Sadly, this solid choice of Indian buffet shuttered sometime early 2016. Boo.
Calcutta Palate is an indian buffet that just opened this month in a free-standing building in the same parking lot as the BuHi Farmers Market. Warning: wild speculation ahead. There has been a Calcutta Palate sign up in the Buford Highway Farmers Market shopping center for a long time. Perhaps there used to be a restaurant of that name here and it was simply easier to reopen without paying for new signage?
At any rate, we met Grant and his foodie friends Helen and Vincent to give this place a shot. The place is pretty cavernous inside, but the buffet itself was small. Like Panahar, there was a table of dessert, salad, and sauces, and a hot table. Unlike Panahar, there wasn’t any soup (or gulab jamun, my favorite dessert).
The small size of the buffet, combined with an advertised price of $5.99 wasn’t inspiring a lot of hope in our hearts for a top notch meal. This didn’t stop us from loading our plates up, however. And the food did not disappoint! The dahl and sag paneer received the most praise at our table, with the tandoori chicken wings/drums and chili chicken getting some mentions as well.
My personal favorites were the dahl, sag paneer, and the rice pudding. The pudding was thicker than your often see and I really liked the level of spices (not to be confused with spiciness). It’s probably my favorite rice pudding in the city. I didn’t try the salad bar or the chili chicken, and the biryani didn’t knock my socks of, but was probably what you’d expect on a buffet. Overall, the meal was a great value for the price tag.
Everyone had a good time, and I think we would all visit again. The small size of the buffet is counterbalanced by the tastiness of what is provided, and the very thrifty price tag pushes Calcutta Palate into above average territory. You get a tasty, all-you-can-eat bang for your buck in a simple and clean environment with friendly staff for $6. 3.5 stars.
Calcutta Palate
5600 Buford Highway NE
Atlanta, GA 30340
emily
Nerd. Foodie. Gamer. Homecook. Perpetual planner. Gardener. Aspiring homesteader. Direct response graphic designer. I use too many damn commas.
I am so glad you are back! I have missed your posts- especially the Buford Highway ones!! 🙂
Thanks Bronwyn!
Thank you so much for your feedback! We are happy to hear that you enjoyed. Just to let you know we will be adding more items to the buffet once the opening promotion is over. As you may have noticed, only one of the two burners was in use and the other burner will be filled with more hot dishes to add more variety, although there will be a slight increase in price. And sorry if you did not get to have gulab juman, but it is in fact on our buffet menu depending which day you come in as we rotate desserts as well as hot dish options throughout the week. We hope that you will come back and give us another go once we are fully ready as we had just opened. We do appreciate your feedback as it greatly helps us address any issues we may be having in our opening weeks. As for the sign, “Calcutta Palate” is our own original name and logo, but unfortunately due to leasing issues with the previous owner of the building, we were not able to start renovating until more than a year after the sign was put up, and we do apologize to those who were anxiously waiting our opening. We hope to be fully renovated within the next month as we are adding a full bar, televisions, and more for your dining pleasure. Additionally, our website CalcuttaPalate.com should be fully functional soon and any questions or concerns can be raised there as well. Again, thank you so much and we hope we can serve you again!
Thanks so much for your comment! And thanks for solving the mystery of the signage – I know getting a restaurant off the ground is extremely challenging, so that makes perfect sense. I look forward to visiting again!
Welcome back!
Thanks!
Just discovered this site. A friend and I have been doing the Bufurd Highway expedition for 3 years (w/o the blog). We are always looking for new places. Very glad to have found you after the sabbatical-the reviews will be fresh
Hi David! Welcome to the blog. Thanks for your comment. Please feel free to share your experiences in comments on any of the existing (or future) blog posts. Differing opinions and experiences are always welcome!