I wish I had photos of the many wonderful plates I have had from the amazing south Indian buffet here. All vegetarian (pure vegetarian so no eggs but some dishes do have dairy.) Super flavorful with many vegan options. The buffet is filled with familiar favorites like Chana masala and uttapam + new dishes to try fairly regularly. This is the original place that made me fall in love with south Indian food. read more

Wow! I can't believe this all-vegetarian South Indian restaurant has been here all this time and I had no idea! I'm so glad I finally found out about it! When I did, it was an absolute emergency of ultimate proportions to go to it immediately and I was not disappointed in the slightest! Where else can you sit next to real live plants surrounding you on three sides indoors? I'm not saying you should come for the plants, but it's a very lovely décor idea -- so full of literal life! The food is delicious, the staff are friendly and caring, and of course the Onam feast was a really fun experience! What a joy to know about that beforehand and be able to come back for it .... I will definitely be returning again for my third time! Bonus: Seasonal foods are sometimes available, what a treat! Mmm! Yummy! SO good! Overall, highly recommended! Yay! Oh, plus -- easy parking, and all of that .... read more

Madras Palace - Some delicious delights - Vegetarian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

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Location- great, enough parking. It's located in a strip mall and the renovations are super cool. However, the food and service were less than subpar, especially for the pricing. I had order the malai kofta and the taste was unfortunately not spicy or good at all. It seemed to be missing the north Indian spices. The waitresses all seem to have AirPods in, and it took us swagging them down for other things, such as napkins, more water, and simple things like plates. This was a very disappointing place and we probably won't be going back. read more

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My favorite vegetarian place in the DMV area! They recently painted their walls with beautiful murals of Indian film star portraits! Absolutely stunning! Of course the food is outstanding too! read more

Madras Palace - Wall mural of Indian actors - Vegetarian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

One of the best South Indian vegetarian restaurants in the DMV area. Every thing in their menu is from various regions of south India. I went there for lunch buffet on the weekend. It almost closing time, but the staff was nice to try it out. They kept their buffet open for slightly longer so I didn't have to rush. Dosa with three different types of chutneys were my favorites. They have a live dosa counter so you can order as many as you want. Vegetable biryani was delicious. Nothing here is spicy. Unlike the chettinad style cuisine, the spice levels are pretty good. Ambiance was just like any other restaurant. Nothing too fancy. Very casual place and nice staff. Highly recommend it if you want to try nice South Indian vegetarian buffet. read more

Madras Palace - Buffet - Vegetarian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Terrible food and it is pricey and the food is terrible as well as service The people working at the restaurant are very rude and disrespectful read more

On June 20, 2025 my husband & myself went to Madras Palace @ 1.45 pm for lunch. We enquired about the buffet and were told that it is still open till 3 pm. My husband served his 'Thaali' before me and I joined him at the table 3-4 minutes later. He told me that the food was not hot, not even warm. I tasted a spoonful & found it to be cold - all the veggies, Dal, Sambhar, Upma, rice, roti or bhatura etc. So I called the server named Aarav and told him about it, and asked him to apprise the cook or manager about it. He said that the manager was out at that time but that he would go back to the kitchen and tell the cook about it. He came back in a few minutes with no remedy to offer us. We were not happy with that but we ate whatever was eatable of the insipid food, leaving out the cold and hard upma & roti or bhatura whichever there was. Then I asked Aarav the manager's name which he said was Kannan. Meanwhile the girl standing at the cash register also came to apologize for the experience we had had. We did not ask to be given any discount for the cold food served and came away saying that we'd call the manager about it later so that he would know that this happened in his absence & would ensure that this doesn't happen again. We are old and regular customers of Madras Palace and have been frequenting it for the past 25-30 years. Never before have we had a cold and tasteless buffet there . A few days days later I called to speak to the manager Kannan & was told that he was out and that I should call @ 6.30 or 7 pm. When I called at 6.30 I was told that he was busy in the kitchen due to a crowd of customers from some tourist bus and that 1.30 pm the next day would be a better time for him. When I called the next afternoon he was supposedly away again. So I tried again in the evening but he was busy again & would not come to the phone. So then I called again the next morning and some girl named Srikala picked up the phone and asked how she could help. I told her my concern and that I needed to apprise Kannan about it & that I could have gone on the website and expressed my complaint there but I thought it better to let the manager know in person. She said that she would let him know & that could I call later. So I called once more on the next day .. July 7 @ 5.30 pm. Kannan came on the phone & rudely asked me who I was. I mentioned that I was a very old customer and that that the food was hard and cold on the day we came for the buffet & we had mentioned it to Aarav the server boy right then. He said - who is Aarav, I don't know him. There is no Aarav here. And we don't serve cold food. By the way if I serve hot food then people's fingers will get burned & I will be sued for serving hot food. I said to him .. How could he say two different things in the same breath ... that he doesn't serve cold food & then the next minute say that he would be sued for serving hot food. And I said that ... all restaurants are supposed to serve food hot & they don't get sued . And then, continuing to speak to me in a loud, rude and defiant manner Kannan said - Ok so what do you want . I said that all I wanted was to bring the circumstances to his attention. He said ok I heard you , I am busy right now. And then he banged the phone down. So instead of apologizing that maybe behind his back the others in the restaurant did not pay attention and shut off the burners under the buffet much before the closing time of 3 pm ...the man was uncouth, uncivilized , defiant and arrogant, and also unprofessional. This is no way to build customers. I hope the owner of Madras Palace reads this complaint and acts upon it. In all restaurants, stores & enterprises we need people with basic courtesy and principles read more

