It's a buffet, so let me start by saying service was as expected. They sit you, they give you water, and they give you a couple pieces of naan. So, that part was just fine, no complaints. It's a small place and I went at the height of lunch and still got seated quickly. There's music playing in the small, sorta dated location. Now, the buffet and food itself. The only item I liked was the cooked vegetable medley. This includes the 3 chicken options, the saag paneer, and the chickpea and soup options. Everything but the medley was either just plain or only salty, without much exciting and bold Indian flavor. It was just...okay. It was all cooked well, it just didn't scratch that Indian food itch. I'm usually pretty forgiving with my reviews, but with so few options, I couldn't just have it fully redeemed by the one option I liked. Even the rice was just plain basmati rice that seemed wetter than usual for what I expect from an Indian buffet. They did have gulab jamun and rice pudding. So that was nice. read more

Kaarma Indian Cuisine Redefined - Variety of buffet offerings - Indian Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

The flavor is good, but they really skimp on the meat in the dishes. For example, butter chicken should contain chicken, not cold cuts thin and sparse slices of meat. It makes it feel like you're just paying too much for a lot of filler sauce. read more

We were planning on going to a different Indian restaurant but earlier in the day I walked by Kaarma and saw the sign saying there was a buffet saturday only. And I knew I wanted to come here bc I'm a sucker for an Indian buffet. There were only a few people in the buffet when we got there but the food was fresh and hot. There were delicious onion fritter things that I have never seen at an indian restaurant before - and I dipped them into the most delish green chutney. This sauce was sooooo good. While we were there they kept bringing stuff out to the buffet so it was never sitting out for long. We were concerned that there was no naan on the buffet - but a minute or 2 later our very nice server brought some to our table. There was a lamb dish that had the most tender boneless lamb. There was also chicken tikka masala - bc what indian buffet doesn't have that! Also several veggie based dishes. Everything tasted great. The meal for 2 only cost $27!! read more

Kaarma Indian Cuisine Redefined - a sign in the window - Indian Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Karma is one of two Indian restaurants offering a lunch buffet in town and the prices and food offerings between the two (the other is India Pavilion) are comparable. I've been a regular at India Pavilion for years and decided to give Karma a try, and I really loved the subtle differences between them. Karma seemed to have a better selection of meat dishes, and there was a chili chicken dish that I dream about on a weekly basis now - my goodness it was delicious! One of my favorite dishes is saag, and unfortunately Karma's was burnt and dry and it was quite horrifyingly bad. It was so awful that I think it was an honest mistake (who hasn't burnt food many times before) and I am excited to come back and try their non-burnt saag. The general ambiance is nothing to write home about and a good bit more casual than nearby India Pavilion. However, no one goes to a lunch buffet for ambiance! We are there to eat until we feel disgusted with ourselves, and then eat some more - who cares what the chairs or decorations look like when you are mentally and physically ill from what you just put your body through? read more

Excellent. I highly recommend this place. It is something different than the normal selection of places around. Food was very good. read more

Kaarma Indian Cuisine Redefined - Butter chicken with garlic bread (naan) - Indian Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

Decent buffet menu. Nice service. Not amazing, but acceptable especially when compared to the other options in the area.

Yum-o. I went with a group for the buffet lunch, and it was really yummy. I had a couple of different curries and onion bhajis and the chicken tikka. The service was kind and the ambience was a little basic, but this is a college town Indian lunch buffet, so I don't know what else anyone could reasonably expect. read more

The buffet was very good. The interior is nothing to rave about but the food and prices and service is top notch! I like it better than the other in town but both are good. Overall will be back! read more

Bustling for lunch, quiet for dinner. The basics are irresistable: chicken tikka masala, naan, chai tea. Great lunch buffet, too. read more

Kaarma Indian Cuisine Redefined - Chicken tikka masala with naan and chai tea - Indian Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

