Amber Restaurant on a Dreary Day

There is nothing like a little Indian food to perk up your day. Corrin and I decided to go to Amber Restaurant on N. Meridian in Carmel for their extensive lunch buffet. For about $10.00 you can get a wide variety of vegetarian and meat dishes, an appetizer or two, salad, chutneys, naan brought to your table, and dessert. This particular Indian restaurant, which has a good atmosphere, is consistent in food quality and features a nice variety of food that is fresh. Most of the dishes are Americanized Punjabi (North Indian) dishes but still tasty for those more in the know. Today the butter chicken was tender and spicy. There was also tandoori chicken, a chicken stir fry and lamb curry on the buffet. The vegetable dishes included a mixed vegetable korma, several dals and channa masala, palak paneer (spinach with Indian cheese), and a mushroom tikka. I especially liked the cabbage pakora and bread pakora, which are basically vegetables or other items fried in a chickpea flour and spices. On the salad bar were an assortment of raw veggies, a very nicely done aloo chaat, raita (yogurt), and an assortment of chutneys. The desserts, gulab jamin, mango pudding, and kheer (a type of rice pudding) were also fresh and well done. For now, this is my favorite Indian restaurant in town. At night, you can order off the menu which offers an extensive selection of standard North Indian fare. If you are new to Indian cuisine, this is a good place to start and ideally with their buffet where you can sample multiple dishes.

Atmosphere 8
Service 7
Price 7
Presentation 7
Food 8
Overall 8