Buffet: Supper bland. No real flavor. Can not recommend. If you want Indian food and are near downtown, go to the one on State street.

I went to a buffet on a Friday, where I was told they would be serving lamb. Now I am usually a big fan of Indian food, however when I end up tasting the lamb, it definitely tasted more like beef. I asked the waiter to verify if I indeed had the lamb and they said that it was lamb. Overall I would give this place a 3 out of 5 stars just for the price point of the buffet and what they had to offer. read more

Well, strike 3 for this place. Went in about 6 months ago and had the rudest service I've experienced in my 1.5 years in Salem. Then went home and got physically sick. Gave it another shot about two months ago, I try to give places the benefit of the doubt. I ordered the Fish Tandoor, which says right on the menu that it's served with "large cubes of grilled swordfish." When I got the plate, not only was the fish deep fried in batter, but it was some sort of cheap, old whitefish. My guess is that it was some sort of cod. I asked the waitress what the story was, and she was completely confused and basically unhelpful. I explained clearly the difference between the fish on the menu and the fish I received, and she went back to the kitchen. When she came out a few minutes later she said that's all they had for fish and walked away!!! I ended up eating it, which was disgusting , and on my way out I suggested that they change it on the menu to reflect what they were serving. Tonight I thought I would try it again, I went in, asked specifically if they had swordfish and was the fish tandoor in fact served with swordfish. This waitress, a different one, said yes it's swordfish and I asked, to clarify one more time are you sure it's swordfish? She assured me it was, and I ordered it. Once again, when the dish came out it was some sort of whitefish. I called her over and pointed out the discrepancy. She went back to the kitchen and came out a few minutes later and said yes it's tilapia, and I made it clear once again that they should change the menu to reflect that they no longer serve swordfish! Meanwhile the guy sitting next to me was complaining because his beer tasted awful, and finally he determined that the label was dated from 2009! It was a six-year-old bottle of beer! I ended up ordering a chicken dish, which was quite disgusting, and as I write this review I'm sitting on the toilet crapping my brains out. Never again, and if you know what's good for you don't go there! read more

This used to be a decent option when I first moved to Salem. I'm not sure what happened but not only has the quality of the food gone down, if you check the health department's website their sanitary standards have fallen to a scary level. This is no longer some place I would recommend anyone. If you want Indian buffet, Taj Mahal is your best bet. read more

The lunch buffet is terrible. They serve batter fried crinkle cut french fries and call them vegetable pakoras. The other entres are not much better. It seems like the owners have simply given up trying to make good food. read more

Love India Palace! Great lunch buffet! The price is low, the food is amazing, the place was clean. My favorite day to go is Friday because the lamb is incredible! Would give 5 stars if hostess/waitress was more friendly and didn't act like us coming in was an inconvenience to her. read more

This was our first time going here, and it was magnificent! We got the butter chicken, tandoori chicken, vegetable soup, garlic naan and naan stuffed with tandoori chicken. We also got a spicy fish dish and a mango shake. Everything was out of this world delicious!! The decor was beautiful and everything is evenly priced. You don't have to deal with all of the $0.99 crap. The butter chicken was $12.00 even and 100% worth every penny. I highly recommend the naan also. My roommate and I are already planning our next trip there! The two wonderful ladies working there today made the experience even more fantastic. They were very helpful, attentive and friendly. This will be a place we go to for years to come! read more

Fast and friendly service. Best Indian food ever! Nothing beats the hot fresh naan bread.

First time here and loved it! Great environment and serving staff. We got the combination for two people and had plenty left over. The server helped us through making our decisions and made sure that everything came out great. We had fun getting to choose different dishes and finding new favorites.we had plenty left over, and we were both very full. Restaurant was clean and pretty quiet for a dinner meal. The Chai tea was great! Thank you for the wonderful experience! read more

Good food, especially when the tandoori chicken is fresh. However, the price of the buffet has risen to $10.95 for lunch. The food offerings have not changed. They just now include a free drink. read more

This is my first review on Yelp, and I'm writing it because I'm so incensed with the restaurant. They overcharged me on at least one item, and I was disappointed on the value I got for the others. I've been to several other Indian restaurants, and I felt that India Palace had the worst food of any I've experienced. The rice I ordered was tired and full of desiccated peas. The lamb dish I ordered was very small, and contained little meat. The lunch buffet may be a better value, but I paid way too much (nearly $17 for one person) for a very mediocre dinner. read more

Wow...after reading the reviews we were not really wanting to try this place...am I glad we did...the waitresses were great...the food was even better. We had never ate Indian food before so we asked the waitress for suggestions...she knew what she was talking about...our taste buds were going crazy with some of the best tasting food we have had in awhile...Salem you have been hiding this place from us way too long. read more