Dropped by for dinner - an average experience at best, and probably would not repeat. Service quality was fine, but the booths and tables are oddly undersized in width for the plates used. The Gobi Manchurian was poor - too little sauce and way too doughy. Idlis were subpar. Mysore Masala Dosa and accompanying chutneys were fine, as was the filter coffee. We ordered Kesari for dessert, which had so little sugar that it definitely tasted like a savory dish (opposite of the usual issue with kesari). While nothing was inedibly bad, the experience was unsatisfying overall. read more

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This Indian restaurant was just above average for me. Nothing amazing but not terrible too. Tried 3 items from their menu- Paneer Butter Masala and Paratha-Good flavors and flaky paratha(just like it should be) Special Rava Masala Dosa- Dosa was good but the potato filling was excessive in quantity and tasted bland too. Vegetable Thali Combo Platter-Most savory items were bland and the basic seasoning was missing. Dessert was good. I would not recommend this restaurant if you are looking for something authentic as items from their menu could be a hit or a miss. read more

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We went for lunch buffet around 1 pm. There were two starters uttapam and pakoda. Main course had mushroom curry, matar paneer, Chana curry, sambhar, naan and veg biryani. Everything was cold and tasteless. Food was not even warm. We had to ask the server to give us warm sambhar. By the time she brought it, dosa turned cold and same happened with the main course. Very disappointing, will not recommend anyone to go. read more

This is one of the few Indian restaurants that really does it right. Their food is pretty close to authentic and has spice. Their buffets are also pretty great (especially Mother's Day and Father's Day). Their mango lassi is delicious. Sweet, creamy, and so much mango flavor. $5 The garlic naan is also delicious, and one order comes with 4 pretty big pieces! The bread is just crispy enough while still being soft and malleable. The garlic flavor is very mild, and it is garnished with coriander. $5 The paneer butter masala is excellent. Super creamy, tons of paneer, and served in a nice vessel along with a mound of rice. The paneer is extremely soft and cooked perfectly. $16 The channa batura is massive. This alone could easily feed two people. It is fried well and served with a mildly spiced channa curry. $16 read more

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My PSA for the day.... DO NOT go to Madras palace after 7 pm on a Monday , Wednesday or Friday. We went on a Monday and learned the hard way. This restaurant is the dinner stop for tour buses that are coming from Niagara Falls on their way to DC. The day we went 4 tour buses came. The place was packed in minutes and almost ran out of food. On these days, there's only buffet available, no ala-carte menu. The food was fine and I was impressed that the kitchen staff was able to refill the buffet station very quickly but you could tell the wait staff and the kitchen staff were overwhelmed. There was a lot of yelling going on to keep the hungry tourists in check. Lines were long for the buffet station. The food and the service were good and the staff did their best to keep up. I will review once again after I've had the chance to have a regular experience here read more

