Madras Pavilion

Bad food. The onion kulcha was too thick and the vegetable korma was full of coconut.

The only place in Austin, at least that I have found so far, that offers the Indian street food staple Masala Dosai. I’m surprised that more Indian restaurants don’t offer this item since it is available all over India on the street and in restaurants, kind of like our street hot dog vendors. Madras Pavilion’s vegetable samosas are made with won ton pastry which makes them exceptionally delicioso! In fact, I’ve gotta go — I’m ordering a bunch of samosas for my office right now, and just the thought of what delights are coming is making me salivate all over my keyboard. My recommendation (if you haven’t already guessed it): heck YES!

I had a phenomenal meal at Madras Pavilion! My friend and I ordered the muteer paneer, channa masala curry, 14 mini iddlies with sambar, vegetable samosas, and the paneer pakoda. The muteer paneer was good — basically, fried cottage cheese. The vegetable samosas were excellent! They were huge — the biggest samosas I’ve ever had. The iddlies were good with the various sauces we had. And my paneer pakoda was excellent — a bit spicy and wonderful. My friend loved her channa masala curry. It was an excellent meal. As an added bonus, we ordered delivery through GrubHub and our food was delivered 30 minutes earlier than projected.

This is depressing. The once great Madras Pavilion, now reduced to nothing more than a rest stop for the passerby with no options left.
When I went there for the first time 5 years ago,
It was a shining star. The pongal and idli were rich and soft, the sambar was an explosion of flavour and the service, impeccable. Sunday brunch was my favourite part, it brought back so much nostalgia of the land I grew up in.
Two years ago, I went back, this time round the pongal was dry, the idli was odd and the sambar tasted of tomato ketchup. I assumed the restaurant had changed hands and they were still settling in under new management.
My last visit a couple of months back sealed the deal in a bad way. Everything was drenched in oil, living up to the Indian restaurant stereotype. The food tasted only of garlic, there was one waiter manning the whole place and worst of all, me– ms stomach of steel fell ill after having the sambar rice.
So, so sad. This is why I never eat South Indian food outside of my own home. They promise so much only to disappoint.

Umm… okay, so what happened? Was it the change in management? This used to be my go-​to place… but I feel like a lot has gone downhill. The last few times that I went, it tasted like an old uncle who has never cooked in his life, decided to make the food. Granted, I genuinely cannot think of somewhere else to go instead. Sad, but true…

Place is great for vegans!!! And everyone, really.
But especially great stuff for vegans!

Consistently Yummy. Good ingredients. I feel satisfied after eating here and like I did a good thing for my body.

First time ever reviewing on Unilocal and had to make it count, so why not choose what’s probably my favourite restaurant in Austin?
Fair warning for everyone, the service is not the best. Whether it’s delivery or at the restaurant, just don’t expect top notch service. That said, this place still is great because they aren’t spitting in your food, they’re just a little slow, and the food MORE than makes up for any lapse in service. Order things you aren’t familiar with, you’re gonna be in for a treat, I highly suggest the Malai Kofta for instance, and the Poori is spectacular.
So back to my warning about the service, what prompted me to write this review is that we got delivery and the order only came with half of what we ordered. We called the restaurant to let them know, thinking they might just adjust the bill (they did) but to our surprise they delivered our FULL order half an hour later to our place, no charge. In all my years of eating, which is alot, that was my first time getting a full order on the house after having my bill adjusted. And we’re on the East side (yes they deliver here!) so it wasn’t just a short drive from their location.
Madras is great, they’re so great I’ve been half-​jokingly suggesting that they cater my wedding, but even if that doesn’t happen I’ll continue to support this great place until they put a condo there.

Terrific buffet, I’ll definitely be coming back. The service was a bit slow, I was practically on my 3^rd plate before they asked what kind of dosa I wanted lol. The dosa was good though. I’d still highly recommend it. I look forward to trying their non-​buffet stuff as well. Some of the options tasted unlike the South Indian style I’m familiar with. A good example was the cauliflower masala, it tasted significantly more American-​ish. But other dishes were spot on and really amazing.

