Spice Junction

We love this place! We drive 20 minutes all the way across Columbia to eat here. We have another Indian place 5 minutes from our house and will drive right by it.
Their butter chicken is really good.
The lady who owns this place and runs the register is extremely nice. She makes us feel like she’s known us forever when we come in. You must eat here at least once.

The best Mango Lassis are here, but the steam table packages leave a bit to be desired. Definitely not my favorite Indian food. I will try the cooked to order menu at some point to give them some more opportunity to show me their skills.

This is a strange setup. They have a steam table near the cashier. You can order things off the steam table or have them prepared fresh from the kitchen. We choose the tali of vegetarian dishes. The food was OK, but on the bland and watery side. When I think of Indian food, I think bold and rich flavors. This was not. Missing the heat as well. Don’t race to eat here.

This is definitely not a great place for indian food. We stopped by during our road trip to Charleston. The food was very bland and this is a self service place. the only reason for the 2 stars is because the owner seemed very nice. maybe we should not have ordered the ‘thali’ but gone for the A-​la-​carte option.

This is my favorite Indian food restaurant here in Columbia, The food is delicious, and the portions for the price cant be beat. The place is imactualy clean, The owner are very friendly and help ful and helping you select or sample before ordering. There butter chicken is the best I have every had!

1^st time eating Indian Food and everything was great!
Lots of variety and multiple levels of Mild and Hot and Spicy dishes.
We were well pleased with the portions size and the price is very fair.
Only one thing was unexpected, they had no Sweet Tea avalible not even Hot Tea, all drinks ware bottled or caned unless you want a glass of water. No matter, this resturant is now on our favorites list, Tea or not.

Don’t come here expecting an average Indian restaurant atmosphere; it is quite plain, and not a little dark. The food is decent quality, but one would expect better for the price. I have eaten at many Indian restaurants that are much better and at the same price-​point. My wife did not enjoy her food as it was too spicy; yes we enquires about its spiciness beforehand and were given a snooty answer about how it wouldn’t be a «true Korma «if it were to be made more mild… It was an answer which amounted to telling the customer they were wrong, without giving a positive solution to remedy her desire for something more mild.
There wasn’t really much meat at all in the see of red green yellow sauces, and once again, I’ve had way better at other places.
The place was empty when we went there at dinner time.
The people that work there ended up being nice enough, but we just weren’t pleased with the food. If that’s not right, its impossible to compensate in other ways

Our family visited this gem tonight. My wife and I each ordered and devoured the platter (both with the chicken Tika and the spinach/​corn dish). Just the right amount of heat. My daughter and mother-​in-​law ordered the small platter with butter chicken. Excellent. Our new go-​to Indian restaurant now that Punjabi Daba is gone.

Spice Junction had, without exception or exaggeration, the worst biryani I have ever had in my life. Too hot, not seasoned properly, a small amount of very sad frozen vegetables buried under a large amount of rice. Avoid.

Excellent, fresh homemade food. We ordered off the menu and were not disappointed. This place is a hidden gem. The owners are warm and friendly. I was pleased to see items that I had not seen on an Indian menu before. We ordered a spread of 6 dishes and appetizers and each tasted everything. The food makes you feel happy, like it was made with love. Don’t let the strip mall exterior fool you; you need to try this place. As an added bonus, their food safety rating is 100%. How many places can say that? :)

Stopped in for lunch today and the owner was nice enough to let me sample the three curry dishes and explain their menu options. I opted for the hot which has a nice red silky hot flavor and the brown which is mild that has a totally different flavor I cannot place. Two types of rice are served with the chicken curry dish for 6.99 and that comes with naan bread. The bread was warm and buttery perfect for dipping into the curry and rice. I tried to buy two more smaller pieces of naan but the owner said it was no charge as I asked nicely. So when you come here be nice not because you get free food because it’s the right thing to do and the restaurant business is hard enough without people barking out demands.

This place is NOT a buffet. You pay more than a buffet ($ 17.22), get less food, and less control over portions and where you would like your food. I like my rice smothered in Tikka Misala and to have enough to dip my Naan in and that does not happen at this restaurant.
The owners are very kind people. I don’t think they understand what the concept is in having a restaurant in America. They do not make their own tea, it comes out of the soda fountain, and they do not do refills on soda.
You stand at a counter and choose from a menu what food items that you want. You cannot see the food, as it is in plastic food bins at a buffet type table (food is already prepared) behind the counter. You choose one/​two or three dishes and then everything is individually charged after that.
$ 2.49 for rice, and either .99 or $ 1.99 per plate of fresh naan. They make it fresh for you.
I was in there at 12:20pm for an hour and I was the only customer. There was one man who came in for takeout.
The food was «ok.» I would not make the effort to return, as there are two other indian restaurants in the Columbia area that are several dollars cheaper ($ 10.95 vs. $ 17.22) and have much better ambience than this place. And those two places make their own iced tea. What restaurant in the south doesn’t make their own tea? Us southern folks don’t want tea out of a Coke machine.
It is like the inside of an office conference room. Very boring, without ANY indian colorful pictures on the walls. The walls are gray… not very inspiring at all. Tables set up as though it is a conference room.
Not an issue for me, but they don’t serve beer or wine. If I went for dinner, that would be an issue.
If your in the area, the food is «ok» and nothing special. I would not go 10 feet out of my way for this place.

