My first visit here was shortly after Shalimar opened, when several of us arrived thinking it was still the Afghan Grill. We stayed and had a really good dinner. More recently, I came here for the lunch buffet. I was amazed at how much food they provide for a buffet lunch at such a reasonable price. Granted, a large number of the dishes used a significant amount of chicken, chickpeas, and/or rice, but the variety of dishes and flavors for which these were prepared provided a well-balanced assortment. This is definitely someplace I would go for lunch or dinner, and Shalimar's lunch buffet pretty much assures that I will never go the burger route for lunch in the area. read more

We stumbled across this place yesterday. I know better than to critique an Indian restaurant based on its lunch buffet service, but I was so shocked at how bad my experience was, I had to write something. First of all, it's not the food. Some of the dishes were actually fairly decent. The biryani was quite good, some of the best I've had, buffet or not. So was the chicken tikka masala and the chicken curry. My wife had the vegetarian dishes and they were also decent. But the service was a disaster. I realize lunch buffet service runs on a minimal staff. But one waiter? After we sat down and waited, we didn't get water until I walked up to the counter in the back and asked for it. No one came by to offer a refill, nor clear the dishes. There is no silverware nor napkins on the table (self-service at the buffet table). No one stopped by at all, nor any of the tables in the front half of the place. I had to walk back to the counter again to ask for the check and pay. That one person barely managed the buffet table. I saw him service all of 3 tables in the half-hour we were there, all by the kitchen. The floor was littered with dropped food from previous diners. I was about to order a mango lassi at the counter when I saw that it's in a one-gallon plastic bottle in the beverage fridge behind the counter. I changed my mind. The restaurant is a dismal, windowless box with decor and furniture that may be appropriate for a third-world country. I don't put much weight on this aspect, but it just added to my misery. The place was packed for lunch on a Sunday, so perhaps dinner service is better, as the other reviewer stated. We were here by chance, and chances are good that we're not coming back. read more

Food was bad service was even worse. Kept me waiting for an hour and then was rude with me like I'm the one who did something wrong. Would never consider eating here again. read more

Sitar is my favorite Indian restaurant when I want a relatively fancy dinner. When I'm looking for a quick and tasty lunch, Shalimar is place to go. For $7 (or $8 on the weekend), you can enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet. Expect salad, pakora, naan, a couple rice dishes, a few vegetarian dishes, a couple chicken dishes, and kheer. (I don't remember seeing beef, but it's possible I missed it as I don't tend to get beef items.) I love the onion chutney at this place. I put it on everything. Try it. It's awesome. For a few dollars more, go for the baklava. Yum. read more

This may be the best indian restaurant in the capitol district. The food is hot and plentiful while perfectly prepared. However I agree with the other reviewers about the odd service model. You walk in the front door and there is the buffet table. Nobody greets you so if you are not a regular you stand there looking confused for a few minutes. Regulars simply walk in and start filling plates. I always have to ask for water and the check never arrives ,so I have to walk up to the counter to pay....the wait staff never smile and seem bothered by all of the customers. One tip.....get here early during the week or you will wait...It is worth the querks....the food is that good! read more

Food is great and priced very reasonably. I would definitely come back to try other dishes. But there are other areas they will need to improve to earn 5 stars. The decor is definitely lacking the warmth and authentication feel of India. The waiters are always chatting behind the counter rather than waiting on customers. But I will still come back did the food, or perhaps just doing the take out. read more

Shalimar Latham - Chicken masala, beef vender loo, and garlic nam - Pakistani Near Me - Latham, New York

You can't argue with the price of the buffet at Shalimar. We've been twice now, once on the weekend ($7.99) and once on a weekday ($6.99). And the food is pretty good here. It's not that kind of Indian buffet where everything tastes the same; you can tell the difference from dish to dish. A couple highlights were the paneer masala and chicken biryani. I also liked the vegetable korma, but more the first time we went than the second. And that brings me to a couple of the issues we had with Shalimar. The second time we went, a weekday, the food didn't all taste fresh. The pakoras seemed stale, and K commented on how the korma and kheer both seemed a bit sour and off to her (I didn't get it with the korma, but then again, I am something of a korma monster), almost as if they were the previous day's leftovers. Also, while this is a buffet and you're not paying for full table service, the guys at Shalimar, while friendly enough, tend to just stand around all the time. I've never seen water refilled there, and they also don't seem to come by and clear away your dirty plates if you move onto a second helping. Little things, but when compared to other Indian buffets in the area, the difference is noticeable. read more