I was in town for a 2-day training and we had to do lunch on our own so myself and a couple of others stopped here since it was only a block from our hotel. I love Indian food and have visited many different Indian buffets. This is the only one I've been to in State College though. I'd have to say, that compared to others, this place is just ok. The Tandoori chicken was a bit overcooked and the butter chicken sauce and the Dal Makhani were super runny. The cilantro sauce was very tasty. The spicy sauce wasn't too bad--reminded me a little of Frank's Hot Sauce. There is a hand written sign on the buffet that says a can of soda is free with lunch but you have to ask for it. Service was very friendly and our dirty plates were removed swiftly. Price for lunch was very reasonable at $8.95. read more

So good! Really good value. Ordered way too my Naan because we're not used to an order being 4 pieces. Best Mango Lasse ever. read more

Kaarma Indian Cuisine Redefined - Mushroom Naan - Indian Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

It was really good but i have a nut allergy and i ordered something with cashew sauce because a lot of indians are vegan and use lactose substitutes in their marsala and they didnt tell me that they used nut and i got an allergic reaction it wasnt anything too bad because my allergy isnt severe or anything i just got an itchy throat and a stummy ache. 3/5 read more

Had take out from here and it was pretty good! Everything was very fresh and we enjoyed the food. Had the chicken biryani and really enjoyed it. It came with a white sauce not sure what it was...maybe a yogurt cucumber if I had to guess that I didn't really care for but it was good without it. Also had the paneer tiki masala and it was pretty good...huge portion but kind of tomato-y and not much for spice. Didn't exactly hit the spot but wasn't bad either. I'd absolutely eat here again but try different entrees. read more

Really excellent food. I had the lamb curry, it was exceptional. Will definitely be coming back.

I love me a good Indian buffet ! What a great price $8.95 + tax for the lunch buffet & they also offer dinner hours. They have a wide selection of traditional meals such as Tandoori chicken , basmati rice, butter chicken, aaloo matar, & saag paneer , need I say more? Super friendly staff, butter naan or garlic naan on demand! Needles to say my crew and I were very satisfied with this restaurant and are happy to have found it on our layover in state college! read more

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The food here is pretty good. Like their garlic naan and chicken vindaloo. We ordered from here a few times so far, takeout because like Scott M. wrote, the place isn't really too much to look at... . We plan to order from here again. This is a good option to have in State College. read more

Before going on a bar tour our only night in town, my husband and I decided to get a big dinner. Having a hard time deciding where to go (we were looking for a sit-down, affordable, veg-friendly place) we decided to just make the stop at Kaarma. It was near our hotel and I'm a sucker for Indian food. It was a bit dark inside, but the interior was nicely decorated and clean. We sat by the window and it was fun to watch the people on Beaver Ave go by. Our server was very friendly and attentive. After looking at the menu, we decided to stick with our same old staples we always get at Indian joints. We started off with the samosas. Although they weren't the best we've ever had, they were certainly good and we liked them. The saag paneer was full of those little cheese cubes of happiness, and that makes me a very happy girl. We really enjoyed it. The veggie korma was a little different than any kind we've ever had before (darker in color, a little different flavor), but was still really good. The rice, garlic naan, and mango lassi were all good as well. In all, we liked everything and didn't have any negative experiences. Was it as good as some other Indian restaurants I've been to? No. But it certainly wasn't the worst. And for State College, I think it's a great place to have a nice sit-down meal (when you can afford it as a student) and a good way to break up the normal Chinese/pizza/wings routine. read more

Kaarma Indian Cuisine Redefined - Inside Kaarma. I'm assuming the buffet for lunch is to the left. - Indian Near Me - State College, Pennsylvania

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Given I was craving breakfast or food that would close to satisfy I came across this place. Also, wanting to see if this was better than the, in my opinion, inferior India Pavillion, I decided to give this place a try and see what their lunch buffet was like. They didn't have too much of a selection, but I figured it would be enough to satisfy my hunger. I was pleasantly surprised they had dosas, which I hadn't seen in other Indian buffets, and they weren't too bad. Their channa masala wasn't too bad either but overall, I just felt the food really wasn't mind blowing. The gulab jamen was absolutely horrible. Also, the basmati rice wasn't the typical long grain rice you see at other like establishments, and I wasn't overly keen on the consistency. Also, I felt the floor areas under some of the tables could have been cleaned better. The staff was nice and there was a very nice Russian lady that reciprocated my attempts to speak Russian with her although badly. So for me, the food was filling and it was at a very good price, but it just didn't do it for me in terms of having a meal that was tasty with food that was super fresh. Again, it wasn't terrible food, but it wasn't great. 3 stars for me seems to be the appropriate rating. read more

