Kaarma Indian Cuisine Redefined

This is by far the best Indian food you will find in state college. Although there is another choice for Indian food close by, I always choose this restaurant because the food is outstanding. The setting is relaxed, not very formal but the service is always friendly and I may have mentioned how outstanding the food is. Try the Kashmiri naan and the lamb korma, you will be happy you did.

My favorite spot in town for lunch!
The buffet has a bit of a rotation and often something new. Always fresh, flavorful and filling. Rarely is there a dish that I don’t get seconds of. The quality of the spice warms your soul and immune system!
Also a great spot for evening dinner parties. It’s small enough to allow for conversation and large enough to accommodate everyone’s tastes. Whether 3 or 15 people the service has always been fast and friendly. The dinner menu is extensive to keep trying new plates.
I suggest taking a group, choosing different dishes and sharing what you order. Makes for a great way to start conversation and you’ll still have enough to take home.

Amazing food. I ordered online and it came hot and fresh. Good the next day! Samosas are fantastic, but frankly, everything I ordered was too…

Okay, not the best Indian cuisine I have ever had but it’s definitely a welcome retreat to see decent options like this pop up in a college town. On one visit, the mint chutney tasted more like yogurt which was weird. And no fish tikka. But and… I forget what I ordered but I remember it being pretty good. Not that expensive as people are saying either and service is friendly too.
I am not going to bite too much because it’s a college town and I am just happy the only food options available aren’t a diner and a Sheetz!
Nonetheless, this is satisfying despite the fact there’s no fish tikka.

Mmm, well, one visit was enough. We won’t be back. Dull restaurant, not wonderful food.

Yes, I’m writing this from Colorado where we relocated last year. However, after a bad experience in an Indian place here, had to give Kaarma some love.
We were hooked on Kaarma when we lived in State College. Any time I met my husband downtown for lunch, that’s where I wanted to go. It was usually pretty crowded with students, but that ensured the food was always fresh and hot.
The buffet selection was excellent. Never had a dish that wasn’t delicious and piping hot. While the dining room is very basic, just a single room with small tables that are pretty close together, I didn’t care. The food was excellent. Could have eaten there every week.
Service was always excellent, even during their busiest lunches.
We tried one Indian buffet place here and it didn’t even come close to Kaarma. We’ll be very sad if we can’t locate one that’s almost as good. We may have to start making our own Indian dishes to fight off my cravings for Kaarma. One of the only things I miss about State College.

I loved this place when I was in State College. I used to have a craving for Indian food ALL the time and was too impatient to ask a friend or two to join me (because then I would have to wait to eat the food, noo way) so I would just go myself to catch that lunch buffet. I know a lot of people who prefer Indian Pavilion more when they want to go out for a group lunch or dinner, but I don’t care for the nice interior decoration or the neatly set up tables and buffet area. Kaarma is small and simple. Most importantly, Kaarma serves perfect food and it made my belly happy every time I went there. I was never disappointed with their quality (I went almost every week). The owner is hardworking and gets to know their regular customers. This place seriously made me so happy after every meal. I never felt the same way at Indian Pavilion.

Good lord I adore this place.
At one point receiving the title NAAN BOY from one of the owners, Kaarma has a special place in my heart.
I mainly go here for the buffet which include you Indian staples and unlimited Naan. I can recall many a food coma from this place.
Their recipes for butter chicken and korma are tasty, and don’t forget about galub jamun, those sweet sweet Indian balls. Oh ya don’t forget your Mango Lassi, Yum!!!
The service here is very cordial and the owners take the time to get to know their regulars.
The inside is nothing to scream about, but do you care that much about ambiance when you are there to pig out on Indian food?

I had take-​out for a couple of times. To be honest, I like their food which might not be authentic but I HATE their service. From my experience, the waitress/​the owner didn’t give me a menu. When I was about to pay, the waitress gave me a FAKED smile and said she was busy. OMG it is NOT welcome.

Don’t bother with this place and just go down the way to Indian Pavilion where they won’t rip you off. Kaarma is especially stingy with portions, and this is taking into account the relatively expensive price to begin with. I have ordered on several occasions the Chicken Vindaloo. At a maximum, you will see about 3 cubes of chicken inside of a large bowl that is mostly sauce. Chicken Saag? The menu describes this item as having cubes of chicken cooked in spinach purée. Negative. They mean spinach purée (essentially spinach sauce), because when I ordered it, there was NOT ONE SINGLE PIECE of chicken. If you enjoy getting deceived and robbed of your money… only to then eat rice and oozy sauce… then still be hungry and having to go get a wrap from McLanahans to stop your stomach from grumbling, go to Kaarma.

The rice was hard, tandoori chicken was raw, palak paneer tasted just baking soda out of a chemistry lab. The gulab jamun felt like I was chewing on rubber. A beautiful experience and a complete disgrace to my Indian taste pallet.

Pretty ordinary buffet spread. For some reason they serve noodles at this buffet, not really Indian style.
They serve good biryani. Menu items are better here than Indian pavilion.

Unbelievable! This place charges whatever they feel like at the time. There is no structure. Food is same as any other Indian place, nothing special.

I choose this place over Indian Pavilion all the time! The prices are cheaper and they have a decent variety, especially their lunch buffet that is only $ 8. Remind you, this is a college town and we’re all broke students who are looking for a cheap meal with good quality and quantity.