$ 40 for two small plates and an order or chicken tandori. hmmm, i was really hoping this was a lunch buffet like most indian places that i’m used to. Apparently though, they used to have it but decided on regular lunch plates. My hubby and i ordered:
chicken tandori (not white meat!) which makes it a thumbs up in my book. I HEART DARK MEAT. whenever it’s white meat it’s just too dry. So when this came out I welcomed it without having to drink any extra water or soda just to get it down.
combo curry dish (lamb and your choice (spinach curry)… good but small. i mean, i can’t complain about the taste. i just wish it was a little more bang for your buck. Remember though, this is coming from a person (piggy) who is used to all you can eat indian buffets)
Overall, i liked the food and not the amount or price for the portions. I also didn’t like that there wasn’t refills on drinks and that the location was kind of in the middle of no where. The good thing about being in the middle of no where… you get a ton of parking options. LOL

Times here: 5 or so, alas.
The bottom line: Spice Junction used to be a halfway decent strip-​mall Indian buffet with really tasty fresh Naan bread, and this in a town that cries out for decent Indian food. (Sadly it was more way than half, but so be it.) Perhaps 3 stars on a good day, then.
But now the place is no longer a buffet, but a cafeteria that serves sub-​par fare on Styrofoam plates under harsh fluorescent lighting. You get a bunch of (cheap) starches and pathetically small cups of curry-​slop reheated, which you get to spoon out of your kiddie cup with the cheapest plastic utensils imaginable. For the questionable pleasure of this you are charged $ 9 — $ 12. The food is edible, but completely unjustifiable. I’m sorry, but I cannot in good conscience recommend going here. For that price you can toodle on down to Trader Joe’s and buy a handful of their frozen Indian dinners and sides, which, frankly, are superior IN EVERY WAY to what you’ll find at Spice Junction.
For an example of what $ 12 can get you in another town, try the Sunday lunch buffet at the sublime Mela in Asheville. Fresh, made in house dishes and chutneys with lots of vegetarian options for the same price simply puts wretched places like Spice Junction to shame eternal. Save your money, kids.

Finally had a chance to try Spice Junction recently and was delighted. As soon as you walk in the door you are enveloped in the delicious curry-​based aromas of Indian cooking. BTW what is it with those people who say they can’t stand the smell of curry? I think it’s one of the tastiest, most mouth-​watering aromas in the cooking world. Must be one of those genetic things like licorice (yuck) and cilantro (yum!). Anyway — since I am a new customer, the buffet idea was long before my time, so I can’t say one way or another if its passing is to be mourned or celebrated.
This is a family-​owned business, so the staff who greets you actually owns and runs the place. They are wonderfully friendly and very helpful with newbies like myself. They suggested one of the sampler platters aka ‘thalis’, so I got to try different types of curry and rice together.
Disclaimer: if I have gotten any of the names of the foods wrong, that’s on me. The menu is very complex and I am very new to Indian cuisine.
First let me say something about the rice. I am not a very good cook, and I don’t eat a lot of carbs, so rice is not exactly in my culinary wheelhouse. After eating the rice at Spice Junction, I don’t know why I would ever want to cook rice at home again. The thalis come with biryani rice and cumin rice. I’m not sure which is which. One is the simpler version, with just some herbs and very light seasoning. The other has more seasonings and is more colorful with hints of yellow and orange. Both are outstanding. The way they prepare their rice, it is light and fluffy, not at all sticky. I had the impression that if I wanted to sin with some carbs, if I did it with this rice, it would hardly be sinning at all.
On to the stars of the show: the curry. I had the chicken tikka masala; the butter chicken (I think?); the vegetable; and the spinach/​corn. All of the curries have a heat rating, mild medium and hot. The chicken tikka masala was medium and was pretty hot IMO. I am looking forward to trying one of the hot varieties as I love spicy food. I think the others were rated mild.
When trying to describe curry to an SC friend, I told her it was similar to the SC dish called hash that is served over rice. The curry is in a thick gravy-​type base with meats, vegetables and spices depending on which one you order. The base may come in different colors depending on what you order; for example the chicken tikka masala was a deep orange-​red; the butter chicken was more of a golden orange, and the vegetable curries were even lighter and more neutral in color. The two meat curries had generous chunks of meat. The vegetable curry was similar to a very thick veggie stew. The spinach curry was not quite as thick as the others but was very tasty. I never thought of pairing spinach with corn but the corn really sweetened it up. All of these are very good on their own without the rice if you are watching your carbs.
Speaking of carbs, the naan was also very good. You know those Mexican restaurants that offer fresh-​made tortillas on premises? Naan is very similar, a little lighter, maybe more of a pita or lavash flavor. They also garnished the thali platter with a little chip-​like thing. I am not sure what it was. Think lighter, fresher, tortilla chip seasoned with some type of herb, maybe? IDK but it was great.
I was too stuffed to enjoy much of the mango dessert but it was good also.
Now that I have had a delicious introduction to Indian cuisine, I am looking forward to going back and having a run at their complex menu and ordering something else. Def want to try something they consider ‘hot’.

