The Peacock Lunch Buffet
By: Mr. T on
March 16, 2008
Finally made it over to The Peacock to catch their lunch buffet earlier in the week, the relatively new Indian restaurant across the street from the Southpointe Mall. I thought it was really very good and I would definitely go back there again. I thought the buffet was about the right size. If I remember correctly, that day there were at least several vegetarian offerings – dry, slightly spiced potatoes, saag; and for protein there were three meat and fish items – tandoori chicken, chicken curry, and fish curry. They also had sambar soup with rice cakes, as well as white and yellow rice and naan bread. Contrary to most Indian-style buffets I have been to before, it was nice to see a mix of different cuisines here. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a black or yellow dal as well, but I can’t complain. For a buffet outing, I would much prefer to eat at a place featuring a limited selection of well done items rather than the 100-item super buffet Chinese-style places that have creeped across American suburbia in recent years.
Although I tried a bit of everything, I concentrated on the chicken and fish curries with naan. I thought they were both excellent, with rather largish chunks of meat and fish respectively, and a nice, spicy curry base. Each had a very distinctive chicken and fish flavor. The fish curry especially was very tasty, had a strong fish taste, as well as a nice spicy kick to it. Although I could see how some people might not like it, I enjoyed it the most of everything on the buffet by far.
I also snacked on the tandoori chicken as well and liked it. You can see a piece of it hiding beneath a few pieces of naan in the photo above. I have been to other Indian-style buffets in which tandoori chicken is a main stay, and have sometimes found it to be under or over cooked, no doubt a casualty of under-experience or an overworked kitchen. At The Peacock it was about perfect. The cooks seemed to keep the buffet well stocked and hot as well.
Lincoln chowhound Swoof (who looks like a heftier and meaner version of Elliott Spitzer) seemed really taken by both the mild and aromatic saag, yet also enjoyed the spicy and strong fish curry as well – together they make for a nice yin/yang like balance. You can tell this man has an experienced palate and knows what kind of flavors to aim for when dining at an Indian restaurant. Mr. Wilson also noted how much he enjoyed the saag as well, and made a few return trips for it. The ubiquitous BeerorKid dude – albeit no slacker when it comes to preparing and enjoying good food of all sorts – admitted that this was his first time partaking of Indian food. He employed a shotgun-like strategy and took as many different tidbits of items as possible (including an item labeled “quesadillas”). He was impressed with the overall spiciness of the offerings, and I noticed that he finished his first plate of food well before the rest of us. He enjoyed the chicken curry the most.
Please make note of the difference in lunch buffet prices from Monday to Thursday ($7.99) versus Friday and Saturday ($10.99) at The Peacock. I assume that from Monday to Thursday there are fewer items, and Swoof mentioned that they usually do not have Tandoori Chicken in the buffet, so that may have explained the weekend hike in prices. Again, I very much enjoyed my lunch outing there and hope to make return visits soon, although at $10.99, I'm not sure how often I'd come back on a Friday or Saturday. It will be interesting to see how often the kitchen will rotate items on its buffet, and with what dishes.
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Mmmm, sounds good. Aloo matar paneer and Saag paneer are two of my favorites.
I love Indian food and was so disappointed by all the bones in the chicken curry that I haven’t been back. Have they addressed that issue?
Yikes! I didn’t catch any bones in my chicken curry. Is it normal for them to leave chicken on the bone for their curry? Doesn’t sound too appealing.
The bones were everywhere and hard to pick out. I noticed that I wasn’t the only one it bothered, I think it was just the way they learned to eat it and didn’t realize we don’t eat it that way here.
You would have noticed the bones if they’d been in there. I’ll have to give it another try.
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