An amazing lunch spot! Serving up all-vegetarian food, Madras Palace has authentic, delicious, homey -feeling South Indian delicacies. On a Monday lunch I got the Onion Masala Dosa - crispy and soft in all the right ways, the masala was flavorful and the dosa was served with two tangy chutneys and sambar. I tried a friend's Vada Curry dosa and was honestly blown away - it was my first time trying this unique specialty and the flavor was unlike any South Indian dish I had tried thus far! Would probably get this next time. Service was fast, ambiance was standard, and it seemed like the lunch buffet (which includes dosa brought to you directly) was a great deal. Would definitely bring my family here! read more

Madras Palace - Onion Masala Dosa - Vegetarian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

First timer . I hardly give 5 reviews... but this place deserved it . We went 30 mins before closing and thought the chef will make everything hurry-burry , but it tasted awesome. It was empty and had a lot of seats to sit, with social distancing. Everyone inside wore masks and looked safe. Ordered samosa chat .. it was good but it filled 25% of our stomach. Kids ordered naan and paneer butter masala. And it was good. We also ordered gobi manchurian and fried rice. Being a South Indian restaurant, we took a chance ordering North Indian food and Chinese .. it was just a luck that both tasted good. Fried rice was awesome . After a long time , felt like eating a Chennai road side fried rice . Gobi Manchu was out of the world. The 5 rating was mainly because of gobi. It's been a while since we ate this taste on a manchurian. Hats off to the chef. Wish they had BYOB. Would have been 100% best :) lots of parking available and we had a great visit . Thumbs up .. read more

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I would like to leave 0 stars, but I don't have that option here. The owner has absolutely no respect for customers, he is making money off of tourists who do not come again anyway. They made it mandatory to go for Buffet for all the people who are coming from the tour bus. All food options tasted like they were made a day before. Biryani, was the worst I have had in the US. Papads were soft like napkins. Curries had no flavor. Save your time, money and appetite for something better. They do not deserve any of these. read more

Great food for decent price. Freshly made and portions are generous. Service was sufficiently attentive and friendly.

The food here is very authentic and a vegetarians dream. Why the average rating then? We called the restaurant ahead of time to ask what the price of the buffet was, the woman who answered said $14. Emphasizing the One and Four, her words, not mine. After eating and going to pay, it was 14.99. When we mentioned what was said on the call, she said yes 14.99 is 14. I'm still trying to figure out how that one works. read more

The staff is extremely friendly and attentive, but the food all tastes the same. I have had a lot of Indian food, and this just didn't measure up. read more

Probably one of the few South Indian restaurants in upper-central MoCo. It's my go-to spot for dosas. I've never been disappointed with my usual order of Paper ghee dosa, which is humungous - comes with delicious peanut, spicy tomato, and coconut chutneys combined with tasteful sambar. The prices of dosas are just right compared to other establishments I've been to. Only drawback is the # of staff on certain nights I've been there. Even if it's not busy, food can take a while to arrive. I have to give a shout out to the old uncle that works there. Always takes care of me as well as his other table customers - very attentive and respectful. Overall, good South Indian food (dosas), but lacks in service at times. read more

I ordered a Thali through doordash and all the dishes tasted horrible. I love Indian food and I've tried many restaurants, but I've never experienced food that actually tasted bad. Even the rice pudding had a weird texture; the rice was so overcooked that it had no texture and an unappealing flavor read more

Madras Palace - Rice pudding - Vegetarian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

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Great food, specially the Sambhar and chutneys were so good along with all their dishes. We had Medu Vadas, Tomato Soup, Corn Masala Dosa and Paneer Utthappam. All dishes were very upto the mark. The owner came and checked in to get our feedback with was a very nice gesture. Definitely check this place out. Service was great and I appreciate it very much. read more

