| Large Indian restaurant with buffet and menu ordering. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 992
Reviewed: 5/27/2004
Rating: 8
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With 22 people in hand, a lot of food was going to be needed to fill our stomachs. Passage to India has a moderately price buffet at $11.95. The buffet boasts 20 or so dishes ranging from traditional Indian to Chinese and Mexican? What the heck is Chinese and Mexican food doing in their buffet line? I didnt bother trying it...it was a sore sight for my eyes.
I tend to stick with the basics on Indian food; nan, basmati rice, tandori chicken, daal, and curry anything. Todays buffet run was quite good and nan was fresh out of the oven. Dont expect this food to be gourmet looking..its buffet food; meaning sloppy trays with food submerged in some sort of red, brown, green, or yellow sauce.
Although the prices are above average, Passage to India's atmosphere makes up for those extra dollars; very clean, matching tablecloths, cloth napkins, glasses. Sure you can go to cheaper Indian restaurants, but part of the dining experience is feeling comfortable in your surroundings. If you have friends visiting from out of town and want to experience good Indian food, take them to Passage to India.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 723
Reviewed: 5/27/2004
Rating: 6.5
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The restaurant itself looks rather nice. Very clean and accomodating. The waiters are quick to bring a basket of Nahn to the table when yours runs empty.
The lunch buffet seems very hastily constructed. A lineup of heated metal bowls atop some warmers on regular tables. This must only be a lunch thing, but it is right in the middle of the walkway to get to the back eating room. So people are walking by it all the time.
I found the food to be just OK. The selection was rather odd compared to other Indian places I'd been to. Come on, chinese chow mein & fried rice? I didn't try the meat selections so can't comment on that, but the vegetarian offerings weren't very strong and the presentation was awful.
I will not be returning here if I have to pay my own way. Even the Nahn was a little thin and somewhat burnt...
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Reviewer: Vikram
Total Reviews: 19
Reviewed: 9/19/2004
Rating: 7.5
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I am of the opinion that most Indian restaurants serve mediocre Indian food. Given that, this place gets a 7.5 primarily for the variety of items. It serves up traditional north indian food, some south indian items, indian-chinese and indian pastries along with other desserts.
This place has the most variety of most Indian buffets. Their fish dish is quite spicy and tasty. Also for a lot of indian people, the indian-chinese food is an attraction. I should explain why considering that the other reviewers are surprised to see chinese food in an Indian buffet. :-)
Chinese food served in India is sort of catered to Indian tastes and basically tastes nothing like the Chinese served in Chinese restaurants in the US. Eating chinese at a street-side stand is very popular in Bombay. The Indian restaurants here try to recreate the same taste, however they dont really succeed. It's still nothing compared to what you can get in India.
The other cool thing about Passage to India are the indian style pastries. They are just like cakespastries are in India, very light. Also, the other desserts such as Gulab Jamun, Jalebi are tasty.
All in all, pretty decent to go to once in a while.
P.S. Passage to India Bakery on El Camino in Mountain View serves only Indian cakespastries. The pastries at the buffet come from that bakery.
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Reviewer: Humbucker
Total Reviews: 11
Reviewed: 7/23/2005
Rating: 8.5
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My trip to Passage to India tonight marked something of a double milestone. First, it is the first restaurant that I am reviewing for Jatbar. Second, it is perhaps only the second Indian restaurant that I have ever visited in my life, and certainly the first Indian restaurant I have decided to visit of my own free will. For some unknown reason, I had always had a strong aversion to Indian cuisine. I guess I was scared of the spices, curry especially. For even more mysterious reasons, today I just made up my mind that I wanted to go to an Indian restaurant. I guess I'm just getting more adventurous with exotic flavors. (Up until a few years ago, I couldnt stand cilantro, but now I love it! Who knows, maybe Ill start liking cheesecake and shellfish in a few months. Well, maybe not.)
Anyways, Mountain View has a high concentration of Indian restaurants, with the lunch buffet being something of a tradition among area workers, so choosing one to start with was tough. The first and only Indian restaurant I had been to was Amber India, which is regarded by many to be the finest Indian restaurant in the Silicon Valley (oddly enough, I couldnt remember any of what I ate there, for better or worse). Returning there as a willing customer, as opposed to being dragged in kicking and screaming by my dad so many years earlier, would have certainly been poetically ironic, but I wanted to go somewhere a little less upscale for my first exposure to Chicken Tikka Masala and the like. After much research, I settled on Passage to India because they had a pretty well-regarded buffet, and it was available for dinner. I figured a buffet would be a better way to get a feel for the different Indian dishes as opposed to risking trying to order a la carte.
The first thing I noticed when I stepped inside Passage to India was that I was not repulsed by the smell. Some Indian restaurants just hit you with the strong odor of distinctive seasonings when you enter (which is highly appealing to some, Im sure), but luckily the smell was pretty mild as I had still not acclimated my senses to Indian flavors. I immediately hit the buffet and was pleased with the wide array of dishes they had to try. I was expecting there to be maybe 8 or 9 steam trays, but there were certainly more than a dozen different items; maybe 15 or 20. I kept a menu with me so I could read up on what I was eating and tried a little of most everything. I really liked the Malai Kofta (fried cheese balls in a butter and tomato sauce), the Chicken Tikka Masala, and the Chicken Vindaloo. At this point, I dont know all that much about Indian cuisine, but it seemed like most of the dishes were just combinations of one or two of the following elements: chicken, beans, flour, curry, potatoes, cheese and cream sauce. To put it simply, there wasnt a lot of diversity of flavor among the entrees: it was pretty much limited to savory and salty. I know this isnt a criticism of Indian food in general, because many curries are known for their spiciness, which there wasnt much of at Passage to India. Still, what they had was quite tasty and I ended up stuffing myself silly just getting a little bit of the different hot entrees; I barely had any dessert and didnt touch any of the fruit or salads. I didnt try any of the Desi Chinese dishes and I didnt see any of the Mexican items that Jason alluded to. Service was prompt and unintrusive as the waiters were quick to refill waters and take away plates when we went back to peruse the buffet. For, $13.95, it was a pretty good deal for dinner. I probably wouldnt come for the lunch buffet, though, because $11.95 is pretty pricey for a midday meal if you dont intend to gorge. I cant really compare it to other Indian restaurants because I havent really been to any, but Passage to Indias dinner buffet gets an 8.5 from me for value, variety, and service. I would also recommend it to other newcomers to Indian cuisine because anyone can find something to eat, even Chinese food, if you dare.