LUNCH BUFFET. That's all you need to know. A mere $6.99 to get your grub on. Spend a few extra bucks and get a mango lassi to wash down all the food you will undoubtedly eat. They have all the favorites like chicken tikka masala, rice, naan, kheer (rice pudding), and a rotation of other dishes. My favorite is the mattar paneer (peas and cheese). There's something for everyone, vegetarian/meat dishes, spicy/non-spicy, sweet/savory. Dinner and takeout are also very good, and I always have leftovers. read more

Hungry for lunch, we traveled here on the recommendation from another Yelper. While the food was pretty good, the decor and cleanliness left a lot to be desired. The dining room could have used not only a refresh regarding visual appeal, but needed a good deep cleaning as I noticed traces of sauce that was splattered on the wall nearest us, dusty fixtures, and a bathroom that also suffered from lack of attention. The food on the buffet was fine, however, with quite a bit of vegetarian offerings to keep us occupied. Flavors were represented well, and the items were hot and replenished often. Ambiance aside, it's a decent place for lunch. read more

First time trying Indian/Pakistani food, can't give 5 stars because I have no basis for comparison, but was happy enough to try Indian food elsewhere as well. Food was good, waiter was nice, couple weirdos next to us, but not really the restaurant's fault. Overall a good experience. read more

When I first walked in was not impressed, staff tried to seat us by the drafty front door. We waited for another table to finish, wish I had my own towel to clean it better :(. But moving on we had the buffet and the food was great. Not a huge selection but hot and quite delish ! No liquor license but u can BYOB, luckily there's a wine store close by. read more

Honestly, this was the BEST Indian food I have had. Piping hot and so fresh. Just absolutely delicious. We will definitely order from Shalimar again when visiting Albany, NY. read more

Delicious Indian food. I ordered the chicken tikka - meat was tender and the flavors were delicious. The rice was cooked perfectly and the kheer I ordered for dessert was also very good. Delivery was fast, too! read more

The best, If you want Indian this is the place to go. I have been there countless times, quality is always superb and food is always excellent. Their lunch buffet is amazing and a great deal. I have nothing else to say, other than go there! Cheap, excellent food, great location. read more

I have not been here for the lunch buffet but we will definitely be trying it soon. We went for takeout and the food is good, service was pretty quick. Not the best Indian food in the area, Sitar is much better, but for quick takeout it's definitely a star. I had the Chicken Tikka Masala and it was delicious, not as flavorful as I've had but I really had no complaints and the portions are decent. We had plain naan that was very good and Spinach Paratha which was awesome. My boyfriend had the Chicken Do Piazza and he was very happy, his had more flavor than mine did. This was also his 9 year old's first Indian food, we gave him the Paratha and Tikka Masala and he loved it. Prices are reasonable, place is clean, staff is friendly. If you're looking for upscale Indian food it's not this place, but decent takeout and buffet offerings make it worthy of a return trip. Oh, and they deliver which is awesome if you work in the area. They're on Mealeo.com to order online. read more

This restaurant has great food and fantastic service. The Chicken Tikka Masala is the best in the region. If you like Indian food this is the place to go. read more

This place was pretty good. We were staying in Latham NY for the night and needed dinner at 9PM. Shalimar was open late, was nearby, and we were in the mood for Indian food, so there you go. I get the sense that this place is probably hoppin' during all-u-can-eat buffet time and maybe a little quieter during dinner? At 9PM we were the only folks in there, and there was no music playing, which always gives you that inner meltdown panicked feeling that it's after closing time and you don't know it and the people working there are silently hating you but not telling you the place is closed (it did, in fact, close at 10PM, so we were good). I live in Boston (which is certainly not a "late night" city by any standards) so maybe I'm just used to places being a bit busier later at night. Music playing would have been helpful. This place is definitely pretty casual -- ie if you order mango juice they just give you a bottle from the fridge with a straw. Which is fine! Just something to note. We ordered the Vegetable Pakoras, the Chicken Tikka Masala, and the Vegetable Curry. The man serving us wasn't particularly friendly but he checked in on us a lot, and the food came out really quickly. The pakoras were good; they came on a plate with these sliced round fried things that we did not order, but those were also good! (Looking at their menu again now I still have no idea what they were, definitely not pappadum ... it's possible they were Onion Bhaji if they fried an entire round of onion and not just the individual strings / rings.) Chicken TIkka Masala was great, the sauce was super yummy, and Vegetable Curry was good, I'd never had anything like it before and it was kind of like a veggie curry stew. Their estimation of "mild" is a little spicier than most "mild" Indian food I've had but was totally manageable. Overall, this wasn't the best Indian food (or atmosphere) I've ever experienced, but definitely a good option for food in the area. read more

Take out was excellent! I love that the flavors aren't dumbed down for americans and every dish was appropriately spicy. Thank you! This is not a pretty restaurant but who cares when the food is great. Menu offers several Pakastani dishes that are different from usual Indian choices. Big parking lot. Good Korean restaurant in the same strip mall. read more

I've been to other Indian restaurants around my area before I went to shalimar, and I can say that shalimar is THE best. I can never resist getting the chicken tikka masala with garlic naan bread every time I come here. It's also nice to just eat with your fam in a small, quiet, authentic space and I would recommend this restaurant to all of my friends. read more

Ordered take out from here first. Tried the buffet this past Friday.Love the food. Love the price. Can't wait to go back.