This is my first review and I’m so thrilled it’s for Madras Pavilion!
At the end of a tiring day at SXSW, I was famished. I called the restaurant to expedite my order. In 10 minutes, I got my order delivered!
Not just that, I got white rice and appalam with the rasam I ordered.
Thanks Shyam!

Oh, Madras — you slay me. really, sometimes i think you might be trying to kill me with an over abundance of delicious food, leaving me to waddle away from the buffet.
Completely vegetarian. Lunch Buffet (runs a little later during the weekends) Dosas made to order with the purchase of a lunch buffet. Delicious chai tea. Plenty of space.
Always on point!

Ordered for delivery. Arrived 20 minutes early. Each item wrapped securely — no spills! Variety of spice levels in my sampler. Yum! I want more.

We had the lunch buffet here, pretty average buffet — both quality and variety-​wise. Not too good, but not too bad either.

I order the same thing delivered from here all the time. The food is different every time and the delivery times vary wildly. But every time it so goddamn delicious. I love it.

Ordered delivery from this place. It took well over an hour to get to me. Okay, fine, whatever.
I got the naan, the appetizer sampler and the chana masala. Naan was good. The appetizer sampler was nice. Samosa, medhu vada and some other stuff. Of course, it was all pretty soggy, but that’s what happens when you get stuff like that delivered.
The chana masala was bad though. If Chef Boyardee made Indian food, this is what it would taste like. Just bland and mucky. Chana masala is my go-​to Indian dish, and I couldn’t finish this. I just threw it away.

Nice place to enjoy vegetarian food. U can rarely find pure vegetarian only buffets. As far as the taste is concerned it’s bit less spicy for Indians. more choices in buffet. Overall satisfied. 10.99 $ per head for buffet is a good value for money.

Best South Indian lunch in Austin, the buffet has a wide selection of dishes. Buffet lunch also comes with a dosa order on the side, completing the meal. Paneer dishes are great! Rasam and Sambhar were authentic.

The restaurant food is OK. Nothing exemplary but the décor /​setting is well below par and needs immediate attention. In one of our visits some one threw up in the restaurant and they did not clean the place till we left the restaurant. It almost looks there is no enthusiasm for the management to improve the place as they might be getting the regular crowd and don’t care about the décor.

Order today, gone money tomorrow! Placed a delivery order, never received the food. I’m thinking it could have been an issue with the driver, but never got a followup call or confirmation aside from the one via Eat24. I’d definitely recommend against any delivery restaurant that doesn’t, well… deliver.
Update: The food did eventually arrive an hour after the original delivery time. It wasn’t bad — filling and decently spicy, but it was a bit soggy. Boosting up the review to 2 starts, but still not the happiest.

Went to madras pavilion recently. Quality of food and service gone down so bad. Felt terrible. I ordered veg puluav but they gave veg biriyani. Hopeless service. Its not the same MP anymore

I ate the rava masala dosa and gobi manchurian at Madras Pavilion.
The dosa was good. Its a little pricet at 10 $ and the samabr isnt that great. I was given 3 types of chutneys and sambar and only the coconut chutney tasted good.
The manchurian did not taste good. The staff are friendly and the service is great.

Super fast delivery. I was trying new things that I’ve never had before so I dont know exactly all that I got or what its supposed to taste and look like but I have to say for 20 $ its a lot of food and really delicious. The spiciness does not overpower the flavor which has been my experience with some Indian restaurants. Also the Rose lassi is out of this world.

