Sitar Express

CLOSED! Boo. Tried to go tonight, sign outside says it will be replaced by a Chaat place.

Went to try lunch buffet today. Was there till around 2:45 p.m. (buffet closes @ 3:00) and I could see very few people. The guy who was greeting the customers himself was wiping his batura with tissue paper to suck the oil out before eating. The buffet had very few items based on the price ($ 7.95) per person.
Good things first : —
1. Garlic naan was good
2. Punjabi chicken and panner butter masala had a different flavor and was tasty
3. Dal makhani also was nice
4. Mix veg pakora was yummy
5. Food was not very spicy and is good for people going with young kids.
Not so good things : —
1. Tandoori chicken was very oily and was OK
2. Rice was not cooked properly
3. Gulab jamun was not cooked completely in the center and was OK
4. No biryani (I agree that for the price this is a big ask)
Overall was an average experience for the price offered. Would not recommend to a friend unless they have no other choice. Expecting to be better the next time (not sure whether I will go there again)

I have come here twice before and WILL continue to do so! The food is incredibly well flavored, delivious variety of authentic (or about as authentic as I’ve ever tried in Silicon Valley.) The buffet is my limited experience at this restaurant… But a positive one withiut a doubt! Staff is extra-​ordinarily friendly, food is delicious, and price is amazing! Only a college-​friendly $ 8 for UNLIMITED FOOD. Btw, make sure you get the naan bread! Incredible, fresh baked goodness!
They offer about 12 different dishes at the buffet. 2 of which are sweet desserts. The Naan (2^nd photo) is delivered complimentary as well, freshly baked.
Hot Chai tea and cold water are offered complimentary as well.
Overall, this meal is exceptional. Most meals are vegetarian. The dishes include everything from garbanzo beans, peas, cheese, etc… in various sauces and preparation like curry, cucumber yogurt sauce, tamarind sauce, spinach sauce, and many many others! But if you do need meat, there are 2 meat dishes in the buffet: curry chicken and tandoori chicken.

It was a chance discovery. Taking our daughter to dance classes at DAU, we once wanted to finish our dinner outside.
We saw this unassuming restaurant and walked in with no expectations.
To begin with, the folks running the restaurant know what hospitality is and they right away make you feel wanted.
We have always had buffet here. Though the spread is not as wide as in few other places, the taste of the food more than makes up for it.
Our family has a mix of vegetarian only and non veg eaters. This place has catered well to both the groups.
We love the palak or spinach dish and I enjoy their kebabs. The bread basket is always fresh and very tasty.
This is one place where we have never felt sick after eating. Last but not the least, easy parking.
Overall, the location, hospitality and the great tasting food is going to bring us back very often.

My Monday tradition for lunch with my mama. We both enjoy the tea, naan, and buffet line! It’s not the cleanest place but for the consistent quality of food for under $ 10 it’s something I look forward to every week! Yummm. Lunch time isn’t too busy. We often watch or just listen to the traditional song and dance movies while we enjoy our time together.
It’s true there is a new «cashier» that works the floor but I disagree that he is rude, he has always been pleasant and takes care of us during the meal.

A few months back, I would’ve given this place a good 4 stars. But now I have to give it one star. It seems they have changed a worker who works the cash register and the floor. That guy is plain rude. He seems to rush you out of the restaurant wanting to take your plates, even though there’s some food on it, and doesn’t stop bugging you with «Want me to take your plate?». No, may you stop bugging me and let me enjoy my meal? To add on when I went to pay for my dinner he just snatched my credit card out of my hand. It’s one thing to take someone’s credit card, but it’s another just yanking it out of my hand. Never experienced such rude service.
Otherwise, food is 4 stars. It’s not the best, but for $ 8 all you can eat, it’s filling.

