Tandoor The Clay Oven

Careful, I know it’s 10 bucks for a buffet and people on here say it’s good value — but that is very relative. This food is mediocre at best. So if good value to you is all you-​can-​eat mediocrity then you’ll love it here.

Amazing food for the price. This is my «go-​to» spot every time I visit Connecticut. The food is just too good to me. They haven’t failed me once. The Lunch buffet is always on point and the price is well worth it, can you really complain for that many courses at such a low price? It’s the equivalence of two meals from McDonalds.

Really great Indian food!!! The $ 10 lunch buffet is a very good deal – you get to try many different curries with tandoori chicken, rice, and naan. My favorite is Saag Paneer. It used to be an American diner, so you also get to experience the odd, but great, feeling of eating Indian food with American décor. I really recommend it! PLEASE GO EAT HERE!

I don’t often have a craving for Indian food and don’t know much about Indian places in New Haven, but I decided to try this place (partly because of the advertised 30 – 45 minute delivery time). I ordered delivery and the food was really good (saag paneer, peshwari naan, curry and salad) although I was a little confused by the naan, which I had expected to be more savory and with less… candy bits? Overall, it was otherwise very good. Delivery arrived somewhat later than advertised. Regardless, I would order here again.

My friends who live in New Haven are regulars here for the lunch buffet, and knowing that I can never turn down an Indian buffet, they’d been trying to get me to drive down and try this place for ages. I finally got the chance a few weeks ago, and I was so glad I did. The lunch buffet far exceeded my expectations, and from the first bite, I was already thinking about a return trip.
SAMOSAS! They have them, and they’re awesome. It’s hard to find an Indian buffet in the Hartford area that can fulfill my samosa craving, so I was super happy to find them here. They also have a good assortment of other dishes, both meat and vegetarian, on par with other small buffets. The standout dishes were the saag (creamy spinach goodness), chili chicken (nice and spicy), and the goat curry. Even though some of the goat was a little more done than I prefer, I just couldn’t get enough of it. Goat at a $ 10 buffet? I can’t believe other Unilocalers are claiming the buffet is a bad value. I also liked that they brought fresh buttery naan right to our table. That’s what really separates the average Indian buffets from the good ones. My boyfriend’s favorite was the fried wings, which although out of place at an Indian restaurant, were much-​enjoyed. My only complaint was that the chicken tikka masala was a little bland. That’s one of my favorites and I didn’t even go back for seconds, choosing to dedicate more valuable stomach space to the goat. Desserts were gulab jamun and kheer, both perfect.
Service was excellent, and they really kept the chafing dishes at the buffet as full as possible the entire time we were there (I hate when buffets only put out the bare minimum). We were there for 2 hours just catching up, and they made sure our water glasses were refilled the entire time. The atmosphere is bizarre (an old diner car), but strangely pleasant once you’ve settled in. For $ 10 even on the weekends, this place can’t be beat for fast, cheap, delicious Indian. My boyfriend isn’t usually enthused by Indian food, but even he said this place did a really good job. Guess my friends in New Haven will be getting a lot more visits from me. ;)

So yummy. I ordered takeout and it was delicious. The service was fast and super accommodating. Thank you!

We were trying to get to India Palace, but it had burnt down and there was a sign that said to come here. Decent Indian food in a fun old-​style diner building. Had the pretty basic menu that you find in Indian restaurants. It was good to take care of an Indian craving, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to get here.

— Flavors are underwhelming
— Not fresh as food continues to sit at the open bar
+ $ 10.64 (tax included) for lunch buffet
There’s really only 9 – 12 food options for the buffet, and if you are vegetarian, your options are reduced to about ¼ of what is available.
Service is okay and can be intrusive.

Had a crummy day that left me without a car, and I was going to order pizza (again), but something in my head shouted «INDIAN FOOD!!» Being new to the area, I consulted Unilocal,saw that Tandoor offers delivery… and I could order THROUGH THE APP. An introvert’s dream. Food arrived quickly, piping hot, and the driver was very friendly.
I had samosa, which were the best I’ve ever tasted — crisp on the outside, not greasy, and pleasantly spicy; I polished off the two samosa, munched on warm garlic naan, and then found myself too full to even try the chicken korma, which I had for lunch the following day. It was very good, with tender chicken chunks in a savory yogurt sauce over basmati rice. The sauce was a little salty (but I’m very sensitive to seasonings).
Overall, quite good, and I will definitely order from Tandoor again.
(That samosa made my day, btw.)

India palace has always been our go to indian delivery at work. They recently burnt down so i figured we’d give tandoor a try. The delivery guy was the same very friendly guy from india palace so i was excited. I ordered the chicken curry lunch. It was a huge portion for just $ 8. Nice and spicy how i like it! Everyone else at my job raved about their meals too. We will be back on a regular basis and I can’t wait!

