Delights of India
Hours
Profile
$$ - average
Indian (Northern)
All-vegetarian Indian restaurant in Uptown
After a fourteen year hiatus, the all-vegetarian Delights of India returns to Uptown. The menu features standard Indian dishes and beer and wine selections.
All vegan items are clearly labeled and the restaurant also offers soy masala chai.
- Buffet
- Large Group-Friendly
- Quiet
- Wireless (free)
Added by GBS on Apr 15 (updated Sep 3)
Reviews
we went to the buffet a couple months ago, and it was one of the worst experiences...yes, the service was nice, one woman who sat at a table making it just us and her in the entire restaurant on a saturday at lunch. the emptiness shouldve been a sign. the second we walked up to the buffet line, i got the feeling that this wasnt a good idea, but i was too embarassed to walk out. we took the plunge instead, and put four different kinds of slop on our plates, each one tasting just as bland as the next. we managed to eat a couple plates for our $10 (yikes) and then moaned all the way home, where we then passed out, literally, then reawoke with terrible headaches. it was the kind of reaction i would get from eating food with msg. and as far as fresh or frozen goes, i was convinced that everything came from cans or the freezer, and none of it was even heated very well. i just dont understand the positive reviews for this place, its like we ate at separate restaurants.
Delights of India is a delight indeed. If you're looking for light, authentic, home-cooked Indian food, come here (they also have a lunch buffet). In the Twin Cities, this is the only place that accurately replicates the complex, sophisticated tastes of North Indian cuisine and, best of all, uses fresh (non-frozen) ingredients and limited amounts of oil.
You can't really go wrong with any dish here, though I would recommend dishes with potatoes, spinach or eggplant; their lentil and chickpea dishes are good, but don't quite match the tastes of their vegetable dishes. Their samosas are also excellent.
The service is extremely friendly and gracious, though not the fastest in the world. Don't expect to schlep some buffet items on a dish, eat like mad, and then run out; in Delights of India, you'll actually want to savor your meal.
All vegan items are labeled on the menu and they even offer soy chai (though the tea base they use needs to be stronger---the current tea they use is a light black tea which gets drowned out by the milk).
My only gripes would be that they don't offer brown rice (not unusual for Indian restaurants) and that the prices are a bit on the higher side ($11-13 per dish).
Nevertheless, this is the highest quality Indian food you'll find in the Twin Cities, and the most authentic. At Delights of India there are no concessions to Americanized tastes; this may sound scary at first, but it really just means that you'll get healthier, fresher food that can express itself properly, without relying on buckets of oil and raw quantities (like at most Indian buffets).
Delights of India is a delight to have in the Uptown neighborhood. Overall a good restaurant with lots of things going for it--worth checking out.
Pros: Delicious vegan combination platter featuring curried vegetables, two types of coleslaw, a lentil dish, and an eggplant dish (highly recommended). The samosas are extremely flavorful too. They have an iced soy chai tea, which was also pretty refreshing.
Cons: A bit on the expensive side, not the fastest service, a surcharge for extra rice ($3!?), no vegan dessert options. Hopefully these are things that can be changed and improved upon.
Tasty food. Fresh and flavorful ingredients. And the two entreés we tried each hade their own combination of tasty spices. And they had momos (tibetan dumplings) in addition to traditional indian appetizers. Vegan entreés were labled, but the breads were not (the poori and i think roti were vegan.. you should ask though). Good friendly service.
Went here when it opened. We went for dinner. Food was very overpriced. Service wasn't bad although water refills are nearly impossible.
All the food tasted like cinnamon toast crunch cereal. We had two different types of curries and the samosas and it tasted very cinnamon-y and milk-y. The bill was a shock, I think it's because of the expensive chai teas as well as the food.
I have not gone back, so this is only one review. The server was nice(an older woman) and helpful but food was not there.
About on par with Marla's, which occupied the space before this place.