This place is a gem. I have visited most of the USA and this is one of the best Indian restaurant. Food are delicious, and right amount of spices are added. One cannot beat the price as well. I cannot stress further how good this place is!!! read more

Solid lunch buffet, always delicious. The interior is cute, but kinda small and a little cold in the winter. Service is good. Although everything is great here, I prefer India Pavilion just a little more. read more

I've spent a lot of time at Kaarma and Indian Pavillion, as well as Indian restaurants abroad and in the PNW. Kaarma is still my favorite, and there is no better comfort food to me than their butter chicken. read more

When I was in the area looking for a good Indian restaurant I had passed 2 that were closed at the time and then shortly after stumbled upon Kaarma. The food was very fresh and absolute delight to someone who eats homemade Indian food all the time! The environment is nice and it can get a little lively with the large groups of college kids who usually attend but once the food arrives at your table everything changes. I had the butter chicken and daal tadaka. Good food for those who wait! read more

Tbh better than Indian Pavilion at better prices. Fresh and hot upon delivery and generous portions.

Ordered takeout of saag paneer and lamb vindaloo, both are very tasty and quantity is generous. Love it!

Wow, I can't believe that there are so many Kaarma haters! Okay, maybe I can. When we first moved here, I too thought Kaarma might be "iffy" --especially after reading Keder D's review that everything was cream-laden. For any of you who have previously checked out the reviews and written off Kaarma as "meh", you might want to reconsider. (especially if you are vegan). This fall, I decided to give it another chance, and was so glad that I did. We've been here three times in the past three months and I only have positive things to say. Since my first dining experience, there have been several changes that totally elevate Kaarma over IP, and I think the Yelp world deserves to hear an update: 1. The buffet has changed. There are ALWAYS multiple (3+) vegan options. 2. The owners are super sweet, and have really stepped it up on service. 3. The dinner and take-out portions are generous, so no complaints about how "expensive" it is. Now I'm not really going to get into the whole decor bit. Is anyone going to come here and be woo'd by the wall treatments and table covers? Nope. Is it clean, pleasantly lit, and not super loud? Yup. Back to the buffet: the majority of the dishes are dairy-free (even those with meat) because of the many requests for vegan sauces -- beware, though, because the naan has butter. The owners are very courteous of food allergies, and will gladly answer any questions that you have. The selection changes every day, so you don't have to worry about getting the same ol' curry each time you are in . The food is also prepared as "mild", and those who are seeking spice can turn up the heat by adding the spicy sauces found at the beginning of the line (to be honest, I think that "mild" is the standard spice level for any ethnic eatery in town -- we are in the middle of Central PA, people. If you want spicy, ask for SPIIIIIICY). All in all, great food, good service, and (in my opinion) the better choice for Indian food in town. Thumbs up, Kaarma! read more

The level of hate for Kaarma here is insane. India Pavilion doesn't hold a candle to Kaarma. There is no contest. The food is wonderful. Much better, and even cheaper, than India Pavilion. Most places worth eating out at in State College are only "good enough for State College," but this is a fine Indian restaurant in its own right. The lunch buffet does not have the widest selection, but the food is top-notch, so who cares? Wonderful naan. The vindaloo has here has its own distinctive sour-hot-deliciousness. I also particularly recommend the saag and the bhuna. What more to say? The owner is always around, and he and his wife are wonderful people. The service is consistently excellent, unlike India Pavilion. It's just a great restaurant to have into the community. (And to the earlier commenter Simon B., yes, they DID serve Indian-Chinese fusion cuisine when they opened, and it was excellent. But since downtown State College traffic is threeparts beer-swilling undergraduates bearing the palates of poorly-traveled slime molds and two parts sheltered mid-Pennsylvanians who are already pushed to their cultural limits by College Buffet... they had to revert to more "familiar" cuisine. Welcome to central PA.) read more