Ate dinner here on a weeknight
Special Rava dosa was ok
Sambar was tasty
Uttapam was alright

The food was really fine. I got the Masala Dosai and Channa Masala Curry, along with some vegetable samosas. The Dosa basically fell part and was left eating that with a fork. However, everything else was fine and if I ate at the restaurant then I may have been satisfied. My main complaint is the quality of the delivery service. For starters you’re forced to purchase around $ 20 worth of food in order to have food delivered, depending on whether you’re buying through grub hub or the store website and are paying a higher delivery charge. Ultimately, after the delivery charge and tip you’re paying around $ 30 for a meal. This is less than ideal for someone that is buying food for one. Moreover, the person that delivered the food wants to meet you in the lobby. As far as I know there is nothing preventing them from coming to the door of your room, no key requirements for the elevator for example. And this somewhat defeats the purpose of ordering food and certainly brings into question what the delivery charge actually buys you.
In sum, i definitely would not order food to be delivered, unless i was ordering for more than one person, but may go to the restaurant for a meal.

Food standard is appealing. Not very authentic food that I can enjoy. I do not go here these days. Much better options elsewhere in Austin.

So delicious. I went today for the lunch buffet and it was so good. I tried a little of everything and wasn’t disappointed on a single thing. Going to this place makes an Indian food newbie want to learn more. I feel like I was missing out a bunch of flavors because I don’t know how to arrange the plate.

I really like the food. Maybe I don’t know South Indian food. (I don’t .). But I do know when food seems fresh and prepared with care. That is what I see on the plates, and what I taste. My dosa was huge and crisp. The filling was beautifully seasoned. Oh, the lassi was excellent!
Is it fancy? Nope. Is it priced like they think it’s fancy? Nope.

If you are returning a cold dosa… Make sure you make hole in it
Else you will get the same thing back…
Why don’t these desi restaurant owners learn some etiquettes. Smoking like a buffoon when someone complains about the food is not only idiotic. Its a crime… *#%^*

Mediocre to average vegetarian Indian food. There are other places that are much better!

Austin has a lot of good Indian restaurants, but not so many that serve South Indian food. Although this place is a bit of a hike from where we live, we were craving dosas and decided to make the trip. So glad we did!
The South Indian food here is delicious — we’ve tried the idlis and different kinds of dosas — all excellent. And the chutneys and sambar are superb, too.
What I thought was really great about this restaurant is they have a South Indian kids meal — comes with a dosa, an idli and ice cream. The kids get to eat the same delicious food we do without wasting a bunch.
We went on a Sunday evening — no wait and the staff was very friendly.
The only bummer was that our food was brought out one by one — not all together. But, I can understand as dosas are best when they as soon as they are cooked.

The words «vegetarian buffet» don’t do a thing for me, so Madras Pavilion was a surprising treat. I have no idea what I was scooping onto my plate except that nearly everything was lentils and my gastro system is singing quite the tune to the dogs on the couch next to me now that it’s had a chance to deal with all those lentils. The fried Mongolian… things were ridonk and worth the price of admission alone. Something that was mostly white and looked a little like cheese grits was also delicious. I don’t know the traditional way to serve gulab jamon as I’ve had it both warm and cold, but I prefer warm (such a nice contrast to the cold syrup!) and Madras serves it cold. Not that it slowed my consumption down at all.
I still came back to work and ate some chicken, though. A growing girl needs more protein than lentils provide.
Great place for lunch as you can get in and out in half an hour if you need to.

I feel silly repeating how little I know about Indian cuisine, so I’ll just quote reviews from my Unilocal friends. I hope they don’t mind. I was at Madras for the first time Wednesday during their lunch buffet. I ate a lot:
Ashley S says: «…it does not deter from my love for tasty, authentic Indian food, and their food was great.» You go, Gurlfriend.
Kelly S says: «…all veg, giant portions, great service, good deals and open late.» Yes times five. Incidentally, Kelly rocks. Unilocal rules.
Darren B says: «Buffets can be hit or miss, but… it is always fresh, clean and has great variety in the food…» You are correct, Sir.
Edison C says: «My fave place in town is currently Tarka!» (Okay, I don’t pay that much attention to Edison C.)
Tracey S says: «They have the thickest and most flavorful lentil soup I’ve seen…» And they still do, Tracey.
Michelann Q says: «Love me a dosa!» Me too, MQ.
Anna D says: «Very, very good no frills kind of place…» You are correct, Miss.
Okay, I can do this forever. Let’s end it with one more quote from my Unilocal mentor & Austin Royalty, Michelle C: «A friend of mine took me to Madras Pavilion for the first time… I can’t believe I’d never been there before!»
Yep, that pretty much nails it. I guess the bottom line would be if you get asked to go, Errol M says «Just do it.» Feel free to quote me.

