Cheap eats: Amol India

Curries are part of the $7.99 lunch buffet at Amol India Restaurant in Clifton. (Credit: Gary Landers | Metromix)

Indian food has become increasingly accessible and decidedly unfettered by the "acquired taste" label. From the Southern dosas to the Northern tandoori, most people trying it for the first time "get it" pretty quickly and love it - and while you can find Indian in upmarket fusion restaurants, it's also available on the cheap.

Enter Amol India. The L-shaped restaurant hugs adjoining Habanero and Jagdeep's Indian grocery and offers a $7.99 lunch buffet.

The mood

Located on swinging Ludlow Avenue in Clifton - a stone's throw from the Esquire Theater - Amol is relaxed. Patrons can walk in, grab a booth, a plate and get underway in short order. The lighting is moderate, a welcome respite from blown-out fluorescents.

The food

Indian cuisine can hit a lot of notes - but creamy and filling are a good place to start. The butter chicken (makhani) and saag paneer work as a crash course. The makhani is comprised of chicken in buttery tomato sauce, while the saag paneer is a creamy spinach sauce with cheese cubes.

I put down a bed of white rice with peas and ladled out these two selections. The tender paneer cheese is especially good, while the makhani is a crowd pleaser.

Naan, the traditional Indian flatbread, is in abundance. Here it was soft and not overcooked. Some diners use the bread to mop up their plate, and it's a rudimentary utensil for others.

Go your own way, but it's worth branching out to the naan varieties beyond the white bread version to garlic, potato and raisin.

Raita - a yogurt-and-cucumber-based condiment - provides a cool complement to the rich flavors. Aside from the saag (spinach) dish, vegetarians will be happy to find entrée options including the vegetable biryani.

The buffet at Amol also has a dessert corner. The rice pudding is soupier than I would have liked. For those sympathetic to rice as a dessert, this does the trick. There's also jalabi, which are neon orange, crystalline circles of batter and sugar that might best be described as the dessert of the future from a forgotten World's Fair. I happened to really like it, though it may be too sweet for some.

We left satisfied, having returned for seconds, thirds and dessert(s). There's likely to be at least one dish to satisfy almost any diet and palate.

The drinks

We tried the mango lassi, which at $2.45 a glass qualifies as high-end refreshment for the volume. With this is in mind, I found the lassi a little thin and a little too sweet. However, if you like mango and yogurt, the lassi is usually a safe selection.

The damage: $24.50

The best strategy here is not to spread yourself too thin. Pick two items you like and hone in on those. For any fan of Indian food, Amol's buffet is a great value.

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