Tandoori Time

I got a carry out on Wednesday night. Taste was average but the price was high. Looks like this place is only for lunch buffet an not for dinner

$ 8.95 for a full Indian lunch buffet? In DC?
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!
That is exactly what I said to myself on a recent Unilocal escapade to find a tasty and affordable lunch spot that was near my new office space.
The restaurant, although small carried a full buffet of my favorite Indian dishes such as butter chicken, tandoori chicken, daal, chana masala, and potato pancakes (sorry I have no idea what they are called). When I sat down at my table with my overflowing plate, the server brought over some freshly baked naan. Score!
Based on the amount of Indian people I saw chowing down, I’d like to think that this place is pretty authentic. The one thing I do know is that everything was delicious.
I’ll be back Tandoori Time… just you wait.

The lunch buffet is such a deal. $ 8.95 with endless amounts of naan. So good.
This place was completely packed with the business types, so you know that the food is fresh. Everything that I tried had amazing flavor. The naan was soft and hot. Our waiter cleared our plates and kept the water full. What more could you want from a lunch buffet? Was it slightly disappointing that they didn’t have the typical music videos playing in the background? Yeah, but like I said, a lot of the D.C. business type come here– so it probably isn’t that appropriate.
I did notice that if someone didn’t want to stay for all you can eat, they were given a container and were allowed to fill it up with whatever they wanted for the same price. Awesome alternative if you’re in a hurry.
If I’m ever in the area again, I’ll be sure to stop by again.

This place was solid.
Friend and I ordered a chicken korma and the ride pancake with lentils. Plenty of of food. The quality of food was good too. I’d never had one of these rice pancake/​crêpe things and was really impressed. It was massive. A great option for a vegetarian. The korma was average.
The service was good. The place was reasonably priced, too.

The lunch buffet at Tandoori Time is my favorite!!! The price is right and the food is delightful!
I’ve dined in a few times and the service is good as well! I gave it 4 stars because the space is a little tight depending on what time you go and the carry out containers are a not very sturdy (so be careful).

Good cheap indian buffet. Not much more to it than that. Good vegetarian options, friendly service, nice take out option.
Never been for dinner or ordered off of the menu but enjoyed the lunch buffet many times. Great deal for $ 9.

It really would be a 2.5 if just based on the food but the wait staff is quite nice so I think that it is a legit 3. Went for the lunch buffet, got there before 12 so the food was fresh and hot. Butter, or Makhani, chicken was disappointing as it missed on the spices and didn’t have the richness I associate with the dish. The bone-​in tandoori chicken was oddly sweet and quite mealy in texture — marinated too long is my guess. The good were the chana masala, the cilantro chutney and the rice (I’m a sucker for rice done really well). The naan was, meh, neither good nor bad.
Not bad for a quick and fairly cheap lunch but not nearly as good as Indian food can be.

Just as I had hoped and others have predicted, Tandoori Time has been steadily improving in the past six months. It is now my go-​to inexpensive Indian restaurant in the neighborhood. The dishes are flavorful, I like the rotation, and quality seems more even. It’s still nothing I’d write home to your Indian grandmother about, but it’s tasty and I like it.
[As for the person who complained that the buffet is $ 13.50– it isn’t, it’s under $ 10. I strongly suspect that he in fact went to the overpriced Rasoi around the corner.]

I thought Tandoori Time was just ok. While looking for a place with my coworker where we could sit outside for lunch on a beautiful March day we saw the sign and the open outside table and gave it a shot.
For $ 8 plus tax + tip + drink we figured it was worth a try. There were two meat selections (both chicken) and four veggie plus a salad and desert option. They said there was also an appetizer option but if it was there I didn’t see it. The food was just ok, nothing special and on the walk back we both started to feel a little sick.
Overall I didn’t think the quality of the meat was that great and the spice just seemed off on the veggie dishes — everything tasted the same. Oh, more thing that was a little annoying — they charged us for each individual drink (no refills apparently) but didn’t tell us this — would have been nice to know.
I’d pass in the future.

Review for lunch buffet ONLY.
I really wanted to resist giving this place a 5 because it’s a buffet, and I know people who love Indian food would side-​eye me.
But I can’t help it guys. I had an all you can eat Indian place back in CA and paid more for less variety and less quality. Tandoori time is GREAT. You get so much a little under $ 9. Even if you’re vegetarian, you still get a lot of choices. Not a fan of spicy food? There’s something for you too. My favorites are their garbanzo beans and a tofu dish I have no idea what the name is.
The naan is fresh, the service is great (wall around and refill your bread and water before you even ask), and they have a takeout box you can use instead to fill up what you want that can honestly last you at least two meals if you pack it right.
When I want comfort food for lunch at a good deal, but something a little lighter than Greek Deli, I turn to Tandoori.