Great dining experience for the price. In fact we got better service here than most high end restaurants. Curry selections were of the proper thickness and not watered down. Our servers checked on us regularly and kept our waters full. I feel like this something most servers have forgotten. When we were done with our Naan someone promptly came by to ask if we wanted more. Furthermore, when wanted our check we didn’t have to track anyone down or wait. I would recommend this place to anyone and everyone. 5 Star service!
Things I didn’t check I will look for next time to upgrade this review to 5 stars:
— restroom cleanliness
— replicated dinning experience

This was a last minute lunch choice. The place didn’t live up to the reviews!
We opted for a Sunday lunch buffet. The options were limited with just one option of starter. Chicken was extremely greasy and borderline stale!
It’s priced at about $ 8 per person but the food is mostly substandard.
Service was decent and billing was quick. But not enough reasons for a second visit!

After reading all the reviews I went today with no bias thoughts, assumptions or expectations.
When we arrived the small restaurant looked very clean. The folded cloth napkins, (don’t know the name lol) glasses, tables and chairs made it feel inviting.
The food is not the best, it’s not bad, it’s good though. It’s definitely worth the 7.95 $ for their buffet. The servers are constantly communicating with the cooks and during my 45 min stay I noticed multiple entrees being filled with steaming hot food.
Their garlic naan lives up to all the Unilocal hype. It was very good. There isn’t a wide variety of food but we were okay with that. The ones that were there were good enough. The chicken masala or tandoori? Not sure the exact name but that was my favorite. I wasn’t too much of a fan of the other entrees except for the potatoes and carrots. Their green dip has a nice spicy kick and goes well with the naan. I
Last but not least, their service was very very good. Better than 90% of the restaurants I go to and that’s saying a lot considering this is self serve. I was slightly hungover and drank a LOT of water. I never had to ask once for more. They came to our table at least 10 times during my visit. We had 3 pieces of naan leftover and asked if we could take it. He wrapped it up in foil for us :).
They have a good thing going here. Not sure why all the negative reviews.

It’s been a while since I came here, but it was a great rediscovery. Non expensive good food and the customer service is great. They are attentive, fill up your water, ask how everything is, and bring garlic naan. It’s a wonderful place and it’s all you can eat. They even let us take home leftovers. Usually buffets don’t do that, but it was late so maybe that was a reason why they let us take it home. I liked the Chicken Marsala, the peas and cheese, grilled chicken, and potato and veggies. I would come here again.

Are you hungry? Are you short on cash? Are you willing to line your pockets with plastic bags so you can take home enough food for the rest of the week? If you said yes to any of these questions then you should probably put Sitar Express on your short list of go to restaurants.
I’ve been here twice now and both experiences have been great. The lunch/​dinner buffet is mostly vegetarian but all the dishes they offer were fresh and really tasty, and a buffet for $ 8.99 is a great deal. The staff regularly brought around fresh naan and there was an old Bollywood movie playing on the tv in the back. They also do a lunch box that come with an entrée, rice, and naan for only $ 5! Definitely a great place to hit up if your want a lot of food on a budget.
It’s a decent Indian restaurant but it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. It seems like the staff isn’t use to people ordering à la carte. The staff seemed super confused when we said that we didn’t want the buffet and that we wanted another item off the menu along with the $ 5 lunch box. The ambiance is also a little lacking with a weird fountain next to a funky lamp with a broken lamp shade. It was also pretty dark towards the back of the room with not a lot of space.
With that said I would still recommend this place to anyone looking for good Indian food that’s fast and cheap.

It is not the nicest place but you get what you pay for. It is right next to a Thai restaurant and as you enter you can see the buffet to your right. You can do buffet or order off the a la carte menu. We chose the buffet though it looked a little sad. Plates often have water on them from their wash, there are condiments but none of them were to our likings. Some of the items had been out for a while like the rice so it dried up and as you took a bite, the hard rice would make you crunch on it. The chicken curry had lots of small bones pieces so I had to dig them out of my teeth. I did love the service, the refilling of our drinks, the niceness of everyone, and the wonderful naan. I would go back for a quick Indian meal. The three things I did like from the buffet was the white rice, chicken, and the eggplant curry. Overall not bad and again wonderful service.