I need to write an update as I think the management had changed here again.
We tried this place for buffet on a Sunday.
Service was decent, greeting, seating and water service were prompt. They offered dosas in the Buffett which seemed attractive. They didn’t have any bowls for sambar, rasam or raita. We had to reuse our plates/​bowls 2 – 3 times tired of waiting for them to get new from the kitchen. There are like 3 – 4 types of old plates in circulation, which was not flattering. Cutlery was different for each person. Jeez, just buy one consistent set from restaurant depot and stop re-​using the old crap!
Food– the variety was good but. I wasn’t too impressed with the taste. South indian restaurants are raising their game in the Austin area, in general but Madras has some work to do. The big test is the sambar, which totally didn’t cut it for me. It didn’t have any flavors that stood out. The curries and vegetables were very oily and I felt super heavy even after eating not much. Of course they are using color and lot of oil
The fried appetizers were nice but anyone can make good fried stuff. The dessert gulab jamun were probably the best from the lot. We ordered some dosas and they came out pretty quickly. However, soggy and no taste despite requesting crispy. I have had better at home with the store bought dosa batter. Masala was bland. They were a little slow in refilling appetizers in the buffet.
Overall, I think they are having an identity crisis, trying to cram in north and South Indian dishes in the buffet menu. My tip for the owners, stick to your strengths and serve what you make best.

It’s probably really good that I had no idea Madras Pavilion was serving up legit Indian food for many reasons, not the least of which is my waistline. It was getting chilly last night and I had a «hankerin’» for some kind of saucy, spicy, naan-​y Indian goodness. Instead of hitting up my old friend Tarka for some American style choose your own adventure, I did a quick search for Indian around me. Lo and behold, Madras was open late (for a Sunday) and had excellent reviews.
Thankfully the buffet wasn’t an option (I mean, who can resist a buffet??) so we ordered the «dinner for two» like my good friend Stu R suggested. Let me just warn you… that dinner for two? More like a dinner for two elephants. What ensued was a four top table covered in dishes brimming with deliciousness. It was like Tetris — the moment we eliminated one, another would drop down.
To start, the lentil based Mulligatawny soup with papadum. A nice starter but nothing that knocked my proverbial socks off. Then, deep fried vegetable fritters. Dense, fried to within an inch of their lives and served with two dipping sauces. Now we’re talking! Then arrives a giant dosai with potatoes and onions and more dipping sauce. Size of my torso people, I’m not joking. Then, a gargantuan platter of naan, basmati rice and three dishes — a cauliflower curry, Tadaka Dal and saag paneer. Saag Paneer was the standout — mostly because it tasted like I was eating straight butter with cheese in it. The best creamed spinach you’ve ever had. To follow, some kind of mango condensed milk thing with a hard lump of homemade cottage cheese. I know that description is lacking but at this point, I was at a loss for coherent thoughts.
We waddled up to the counter, paid our $ 33 bill (total) and wondered if we’d ever be able to wear pants again. I am amazed they can serve this much food and call it a dinner for two. Also note that they do serve beer and wine here now. Although, the wine they serve is Copa (yeah… those little cups) so I’m not totally sure you can call it wine. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the service. It was excellent and it seemed like we had three people serving us, filling our water pitcher, bringing out food, checking on us, etc. Definitely some royal treatment.
In short, all veg, giant portions, great service, good deals and open late. One of my favorite North finds right now. Oh and one last protip: Don’t wear clothes you plan on wearing anywhere else. They will reek to high heaven but it’s worth it.