Kaarma is Indian done right. Only complaint I’ve ever had is their portions tend to be small at dinner — however, the owner offered me free refills on rice, which was nice.
Solution? Get the buffet. Their lunch buffet is cheap and very good. They switch up the entrees and side dishes often, along with the constant standby of chicken tikka/​butter chicken. Their samosas are tasty, pakoras are great, naan is FANTASTIC, rice is well cooked (wish it had cumin seeds though). Their paneer is great, the lamb curry was very tasty, and their creamed spinach is delicious. This is coming from someone who doesn’t eat vegetables that aren’t fried or breaded.
The service can be a little slow and in attentive sometimes, but when the owner has been in he’s always been great to me and very pleasant.
There’s a lunch buffet every day except Sunday (closed), and dinner buffets on Saturday and special event weekends sometimes. The dinner buffet tends to be pricier dishes — not rare to see tandoori chicken, chicken lamb and fish curries.
One VERY important thing to note is that the quality of the food is vastly superior to India Pavillion, which I usually only go to when Kaarma is closed. I’ve found many bones and pieces of gristle, fat and cartilage in my curries at India Pavillion, the meat at Kaarma is always very high quality.
The music is admittedly horrible though, unless they’re playing classical string covers of pop music (which is awesome as hell, for the record).

The lunch buffet at Kaarma is great, and wont leave your pocket empty either. At a cheap $ 7.95 you get your choice of over 8 items on the lunch buffet… And the quality is pretty decent. I really enjoyed our visit to Kaarma, and will be back for a well priced Indian fix!

Really good chicken tikka masala.
It’s usually under $ 30, and Kaarma’s chicken is very moist and really serves as the best part of the dish. Also, the takeout portions are large enough for leftovers. My wife has tried several other dishes and felt they were all good as well.
Overall a good and affordable Indian place, especially for takeout.

After not eating food for a whole day, I was way too tired to cook something for myself, so where did I end up? Kaarma for the first time. Now, I’ve had this place when it was catered to events, but never actually sat down and ate here. When I first stepped inside, I thought, «Um this place looks pretty rundown and could pass for a sandwich spot.» The seats and tables were literally deli/​pizzeria-​esque, and the area itself was pretty small. This literally must have been a sandwich or pizza spot before it became Kaarma. Nonetheless, I still came here for the food, and not the décor.
My friend and I decided to order an appetizer (veggie platter, $ 5.95) and two meat dishes: chicken tikka ($ 10.95) and the lamb something ($ 10.95). Now these prices already seemed a little on the expensive side to me, considering we’re in a college town where 99% of the population carries less than $ 10 in the wallet. But, whatever, I’ll give this place a shot since I’ve heard good things.
The veggie platter was not bad. It came with 2 samosas, a potato cake thing, and some other things that were made of peas. On the side, there were two dipping sauces, one tangy, and one sourish. For $ 6, it wasn’t a whole lot, but I’ve never had anything like the before, so it’s good to try everything at least once.
For the main entrees, I really expected a little more. The portion sizes were pretty small to be honest. If I had not stuffed myself with rice and naan, I would have still been hungry. There were probably 8 pieces of meat in each entrée, and the rest was sauce. Granted, the food tasted just fine, but the portions seemed a little pricey consider what they charged.
Service was pretty standard here too and the waitress let us split the bill in two. Kaarma. You look ghetto as hell, taste fine, but cost a lot. Somehow, that doesn’t make sense.

Before going on a bar tour our only night in town, my husband and I decided to get a big dinner. Having a hard time deciding where to go (we were looking for a sit-​down, affordable, veg-​friendly place) we decided to just make the stop at Kaarma. It was near our hotel and I’m a sucker for Indian food.
It was a bit dark inside, but the interior was nicely decorated and clean. We sat by the window and it was fun to watch the people on Beaver Ave go by. Our server was very friendly and attentive. After looking at the menu, we decided to stick with our same old staples we always get at Indian joints.
We started off with the samosas. Although they weren’t the best we’ve ever had, they were certainly good and we liked them. The saag paneer was full of those little cheese cubes of happiness, and that makes me a very happy girl. We really enjoyed it. The veggie korma was a little different than any kind we’ve ever had before (darker in color, a little different flavor), but was still really good. The rice, garlic naan, and mango lassi were all good as well.
In all, we liked everything and didn’t have any negative experiences. Was it as good as some other Indian restaurants I’ve been to? No. But it certainly wasn’t the worst. And for State College, I think it’s a great place to have a nice sit-​down meal (when you can afford it as a student) and a good way to break up the normal Chinese/​pizza/​wings routine.

I can’t stop giggling when I think about the Daily Collegian article posted on the establishment’s wall. The owner was interviewed when the place opened (it used to be a nice Caribean place) and he claimed that they would be revolutionizing the way that Indian Food is served in State College, by offering upscale fusion Indian cuisine.
Yeah right. It’s the same Indian food you get everywhere in town, only more expensive.
Simply, I cannot see any reason as to why one would go there and pay $ 12 (no rice, + taxes + tip) for a small portion of overcooked chicken tikka, or tandoori chicken. Save your money, and go to Indian Pavilion at lunch time.