Kaarma is Indian done right. Only complaint I've ever had is their portions tend to be small at dinner - however, the owner offered me free refills on rice, which was nice. Solution? Get the buffet. Their lunch buffet is cheap and very good. They switch up the entrees and side dishes often, along with the constant standby of chicken tikka/butter chicken. Their samosas are tasty, pakoras are great, naan is FANTASTIC, rice is well cooked (wish it had cumin seeds though). Their paneer is great, the lamb curry was very tasty, and their creamed spinach is delicious. This is coming from someone who doesn't eat vegetables that aren't fried or breaded. The service can be a little slow and in attentive sometimes, but when the owner has been in he's always been great to me and very pleasant. There's a lunch buffet every day except Sunday (closed), and dinner buffets on Saturday and special event weekends sometimes. The dinner buffet tends to be pricier dishes - not rare to see tandoori chicken, chicken lamb and fish curries. One VERY important thing to note is that the quality of the food is vastly superior to India Pavillion, which I usually only go to when Kaarma is closed. I've found many bones and pieces of gristle, fat and cartilage in my curries at India Pavillion, the meat at Kaarma is always very high quality. The music is admittedly horrible though, unless they're playing classical string covers of pop music (which is awesome as hell, for the record). read more

Kaarma has some great vegetarian dishes which they will happily make vegan for you (just specify "no cream or dairy"). If you want bread, order "roti" which is completely vegan; "naan" uses dairy products. Kaarma uses fresh ingredients and the dishes are not as oily and heavy as other North Indian restaurants I've been to. Try the "mushroom muttar (peas)" or the "Bombay aloo (potatoes)" or 'channa' (chickpeas) dish. They also have Indo-Chinese dishes, which is unusual and nice to see. Sadly, they don't have any south Indian food. Portions are large and prices are low. The only complaint that I have is if you're vegan, you can only go for dinner, and only Monday-Friday, because Kaarma only serves a buffet for lunch, and all the dishes have cream pre-mixed (and they won't allow you to order off the menu). They only have the buffet on weekends, so vegans are out-of-luck then, too. read more

State College resident for 25 years, here. Never been a fan of India Pavillion, so after Masala (highly underrated) closed its doors I was thrilled when Kaarma came in. I think in the beginning there were some flaws, but they were fixed pretty quickly. I never got to try the Chinese fusion (and it sounds like it failed), but I always thought that was an AWESOME idea.. Anytime someone wants to meet for lunch on a Saturday, this is where I suggest. Rough day at work, need some comfort food and don't feel like cooking? Kaarma. Cannot believe some of the comments on here. ONE Indian person at your table had their order delayed/messed up and that means the owner doesn't treat the Indians well? What a simpleton. Honestly, considering how many times I've been to Kaarma personally, this person's experience sounds like an aberration. I've never once had a problem with my food or the service. If anything, the owner is reserved. Maybe not the best quality for someone in the food business, but he is a nice guy. His (I presume) wife is more outgoing and also extremely nice. The only criticism I could see for Kaarma is that they usually only employ one server. That seems to suit them well as most of their business is buffet oriented, but I could see how maybe a party of 10 plus the rest of the restaurant could get dicey service wise. Needless to say in spite of that one criticism, I've always been very satisfied. The food? OH YEAH! What we're here for! Awesome. Clean. Doesn't make you feel disgusting afterwards. Haters gonna hate. read more