Spice Junction has been my favorite Indian restaurant in town since it opened. They used to have a buffet, but now they are a menu-​only establishment. At first, this upset me, because I am way more experiential with my food choices when I know I can try a bite of this and that, and not have to commit to something that I may not like. However, I discovered that in addition to some delicious-​sounding menu items, they also have meal platters (Thalis). This was the best option for me! You could pick how many different curries you wanted, and of what variety (veggie, chicken, lamb, etc.). In addition to the curries, the meal platter came with two different kinds of rice, an appetizer of your choice, papaddam (fried lentil cracker), ½ a piece of paratha (griddle bread), and a dessert! You also could pick two different chutneys to go with your meal. When the tray full of my hand-​selected goodies was given to me, I was astounded by the amount of food… there is a LOT of food! In this respect, the menu-​style is better than the buffet because with buffets, you’re not allowed to take home left overs. I don’t know about you, but I can only fit so much food in my tummy at one time… regardless of how DELICIOUS it is! I was able to get another whole meal just from my left overs! And, to add the icing to the cake, all of this food only set me back 11 bucks!
There are plenty of other items on the menu (to include an entire page dedicated to vegetarian choices), and I will definitely be back to explore them, but in my opinion, you really can’t go wrong with the Thalis. And don’t let the price of this one particular meal fool you. What I ordered was the 2^nd most expensive item on the menu (2^nd only to the lamb meal platter). Everything else on the menu is easily under 10 bucks. Go forth and eat my friends! You won’t regret it!

My husband and I were devout customers of the restaurant which serves delicious food. However, with the changes to the business model where this is no longer a buffet, and with the limited choice of plates served to you by the owners that they plate for you from the buffet… was too much change for us. The whole dining experience is non-​existent.
This was especially hard at lunch time where I only get an hour to travel there and had to wait in line for the owners to dole out the trays… one by one. Although I love their food, there were only a few specific dishes that I would eat. Since I can no longer pick & choose what I want for the price, it’s just not worth it. We admire the owners, but it they cared about their business… they would return the restaurant to the original buffet. It would bring in the regulars.

I have been a fan of Spice Junction for years now, and it’s absolutely my favorite Indian restaurant in town.
It’s a little hidden gem, and while in West Columbia, is still convenient to most places because it’s so near I-​26.
It’s always clean and airy, and the food is always hot, fresh, and flavorful.
I went there last night and was surprised that it’s no longer a buffet, so I felt it appropriate to write a review to tell y’all alllllll about it:
The menu options are basically the same classics that I know and love, but now it’s actually even more affordable.
I got the chicken and vegetable Thali – it came with a chicken curry of my choice (butter chicken YES), two vegetable curries (spinach, mushroom, and corn in a creamy sauce, and daal), semolina pudding, bread (paratha), vegetable appetizers, and it was more than I could eat. I think I got more ordering the Thali dinner than I would had I gotten it off a buffet, and now you can take your extras with you.
Everything is still delicious, it has an amazing selection of classics and that semolina pudding is worth going there for alone. It’s so much saffron, so much cardamom, so much amazing in my mouth.
They seriously make the best naan in town.
I often take «novice» Indian food eaters here because the family that owns it is so wonderful at describing everything and while it has the complicated spice and taste profiles I love in Indian food, it’s «accessible» to people who aren’t adventurous eaters, too.
As is common with Indian cuisine, this place is great for vegetarians. Not so sure about how well they accomodate other dietary needs, but as helpful as they are, I’m sure a quick call ahead might make some things workable.

Just came, super excited, to the only damn Indian buffet in town with good food, after they were closed for two weeks, and they’re not a buffet anymore. Same exact food but they’re set up with a menu where you get less food for more money, and cant even try all the options.
⁰⁄₁₀ don’t waste your time.

Don’t let the location turn you off. this is one of the best Indian places I’ve ever been to. The selection is on the smaller side, but the food is fresh and very tasty. It is run by a family who makes you feel at home when you come into their restaurant. They will bring fresh, straight from the Tandoor oven Naan bread to your table. The Naan is the best I’ve ever had. The butter chicken is delicious, something I didn’t think I would like, but I loved it. My other favorite dish is tandoori chicken, which was also delicious. My only problem was that they serve strips of the chicken, and not pieces like other places do, but still it was excellent. Plus the pace was extremely clean.
If you love Indian food, you will love Spice Junction!