Tandoor Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

My heart hurts so much to write this. I was so excited to try this spot again after many years. When we arrived, it took several minutes to be seated, as there was nobody ready to receive customers. (I called right before we entered to make sure they were open as there were conflicting online times.) As we waited, we looked at the buffet. To the left of the buffet looked like storage of restaurant supplies. On the buffet, there was food. A few mains, some curries, and a couple pakora. Also a small amount of rice. To the right of the buffet was the bar, which appeared to be an unkempt office area, scattered with various items for possible record-keeping. We decided to stay (nostalgia, again, is not a good compass.....) despite the long wait to be seated as we drove a while (50 minutes) to get here. After we were seated, we went to the buffet. Looked ok, but small as far as portions available. Like they were not expecting anyone to show up. I took a spoon of rice, a pakora, some cabbage, butter chicken, saag paneer, a tofu dish, and red onion. THIS FOOD WAS NOT TO TEMPERATURE. IT WAS BARELY WARM. I COULD NOT FINISH IT. The nice rating on the wall did not reflect the experience. I was completely activated as far as my anxiety was concerned. I did my best polite self and tasted; it was not so bad tasting for the most part. More pakora were brought out and I took some. It was hot on the outside, but the inside was sticky batter. The sauces (mint? and tamarind) did not taste fresh. It's almost 9:30pm and I'm fine. But I was worried all day about the safety of the food. I feel so sad writing this, because I wanted the experience to be like those that rated it so high. I suppose if I had to, I would order from the menu and get fresh cooked, HOT food. But if the kitchen looks like the area I can see, I would not. So...

Tandoor cannot stand up to the competition in the area, with bland, forgettable food at inflated prices. The ambience and decor are pleasant, and the service decent, but neither are outstanding enough to make up for the food. Although I have been dragged there several times over the years, the one constant is disappointment; the cooking lacks the characteristic sumptuous and spicy flavors one associates with good Indian. Most recently, their lamb pasanda and samosas were under-seasoned, and their naan was under-salted and seemed to have been held hot quite a while. I firmly believe the gulab jamun came from a can, because the texture and flavor were closer to canned than homemade.For the longest time, Tandoor was the only Indian restaurant in Chapel Hill, and clearly it is not used to having competition. Cholanad offers a far superior meal, with a focus on South Indian, impeccable service, and gorgeous presentation. This is at about the same price, no less. Mint Indian offers a more Westernized but still delicious fine dining meal. Oh, and there are several Indian restaurants in the city. Tandoor needs to take lessons from the competition and work on their recipes, or it is going to go out of business.

Edit: taking off another star because the food remains bad, but the local Indian restaurant scene has exploded. The only reason this isn't getting less stars is because they haven't managed to truly screw...

For under $12, you don't typically find a decent buffet, but this one was good for a quick lunch. There are mostly chicken and vegetable options. Naan served at the table was very good. On the buffet I tried a variety of dishes. The chicken Tikka was the best dish I had that day. Good flavor, great sauce, and seemed to have good quality chicken. The chicken curry wasn't as flavorful as I expected. Pretty one dimensional. It could really use some heat. Tandoori chicken was also bland and not hot, temperature wise. I tried a few of the vegetable stews. They were all fine. Take out from here may be a better option, but for a quick and cheap lunch, it worked. The location is unassuming, at best. You enter the side of a building and then go downstairs. Doesn't really look like much from the outside. It's clean but very outdated. Some of the seating area is used for storage. This could definitely be more appealing with some effort. Service was good. Since it's a buffet, you don't need much but my plate was cleared quickly after I finished. The lady working answered questions I had about items on the buffet also. Overall, it was a good experience at a...