After not eating food for a whole day, I was way too tired to cook something for myself, so where did I end up? Kaarma for the first time. Now, I've had this place when it was catered to events, but never actually sat down and ate here. When I first stepped inside, I thought, "Um this place looks pretty rundown and could pass for a sandwich spot." The seats and tables were literally deli/pizzeria-esque, and the area itself was pretty small. This literally must have been a sandwich or pizza spot before it became Kaarma. Nonetheless, I still came here for the food, and not the decor. My friend and I decided to order an appetizer (veggie platter, $5.95) and two meat dishes: chicken tikka ($10.95) and the lamb something($10.95). Now these prices already seemed a little on the expensive side to me, considering we're in a college town where 99% of the population carries less than $10 in the wallet. But, whatever, I'll give this place a shot since I've heard good things. The veggie platter was not bad. It came with 2 samosas, a potato cake thing, and some other things that were made of peas. On the side, there were two dipping sauces, one tangy, and one sourish. For $6, it wasn't a whole lot, but I've never had anything like the before, so it's good to try everything at least once. For the main entrees, I really expected a little more. The portion sizes were pretty small to be honest. If I had not stuffed myself with rice and naan, I would have still been hungry. There were probably 8 pieces of meat in each entree, and the rest was sauce. Granted, the food tasted just fine, but the portions seemed a little pricey consider what they charged. Service was pretty standard here too and the waitress let us split the bill in two. Kaarma. You look ghetto as hell, taste fine, but cost a lot. Somehow, that doesn't make sense. read more

Food tasted wonderful! I ordered butter Chicken, Chicken Samosas, and Naan Bread. Unfortunately, my Naan bread was absent from my to-go order. The workers were wonderful but the absence of the Naan bread can't be overlooked. read more

I love this place. Not your typical Indian food. It's a fusion of Indian and some dishes are a little Chinese. The lunch buffet is awesome and the naan is SO good. I am American and I like it but apparently I you are looking for authentic Indian cuisine then you are in the wrong town. I have been here numerous times an the service is ALWAYS excellent. It's also BYOB but I've never brought alcohol. I highly recommend this place. read more

Poor service - I'll cut the one girl some slack because she said it was her first night, but even when she brought the manager over to answer our questions, he was none too polite or informative. Prices were good for the amount of food. Food itself was bland - I ordered my dish "medium hot" and the overwhelming seasoning was salt. A friend's "medium" was spicier than mine but not what would pass for "medium" in most Indian restaurants. The rice was dry and flavorless. Naan was the best thing we got. I might try again because I like Indian food a lot and maybe this was just a bad night, but after one visit, I am very much not impressed. read more

Really good chicken tikka masala. It's usually under $30, and Kaarma's chicken is very moist and really serves as the best part of the dish. Also, the takeout portions are large enough for leftovers. My wife has tried several other dishes and felt they were all good as well. Overall a good and affordable Indian place, especially for takeout. read more

Don't let the lack of ambiance throw you- the food here is quite good. I've eaten both the lunch buffet and off the regular dinner menu many times and have never had a bad experience. My hubby loves the Paneer Burjee (nice and spicy) and I really love the Lamb Korma and Butter Chicken. The best thing on the menu? Kashmiri Naan. I know coconut and fennel in naan sounds weird...but it is amazingly tasty and does so well with all the dishes. read more

Pretty ordinary buffet spread. For some reason they serve noodles at this buffet, not really Indian style. They serve good biryani. Menu items are better here than Indian pavilion. read more

Ordered the daal makhani.....it's great. Also tried the lamb and chicken biryanis which both had super tender meat. Generous portions.

I just tried Kaarma for the first time, and it was a great experience. The food was delicious and the people are warm and friendly. The owner pointed out the vegan options on the buffet, and because there were really only two, she cooked up a big serving of lentils for me---even though I was more than happy with what was already out. The dishes have a clean and fresh taste---not oily. At only $7.95 for the lunch buffet, it's a great deal. I'll definitely be back. As for the negative reviews, it seems the complaints have been addressed and every effort made to please the customer. This kind of restaurant needs our support. If you didn't like it the first time, please give them another shot. State College needs more family-owned and operated restaurants. Look around; this town is overrun with fast-food chains and places that claim to be restaurants but are really just bars that serve food. read more

Great food; I don't usually like this type of Indian food but I enjoyed everything they had and it tasted natural.

Delightful! Excellent faire, friendly and helpful staff. If I lived here, this restaurant would be on my biweekly rounds. Prices are very reasonable, too. read more