At $ 9 (with tax) for the buffet, Tandoori Time has just jumped the list to my favorite Indian restaurant in DC. What else? I decided, just today at lunch, that instead of *not* liking Indian food, I actually *love* Indian food. Everything I ate today was delicious.
I tried the chicken… something with red sauce, spinach, potatoes with peas and bone-​in chicken kabab. It was all ridiculously tasty and nothing seemed over-​the-​top greasy, which is good because I ate *a lot*.
There are two desserts — one in a syrup and one in a milky liquid. The milky one is good but the syrup one is *amazing*. They are little fried balls of sugar dough soaked in a syrup. Sooo tasty. I fought myself not to go back to the dessert counter.
Wait staff were all very attentive and filled my water glass several times. When I was ready for the bill, it came and was processed promptly. I could definitely come here on my one-​hour lunch break, even though it’s sit-​down with table service.
Oh and the naan is awesome.

Good parts of my experience here include: Cheap (10.25 with Tip) for the buffet and the service was good.
I’ll start off by saying that this is not a meat lovers paradise. While Indian food does tend to be heavy on the veggies this place more so than normal. There were only 2 meat dishes and they were both chicken. The chicken curry had really poor quality chicken, I think that’s the first time that I’ve ever thought that eating somewhere, and then the Chicken Kabob, which I suppose was what is normally referred to as Tandoori chicken was even worse quality. I grabbed 6 pieces and I THINK i MIGHT have gotten as much meat as is found on a single normal chicken’s drumstick.
The rice was ²⁄₃ dried out and ¹⁄₃ almost passable. The Naan was alright, not too buttery, not *too* dried out, but really flavorless as a whole.
Don’t care about flavor or quality too much and are cool with mediocre for the price conscious eater in the area and just CRAVE Indian food, this might still be your place.

**BUFFET REVIEW**
Had a great buffet lunch here today to the tune of $ 8.
Normally I NEVER opt for buffet in any restaurant. 1) because they rarely have my faves on the buffet and 2) if they do it’s usually not spiced exponentially to my liking.
I had eaten here a few months ago for lunch and ordered an entrée that was just ok. Today, being pressed for time and leaving an appt just next door I decided to pop in. By divine intervention, they had ALL of my favs on the buffet — saag, baigan bartha, channa, and some dal. I’m not sure if life gets better than that. They were all pretty damn tasty, and the waiter brought out some fresh naan for me. So here I was eating all my favs with fresh naan, good rice, and all to the tune of $ 8.
I usually drop a good $ 20-​$ 25 for an Indian lunch in Gtown or CT Ave. Sure the saag may be a little less runny, as it should be for double, triple the cost.
I will recommend this place in good conscience for a good, dirt cheap buffet lunch.

I left this place angrily.
I took a late lunch break as I was busy at work. This restaurant is close to work and received good reviews, so I figure I would give it a shot. I walked in at close to 3pm. At this point, I was starving from having to eat so late. I thought I scored when I found the buffet.
I do what I usually do when I eat at a buffet… get a little bit of everything on my first round… then come back for the second round and pickup what I enjoyed the most from the first. I was sitting near a window faced outside and casually watched people walk by as I ate. I turn around to go for the second round and all the dishes at the buffet table were empty! Sure enough, the waiter tells me they are now closed.
At this point I was nowhere near from being full. I was so disappointed and still hungry. I hastily paid my bill and walked out to look at the sign and sure enough, they close at 3pm. I was relying on Unilocal for the hours (stated as 11am — 10pm), so I didn’t even bother to read the business hours.
Now, I’m not saying that I’m some superstar or that I deserve special treatment, but it would’ve been nice if someone mentioned «oh by the way, feel free to sit down, but we’re closing at 3pm». Or even better yet, they could have had the decency to tell me (as I was facing the window, away from the buffet tables with no view whatsoever of what is going on in the restaurant) «we will be cleaning up soon» or even a «last call». But no. I was so angry by the time I left, I don’t even remember how the food tasted.

