Batika - Indian, Novato

Best: Indian Buffet in Novato

868 Grant Ave, Novato CA 94945
(415) 895-5757
Parking: street parking
Hours: Open Daily - Buffet Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm, Dinner 5pm-10pm
http://www.batikaindia.com/

Last Visited: March 23, 2011

Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars
Price: $ to $$

Batika opened very late in the year in 2010 and introduced to us more Indian cuisine on Grant Avenue. Located near Sherman Avenue, this one block now has two Indian restaurants offering lunch buffets. Not related to any of those Indian restaurants in San Rafael, Batika has brought chef Anil Shahu to serve local Novatans more options for great food.

Enter Batika and there is a warmth to the place from the scent of spices wafting through the room. During this lunch visit, the back door was open, the kitchen was pretty much empty and spotless, with the exception of the chef in charge of cooking naan, and the buffet was ready for service. The walls are a combination of gold and black blended together well. One side of the restaurant has cushioned bench seating with a row of framed mirrors decorating the wall. The other side of the room is decorated with interesting clothing and bejeweled decorated metal frames.

Their lunch buffet is $8.95 with champagne offered on weekends at the same price. The chafing dishes are set up in a line on a table located in the rear of the restaurant, just in front of the kitchen area. Darker colors seem to decorate the room – rich burgundy curtains decorating the entrance to the kitchen are offset by the white tablecloths throughout the room. While the tables are put fairly close together, on a beautiful day, one can enjoy their patio seating outdoors where there are umbrellas set up over tables.

Each item in the buffet is clearly labeled. During today’s visit, there were three main dishes, many sides, green salad, and one dessert. Fresh hot naan is brought to the table after you have settled in from your initial buffet visit.

I appreciated the thoughtful service here – they came by during the middle of the meal to see if we wanted more naan and also asked us about the buffet. I overheard some tables giving suggestions for tossing the salad with a little more dressing since it had been dry. They also checked in with us at the end of the meal. I hope that their willingness to listen and learn goes beyond their first few months as they continue to mature. The first dish offered was a green salad with tomatoes and cucumbers on the side. There was also a bin of fresh melon.

On most days, they offer three meat dishes, several side dishes, and rice pudding seems to be a standard.

- Tandoori Chicken – The tandoori chicken is cooked with onions, tomatoes, and spices. The color of this tandoori chicken is not as bright red as others I have seen, but whatever is used here is great. It seemed to be more juicy than others that I have tried and I appreciated that a lot. Tender and very good.

- Butter Chicken – Butter chicken is made of pulled tandoori chicken. It’s cooked with fenugreek, spices, and a touch of cream. Fairly mild in flavor for the buffet, I think it will appeal to many audiences, especially those whom are not accustomed to Indian food. The color of the sauce is a beautiful rust orange.

- Coconut lamb – The lamb was tender and didn’t have any gaminess to its taste. This dish was more like a rich stew with the lamb cut in cubes and the sauce like a dark brown spiced gravy. What is interesting is that this dish doesn't appear on the menu, but they also say that the menu will change with the season.

- Methi Murg - Chicken with onion and spices is finished with cream and ground cashew. You can't taste the texture of the cashew, but the flavor is really quite delicious and rich.

- Vegetable Samosa - The samosa was just okay. I like it when the samosa wrapper is really crispy. Like most samosas available in a buffet, these are just alright, not wow.

- Corn Pakoras - Sweet corn is mixed into a chickpea batter and deep fried into tiny balls.

- Yellow dal - Yellow lentils are cooked with cumin, shallots, and turmeric. This was a very wet dish, but that allowed the lentils to stay relatively whole.

- Aloo Gobi – Cauliflower florets are cooked with potatoes, cumin, and spices. This was a nice side dish.

- Palak – Spinach is cooked with spices. Good stuff, especially if you like the texture of creamed spinach.

- Rice Pudding – The rice pudding had a thinner consistency than most Indian rice puddings that I’ve tried, but the flavor was very pleasant. I liked the nuts that were in the dessert and the level of sweetness was light and delicious. The name is a little misleading to an American audience, but maybe it gets more people to eat it than just saying Sweet Rice Dessert.

From the menu, you can see that they offer seafood as well - prawns in mint and a tomato marinade, salmon spiced with black peppers and Indian spices are just a few of the ones available. There are a variety o fbreads and of course, your typical Northern Indian dishes like chana masala and palak paneer too. Batika also offers catering; for take out orders, there is a 10% discount. Batika is a nice stop for trying some great Indian fare – flavorful and delicious, I hope they stick around.