Rasoi Indian Restaurant

Kevin was on vacation yesterday ( replacement for 4th of July), so we decided to head out to 'Little India' in Jersey City in search of a cheap and good Indian buffet place. Little India in Jersey City is located on Newark Ave, between Kennedy Blvd and Tonnelle Ave.

We have always driven pass it on the way to the PATH station in Journal Square but never stopped to walk around. It was quite interesting actually, the whole road was lined with all kinds of shops. From jewellery shops, restaurants, bakeries, clothing stores to grocery shops. Check out this sale going on in one of the clothing stores. 3 saree's for $51! Not too bad at all :D

There were so many Indian restaurants on that strip, we didn't really know which one to pick. Then I remembered reading an online review about Rasoi, so we decided to go check it out.

The decor of the restaurant looks a little bit more upmarket compared to some of the other places and the staff are all very friendly. They told us that the buffet runs from 11:30am to 3:00pm on weekdays and 11:30am to 4:30pm on weekends. The restaurant is closed on Mondays and from 3pm til 5pm on weekdays. The buffet is $9.95 per person, not too bad at all.

Here is Kevin at the appetizer and vegetarian section of buffet line. They split the buffet into two sections, vegetarian and non vegetarian. There is quite a large spread of dishes here, ranging from things like samosa choley for the appetizer to vegetarian specialities like navratna korma (mix vege in mild curry), aloo gobi (fried cauliflower and potatoes in spices) and my all time favorite, saag panner (spinach with cottage cheese)!! I can eat saag panner everyday and not get sick of it. I also like thier mushroom chilli, it's deep fried oyster mushrooms, cooked in some sort of chilli sauce. It's really really good but spicy too! There are a whole lot more dishes on the buffet line but I sorta forgot what their names were :P

In the non vegetarian section, they had tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, chicken makhai and a few other stuff that I also forgot. There were also rice, naan bread, puri and papadums to eat with all the curries.

This is my plate after returning from the buffet line, a little bit of everything! :D I also like how the waiters would walk around with piping hot and fresh naan bread, just in case you need more to go with your food. They were also very efficient in topping up my water. I'm sure all of you know that my tolerance for spiciness is really low, hence, the water level in my glass also goes down real fast :P They never once let it go down beyond the half way mark, in fact, the waiter would pour in more water the moment I set the glass back down on the table after taking a drink. They must have done that at least 5-6 times! Very very impressed.

The dessert section of the buffet is not really that big. There were only three things to choose from. They had the Kheer (boiled rice with milk and sugar, flavored with various types of nuts), Gulab Jamun (solidified milk balls, deep fried, soaked in sugar syrup) and some sort of Burfi. Even though the selection is small, they tasted greeeaaattt! I am usually not a fan of Indian desserts, cos they are usually very very sweet. However, the ones served here are really nice, just the right amount of sugar and very light.

Overall, we had a great lunch. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who is looking for an affordable and yummy Indian buffer lunch in Jersey City. The only downside of this restaurant is that the parking is terrible. We had to circle a few times and we ended up parking in the housing area behind the strip.

Rasoi Indian Restaurant
810 Newark Avenue,
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel: (201) 222-8850
Fax: (201) 222-9263
Web: http://rasoiindianrestaurant.com/