I love the unexpected, and this is exactly what happened when I walked into Tandoori Time.
Looking for a new fun lunch spot, I picked Tandoori as a new place to try out. Good thing I did. Initially I was going to order something and take it to go. Once I was assualted with all those delectable Indian Food smells and saw the open buffet, I was ready to plant myself and stay for a couple of hours.
Sensing my indecision, the service quickly advised that I could take the buffet to go (granted, not all of it, but hey, whatever I can squeeze into a container is probably a better option anyway).
Me: Price?
Them: $ 7.99 + tax
Me: Does the naan come too?
Them: Yes, we’ll order some fresh for you.
Sold.
There are multiple entrees, and in typical Indian buffet style, there are a couple of chicken /​meat selections with the majority being side dish /​vegetable options. After making a bed of rice, I was able to pile on chicken makhai, paneer makhani, daal makhani, chicken tikka masala, and more. Yeah, my eyes are always bigger than my stomach. Not to mention, I was able to snag some yogurt and a couple of the gulab jamun.
I will definitely be back. I love samosas and didn’t get to try them this time, but for $ 1.99, they will be on the menu for me soon enough. The price, the value, and the quality of food was all unexpected, not to mention the great service, what a great find. No worries of overspending and wasting your food like those pay by the pound places.

My head asplode. Delicious delicious lunch buffet for 9 bucks (incl. tax)? BOOM.
This place is amazing. There are about 6 different entrée options, which change everyday, and you can end with the dessert + mini salad bar.
My friend and I opted for the take out buffet box, which is unfortunately non-​refillable. But if you choose to stay, you can go back for as many helpings as you want! I saw a man go back for three helpings.
They also provide naan (bottomless if you’re dining in) that is fluffy and warm.
I recommend you try it, but come early while the food is fresh and before the hoardes of M st business men takeover.
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Update:
I was sent a note inquiring about the use of asplode: is asplode similar to explode?
Yes, «asplode» is similar to «explode» but «asplode» tends to be more intense. And, possibly more sloppy.

Great lunch spot. Everything was VERY tasty, the service was excellent, the place was clean and the price was right!
All of the Indian dishes in the buffet were superb. Only mildly spicy, but perfectly spiced for lunch. If it was any spicier, I would’ve wanted a beer, but it was a perfect heat level to pair with ice water. The only reason I didn’t give them 5 stars was due to the somewhat smaller selection of dishes than I usually see in an Indian buffet and the complimentary bread was only so-​so. However, that did not stop us from going back for 2^nd and simply gorging ourselves on their delicious food. At $ 7.99 for lunch, you can’t go wrong!

$ 7.99 Lunch Buffet FTW.
For an after-​tax $ 8 and change, you get all-​you-​can-​eat tandoori chicken, dal makhani, saag, eggplant bangan burta, a salad bar, some sort of chickpea fritter, unlimited naan and a very, very unproductive afternoon.
This is simple, tasty indian food. It’s not greasy, it’s not slimy, it hasn’t been sitting out for ages — the buffet is constantly being refilled.
Heat-​wise, it’s spicy enough, but won’t blow anyone’s doors off.

Tandoori Time hits the spot when you are craving Indian food and don’t want to break the bank. Great portion sizes, very tasty curries, and the naan comes with the lunch buffet!
Please enter a «no judgment» zone when you walk by it. Yes, it’s upstairs. No, there’s no outdoor seating. Yes, the interior is completely non-​descript. Would it win a design contest? No. Is that staff attentive without being nudgy and in your face? YES. Is the tikka masala delightfully light with great kick? YES. Will I be back? YES.

You know how in boxing there are champs for every weightclass? I see restaurants the same way. You can’t compare an expensive restaurant using the same criteria that you would a lunch joint. At the high end, there are the reigning champions like Indique Heights and Rasika, but at the lunch end, the champion is Tandoori Time.
For $ 8 you can get the buffet, which has numerous dishes (some veggie, others with meat or chicken) and naan for less than you would pay for one dish (or some appetizers) at a place like Rasika. The food here is very good, and the place is clean and friendly. I won’t venture to try to spell the dishes, but if you are a fan of indian food, I am sure they will look familiar to you.
It’s on 19^th street and M which has a lot of high turnover lunch places like Potbelly, Nooshi and Chop’t, but this place isn’t nearly as crowded as it should be, probably because it’s new. Tandoori has taken over the space formerly occupied by a mediocre pizza place and given us a great indian place instead!
I assume as more people hear about this place it will get more crowded, but that’s fine by me as long as the food stays great… and I can still get a seat (don’t make me regret I told you guys about this place).
They haven’t changed much in this place, the layout is the same as before, but the food is much, much better than its predecessor.