  Cafe Of India Region Harvard Square Address 52a Brattle St. Phone 617-661-0683 Web www.cafeofindia.com Price $11.95 (at least on sunday) Buffet Hours 11:30am-3:00pm daily Payment options cash, credit card Ambience & Presentation this is one of those open-front cafes you see alot in trendy areas of new york city and boston, except the area it's in isn't all that trendy -- it's off on a side street from harvard square.
the natural light and air almost made me forget how crowded this place was -- not just with people, but with tables as well. the music, as is par for trendy places and trendy-wannabe places, was more IDM and techno than traditional indian music.
i happen to like IDM and techno, but others may be turned off by it. on my way back from reviewing india castle, i ran into a friend of mine who works at the L.A. Burdick chocolatier in the same building as this restaurant. he cautioned me against going here, but i told him that eventually i would have to. and so i did. my first impression was a good one -- the atmosphere is pleasantly dark and the copper chafing pans reminded me of another buffet i used to frequent which is always excellent.
the tandoors were in a glass extension off the kitchen so you could watch breads and kebabs being cooked, and as i was eating, more and more items arrived on the buffet. sadly, i was full by the time they started making fresh masala dosai. i was one of the first to arrive for lunch, and i must not have been looking too indecent since they put me in the "window" (i.e.
next to the sidewalk). i picked up some food on the buffet and shortly thereafter they brought me a basket of fresh bread, and i was all set for a good experience. well, on the takeout menu i took with me, and on the website mentioned above, this place's cuisine is described as &quot;superb&quot; or &quot;fine&quot;.
nowhere is it described as &quot;authentic&quot;. this is probably a good thing, since the cafe of india's buffet, which i generally consider to be representative of the quality, if not the usual spiciness, of the food served for regular meals, is about the least authentic indian meal i have ever eaten. one of the constants for several dishes was a conspicuous greasiness not present at other buffets. the samosa was a little greasy on the outside (i know they're deep-fried, but somehow other places make them appear less greasy) and not so fresh on the inside. i found it a little bland. the rice was what i have dubbed &quot;tandoori-style&quot;, with little red or orange grains which tend to be a little harder than usual, hence the suggestion that it was partially done in the tandoor.
i don't know if this is true, or how they really color the rice, but until someone tells me otherwise i'll just call it by that name. another unusual dish was a yellow bell pepper soup . it wasn't bad, but tasted (and looked) mostly like finely ground yellow peppers, water, a hint of cilantro and salt. not much else, and more at home at a trendy nouveau-cuisine place than an indian restaurant. on to the entrees. the tandoori chicken was smaller than usual, cooked just to the point where any less would have been unsafe, and not terribly well spiced. the crispy red coating i see at other places was just a mild red tinge on most pieces. the saag paneer had a flavor reminiscent of something else i've eaten in the past -- i don't remember what it was but i'm sure it wasn't indian.
i tried a few more bites to bring back the taste memory, but to no avail. the chicken tikka masala was probably the best thing there, and even that was pretty standard in flavor. it reminded me of the first time i had the dish, but i have had much better since. the goat curry was probably pretty standard for goat -- it had large chunks of bone and also large chunks of fat. it seemed it would have been less trouble to do away with the bone so i could only have complained about it being too fatty, but now i have to complain about it being too bony and too fatty.
both the chicken and the goat dishes had very greasy sauces that beaded up on the plate a bit -- this is understandable for the goat, due to the fat content, but i don't understand why for the chicken. there was also a mixed vegetable curry which i avoided on account of the broccoli. oh, i forgot, there was an aloo choley (potatos and chickpeas) which was also less than memorable. hence, probably, why i forgot it until now. for dessert, aside from the usual kheer, there was halwa !
this was a nice treat to end what was otherwise a less-than-satisfactory dining experience. it wasn't as good as i'd had it before, and the texture really is alot like cream-of-wheat that's been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days, but it was pleasant enough to dull the mild sensation i was having of wasting my time there. at least, it was, until i got the bill. Absolute Rating if you like your indian food seriously dumbed down for the new england palate, or you just don't usually like indian food, try this.
it might be a good gateway to the real stuff. 5/10 Value Rating 5 over $11.95 = 0.42 Fallingblox ate here last Sunday, July 04, 2004 
