Restaurant Name: Khana Khazana

Location: 108 Northwestern Ave, West Lafayette, IN (map it)

Phone: (765) 743-1223

Cuisine: Indian

Review: Going into this review, it needs to be understood that I am not an experienced Indian food eater. I’m more or less a newbie. It took me twelve years to convince my husband to go to an Indian restaurant. So while I enjoy new experiences and have really enjoyed my adventures in Indian dining, I am, by no means, an authority.

Khana Khazana is in West Lafayette by Chauncy Hill on Northwestern Avenue. It’s got a big sign outside and it’s in a little strip mall near Panda Express (which I seriously did not know was there) and the Egyptian Hookah Cafe (which I need to try). Parking is somewhat difficult, so we hopped into the West Lafayette Public Library garage. Not sure if that’s allowed, but it seemed to work okay.

The restaurant itself is small with a number of tables all very close together. One corner of the restaurant has a buffet. We were greeted and told to sit where we like and help ourselves to the buffet unless we wanted to look at the menu. It was all very casual and laid back, not at all high brow.

We both opted for the buffet. While it was small, you could circle it on both sides so it used its space very well and had a nice range of choices. What I really liked was that each item had a big sign that not only told you the name of that food, but explained what it was. Which is really helpful for a newbie like me.

I filled up my plate and sat down and dug in and it was all really good. I’m not really sure what I ate, there was definitely chicken, rice, some kind of fried vegetable thing. It was all delicious. There wasn’t much in the way of service as this was a buffet, but I really liked that they left you a full pitcher of water on the table (the food is quite spicy, so I was grateful for the endless refills) and they were very good about replacing you pitcher when it got empty.

Interestingly, when you left you just went to the register and told the guy what you ate. I’m not sure if someone was tracking it, but it seemed a lot like the honor system to me. Lucky for them I have an overactive conscience, so I did not try to get away with anything and paid my bill.

It was a pleasant visit. The food was great. The ambiance was casual and I will definitely go again.

Kid friendly: Not really, unless your kids really like Indian food.

Price Range: around $20 for two dinner buffets and water

Restaurant Name: Bombay Indian Restaurant

Location: 111 S River Rd # B, West Lafayette, IN (map it)

Telephone: (765) 746-2345

Cuisine: Indian

Review: I recently received an inquiry at Lafayette Eats about why this site had no reviews of Indian restaurants.  This was a very good question!  The reason, though, is that my spouse has claimed for years (YEARS!) that he does not like Indian food.  In fact, his stance was so strong that he would never agree to go.  I’ve rarely had a chance to eat Indian food, so hence, no reviews.

Tonight, though, I made the decision that 8 1/2 years was plenty long enough and that we were going out to eat Indian food whether he liked it or not.  So we headed off to Bombay Indian Restaurant on the levee. (Right next to Pot Belly Sandwich Works.)

I was surprised upon entering how nice the restaurant was.  The restaurants in the rest of the strip are a lot more casual, so I assumed Bombay would be too but it was quite nice.

It wasn’t busy when we went in on a Friday night.  We were seated immediately.  Some kind of Bollywood video with lots of dancing and singing was playing in one corner.  We placed our drink orders, and were pleasantly surprised with the Indian Shiraz.  Very good.

The service was good.  Not obtrusive, a little slow to take our order, but nothing to write home about. I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala.  We were asked if we wanted “naan” and to show how little I know about Indian food, I had to ask what that was.  Turns out it’s a kind of bread, so I said definitely, we want that.

Here’s what I have to say about the food, and take this with a grain of salt because I have very little to compare it with.  But it was really good.  Very, very good.  It didn’t seem like much food when it arrived, but there was actually a lot and I ate it all.

Here’s the best part.  My husband, the man who has claimed for as long as I’ve known him that he “hates” Indian food really liked it as well.  He ate all of his food, then put his napkin on the table and said, “Wow, that was really good!”

So definitely, I would go here again.

Kid friendly: No.

Methods of payment: Cash or credit.