| Modest looking exterior gives way to upscale Indian dining. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1005
Reviewed: 12/2/2005
Rating: 9
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Amber India is considered to be a heavyweight when it comes to the realm of Indian food. I had my doubts about this place since everyone and their mother talks highly on the food. Im not gunshy in shooting restaurants down so here I am.
Parking might be a problem during the lunch rush as all the spots will appear to be occupied upon arrival. Neighboring stores dont appreciate unwarranted parking so lookout for signs and you wont get your car towed.
We are promptly greeted by the hostess and immediately seated. The decor of the restaurant is definitely more upscale than the other Indian places we've visited in the past, from the beautiful tapestries, cultural statues, to the decorative plates. Amber India has set to mood for a elegant experience.
Just like everyone else, we came here for the buffet, and just like everyone else, we had to wait in this looooong line. Slow moving line meant my patience was wearing thin. What a good way to start the lunch by burning your hands on the plates. Holy crap these plates are frickin hot, I could swear these were pulled from the lava fields. I could barely hold them and had to use my jacket sleeves as gloves. While balancing the plate, scooping food, I multi-tasked with my camera, all for jatbar :)
Highlights were the creamy palak, little deep fried potatoes, and tandoori chicken, The chicken was a bit different in color and taste, it wasnt the deep red that Im accustommed to, more of a light brown paprika color/taste. Now that I think of it, maybe it wasnt Tandoori chicken. Either way, the chicken was super delicious and I thought it was much better than the makhani chicken. Naan was served in a small basket probably right out of the oven, chewy nonsugary pancakes with some charring would probably describe these wonderful items.
Overall, the food was excellent and thought the traditional dishes had different spices and herbs to give that extra exotic taste. I took 1 1/2 trips to the buffet for a price of $11.95. For some of you, that might be $3-4 dollar more than you normally pay but when you add the service of waters constantly being filled, beautiful atmosphere, and quality food, I think its worth the money. Some may say its Americanized Indian food, that may be the case but all I know is I left Amber India with a happy stomach.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 735
Reviewed: 12/2/2005
Rating: 8.5
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Jason knew for awhile that this place was supposed to be good, I had no premonitions before heading out. We get there, and the parking lot is packed. And the other shop owners in the complex are quite guarding of their store-front spaces.
Inside, it was equally packed. It reminded me of an elegant restaurant inside, and then I saw the buffet line. The line extended pretty far and looked out of place in the nice elegant interior. But the selections looked appetizing so I forged in.
The downside with the buffet line is that you only get one side. Usually I am accustomed to the double-sided lines so you can move about twice as many people through as you normally could. The lack of double-sided line really hurt the wait time. We first pick up our plates and almost immediately drop them. They are FRIGGIN hot. Seriously hot. Like you must hold the plate by the outer rim to keep from scalding yourself.
Anyway, the selection had plenty of good vegetarian options which made me happy. And they didn't look like they were the standard boring buffet line fares. Looks like most dish had an interesting twist or interpretation. My favorites are the curry with the red peppers. The stir-fried fresh vegetables were also a nice touch. I attacked that one twice as well.
Fresh nahn was brought out to the table thankfully. It was a bit crunchy - not exactly my favorite as I like it to be a bit gooeyer. But it still tasted really good. Everything was damn good and definitely among my favorite buffet indian places. Not only do they have a clean nice restaurant, but the dishes were interesting enough to keep those (like myself), who can get burned out on Indian restaurants, something new and exciting.
For desert I went with the tapioca which was by the numbers but a nice closer to the meal. For the downside, the buffet was quite pricey. $12. A bit more than I would want to spend on Indian food, but so far this is the only Indian place I would spend that kind of money on. I am excited to return, and along with Sneha, it is at the top of Indian places in the Bay Area.
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 78
Reviewed: 1/9/2008
Rating: 8
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I have eaten at Amber India several times over the last couple of years. I decided to make another visit recently so I could write a review (plus I'm on an Indian Buffet roll). I arrived just before noon on a rainy Tuesday. In previous visits I always had trouble parking and sometimes bailed and went elsewhere. But this time the bad weather seemed to have kept the crowds away. Once inside I was greeted warmly and seated immediately. The décor here is not as bright and lively as some other Indian spots, but it is very tasteful and upscale, with some modern paintings on the wall. I must say that the space is badly designed for Indian buffet though. This restaurant is cramped, and when the line does get long, it has nowhere to go, and partially blocks up the front entryway.
