Nibbles: Rasoi, An Indian Kitchen

The weekday lunch buffet ($8.50) drew superlatives from me and my buddy Pete, a former restaurateur.

Every item we tried had flavors seasoned with exotic spices, whether it was the pakoras (a vegetable fritter), the white rice (chaawal), the goat curry (goat meat on the bone), the vegetable curry, the popular tandoori chicken (roasted chicken), the chicken makhani (butter chicken), the paneer (a cheese mixed with spinach) and the kala chana masala (black chickpeas cooked in a rich gravy).

To our western palates the spices were thankfully mild to medium hot, none burning. There were other selections that we didn’t try. We ate those buffet items with handfuls of naan, a warm, fluffy version of a flour tortilla.

	Rasoi, An Indian Kitchen LOCATION: 110 Yale SE HOURS: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.-9 p.m. seven days a week. 268-5327

For dessert we cooled off with a delightful, not-too-rich mango custard. It, too, was on the buffet.

Pete was also impressed with the décor. The dining experience made him feel that he was transported to India. I concurred.