Sitar has been my favorite Indian buffet for the past 5 years. Their chicken Tikka Marsala is rich, creamy and a bit spicy. I have tried a dozen other Indian places from here up to Sacramento and Sitar’s curry taste the best. There was a time when I would drive down here for lunch from San Francisco every other week when I came to visit a friend at SJSU. However, since my friend graduated I have not stopped by as often as I used too. I still stop by once every month or two to satisfy my naan craving :)
The selection may not be alot compared to other places but the flavor and price in unbeatable. If you ask politely the owner may show you their big ass clay oven delicious naan are made :)

Even at an $ 8/​pp price point, I would avoid this establishment. In lieu of a staple dish (Chicken Tikka Marsala), they offered an odd tasting chicken curry dish. A non-​trivial portion of the Tandoori Chicken was overcooked or cold. These two considerations made their very limited selection especially problematic.
My wife, who has never declined an opportunity to visit Indian buffet, hesitated to go to a different establishment the following week because she was still recovering from the trip here.
I would happily pay a $ 3/​pp premium for a much more satisfying meal elsewhere.
I write this review with a heavy heart because the owners were pleasant. However, I wanted to caution other value-​seeking patrons.

I attend De Anza College, right across the street. That’s how I found this place. It’s amazing!!! The buffet is cheap and delicious! Also, I take home food sometimes and the portions are huge for a fair price. The people who work here are always nice and attentive. Great food, service and prices! Highly recommended!
I almost forgot, they bring out fresh naan that is to die for!

Located across drom DeAnza college. Went here for lunch after a Saturday class.
Pros: Service was great. We were greeted and seated quickly. He was attentive and made sure he filled our water when it was low and cleared the dishes. The naan was hot and crispy, which I love. The price was only $ 7.99 for a buffet lunch.
Cons: Food wasn’t great. I can’t quite remember what they called it, but it is similar to chicken tikka marsala or butter chicken. I still can’t figure out what was the difference between other curries I’ve had, but it just didn’t taste good to me. I also tried one with Paneer (cheese) and it didn’t taste good either.
Even though the price is pretty low, I wouldn’t go back. Three stars for the service and two stars for the food.

8.99 for a buffet. They only had one meat curry and the rest were vegetarian curry. Their buffet selection is okay. I would recommend actually ordering curry since it’s way better than their buffet one.
They bring our garlic naan without you asking for it. It is the best naan I’ve ever had! Sooooo AMAZING!!!
Their tandoori chicken is really dry. Definitely did not enjoy that.
The service here is great! I once ordered the chicken tikka masala take out and didn’t have enough a dollar or two on me to cover the bill so the cashier just said it was okay! :’) The chicken tikka masala was perfectly made. Perfect amount of spiciness. (Rice not included).

Came by for lunch since I was desperately craving curry. I opted out of the $ 7.95 lunch buffet since it didn’t have any of my favorite dishes.
I ordered both the Saag Paneer (spinach with cheese) and Navratan Korma (creamy veggie korma), which were both hearty, delicious, and fully satisfied my craving. I slopped up all the curry in my Navratan Korma with the freshly baked garlic Naan despite being overly full.
My mom isn’t the biggest fan of Indian food but loved her prawn dish that came on a sizzling plate.
The only sub-​par dish was the samosas, which were probably the driest more tasteless samosas I’ve had before.
I enjoyed their $ 1.25 Chai Tea. Mmm so warming on a winter day.

I really like this place.
Giving it 5 stars due to the lower price and fresh food.
Selections are not many bit enough.
Love the green beans!
They being fresh made naan to the table (you can hear them slapping the bread in the back)
Relish is good too. They have beer as well.

My favouritest indian takeout.
The food is super tasty with the highlights being their shahi paneer and veg biryani.
The standard is very consistent and the price reasonable.
I’ve never actually eaten there so I’m not sure what their service is like but for takeout it’s the way to go!