Nazara Indian Bistro — Restaurant in Cary

Cleanliness: 3/5. Pro - The tables were spotless, the untensils were clean and the water glasses were sparkling. Along the buffet any spills or messes made by customers were handled immediately by the staff. When a child dropped a plate of food the staff were quick and immediate at cleaning up the mess within a minute. Con - Noticed the food preparers/Chef/line cooks preparimg the food were NOT wearing hair nets. My food actually had a hair in it. It was only one small strand but warranted enough disgust to be mentioned and to drop what would have been 5 stars down to 3 in Cleanliness. A number of the bar plates had black smudges that rubbed off easily. Still unsure of what the smudges and the substance was. It was only a little disconcerting and the other customers didn't seem bothered by it.

Service: 5/5. Pro - Staff was attentive and quick to respond to refills and were consistently re-adding fresh food to the buffet every 5 minutes on the dot.They were friendly, smiled and kept the bar clean. This wasn't your typical buffet (Chinese or Golden Buffet). The food wasn't left up to harden, crust over or burn and dry out like at other buffets which was refreshing. Con - I didn't have just one waiter, I had 5. The problem this created was a loss of communication. We asked for our check twice after we had eaten from 2 different waiters and it took an additional 15 minutes before the 3rd waiter we asked brought us our check.

Price: 4/5. Pro - The price won't break the bank but will leave you a bit surprised and scrounging for dollars in your wallet. We had two lunch buffets with no drinks, just water and the price was $27 bucks ($33 after the $6 tip we left). Con - Nothing really. The price wasn't too terrible.

Quality 4/5. Pro - The food was incredible and on the surface everything appeared to be clean. Con- The service was great, however the hair in my food brought the experience down a star in the overall review. Upon exiting we noticed the health score was a little low (92.5). Upon investigating the Health Inspection problems that were listed online about the restaurant we found: "4-601.11 (A); Priority Foundation; Many pans stored while still have food particles still present. Underside of mixer and cutting boards also soiled. EQUIPMENT FOOD-CONTACT SURFACES and UTENSILS shall be clean to sight and touch. All soiled items taken to dish sink for rewashing, 7-201.11; Priority; Chemicals stored above beverages in bar area. Do not store chemicals above food or food contact surfaces. Chemicals moved." While I can't speak for the cutting board, I can say that at the bar there was a bottle of spray cleaner above the drinks which is one thing they have been dinged on in the past. This needs to be moved but old habits die hard.

I will definitely come back. The food was incredible and well...

1star Doing another review of the place while I am here, so dine in.

Really unhappy with the service. Right now I have been here for 20 minutes, sitting at the bar and no one has asked me if I would like to eat something :). I totally understand that most people here are for the buffet but if you seat someone and for 20 min thy don't have food in front of them or a drink, ask if they are okay?

I asked to sample the Kashmir IPA and it took almost 10 min and asking for it twice before it showed up. And it was warm, I mean it's Tap but it was like super warm, is that a thing?

The water was warm, its summer time in NC, who serves warm water.

I love he food here, really do, the goat Rogan Josh is my favourite and I really just wanted to have a beer and some Lal Chicken, maybe some paneer. Really disappointed. After 20 minutes of No one paying attention to me, I left.

Five Stars This review is for take out and it was fantastic. I did take out and ordered Goat Roganjosh and Chicken Tikka. I have to say, I loved both dishes.

The Goat was really spicy for me, but I was given a heads up and even though I don't eat as much heat in my food normally, if the item is supposed to be spicy, I try not to ask for a milder version because it sometimes makes the whole thing a lot milder and not just the hot pepper stuff. It felt like someone made the Roganjosh masala base recently, like not a mix prepared in advance but that morning or specifically when I ordered it. So spicy, yes, but good none the less. (I am from NY so my spice level is tad lower than the local NC pallet :).

The Chicken tikka tasted great, not the red coloring you usually see, but tasted exactly how you would expect it to be. Really happy I ordered food there.

This place feels like its trying to appeal to the larger local pallet and I personally like that. I don't want to loose authenticity but evolving dishes to the local region is a step up in my opinion. I mean, I like my NC BBQ to be NC BBQ and not just be generic, and we have a huge Diaspora from the sub-continent so I am looking forward to my Indian food being influenced by the local NC pallet :). My 2 cents.

Looking forward to going back and ordering...

Based on Feb 1 2020 visit

This was our first time at Nazara. Being a Saturday evening I planned ahead and reserved a table. We were promptly seated. The dining area was well decorated and clean. Muzak if any (I don’t recall it) was muted - thank you very much. I also appreciated the fact that there was no TV in the dining area (I do recall seeing one in the bar seating section). Nice place settings silverware and cloth napkins.

They have quite an extensive menu. For some reason this menu is not visible on their web site (you can find it roundabout by going to the takeout pages). Plenty of selections for all taste preferences. Our waiter was even able to guide us through gluten free selections in their appetizers.

The appetizer and drinks were served promptly. The pakoras were delicious and a large enough portion for our family. Mango lassi laced with pineapple rum - interesting touch; I’d recommend that too. We all enjoyed our dinner selections. Everything was seasoned well. We felt that the lemon rice didn’t really go with the scallops. Eggplant bhartha and chicken tikka masala had been cooked with care and tenderly. Enough leftovers for another meal, to boot!

The wait staff was polite, knowledgeable, prompt and visible when they needed to be. Maybe a tad on the pricey side. But they made up for it by making it a memorable evening for...