Punjab Express — Restaurant in Cambridge

My friends have been urging me to take them for Indian food (they are not desi). After a few Indian restaurants in Boston, I didn’t want to just take them anywhere - I had look through a couple new places I haven’t tried. For this place, I really looked around at previous reviews & this restaurant seemed the most decent without being overpriced.

When we came in, it wasn’t busy & maybe the place can be upgraded - giving the vibe of Indian restaurants in the 2000s. Aside from that, the waiter (probably the only employee aside from whoever was in the kitchen) was really kind. Initially he came to take our orders but we needed time to think, in that time other customers came in so he attended to them - they knew what they wanted immediately and ordered. I was hoping he’d come back and check on us, before their food came back. So the waiting part was a little stretched out but I could put that aside considering this seems to be a small employed business & by the time we tasted our food - it’s like we forgot that part.

My friends are non-veg and I’m veg. They got chicken pav bhaji, chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, pani puri, paneer pakora, samosas, and mango lassi. I got aloo tikki chaat, paneer makhani, and plain naan.

After everyone’s first bite, they really really enjoyed it. I would just say I have my own standards for pani puri haha (it was only shredded seasoned aloo & pani, no chana or other toppings — nonetheless it was still good & my friends enjoyed it). They all packed up their left overs. I myself really miss eating Indian food and honestly have probably set some standards after trying a couple places in Boston where the issues usually are the taste being off or the restaurant makes a small portion size but charges expensively. I was really satisfied with what I got and honestly it reminded me of the restaurants back home. The waiter checked up us on the end and asked if we enjoyed everything. We will def come back here again - hope there will be some more people to help out next time, but def enjoyed the taste and quality of the food! Would highly recommend as long as you’re patient!!

Pictures: toasting with our pani puri & me enjoying my left over...

I joined a few friends for Saturday lunch. A prior reviewer said that they didn’t have a lunch buffet despite advertising one, but they did have a buffet when we went there yesterday.

Me and a friend had the buffet while one of my friends ordered the goat curry and another ordered the Hyderabadi Mirchi and Baigan Ka Saalan. I tasted everything offered on the buffet and tried a bit of my friend’s dishes as well.

The buffet was fairly minimal and poorly labeled, for instance a sectioned samosas had fried potatoes instead. As to be expected at most Indian buffets, the spice level was dialed down to the lowest common denominator, but the food was fine, and I particularly found the mango chicken decently flavorful. Of my Friend’s choices, the eggplant dish was the most interesting, both sweet and savory. They did offer us a basket of naan, which was nice. It’s possible that came with the buffet.

In general though I thought the food was just okay. I’ve certainly had worse Indian food, but there’s also a lot better. What I will say is that the price point, especially for around Harvard Square, was extremely reasonable and while one of my friends thought the chai had a bit too much star anise taste, I was just thankful for some dark rich flavor.

The atmosphere was pleasant and they allowed us to stay and chat for quite some time through two o clock in the afternoon despite being the only ones in the restaurant.

All in all, if you’re looking for cheap(ish) decent(ish) Indian food in Harvard Square it’s a perfectly...

I've had bad Indian food and then I had lunch and Punjab Express. They have a huge ad on the door offering a non-existing buffet, I suggested the waitress to have it removed since it's dishonest and her reply was a silly smirk on her face; I prefer buffet style when having Indian food, not because I can eat more rather because I can taste small portions of different things. My butter chicken was just chicken cooked in tomato sauce and so was the other salmon dish, which we unwilling ate because it was already on the table and didn't want to make too much fuss. We ate in silence not because we were enjoying the food, rather, the place was empty, not a single soul in sight... during lunchtime ! ... what...