Madras Palace - Corn Masala Dosa - Vegetarian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Happy Diwali!! To celebrate their grand reopening and Diwali, they are only serving buffet today $17/per person, all you can eat food and dessert. Buffet only on special occasion and maybe on weekends, call to check with management. In general, it's a la carte and fast casual. This legendary restaurant has been spoken of in hush reverent tones, for year by my coworkers, who were big fans of the original Madras Palace. It use to be a purely vegetarian sit down restaurant. The reincarnation of the Madras Palace, during the week is a la carte restaurant that has a fast causal style, where you pay and order, then pick up your prepared food. They have Thalias, Dosas or other various Indian Dishes. Now, they offer both vegetarian and meat dishes. The Thalia cost about $15 and include 4-5 dishes, with naan, papad (like a big fried chip) and dessert. Or you can order an entree instead but we love the adventure of sampling a few dishes. It was as good, as my coworkers and friends remembered it to be. They were so happy to see the return of this famed restaurant. Thank you, to the MoCo Show for being the best source of information for the happenings in Montgomery County, Maryland. They are the reason we learned of return of Madras Palace. read more

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This is my second time at Madras Palace. The first time I ordered their Special Onam Sadhya during Onam. This was a Uber Eats delivery of their South Indian Thali and Bisi Belebath. Thali spread was small for almost 18$ they charge. The rice was Basmati which is very strange to be serving with South India thali. They had extra large portion of naan which was again wierd since its a south indian thali. The other dishes were mild. The sweet was extra sugary. The Bisi Bele Bath tasted decent. read more

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Food was bland, kothu porata had no life in it. Cheese dosa was half cooked with raw dough and had to reorder. Gobi Manchurian was dry and chewy. Not worth the money spend read more

Absolutely wonderful! We live a bit of a distance away, but it is completely worth the drive to visit this wonderful place that could not be better for vegans and vegetarians. While I've been to buffets that have food that has been left out for too long, this is the exact opposite. Even near the end of the lunch buffet, everything was fresh and beyond delicious. So many dishes to choose from. In addition, they use just the right amount of oil, a modest amount that doesn't leave one feeling bloated afterward, but enough to give flavor. The staff are all kind and helpful. A pure delight! read more

From out of town, found restaurant through Yelp...Went in for dinner. We ordered Chole Bhatura, pongal, dosai, and uttapam. The food was good and the portions were large. The staff was attentive. The place was nice and relaxing. read more

Had a pleasant time dining at the restaurant! Staff was very kind and described some of their more popular dishes. Everything was nice and hot when it came out. Taste is okay read more

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Onam Sadhya was excellent.Every dish served was tasty and portions were generous too! Nice to eat on a banana leaf and neat service! Hope to try other dishes too next time read more

Had a lunch buffet and all the dishes were absolutely delicious. Great service, very friendly and courteous staff. Simple, and casual but a great place to dine, would recommend if you are looking for South Indian cuisine. read more

We came here for the Labor Day buffet and Madras Palace was as consistent as ever. They had an awesome variety of south and North Indian food although I mostly stuck with the former. Loved the bisibele bath and their Kerala special curry, Olan. They had fresh dosa made to order and my little one enjoyed her noodles too. All in all, we left very full and enjoyed our lunch thoroughly, read more

I never give one star reviews when it COVID. I only give loyal and honest reviews. The lowest I could give to a restaurant is a 2 or 3 star but. The cook kept licking his fingers while preparing the food. I informed the manager. The manager asked the cook about the matter and he started denying his actions in his native language. This is very unprofessional. I hope these folks can have better trained staff next time. read more

I stopped in for the lunch buffet during the week around 2 pm and was pleasantly surprised. There was one other table besides myself enjoying a late lunch. The food is South Indian and all vegetarian. There was a nice variety on the buffet, including rajma, chana, saag paneer, lemon or white rice, rasam and sambhar, and a few other curries. The standout for me was mango curry along with the lemon rice as well as the masala dosa, sambhar & uthappam. I was so happy that masala dosa came with the buffet, it was cooked perfectly and the sambhar complemented it well along with the coconut chutney. I'll definitely be returning when I'm in the area to sample more of what Madras Palace has on offer. read more

Madras Palace - Masala dosa along with lunch buffet selections. - Vegetarian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

