worked in Cambridge, so we’d always hang out in Central Square area to shop and whatnot. Central was a hoppin spot to hang and shop back in the day. Now it’s just meh.
Shalimar was a huge deal for us growing up for a few things: Bollywood films and spices and samosas. It still is for me since I need to constantly buy spices for my half Indian kitchen. Hubs loves Indian food, so I come here often to pick up naan, garam masala, fresh produce and other spices if necessary. They have an okay selection of things. It’s a teeny location, so if you know what you want, it’s best to go in and purchase your items quickly. It tends to get pretty packed especially at rush hour. Teeny or not, this store has what I need to stock my kitchen. I don’t see Bollywood films featured in the store anymore, but no one watches VHS tape nowadays ;)

This is my first review and unfortunately it’s a negative one.
I want to spare people with an Indian food craving from this place!
I ordered food for delivery via Foodler. It took an hour and 30 min to be delivered (time of order was 7:15pm on a Wednesday and the restaurant is 2.2mi away) so the wait time was torture.
Ordered Matar Paneer and Chicken and Lamb Madras. The Matar Paneer was watery with ZERO flavor. The sauce was so thin that I didn’t even bother dipping my naan into it because, well what was the point. I want my naan to be surrounded and scooped into nice thick flavorful sauces. Doesn’t everybody?
The Chicken Madras was supposed to be made with coconut milk, tomatoes, tamarind, and ginger. It turned out to be a sour tasting tomato sauce with over cooked chicken… also watery.
The Lamb Madras sauce was similar and the meat was cooked perfectly until one of us bit into an undercooked piece of lamb. Urgh.
We ordered aloo naan and vegetable pakoras which were nice and tasty but they do NOT make a meal.
If I can spare someone else from our fate then I have done my job. Good Luck fellow Unilocalers.