The buffet line was small on this visit so I wasted no time. I prepared myself for the scalding pain of the plates (Jason was not kidding about this) but was relieved to find these were only lukewarm. I wondered if they finally fixed the molten plate problem?
The buffet here is small and the first half is filled with various salad and noodle items, which I didn't touch (I was here to get Indian food dammit). This left very little variety for all the "good stuff" at the end, which included yellow dal, five veggie dishes, and two meat items, both chicken. This was kind of a let down after the huge variety offered by the likes of Bombay Garden. Still, what I got was pretty tasty. Though one of the veggie dishes was odd for an Indian place – just grilled veggies with very little spiciness or sauce. I tried a bit of this and was not impressed. The palak chole (spinach with garbanzo beans) was good but a bit too mild. The dal was very good. Of the chicken dishes, the curry chicken was excellent. The butter chicken was a little lacking. A basket of piping hot naan was delivered fresh to the table and arrived before I did (as it should be). This naan was very good, though not quite as good as Shiva's version, which is still my favorite. Dessert was a little disappointing. I'm used to getting at least one rice-based dessert or mango dessert. Instead they offered a sweet cream of wheat dish and noodles in yogurt sauce. Both were OK, but did not excite me.
All in all, I enjoyed my meal here and the service was the best I've had at any Indian buffet. My water was filled repeatedly, and they politely asked if they could take my plates moments after I finished. The bill was delivered quickly. Even so, I never felt rushed. Then I saw the price: $15.10 including tax, or about $17 with tip, and that's just the buffet, with no drink!! That's $3 higher than I've ever paid for Indian buffet. I was thinking about 8.5 for Amber India, but have to lower my rating now.
Pros: Decent food; Nice décor; Great service
Cons: Long lines at peak lunch hour; Limited parking; Extremely high prices |
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 173
Reviewed: 12/14/2006
Rating: 8
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My birthday is around the corner and a few of my co-workers decided to take me out for lunch at Amber India. This place may be difficult to find as the restaurant is in the corner of a small plaza. If you are coming from Shoreline, look for Charles Junior and the plaza is right across the street. Come early for lunch as the plaza has plenty of shops, therefore the parking lot is full. We found parking towards the side of the plaza.
From the outside of the restaurant, Amber India is unassuming. Once we stepped in, the place was jam packed with patrons. There was a line, but turns out the line near the door was the buffet line. Our host seated us to our table and later moved us to another table, as our party was too large for where they originally wanted to seat us.
The buffet line was long, only because of how the buffet line is setup. They setup all the vegetarian dishes and pots at the outside of the line and the three non vegetarian pots towards the end of the table, only problem is the space towards the end of the table is only large enough for one person to squeeze in. The first time we stood in line, we waited for 10 minutes before we reached the end of the table; the table is not even that long. The second time we stood in line we waited until the lines cleared.
Lunch buffet is 12.95 per person. This is expensive compared to other Indian buffet but the flavors and spices within the dish are unmatched and the service is better than others that charge less. I was disappointed as I went through the line the first time. It seemed there were a lot more vegetarian dishes than meat items. Turns out, they had my favorite items at the every end of the table, buttered chicken. Besides butter chicken, I had the Tandoori chicken, and onion rings. Chicken was excellent, juicy and flavorful. In terms of selection and price, I would have preferred Grand Indian Buffet had I paid for myself, as there are more choices in non-vegetarian dishes and more selections.
Service was excellent as our waters were filled repeatedly without us asking once. Fresh nahn was placed on our table, thin, crispy, and warm. We even received a second basket without us asking. Dessert was weak as our only choice was fresh fruit, some sort of sweet paste, and vanilla rice pudding. The sweet paste contained Indian spices but reminded me of the paste within moon cakes, although a bit grainier.
Over all excellent meal as I did not have to pay. Quality of food and service is excellent. Price is higher than average and selection is minimal, and layout of buffet line is poor, which causes longer waits.
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