Preet's Buffet

Preet's is my favorite north Indian restaurant in the Seattle area. Coming from India, I have always been on the look out for a restaurant that makes food very similar to authentic Punjabi Ghar Ka Khana (home cooked food). Punjab Sweets in Kent is excellent, but way too far away to visit. And then I found Preet's a few years back. We are fans of their chaat and parathas. Though a lil pricey, they make it up in the food. Another thing to note is that I heard the cooks at Preet's grind all the spices and make their own masalas that taste much better than the store bought ones. Even the paneer is made from scratch and has a fresh flavor to it.
I was thrilled when I heard about their lunch buffet. An all vegetarian buffet, what could be more better?

We stopped by for their lunch buffet on a Saturday and we were bowled over, as usual. The buffet consisted of a Salad, Pakore, Cilantro/Mint chutney, Raita, Pickled vegetables, Paneer Tikka Masala, Dal Makhni, Channa Masala, Aloo Gobi, Jeera rice and Rice Pudding.

The Pakores were crispy and when paired with the Cilantro chutney tasted just like what we get in India. The Paneer had a fresh aroma to it, unlike the frozen ones that you get in the grocery stores. The Tikka masala had the right spices, right consistency and had the flavor of fresh cream. The Dal makhni was also the best i have had. Channa masala was not spicy, yet aromatic and reminiscent of what our cook makes back at home. Aloo Gobi was also excellent. The whole-wheat buttered roti was similar to what the Punjabi Grand moms would make. The downside is that you only get two rotis in your buffet. Each extra roti costs $0.50. Now, what is that attitude? Its like they are screaming "We make the best food, pay more if you want more!". That really sucks, ain't it?

And the buffet costs $8.00 on weekdays and $10.00 on weekends. I asked the waitress, what's special on the weekends and she said," Hmmmm....nothing....really." For the extra $2, I expect something extra in the buffet. A better dessert maybe, instead of the standard cold rice pudding. Or atleast extra rotis! What do you say? Though I love their food, their attitude kinda gets to me. Hence the 4 stars.

Update (04/14/10): D was visiting and suggested Preet's for dinner. We were quite surprised to know that they have a dinner buffet too! The menu was the same except for a couple of changes. The "Green Chutney" is no longer a part of the buffet. We had to request for some and the waitress brought it out to us.They had a bell pepper, potato mixed veggie dish that got emptied out and it was replaced with a Tofu Scramble. Excuse me ??? What is Tofu doing in a Punjabi Buffet?? Shouldn't it have been Paneer or something? A little disappointing....and yes, I did pull a face when I saw that, but the rest of the food was as good as ever. The service was sloppy. There was just one goofy waitress and the restaurant was packed. She served the generous helping of "2 rotis" to a family that arrived after us, much ahead of us and that kind of put us off.
D ordered Chai Tea and had to repeatedly ask for it untill it was gently shoved in front of him. We ordered the "Jamun with cream" (as they call it), for dessert. Two Jamuns with two scoops of vanilla ice cream drizzled with pistachio... mucho delicioso!