So glad they opened up again! They have the best dosa and sambar! Highly recommend the sada and/ or special rava dosa! This time I decided to try out the vegetarian thali and it was delicious! Thali is large round plate wIth rice and different curries/vegetables. Think of it as a little mini buffet with pre-selected items on one plate! The owner of the restaurant is very welcoming and friendly. The ambiance could be better and more attentive service. However, they have resigned it to be more of a self serve restaurant so you place your order when you come in, seat yourself, and get water from the water station area. I dropped one star because the bathrooms could use some updating and servicing. read more

Madras Palace - Vegetarian Thali - comes with naan too on the side - Vegetarian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Contrary to our previous visits, our take out food from Madras Palace tonight was absolutely horrible. We had ordered 1) medu vada and sambar; 2) bisi-bele bath; 4) garden vegetable curry, and 4) an order of chapati. Medu vada: had been clearly fried using repurposed oil, the vada was soaking in stale oil. Sambar was thick, totally tasteless. We discarded two of the three vada and all of the sambar. Bisi Bele Bath: This is supposed to be the hallmark dish from South India. This preparation was unedible. The masala emanated oweful odor, tasted like a borderline spicy paste in which cooked rice and vegetables had been mixed. My wife and I ate two spoonful of this dish befor giving up. Did not feel like throwing it out--so have kept in the refrigerator. We will see if it tastes any better tomorrow...unlikely, when we will have a better reason to discard it. Vegetable curry: by far the better of the lot, yet, reeking in oil, somewhat edible. Chapati: stiff and dry, like a cardboard. Also have saved to see if how would it taste tomorrow. We always loved this place---this was our WORST experience. Tonse Raju, MD Gaithersburg The restaurant has my phone number, and they can call me, if they read this message and wish to reach out to me, that would be OK. read more

Such delicious food! Great service, very friendly staff, and so many different mouth-watering delicacies. Thank you!

Ordered catering for an event with 20 ppl and got one of the best Indian food in the area. Everything that we ordered from the menu- appetizers, main course and desserts turned out to be great. The service was on point and they were flexible with our special requests. read more

Excellent Indian purely vegetarian cuisine! Highly recommend! The place is super clean and the staff friendly!

Tried twice, got sick both times. Low quality ingredients mixed with spices. First time I ordered idli and it felt like frozen idlis microwaved and delivered. Next time I tried lamb biryani and it was oily rice with some tasteless stale meat. I wanted to support an Indian restaurant in this area but unfortunately the restaurant does not seem to put in any effort. The best place still is chettinadu when it comes to indian food read more

A couple of things have changed since I was last here. For one thing, the space has undergone a needed freshening, and is at least moderately more comfortable and pleasant. For another, I've searched for similar cuisine across the DMV area, and have found it hard to get South Indian, let alone good and at a reasonable price. Indeed, Madras Palace is one of the few places where I know I can get some quality lentil donuts (try them), and their curries are substantial in portion and leave plenty of leftovers. It still isn't perfect, but I'm inclined to stop in for my South Indian favorites. read more

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Decent, no frills South Indian food with very good dosa (crispy but not too oily, authentic masala for the masala dosa and authentic podi). Had to take a star off for the confusion created by having different menus available on various platforms implying that this place does have non-vegetarian food. It did at one time, it is now a purely vegetarian restaurant. Fine for myself and my mom, who are vegetarian, but not so fine for my brother and husband who are firm carnivores and were looking forward to sampling various South Indian chicken and seafood dishes. The sambhar here is fantastic and well worth just having on its own as a soup. The various chutneys for dosa are well done here; esp. the coconut chutney. My brother ordered the Gobi Manchurian which he said tasted "fine" but was too small of a portion to be considered a meal. My husband ordered the palak paneer masala dosa and said the palak paneer just wasn't spiced properly in the way that he, a Punjabi man, would expect. What this place does quite well is South Indian food. Go for that, skip the North Indian/indo-chinese, don't expect frills or fancy decor and tableware, and you will enjoy yourself. You won't be blown away, but you will thoroughly satisfy all dosa cravings. read more