Vishnu

it can get pretty hectic during lunch hours but $ 8 for AYCE authentic indian food?! Heck yeah and they have a very good selection. Always take my lunch early to try and beat the crowd ;)

very inexpensive for lunch. The spot is hard to find. food is a little salty for me. It was a full room of Indians today and you can tell that the food is very local here.

This place is a hidden gem. My brother found it on Unilocal,and this place does not disappoint. Delicious, spicy and authentic indian food. They are only open for lunch (reasonably priced!), and it is buffet style — you can get scoops of whatever you want/​however much you want. The options change every time — and on Fridays, they have idlys, which were delicious. They bring around naan and dosas — both excellent. My faves? Palak paneer, Banana curry, Chana Masala, and Kheer. Nice people, great food, what else can you ask for?!

No chicken tikka masala here! Food was ok, a little too spicy for my stomach. Naan was great, dosa was a little sour but it was good. Not sure what all the hype was about regarding this place as the food was ok– it wasn’t spectacular or anything. Staff was nice :)

An Orange County hidden gem. It’s location and décor belies the extraordinarily deliciousness of the food. Definitely will return.

Less Variety than what you would find in a typical Indian restaurant that serves buffet lunch. But I kind of prefer that over a lot of dishes. Less on variety, high on taste! Seating can get a bit crowded. The place is only open on weekdays for lunch.

AYCE Indian… my first time doing a buffet line and found this location to be quite unusual but it was good and priced right. I wouldn’t go out of my way for this joint but I recommend it to anyone in the area craving Indian.

Vishnu is located in a business complex right across the street from John Wayne Airport. Buffet lunch here is $ 7.41, with tax it comes out to be an even $ 8. It really is a wonderful deal. To begin with fresh dosas are made fresh and brought to the table, along with fresh naan.
The buffet consists of 6 main dishes, rice and an appetizer. There are also some salads, fruit, condiments, and a dessert. When I visited they had chicken tikkah masala, chicken curry, palak paneer, vegetable biryani, and fried pakora type balls. Everything tasted really good especially the chicken tikkah masala. For dessert there was a bread pudding type dessert that I had never tried anywhere else.
Overall this is an incredible deal and the food can be really good. During my initial visit I thought the food was just ok, but this time around I was very impressed. Seating can be a bit of a problem here as the establishment is very small and there are only a handful of seats. There are 3 patio tables outside, but this could be a problem if the weather is cold.

My husband and I go to AYCE Indian restaurant in Irvine. They have good selection and the best deal in town for the price. If you like spicy Indian food, this place is very hard to beat.
They get super busy so make sure you come early to grab a seat.
I would come more often if I lived closer.

Different menu still awesome goodness
Clean!
Great service catering to your needs. Was asked multiple times, more water? More bread? Everything fine? Wow!
Food fresh constantly coming from kitchen with astounding smells of spices etc.
I CRAVE this place.
Delicious like more expensive Indian places I’ve been for a fraction.
Feel guilty recommending because it means longer wait times for a seat
Try it out. Understand the craving.
The Spice craving

The five star is for catering from them, they will not disappoint! The guests at my weddings were raving about the fresh dosa stand and South Indian food at the wedding.
The restaurant itself has a very limited buffet option but the price is very reasonable for it as well which makes it worth it for a quick lunch bite.

This is one of the more random restaurants I’ve been to in Irvine. It’s in a corporate park that is part office and industrial. It’s easy to see how the restaurant started out: First as a catering company until people demanded they open a restaurant, which they have.
My experience here was positive. I came with a friend at 1:00PM on a Tuesday afternoon. There was still a line. While I’m an impatient person, I was willing to wait. I reckoned, if all these people are waiting at 1:00 PM for lunch, then this place must be tasty.
In fact it was tasty. We sat down and then grabbed a tray to help ourselves to the Indian buffet. The staff walked around with naan and dosa (I learned dosa is like a crêpe).
Food was pleasing to the palate and the staff was friendly. I’ll come here again.

I recently went here for lunch. It was an AYCE buffet for $ 7.41 which is a pretty good deal considering the good quality of the food. There was not as large of a variety of dishes as some of the other AYCE buffets in the area. But, the quality of the food at Vishnu is as good if not better.
The curry chicken was very good with moist chicken and a good back-​note of heat. They also served a chicken dish in a red sauce and the red sauce was very good with a pungent but yummy flavor with moist pieces of chicken. Their eggplant dish was very good also having a good back-​note of heat. I enjoyed as well their okra dish. They come by and serve you with dosas (which is a rolled crêpe-​like dish) filled with a potato curry filling. Their naan (flat bread) was good. And, I enjoyed the variety of chutneys that they offered. They served a coconut peanut chutney which I have never had before that was very good. They had a small variety of desserts. The rice pudding was okay.
I would probably return because the quality of the food was pretty good. And, I enjoyed the spice and flavors that they put into the dishes.

Take it from an Indian, this place is the closest you will come to home cooked Indian food in SoCal, particularly the South Indian dishes are pretty close to being perfect. The $ 8 buffet is more than value for money. The food is far better than any restaurant you will find in Artesia and I have been to all of them. Not too rich, the spice is a bit dialled down for the sake of Non-​Indian palates but the taste absolutely reminds me of food back home.
Ditch the restaurants at Artesia, go here if you want authentic Indian food.

