Spicy Tandoor
6800 Airport Blvd. (at Guadalupe), 459-6859 Monday-Saturday, 10am-10pm; Sunday, 10am-8pmSpicy Tandoor certainly lives up to its name with searing treats such as Achar Gosht, meltingly tender beef cubes that will set your tongue aflame. Delightful Paki-Indi-Bangladeshi cuisine at rock-bottom prices in the old Hamburger Haven building. Forget lamb — go for the unctuous Mutton Korma or the side-of-cow portions of the Behari Kabab!
Tandoori Palace
9616 N. Lamar, 834-1173 Daily, 11am-10pm
Tandoori Palace serves a mix of Paki-Bangli-Indian cuisine in the shopping center at the corner of Rutland and Lamar. They have a huge menu of well-spiced dishes available for order and have a popular buffet daily from 11am to 3pm. Excellent versions of tandoor oven dishes as well as melt-in-the-mouth stews.
Bismillah
6929 Airport Blvd., 420-8837 Daily, 11am-10pm
Bismillah recently relocated to its own freestanding building in Highland Village from its former space on Anderson Lane. The restaurant is a predominantly Sufi Pakistani cafe that’s huge on flavor and low on price. Everything from the kitchen is first-rate and spiced with a delirious complexity. All of the halal meat dishes are so tender they literally melt in your mouth. Buffet at lunch daily from 11am-3pm.
Madras Pavilion
9025 Research Ste. 100, 719-5575 Monday-Friday, 11:30am-3pm, 5:30-9:30pm; Saturday-Sunday, 11:30am-10pm
Madras serves what is arguably Austin’s finest South Indian vegetarian cuisine, and the daily expansive lunch buffet (11:30am-3:30pm) might just be the best way to get acquainted. Dosas to die for and multiple levels of exploding spicy goodness in every dish you eat. Food like this is what makes us forget that we’re carnivores!
Swad Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
9515 N. Lamar #156, 997-7923Monday-Friday, 11:30am-2:30pm, 5-9:30pm; Saturday-Sunday, 11:30am-9:30pm
The same folks who own the expansive Taj Market feature cuisine from the western Indian state of Guarajat made fresh daily at Swad Indian Vegetarian Restaurant. The Thalli Platter is probably the best taste sampler for newbies, but you can’t go wrong with the different dosas they offer. The menu is surprisingly large for a small spot, and make sure you try some guabjambu (“doughnuts” swimming in mint syrup).
This article appears in April 18 • 2003.