I've ordered dinner before, it was delicious and delivered promptly. Tonight I ordered for a 7:30 delivery. At 7:40 I called the restaurant to check on the order. I was told the delivery person just picked it up. At 8:02 I called the delivery service and found that my order was not ready and would not be for another 25 minutes and then the driver would pick it up. So the arrival time was over an hour pst when it was requested. I cancelled the order. I am very disappointed. read more

I've been here too many times to count and each time the food is great. The interior could use a little updating but that's it. The staff is extremely pleasant and friendly, the prices are good and over all great place to dine. The buffet is the best part. read more

Not again!!! Not again. Food was overpriced and the portion size was so small. Couldn't believe how the tiki masala actually ate thru the styrofoam container and ended up in the bag. I'm not happy at all! Actually was just talked out of contacting the health department to look into the ingredients. Put the containers on our black lacquer dining room set. The finish was eaten thru from the curry beef. I'm just appalled! Threw away $40 worth of crap!! read more

We had ordered an appetizer sampler and three main course dishes for pick up. All the appetizers were over cooked and soaked in oil, no sauces were included with it either. The main dishes were mediocre and didn't taste as good as we remembered it from ordering a few month ago. We did get a generous amount of basmati rice . Overall, we were really disappointed. read more

Ordered from there to times now. Disappointed both times. Food is not terrible but is not great either. This times we had to add salt as there was literally none. The big problem is their prices are similar to Karavalli but the food is not then close. Very pricy and does not deliver on value. read more

Everything we ordered tasted great. Food was ready on time for pick-up. Only drawback was that the chick peas were not cooked enough.

Food is really good, friendly staff & service. Shahnawaz, the owner is very friendly & accomodating, one of the better"desi" restaurants in the area. read more

Visited this evening with my wife and the food was some of the best indian cuisine I've had in the area. This will now become our default location for Indian/Pakistani food. read more

Surprisingly some of the tastiest Indian food I've ever had. I was in Latham for work and got Shalimar delivered to my hotel room on a whim. I tend to order the same things ( chicken tikka masala, samosas, garlic naan) when ordering Indian. It arrived promptly, they nailed the chicken tikka masala, it was spiced perfectly and the chicken was very tender. The staff was friendly and the price was very reasonable, I've had worse Indian for way more $$ . If I'm ever back around Latham I'm stopping in here without a doubt. read more

Decided to go here on a Sunday around dinner time. The place was empty and we were the only ones in there (my gf and I). We ordered chick tikka masala and chicken tandoori. Both were just okay. The portion sizes were that big and there was not much flavor to either dish unfortunately. I think there are better Indian places around such as Sitar and LaZeeZ. My least favorite Indian cuisine in the area. read more

Was passing through the area and stopped here for dinner. Overall, a pretty standard Indian restaurant. Good selection, standard Indian restaurant look. Food was good, above average portion sizes. My lamb kabob dish could have used a little more flavor but overall I can't complain. Would recommend if you're in the area and are looking for some Indian cuisine, though you can definitely find far better in other areas. read more

I really love the food here. Buffet is delicious. Environment is casual and service is not overdone which I like. Reliable recipes and tasty food! read more

This was our first time here, although I have visited other Shalimars in the area. Super cheap lunch buffet($8.99!) The food was quite good. I will say many of the buffet items were not labeled correctly(some obviously, some not.) and I ended up with a chunk of meat in a dish that appeared to be vegetarian by placement and label. Also, I saw no naan at all, which was weird. The veggie pakora was delightful as was the spicy spinach/garbanzo bean dish. My dad said the tandoori chicken was lackluster but the chile chicken was delicious. I also had chai and kheer which were both good. We got there a bit after 11:30 which was good timing because people started pouring in the door(and having to wait for tables) around noon. Service was efficient and friendly enough, but I'm not big on overly solicitous service. The dirty plates were removed promptly and glasses filled quickly. Overall a real value, and we'll be back. read more