The Curry Club (Indian Cuisine, Bar & Grill) — Restaurant in Raleigh

I used to love this restaurant, but after my most recent experience I would strongly recommend that you try any other Indian food restaurant in the area. During this most recent visit we ordered our usual: chicken tikka masala and naan. When the waiter brought our meal to the table, we noticed the dish we were given was not tikka masala. Not a big deal at all, we figured lets just talk to the waiter and I’m sure he would be more than happy to sort it out. We called him over to let him know, but instead of him replacing it we were told that what we had received is tikka masala. I thought to myself, “Huh, that’s kind of weird, we swore that the tikka masala looked different, maybe we made a mistake”. So, we double-checked online review photos and their website which made it very clear that the meal we actually received was Kadi Chicken. Our dish had pepper and onions, was a different color, and had no drizzled cream unlike all the photos on their website and reviews. We showed the waiter all of this, but he still wouldn’t acknowledge that we were given the incorrect food or do anything about what we were telling him. Okay, maybe they had a change of management, and the recipe is different we thought to ourselves? We asked and he said that there had been no management changes. At this point we were very uncomfortable; we were the only group in the restaurant and multiple staff members had started to gather in the next room over and stare at us. We heard laughing and snickering as the waiter went back and forth to check with the kitchen. After that we decided to try one more time to see if there was anything they could do. Nope, they came back and then changed tunes claiming, “wait, there was management change, this is the new recipe,”……okay bud, sure. At this point we just let it go. We ate our naan and our “tikka masala” and asked for the check. Just like my experience eating at this restaurant this is where I would love to leave it, but wait, there’s more! We ask for the check and the waiter brings us back a check presenter without a receipt. I figured, ah no check they must be comping the meal, that’s nice of them to do. I get the waiters attention to say thank you. He comes over, I go to open the presenter and say thank you for doing that, but he looks kinda of confused and scurries off. Uh that’s kinda weird. Now this is the part I can’t make this up if I even tried lol, as we are getting up, he walks back into the room and BRINGS BACK THE RECEIPT WITH THE WHOLE BALANCE because he forgot to put it in the presenter. If there was one time to not make that mistake, this was that time my man. I get that we ended up eating the meal and thus must pay for it, I am not entitled to a full refund, but it would have been nice given that I am going to have to spend a boat load of money in therapy because an Indian restaurant gaslit me harder than my...

This was the worst experience I've ever had at an Indian buffet. I came with my sister and my 3 kids on a Sunday. We were told to seat ourselves but every table was filthy. The dirty dishes had been removed but none of the tables were wiped down. We had to clean our own table to sit. We were never offered any drinks. A woman came with glasses filled with lukewarm water and placed those on the table for our beverages. The dishes were all Styrofoam and there was not enough silverware at the tables. There was not much variety in the food offered for the price they charge. On top of that they did not stay on top of replenishing the buffet. The food was not ok. They definitely don't season it the way they do their dinner options. The food was very bland. The naan was made with pizza dough and very tough. There was an onion bread that was clearly pancake mix with onions in it. The butter chicken was watery and tasteless. The palak pander was also very very watery. Maybe that's why it was bland? The dipping sauces did not have spoons in them originally so we couldnt even get any at first. We were never asked if we wanted more water. At the end we realized we were to clear our own tables like we were eating in at a McDonald's. In the end we spent $100 for this "buffet" that only had 4 main dishes, rice, fruit, chickpea salad, 2 different breads, and dipping sauces. And mind you none of of was being replenished in a timely manner so we spent most of our time waiting for more food to show up. I will not be back. For the price we paid I expect more variety, more service, real dishes, and to not have to clean my own table...

Today, I had a penchant for Indian buffet. Post pandemic, it's been harder to find Indian buffets or buffets of any sorts. I narrowed down Dharani Express after going through google reviews (much like this one). True to what they say on their website, Dharani Express is a no-frills place. I set my expectations accordingly and then the unexpected happened. The food was awesome!

Yes, they have paper plates and plasticware - which is the no-frills part, but the food was flavorful with the right level of spice. The buffet stations are separated into 5 sections: paper plates and plasticware, chutneys and naan bread, a veggie section, and a non-veg section along with dessert and some salad.

For my first round I tried out Paneer Tikka Masala, Baby Corn Manchurian, Bonda, Rajma, Tindoora Curry with Naan. Unlike other Indian Buffets, each of the dishes had their own flavor profile, texture, and taste. All the dishes tasted great.

For the second round, I leaned more on the non-vegetarian selection. It consisted of Chicken Korma, Tandoori Chicken, Butter Chicken, The Tandoori Chicken was ok, but the rest of the dishes were great. I really liked the Butter Chicken and Chicken Korma.

The last course was dessert - Mango Custard with pineapple pieces. That was the cherry on the cake.

The sit in buffet will set you back $17.99, which I think was totally worth the binging. There is a carryout buffet option for $11.52 for 16 oz, which I think I might try out next time. Eitherways, this place is highly recommended - no-frills, good food, with a...