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 165
Reviewed: 7/31/2007
Rating: 7.5
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One of our co workers who came back to work within our team as a vendor treated us out to lunch at Passage to India. We arrived around 12pm and the place was near empty, with the exception of one booth taken. The buffet trays were full of food and well stocked. A nice selection of nahn and other items I’ve not seen elsewhere. I’ve also seen some specialty wraps such as chicken wraps and what looked like chow mien. Needless to say I tried the newer items although most items I tried were extra salty. I stuck with the basics, butter chicken, rice, chicken, and some potato item.
The butter chicken was much saltier than what I’m used to. The vindaloo chicken was excellent. The chicken was moist and had a lot of flavor without the extra heat. One of the best chickens I’ve had thus far in an Indian buffet. I was surprised the spinach dish was not served.
People started packing in around 12:40, but by then our group was nearly done. We attacked the dessert section and sampled their cakes, mango ice cream, rice budding and that orange carrot sweets. Surprisingly the cake was not sweet like the usually sweet Indian treats. The mango ice cream helped cleanse the salty pallet.
Service was good as our water refills were attended to when empty and someone always came to check up on our table. I probably would not choose to come here if I was paying as there are cheaper and better options down the road.
Pros: Clean, roomy, food selection, good service.
Cons: Pricey, Salty food, when it’s busy it’s crowded.
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 70
Reviewed: 3/7/2008
Rating: 7
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I recently made the trek to Passage to India as part of my ongoing quest (OK obsession) to try more Indian buffets. To get a good sampling I came here twice in the last few weeks. On both my lunch visits the restaurant was only half full, and one visit was right at noon. This was a little surprising given the good location (though it makes you wonder). Thankfully this meant the buffet was not crowded. The buffet itself is on the large size, though not quite as big as Grand Indian Buffet or Bombay Garden. But then when you account for the Chinese food (Yes, I said Chinese food) the buffet offerings are actually fewer. Because if you are like me, you go to an Indian Buffet for *Indian food*. No, I would NOT like some chow mein with my vegetable biryani, thank you. WTF?
As for the Indian food, it was just OK, with few standouts. Even the naan here was so-so, being "aged" at the buffet rather than being served fresh to the table. However, I was glad to see that the selection of buffet items changed slightly between my two lunch visits, though the second lunch had a worse selection than the first. One of the most telling moments for me was on this second visit. I had finished my first plate and was ready to get a second, but I was so underwhelmed by my first plate that I could only think of one repeat item to try again. (Usually I have at least three or four.)
The total cost for the buffet is $13.94 incl tip. Based on other buffets I've tried, this seems high for the food quality I recieved.
Service was good on both trips, as far as cleanup and water filling. I visited the buffet multiple times, and all my old plates were quickly whisked away each time I was done. The only problem was they were a little too focused on cleaning rather than, say, listening or thinking. For instance, I left for the men's room near the end of my second lunch, making sure to tell one of the waiters I was not done and would be right back. When I returned, my place had been cleared and setup anew, and my newspaper had been thrown away. Wow, does this mean I don't have to pay? Morons. I had to ask the waiter to retrieve my newspaper from the trash. No harm done in the end, it's just annoying that the waiters were such frickin robots.
Here's a quick summary of various buffet items I tried over both lunches:
Naan- a little old and chewy; had obviously been sitting too long (this was better on the second visit)
Passage to India Chicken – Tasted like General Tso's Chicken. As in the Chinese dish. But not nearly as good.
Saag Paneer – OK texture but way too bland
Curry Chicken – Probably the best of the bunch; Tender and flavorful
Malai Kofta – An old favorite of mine; this version was decent; I had seconds
Lamb Gosht – OK flavor, but a little too fatty
Butter chicken – Below average; bland
Bengan Bharta – Pretty good; nice texture with a slight smokiness; not as oily as other versions I’ve had.
Chicken Jaalfrazi – Never had this before; Not to my liking
Chicken Rollups – Like mini burritos with chicken curry inside. These weren't bad, and I had seconds.
Gajar Halva (Shredded carrot dessert) – OK, but I've had much better
Soft serve mango ice cream – Yummy; rivals that from GIB
The decor here is very dull and dated, though clean. It looks very much like a Denny's from the 1980s that has been repainted and had Christmas lights and some Indian touches added inside. Does anybody else find this setting kind of a downer?
I love Indian food, so when I know a place serves mediocre Indian food, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Such is the case with Passage to India. I would not go out of my way to eat lunch here, but might do so again if I was in the immediate area.
Pros: Plenty of parking; good service (cleanup and water only); not too crowded, even a peak lunch hour
Cons: Food is mediocre and overpriced; disorganized robotic waitstaff |
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