Mint Restaurant

This is a easy choice if you want some Indian and a AYCE style for a quick lunch. The Tikka Masala is great.

I visited Mint Restaurant during their soft opening and tried the $ 7.99 lunch buffet. At that time, it looked like the owners were still setting up the restaurant and based on the signage error, it’s probably their first experience operating a food business. The décor seemed extremely outdated and as barebone as possible, furnished with 90’s style diner booths left behind from a defunct Colombian restaurant. There was no ambiance whatsoever, just a stack of plates, utentils wrapped in paper napkins, a buffet station with heat lamps, one laminated 2 page menu, and Arabic music playing in the background (restaurant is apparently managed by an Afghan family). From first impressions, the restaurant did not look appealing, but I stayed because I like to support new businesses, especially if they’re family-​owned.
I’ll be honest, compared to the other Indian restaurants in Orange County, the food was average at best although the service was spectacular for an Indian restaurant. There were 4 vegetarian and 4 non-​vegetarian dishes, 2 types of rice, 2 appetizers, and 2 desserts in the buffet. Starting out with the appetizers, the vegetable samosas were satisfying and crispy. However, the onion pakoras were cold and soggy, just awful. They were old, lumpy, and had no bounce, so I would consider them as stale. Two types of rice were available, a basmati rice and a stiff peas pulao that was mislabeled «vegetable biryani». The «biryani» tasted like a fried rice that I would make at home. It tasted very light, somewhat sticky and not fluffy, definitely not considered a biryani to me. Moving onto the main dishes, my favorite was the cabbage and peas sabzi. It was flavorful, tastes very good together with rice, and probably the only item with adequate spicing. My second favorite was called «smoked eggplant» which looked like a dark eggplant purée. It had the bold flavors of roasted eggplant that I crave for in eggplant dishes, but for some reason, it ended with a lingering sweet sugary note that didn’t taste good to me. This dish had the same name as the one served at Tamarind of London. Turns out it’s not a coincidence, because Mint’s chef used to cook at the Michelin rated restaurant before it shut down last year.
In my opinion, the other curries in the buffet weren’t worth refilling, such as the yellow dal with no flavor and congee-​like consistency and the congealed egg curry that was oddly spiced with whole red chili peppers. Most of the buffet food being served lukewarm didn’t help.
Something I really appreciated though is that the chef did not add a lot of ghee or butter in all of the food. Even the korma was soupy rather than creamy. Everything tasted natural, with very low grease level, lightly spiced, more comfort food than restaurant style food. Perhaps the chef coming from an Afghan background has something to do with it, as Afghan cuisine is significantly lighter than Indian cuisine with more elaborate and complex flavor pairings.
The best aspect of my meal was the attentive service. I thought that the servers were genuine and the dining experience felt like being a guest at someone’s home. When the servers found out that the tandoori chicken under heat lamps were totally cold, they asked the chef to prepare a new batch just for me. Mint’s chicken fresh from the tandoor was extremely moist, sputtering in its own juices, and the meat was especially tender. I liked that the chef doesn’t add a lot of artificial coloring to the tandoori chicken.
Mint Restaurant is ambitious but still has a lot of work to do if they want to compete with other Indian restaurants nearby. Currently, the ambiance is not going to invite anyone into the restaurant. The food in the buffet needs to be maintained at higher temperatures. I will probably revisit once the restaurant settles down.

$ 7.99 for Lunch Buffet! Owned and operated by a family with excellent customer service. Almost everything was good including Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Curry, Daal Makhani, Biryani, Tandoori Chicken, and Gajar Halwa. Highly recommend if you want good Indian food… Much better than Natraj down the block!

Amazing Indian /​Pakistani food! And genuine (: I love it they also brought us extra stuff, they are really nice and friendly. The food is super super great (: the naan is amazing !! I love it. IQ is the best guy, and the chef is also great!

Best Indian food around. Place smells of amazing curry and many other choices. The $ 7.99 lunch buffet is so affordable and its plenty of yummy food. Staff and owner are very friendly as well. 100% recommend!!!

Very good food, good price.
Staff is extremely friendly.
Highly recommend.

Great food at an extremely affordable price. The food is cooked fresh, and the buffet changes daily but they keep some of the more popular items day to day. The staff is friendly and helpful. I recommend the chicken tikka masala with either the rice or their fresh made naan. This is definitely going to be a regular lunch destination.

The food was great and it was not pricey at all, freshly made, and the owners were extremely nice and had great service.

BOMB!!! Food. So good. So glad they opened. Definitely put this on your places to eat regularly. The food was great. The service was terrific. Looking forward to watching this place grow

Just had dinner at this location. Staff was very friendly. Very Clean and professional. I was taken to the Kitchen for a tour which made my experience even better as I actually saw my food cooking. I am going back there again!

I was just passing by and saw the grand opening sign so I went and try out the food, I absolutely loved it. They have great service and fresh food I highly recommend that you guys go and try out the food.

Went here last Tuesday for the lunch buffet. I tried the chicken masala, tandoori chicken, the white rice, yogurt, a yellow potato stew thing (it’s one of my favorite vegetarian dishes and i can never remember its name) and all of it was delicious. The food is delicious and at $ 7.99 it has become my favorite indian buffet. The chicken was tender, the rice was good, and my stew thing was yummy so no complaints. The service was good, they got my drink order fast, not sure what else matters at a buffet.
Tl:dr definitely recommend

When i first saw the sign go up that they were opening up i got so excited! Indian buffets are my favorite. I have to be honest and say i wasn’t actually sure they would have a buffet but sure enough! The first day they open up im there and right as i walk in. All my favorites are there. Rice, yogurt, chicken tandoori, Spicy lamb. And more importantly a reasonably priced buffet. The buffet is open from 11 – 3:00 and the service. Thats my favorite part. Imagine your favorite aunt and uncle opening there own restaurant. Its basically like eating at home. They have been open for only a few weeks and i honestly have been there for lunch like 7 times! Of the top of my head i have probebly sent 10 freinds and family to eat there food and they all agree.