Tawa Tandoor

I have been to this place a number of times. The food is miserably spicy which I understand is my problem since I am not used to it. I learned what I can and cannot eat from the buffet since the price is reasonable and the service is good.
The last time I was here I walked in and used the bathroom while my fiancé picked up his wedding suit next door. The plan was to eat since we were starving after a long trip to pick up the suit.
After using the bathroom, the waiter asked me if I’d like to be seated. I asked him to wait while I called my fiancé to see how long he would be.
Before I had my phone out of my bag, another man stopped mopping the floor to tell me that this is America and that if I think I can use the bathroom without being a patron of the restaurant I am uneducated and need to get an education.
I showed him my phone and explained I was calling my fiancé to see how long before he arrived at the restaurant.
The man then smiled and told me that my use of the bathroom was now acceptable.
Without another word, I walked out. I will never eat there again, and I recommend everyone else do the same.
Understand, my problem is not with having to be a customer of the store to use the bathroom — this is New York — that is basically the rule everywhere. My problem is with being scolded and insulted before even asking if I planned to eat there.

I bought biryani. for 13 $. Being Indian, I can tell this is one of the worst biryani. This guy just grabbed from the buffet (which is 11 $) and sold it for $ 13. Which is absolute crap? I tried calling them back, But the phone line doesn’t work.
Do yourself a favor. Do go there.
Shame one your guys to sell that crappy food for that price.

Horrible.nasty. tasteless .A complete waste of money. If I can give it zero stars I will.

We went there yesterday for a quick dinner buffet late in the evening. The buffet was almost empty, meaning the curry is there, but no pieces of meat. The food is tasteless. The chiken tikka and the CTM has strong red dye color. Even the dessert from semolina had a strange taste. This was the first and last time at this place!

The food was cold and very bad. Unfriendly service! Definitely not recommended. The other places around are much better.

I liked almost everything in the buffet. This isn’t groundbreaking cuisine but it was good, and everything was fresh at a relatively late hour.
The hakka noodles were weak. But the goat curry, tandoori chicken, mixed vegetables, chicken biryani and palak paneer were very satisfying.

The food is bland. Worn out crockery and cutlery. We were a group of 7 and for some reason instead of going to the tried and tested we tried this place. Should say not a good choice. Tandoori chicken looks like it has been dyed in red and is tasteless. Chilly chicken is red, chicken is sweet. Only consolation was some of the vegetation items. All in all will not return and would not recommend.

Pathetic food and shockingly bad service. Go there if you only want to waste time and money. The restaurant is now named Chilli or something like that now but it is equally bad.

Currently dining at Chilli’s, formerly known as Tawa Tandoor. The restaurant management is going through some changes but will be back to Tawa tandoor soon — they’re still open and still offering the same great buffet! For anyone wondering why their number is out of service

I had the opportunity of getting to know the owners of Tawa Tandoor very well. They are absolutely amazing and fascinating people. Once you get to know them, they will treat you like family. Their chai and naan are the best I have had so far. I absolutely love their tandoori chicken. It’s always hot and tender and is packed with great flavor. I love this restaurant and the people that work there.

Note– it has a new name which I didn’t care to remember.
Went here twice and its till the same crap. We walked by during lunch buffet and didn’t get back into the area until hours later. The tandoori looked like there exact same batch from when we initially passed. Haka noodles should’ve been fried bc that’s how hard it was. The basmati was basically being scrapped at the edges by the guy and not even fresh. The only fresh dish is the naan. They don’t even have green chilies to offer you!!! Wth?! The entire buffet is just a waste of your time hunger and money. Never going back here.

the food was outstanding. The service was great. The pakora a bit spicy. The best part was dessert rice pudding, yummy. will be back

This is the worst buffet in Queens. First of all the selection is very meager. The a la cart menu is overpriced and pathetic. $ 18 for 6 small tandoori shrimp that they call jumbo. The curry shrimp was a small bowl of a few baby shrimp in a lot of sauce for $ 18. The tandoori chicken salad was dry and they should at least have some oil and vinegar on the table for those who cannot eat the chutney. $ 5 was for a can of soda. What a rip off. Even high end restaurants don’t charge more than $ 3.50. I do not recommend anyone going here ever again.

Best food in Jackson Heights and it has an A rating nice and clean too. Love the buffet.

Tonight was my second time having dinner here. Generally similar experiences. Perhaps it’s the newish décor or how it looks like a revamp of an older restaurant that used to be here, but they’re getting a pretty decent draw. The layout of the restaurant is great for groups and couples alike. As for the food? It’s honestly pretty comparable to the other 2 or 3 Indian buffets that are within a stone’s throw.
A couple of thoughts:
Tandoori chicken — not bad, not delicious. Not feeling the crumpled sheet of foil
Paneer — the cheese was either shy or great at hiding because there really wasn’t anything but spinach
Hakka noodles — a tough dish to appreciate, especially since I’ve come on both occasions with Malaysians who weren’t willing to fill up on that at all
Goat curry — commonly referred to as mutton by my Malay pals, it was a little sweeter than they would’ve preferred.
Veg fried rice — hmm… seemed like an anomaly to have this there. Am I right?
Atmosphere — one the more «modern» looking Indian joints in the area. But taste is only skin deep. This spot could use a but more help in the food department if it wants to really keep their patronage.
Not a fan of the plastic wrapped aluminum pans. We know it saves on washing dishes, but it just looks weird.
Also, wait and water service was a little slow. Would’ve taken a picture of our table of used plates awaiting collection but didn’t seem necessary to do so. They could’ve just left a pitcher to save us the trouble of waiting.
All in all? Meh. Would I come back. Probably not as a first choice. I’ve been a faithful Indian Taj patron to date. For now, it appears it will remain that way.

