Indian buffets can be found in different parts of San Antonio, but there’s a concentration of Indian restaurants in and around Medical Center that offer an all-you-can-eat experience. Tandoor Palace is one such option, offering its $15.99 all-day buffet from morning to night, giving customers a curated selection of bottomless dishes without breaking the bank.
Last week, I visited Tandoor Palace for lunch after learning that the restaurant, which I’ve ordered takeout from before, offers a reasonably priced buffet from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The eatery is fairly casual, and I was allowed to seat myself and visit the buffet at my own leisure, though a server did check up on me and bring over freshly baked naan whenever I needed.
The buffet line is fairly small compared to others I’ve visited in San Antonio, with just one double-sided station for hot foods and a smaller setup for cold items and desserts. That said, Tandoor Palace did offer several dishes I was glad to see, such as fish pakora (deep-fried fish) and goat curry.
To start, I loaded up my first plate with goat curry, saag paneer, tandoori chicken and yellow rice. The naan came in handy for scooping up the saucier dishes, delivering the slow-burning curry heat to my mouth on an edible, herb-laden vessel. I followed that with a second plate of similar hot bites: chicken tikka masala, which was just OK, and matar paneer, a cheese-based dish coated in a complex, savory tomato sauce.
Lastly, I made myself a little dessert plate featuring mango pudding, rice pudding and what I believe was a small piece of semolina cake. I don’t think I had a single bad bite throughout the meal, and in the end, I appreciated the smaller selection because of the food quality that was apparent in each morsel…