We have ordered from here several times over the past couple of months, and wehave been quite pleased each time. We’ve tried several different dishes — Chicken Korma, Chicken Jalfrezi, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Makhani, Malai Kofta, Dal Fry, Dal Makhni, Saag Paneer, Paneer Pakora, several types of naan, and everything has been delicious. Delivery is always faster than estimated and everything arrives hot. i have also picked up orders once or twice, which is easy since they have a private lot. Tandoor has now become our go-​to Indian restaurant and we order way more often than we should because it is just that good!

Stale over priced food. Ask for shrimp masAla they would give you microwave heated shrimps in curry out of a jar. I am sad they think most of us who grew up eating indian food wouldn’t know its authentic or not. Please don’t waste your money here. Customer service sucks badly too.

I am glad I waited to review Tandoor. I had tried it years ago and wasn’t a fan. Until it burnt down India Palace was my go to. Since closing, we decided to give Tandoor another go and I’m happy we did! Since trying it again a couple months ago my husband and I have ordered many times over. We like that they deliver and we actually have not eaten in the restaurant so I cannot attest to the ambiance.
I am a chicken korma fiend. It’s my favorite and Tandoor does not disappoint. They even remove the golden raisins if you ask and are very accommodating if you want to change the spiciness of the dish. My husband really likes their lamb vindaloo. He usually gets it medium but beware, it’s still pretty spicy! We also get onion naan to complete our meals.
This has now become our new go to place when we want delivery Indian.

We ordered the tandoori chicken, it was dry and overpriced. We also ordered the chicken tikka masala, although it was better than the tandoori chicken, it was still overpriced and not worth the cost.

I’m a fan. This place is an oasis from the staunch pomposity and pretension of Chapel St. in the Yale community. When I walked in, the serving team spoke very friendly and down to earth. The place is an old lunch diner; similar, but not exactly like a New England diner car. I thought it was charming, and very nicely organized. Good lighting, intimate, but not too tight.
Food was very tasty, affordable, and abundant. I enjoyed the lunch buffet, which offered a variety of chicken, lamb, and rice dished. All relevant sauces and breads available. Nice salad with many traditional dressings.
It was pretty clear to me that the people who ran the restaurant were well respected. Seemed to me that there were plenty of return customers, perhaps even former students from the area who now have families. Owners came over to greet them, greeted their children, and shared laughs. Very positive.

Super greasy, made me feel heavy and gross, and left me with flaming bowels for the subsequent two days.
I wanted to go to India Palace but it was close.
I had:
–vegetable samosas: same as any other place
–chicken tikka masala: tasted fine
–chicken biryani: very very greasy and soggy
–bangain bharta: very very very greasy
I wanted India Palace. I will not come back here.

We stopped by because another Indian place we wanted to try was close for an event. You’ll have to take our review with a grain of salt; we’ve been staying at the hospital for a few days and are usually famished by dinner time. This means everything tastes great by the time we ate.
We had the samosas, peshwari naan, malai kofta and lamb curry. The samosas was a tad salty but it hit the spot for something hot, fried and crunchy. The malai kofta and the lamb curry was good. The peshwari naan was questionable. We’ve ordered this naan in many other Indian restaurants and it has never came out this way. There was way too many fennel seeds. There was also crunchy candy bits (I’m guessing it’s candy)? Looks like birthday naan, doesn’t it? Lol
We did tell the manager that the naan had way too much fennel and that we’ve never had it this way before. He was apologetic and took it off our bill which was nice. We just wanted to give the chef a heads up and wasn’t expecting that.

The food is good. Very good.
The ambiance is a bit to be desired — it looks like an old diner, and inside it’s not quite the five-​star experience, but the food is delicious. I had chicken vindaloo, and my friend had alo chole, and we split some garlic naan. All in all, it was a decent amount of food and very unrushed.
The vindaloo came out and was «very spicy,» which was just enough for me. There was plenty of rice, and I ended up putting the onion chutney on the garlic naan — SUCH a great idea. The chicken wasn’t overcooked and broke apart easily, though there were no potatoes in it. The free small bowl of cold yogurt/​rice/​cashew dessert was a nice touch (though I wasn’t crazy about the texture).
It’s worth trying if you can find parking, and while it’s not the fanciest place in the world, it’s a good spot for a decent and quiet conversation.

Was not sure how to rate this place, because when I got delivery, it was amazing.
Then when I went for the lunch buffet, it was good — but not nearly as good as the delivery. The chicken tikka was a bit overcooked. Not sure if they are generally inconsistent, or if it’s just better to get delivery/​go for dinner. However, the staff were really great and attentive, and I dig the fact that the restaurant is in an old chrome diner.
Maybe not the best Indian food in the world, but it’s solid and service is great.

Just solid Indian food. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it, but if you must check it out come for a lunch buffet so you can sample all the varieties. For that I definitely would give this place a look and see if it matches your tastes.
Cheers!