Came here for a late dinner with a co worker, it was one of the few restaurants open at 10pm. I kind of wanted to go to the 24 hour Bangladesh place across the street, but this place was a restaurant with a nicely decorated interior, seating and wait staff. It was also really clean.
They still had the buffet with all the selections including Tandoori chicken and a couple of desserts. I can only give the food 2 stars at this time, because it was late and the food had been sitting out, they had chicken biriyani, but the rice was too dry. It all tasted fine, nice flavor, but we should have come earlier. They do bring fresh naan to the tables and that was good. The service was fine, no complaints there, even for being close to closing. Overall it’s a nice place, good service and the buffet was a good value at $ 11.95.

Price for buffet is decent but not worth it. The buffet food seems old. You’re better off ordering from the menu.

The owners were very nice but the food and service was not so great. I had the mango lassi which was yum but everything else was sub-​par. This restaurant is competing with the likes of Dera/​Shaheen which is in the same neighborhood, Dera costs half as much and is three times more delicious than 74 Tawa Tandoor. This place definitely provides for better ambiance but ambiance doesn’t matter when the food is not good.
We ordered nan’s, which were really more like rotis. They were much smaller in size than traditional nans, cost more and did not taste good or fresh. The food was just okay. What was most upsetting was that tip was included in the bill. We would not have tipped 15% as the service was not great. We ordered Samosas, which they forgot to bring out and they brought out the rest of the meal piecemeal. They forgot the «nan» which came with one of the dishes and tried to tell us that the other «nan» we ordered (cut into 4 pieces) was actually two nans.
I hate writing reviews, let alone bad ones, but this place was a HUGE disappointment.
Save your money and go get better food at Dera. I would come back for the mango lassi, but that is about it.

The buffet is OK, but not as good comparing to Delhi Heights. The price here is more expensive, and food is less good: tandoori chicken is dry and naan is too oily. Nonetheless, the service and atmosphere here is good so you won’t be very disappointed.

My husband and I have been here a few times over the last few years and every time we find the food delicious. We recently went on Valentine’s Day and they had even more food, many choices (about 4 meat curries, tandoori chicken, and about 4 – 5 veggie curries, rice, noodles, plus a chaat section and dessert.) Also a great place to bring your friends and family who are new to Indian food– brought my mom once and she loved it too!
Not sure why there are so many negative reviews… thought I would leave my honest opinion (from someone who has dined here many times). Don’t let the negative comments stop you from trying them! The environment is much nicer than other places in Jackson Heights. (dim lighting, music, comfortable seating)

came here because they were the only one who had noodles in their buffet but i should have just listen to my head and gone to Delhi heights like i usually do… the food was nothing to crave about… it did not taste fresh nor did it was unique. Giving it two star just cause of the few different variety including the puri and chana!
The service is ok. since its buffet nothing to really talk about but we had to hail down our waitress who was extremely busy talking to people in another table which might have been her friends or something!
While paying me and friend friend split our credit card but our waitress told us that their credit card machine was not working and to take the cash out in citi bank which is in front of the restaurant. We asked her to try again and she told us that they had the same issue few days ago and blah blah blah… nothing important. We told her that neither one of us have citi bank and we did not want to pay for the bank fee and MIRACLE… the credit card machine is working again! Seriously lady, are you just trying to take cash from customer or something?
I have been here once before because i bought the Unilocal deal which they did not honor!
Save yourself a headache and go to another buffet!

Anyone thinks this restaurant is a great one, does not know what Indian food or Desi food taste like!
We went to eat here today and we are dealing with a stomach ache! Food was not made freshly!!! Hakka noodles were soooo spoiled that you could smell from far away, saag paneer was so salty even the naan could not mask the taste! I finally inquire about the ownership of this place p, waitress is like ‘I m new here’, then I told her that hakka noodles are spoiled and saag paneer has too much salt, she took the tray back to kitchen almost with an attitude, she sort discarded any concern or offered any remedy to the situation!
Desserts were overcooked and overly sweetened!
Then comes the bill which we had to wait for 15 mins, btw my sis n i were the only two ppl dinning there!!! Then waitresses and a very new waitress stood over our head, now they were in a hurry to get paid!!!
Disgusting! How the hell they got an A, Barley anything was warm there!
I am sure this place going to be closed soon! Or change ownership…
One more thing, we got a dirty look from the Chef who finally brought so called fresh hakka noodles after we paid!
I actually want to give no stars not even one!
This restaurant is insult to all desis! My sis n I should have just waited to get home and eat the.
DO NOT EAT HERE! If either of us become severely sick, we re going to send our medical bill.

The lunch buffet is nothing special — 4 – 5 different veggie dishes and about 4 different meat dishes. The chana saag was very disappointing — bland. The other veggie dishes were just OK. The waitress was terrible — rude, slow (and it was empty) and just did not want to service anyone. The manager was much nicer. It’s right off the subway so convenient but with so many other restaurants, you’re better off somewhere else.

Stopped in here for the lunch buffet and wasn’t really impressed. The waitstaff was not very friendly at all. The place was pretty empty and we were sat at a table that was kind of a tight fit. We then asked to move to another table and the waitress kind of just rolled her eyes at us. During our entire meal she just seemed annoyed and not willing to help. When I needed water I made eye contact and began to ask and she just looked the other way.
The food was just OK. It was nothing particularly special. The meat options on the buffet were mostly a big bowl of sauce with a little bit of meat in them. There was a lamb option that was mostly bone with a little bit of lamb.