India Gate

Right above the stacked buffet plates at India Gate in Tustin, there’s a framed 2015 Edwin Goei/OC Weekly review suggesting that “now is the time to eat at India Gate’s massive buffet,” which is amusing: The nearly decade-old review predicts that the prices would probably go up and the choices wouldn’t be so impressive. While plenty has changed since then – and no one could have predicted that other Indian buffets would be devastated by a pandemic, leaving India Gate comparatively strong – now is still the time to try this buffet.

Although the all-you-can-eat lunch price is now $16 for adults, $10 for kids (12 and under), and the spread isn’t massive any more, the quality (by Indian lunch buffet standards) is still there. Roughly half the dozen or so entrees are standard vegetarian buffet items such as curried or fried veggies. Tandoori, curry, and tikka masala chickens are joined by a biryani made with Indo-Chinese Chicken 65, and a disarmingly excellent goat curry. All of the items taste better than freezer aisle equivalents, and thanks to the biryani, India Gate’s budget approximation of a proper Indian dinner is better than others we’ve tried in Orange County.