660999 Tue Oct 20 13:28:35 -0700 2009 9 14 Washington DC & Baltimore Area 0 5117931 I drove by this place the other day and did a quick search online. It appears to be a Pakistani buffet place with some pretty decent buzz (and a few bad reviews of course). But a 6.99 lunch special may bring me there soon. Anyone been? Tue Oct 20 13:28:35 -0700 2009 226064 CoconutMilk 1 5120927 Can't say I have been, but I have a hard time getting Kabobs (and this is a Pakistani place too) anywhere but East West Carryout in Clarendon. They are delicious! You can eat there, but the ambiance isn't the best. It's on Wilson blvd, across from the whole foods. UMMM, their chick peas are so tasty! Wed Oct 21 15:38:02 -0700 2009 5117931 61490 pgwiz1 1 5152693 I've eaten there a couple of times (carry-out), and it's really pretty good. The chickpeas are VERY good! :-) Tue Nov 03 12:26:02 -0800 2009 5117931 1117635 adela65 1 5167866 just went today for lunch. on buffet: tandoori chicken -- mild, pretty moist but scrawny pieces. chicken curry -- same scrawny chicken. mr. alka said it was "ok". cabbage sabzi -- not spicy, and needed salt (and i wanted some curry leaves). rice -- fine chick peas -- pretty good, not over salted, mildly spicy; not as good as ravi kabob mutter aloo -- peas were mushy, but that's typical. lots more mutter (peas) than aloo (potato). aloo keema (ground beef curry with black cardamom and potatoes, sort of like a shammi kabob all crumbled up). best of the dishes, nicely seasoned, not fatty. here's a recipe to give you an idea: http://www.recipezaar.com/Aloo-Keema-Potato-and-Mince-Curry-190790 green salad with slivered carrots and chopped cukes. fresh. nan, nice but not charred on any spots, fresh, nice size. condiments: onion, cilantro, slivered green chilis, red pepper flakes. (i'd have liked a little yogurt, and some lemon wedges). we decided not to go back. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't special. plus, there wasn't one dang kabob on the buffet! ;-(. if i were really hungry, i'd go and eat lots of the minced beef curry. but i can make that at home.... Mon Nov 09 13:12:02 -0800 2009 5117931 105717 alkapal 2 5169063 I'm not sure why you're surprised about no kabobs on a buffet. Kabobs should always be cooked to order. Mon Nov 09 20:22:54 -0800 2009 5167866 10156 Steve 3 5169466 you can have chicken tikka on a buffet. you could have a shammi kabob. you can have kabobs, if on a base like onions, and don't put too many out (or in fact offer to make them to order). in any event, we weren't offered any as part of our buffet "experience." i'm sure the reason there is no kabob offering on the buffet is cost. Tue Nov 10 04:48:55 -0800 2009 5169063 105717 alkapal 4 5173701 went today for lunch....the offerings were: -tandoori chicken (which is essentially chicken tikka, right...are they the same?) -chickpeas -lentils -spinach with paneer (labeled spinach with potatoes) -"mixed vegetables" -a homestye-ish chicken curry -rice, salad, 1 piece fresh bread, same condiments as yours alkapal i also ordered a lamb kabob from the menu just to see if the cooked to order stuff was markedly better. The menu says the lamb is cubed but it came out in a log like a seekh kabob (which they have and is beef). I asked if it was lamb or beef (thinking i had been given a seekh kabob) and the man behind the counter insisted it was lamb, though it was clearly in seekh form. Whatever. I guess I mostly agree with you alkapal, though perhaps i liked it a bit more. the chicken tikka from the buffet was kabob-ish and i enjoyed it even though it was tepid. I thought it was reminiscient of ravi's chicken tikka. the chicken curry was pretty tasty. the pieces were smallish and scrawny, but why complain when its all you can eat for 6.99. Man, that's cheap. I actually think this dish is better than the similar basic chicken curry dish at ravi. the lentils and chickpeas were okay, if a bit bland. nothing to swoon over for sure. the "mixed vegetables" and spinach dishes were quite spicy and a little oily. again, not great but okay. the rice was oddly dried out and only fair. the bread was good if you like a softer, doughier, less crisp and chewy bread. i think it was the softest naan ive had (milk in the dough?). the cooked to order lamb/seekh kabob (which took 15 min) was nicely seasoned and as good as any seekh-type kabob i've had. It came with a pedestrian looking but great tasting cilantro/chili/yogurt sauce, which i would recommend getting a couple of sides of (they'd do it for free i think) even if you just get the buffet. the menu is virtually identical to ravi kabob's, with seemingly the same weekend specials and karahi specials. im sure there are some things the chef does really well. perhaps there are a few really noteworthy dishes. i think its worth looking into if pakistani food is really your thing. on a side note, this may have been the biggest hole-in-the-wall I've ever been to. Wow, was it dingy. They've got a water cooler to get your own water, peeling ceilings, and the cheapest styrofoam plates you've ever seen. Yet they randomly have a flat screen TV, scattered halloween decorations, a dark hookah room and free wi-fi -- a hysterically awful set-up. Wed Nov 11 14:06:15 -0800 2009 5169466 226064 CoconutMilk 5 5173725 how about the paint color on the wall. didn't avocado green go out in the '70s? actually, this color looks like the color of that chutney sauce, but left out on the counter without a lid for a day or two. did your seekh kabob taste like lamb? that's a big difference between getting chunks of lamb, and a ground meat product! was it a young guy or middle aged guy behind the counter? ours was the young guy, with a small goatee. ps, tikka is typically boned cubes of yogurt-spice marinated meat. http://indianfood.about.com/od/chickendishes/r/chickentikka.htm plus, there is no red food dye like with tandoori chicken. Wed Nov 11 14:16:29 -0800 2009 5173701 105717 alkapal 5 5173751 I stuck my nose in there a couple of times, looked at what was on the buffet, and moved on to the Ba Le or Pho Sate there in the same strip. Nothing looked apetizing enough to eat. If it's cheap eats for that kind of buffet stuff you're after, I've eaten at (I think) Bombay Cafe in Fairfax a couple of times, on Rtl 50-29-211. It's in the next strip west of Bloom, and maybe half a mile East of Wegman's. It's nomally Indian, but similar enough if you're not ethnically fussy. They always have chicken tikka, pakkoras, samosas, a curry, a couple of vegetables, the rice has been fresh as has the naan, and it's only five bucks. They even put the day's buffet contents up on their web site. It doesn't change much from day to day, so it's usually pretty accurate. http://www.aaoji.com/fairfax/html/fairfax.html Wed Nov 11 14:25:34 -0800 2009 5173701 10624 MikeR 6 5173784 wow, $5 is cheap! Wed Nov 11 14:37:09 -0800 2009 5173751 105717 alkapal