Offering a weekday lunch time buffet for only $ 8, this catering company is smart enough to open a small dining area for Indian cuisine aficionados. It’s the perfect example of a hole-​in-​the-​wall located in an area of mostly building offices. The dining area is small so don’t bring the whole gang here, think parties of 4, max.
Each person gets a tray with a styro plate and plastic utensils before falling in line for the buffet. The setup is very small, with only about 8 dishes to choose from and mostly vegetarian. You may have to wait for indecisive people trying to scope out the offerings before deciding on getting but please be patient. We encountered some rude patrons not respecting our personal space — don’t be that person.
Again, their food is mostly vegetarian and prepared fresh with an open kitchen where you can witness the cooks in action. The strong aroma in the air will make anyone within a 1-​mile radius hungry. There was only one meat dish that time, a nicely seasoned chicken curry with meat so tender plus some heat. The vegetable curry was another thing I enjoyed along with their samosas. Fresh dosa and a basket of naan are served to your table by their attentive staff, and they’ll keep coming until you say no. I noticed that most of the food are heavy on the sauce, great for dipping with their naan, but a little monotonous IMO. They have another section of more sauces ranging from yogurt and several variations of chutney which again are great with their carb-​induced dishes.
Last but always my favorite, their MANGO LASSI would make a great accompaniment to your meal. This isn’t the best I’ve had nor the worst, it’s decent enough to round up your tab to $ 10 out the door. Nothing like a sweet milky treat to cool down your palate.
I can see how this place is golden to many vegetarians. Dishes vary everyday so carnivores might be lucky on days they have two or more meat dishes. Thank you, Dan H. for a wonderful lunch.

$ 8 Indian buffet.
Today they had veggie biryani, mango daal, chicken tikki masala, curry chicken, beans, veggie pakora.
You can ask for bread which is 4 pieces of naan and a dosa. Garlic naan is $ 1 extra.
The owner was attentive. He actually kept track of my naan supply and asked if I wanted more.
They also have sauces such as yogurt and chutney.
Water free and in huge pitchers to help with the spices.

The good:
— no-​nonsense buffet with 6 – 8 choices
— spicy and tasty
— «regular» naan is very good.
— price is less than 8 $
— very, very friendly
— plenty of parking space around
The bad:
— they don’t do dinner
— hidden, not on a main street.

Vishnu remains the pinnacle of South Indian cuisine in OC. Unilocalers know it. Non-​Yelpers know it. The OC Weekly knows it:
#1 dish in OC: the whole freaking buffet! If you haven’t tried Vishnu, you’re really missing out.
Maybe their lunch schedule is inconvenient for you? I have the solution: throw a party and get Vishnu to cater the event!
I had the pleasure of attending a Vishnu-​catered party yesterday and the food was just as great as what is served in the restaurant. We all enjoyed dosa, masala vada, vegetable biryani, idli, sambhar, raitha, chutneys, and maybe a couple of other things that I forgot. They can adjust the spice to the level that your crowd can handle, and the dosas are pretty much made to order. I got my favorite (mysore masala dosa) with just the right amount of chili powder, onion, and green chilis. Oh, yeah!
Check out their online catering menu for their assortment of meat dishes (if you go that way), breads, desserts, drinks, chutneys, etc.
Speaking for the guests, we were all extremely satisfied. Yours will be too if you get Vishnu to cook for them. You don’t have to thank me (but I may accept your party invitation!)

Vishnu is located in an industrial area and parking is a mess more like musical chair — you go around looking for one. It does get busy and their only business hours are from 11 to 2:30 PM.
Very small business with few bar chairs, booth seats and regular dining seats. Upon entering you receive tray with paper plate. Two non veg items (curries), three veg curries, one rice item, one appetizer, one veggie sauté. From reading other reviews looks like they change the menu day to day. When I dined I had veg briyani, sautéed cabbage, veggie korma, choley (garbanzo beans), spinach dal, samosa, chicken Tikka masala and chicken curry.
Dosa with mash potato was served at the table. Naan was served too. It was soft and fresh. Closer to the registry another buffet section which had — curd rice, dessert, salad and chutneys.
Food was decent and tasted good. Staffs were attentive. Pretty good price for lunch buffet!

I love everything about this place — I really do! The quirky location (restaurant in a business park — look for the giant green copier vans). The in-​the-​know process (stand in line; they’ll assign you a table; fill your platter with food; they’ll bring idli and dosa; pay afterwards). The diversity of food you get, for the prices you get.
So why only 3 stars? In all honesty, it’s not like the highest quality food I’ve ever eaten. And I worry about the sanitation slightly. (My impression on this is based solely from the fact that the one bathroom wasn’t full functioning during my visit. But some things are best not really dwelling on.)
I would totally eat here again. it’s also terrific if you are in need of a fast lunch, since it is buffet style and you can be in-​and-​out. In fact, it is made for in-​and-​out; lingerers are probably not encouraged as the seating area is quite small.