I went for the lunch buffet, which for $8 is a fantastic deal. I am from Georgia where it is hard to find anything other than good ol' Southern food (ick). The buffet was wonderful. The salad bar was crisp and fresh--NO PRESENCE OF FERMENTED FOOD AS MENTIONED IN PREVIOUS COMMENTS. The sauces were delicious and full of flavor (the hot sauce is not really hot, more spicy); the raita and mint relish are delicious. The naan is perfectly cooked. Everything was clean albeit a bit old and tired looking (the tables and much of the decor). As a vegetarian there was plenty to eat. I had a plate of vegetable curry (gorgeous and creamy but still light and very flavourful), the lentil stew (lentils were not overcooked or too mushy), palak paneer (to die for--mild flavour with large chunks of perfect paneer), and basmati rice (aromatic and flavourful). The pickled/curried carrots were a delicate palate cleanser between bites. After the meal I had some of their rice pudding. I am not a fan of rice pudding but this was not overpowering or heavy, it cleansed the palate completely. The downsides to my experience at India Palace were that the decor needs a serious update or something a bit more uniform. The table cloths need to be shorter so as not to get caught on anything when the customer's get up for another plate or to leave. The service was basically non existent which is to be expected when in a buffet setting--I would've loved for my water to be refilled at least once, though. I also think that the entrance could be a bit more orderly. All in all I will always come back and eat here (have been eating here bi-yearly since 2001) and recommend it to others. I also looked at the dinner menu and could make a decent list of items I would happily gobble up. Yum! Delicious and authentic! read more

Ignore the bad reviews; Indian Palace has the best Indian food in Oregon. (I've had Indian food in Salem, Portland, Eugene and Vancouver, B.C. and this place has the best tasting Indian entrees I've enjoyed in the Northwest.) I am a huge fan of the vindaloo dishes here, and never had anything from this establishment that was anything less than excellent. Also a good value, as it's entirely possible for two people to eat a full dinner here for around $50.00 read more

This rating is for a specific day or series of days, it would change on another day with a different experience... but it's important to share the good, bad and the ugly. The food at this lunch buffet is very uneven and cook dependent, I imagine. I've been going here with my husband on and off for some 7 years... we weathered their fire, "remodel" and new managers on site, not sure if they are the owners, but probably so. The quality of the food is so variable, it's hard to rate. In general, I like it though there've been some real bloopers, like the day that I bit into the normally consistent Tandoori chicken to have a mouth full of the saltiest stuff I've ever had. I commented right away, and was told that the cook had mistakenly thought he was supposed to put Masala seasoning over it after it had cooked, wow, it was quite spitworthy. They removed that dish and put out a substitute, hopefully, no one stroked out due to high blood pressure spike in the meantime. It might as well been coated with Kosher salt. But accidents happen. The main reason it "deserves" a one star, is that I find it difficult to rate a buffet at anything higher than one star when most of the items offered (8 lunch items on the buffet line, one of which is "nan") plus salad, fruit, fruit in syrup, an egg dish and a soup, plus kheer and carrot sweet dish, when so many of the trays are totally empty with just a painting of what it was supposed to be on the bottom, or just a slight gravy in the tray with no main ingredient which today happened to be 'Mushroom Chicken," with neither mushroom or chicken. Nan was likewise missing, as was Potato Pakora, some mysterious dish with no label, just a scant covering of sauce on the tray, a 1/2" of Navratan Korma in the bottom... so out of 8 items, there were available at 1:30 pm (buffet closing at 3:00 pm) 3 of them: Basmati rice, Tandoori chicken and Chnaa Chick Peas. Period. I understand how a rush can temporarily deplete the food, but there was still no change in available items after 26 minutes. One man was saying he had practically finished his lunch without either the Onion Kulcha being brought to his table or being able to get a piece of Nan on the buffet. He kept going back to his seat after a trip to the buffet, but empty handed. Another elderly man was so politely inquiring whether they were going to get any "Mushroom Chicken," the one item he wanted to eat. I was amazed at everyone's unwillingness to call the restaurant to task for its obvious omission of food offerings, despite the $10.99 weekend lunch buffet price. I asked a cook about the nan, and they went away, but nothing happened for the next 25 minutes. I mentioned the lack of food to another worker who acted as if she didn't speak English. I spoke to the beautiful, but very snippy, manager who eyes flashed fire at me for criticizing their lack of food selection. Btw, I had seen a cart roll by around that time, two levels were loaded with dishes covered with tin foil, it was an obvious take out order for a huge party. The manager told me that they had had 3 catering events during this time as though that was a legitimate excuse for a paying customer to give up eating their lunch buffet. I told her that IMHO they should close down the doors to the restaurant when they didn't have enough food for their dine in customers, as it was clear they were not equipped to handle 3 catering orders and keep their walk in and regular customer base supplied with enough to eat. She looked at me throwing daggers as though I was the only one in the world who would feel disappointed by any lack of food, and gave the flimsy excuse that they items would only take 6 minutes to appear. That was total fiction. I'd been there 26 minutes and counting and nothing was coming out. If I could upload some pics I took of the sad empty trays, I would. This is the deal. When you are paying for a buffet, a buffet you should get, not a 3 course limited meal (plus salad, fruit, kheer)... or, the bill should be adjusted accordingly, which it was not. Actually, it should have been comp'd, probably a concept foreign to them. The customer should not have been disparaged. This is not the first time the lack of choices after opening time of 11:00 -12:00 has happened. It has become a pattern. We've probably eaten here a hundred times, I long for the former managers who were attentive, friendly and had a sense of responsibility to provide customers with an acceptable buffet. I see a lot of nice reviews, probably those who come in the evening and order dinner have a different experience. Catering is probably a daytime side business. I don't want to see this restaurant close, and there have been plenty of days in the past months when there are very few people having lunch there during the week. I want it to be honest with their limitations to accommodate both lunch business and over the top catering orders which really puts a dent in available buffet offerings and service. read more