Udupi Palace

Udupi Palace might not be serving Indian tapas or over-syruped drinks ending in -tini but they do make a mean lassi (try the salty ones if you tire of mango) and serve the best Indian meal inside the Beltway. The dosas are amazing (try the paper masala dosa for a visual feast), the curries fantastic (their paneer is flawless), and the lunch buffets are great introduction to the fare. Udupi serves South Indian vegetarian food - this isn't the place for a standard roti order (no tandoor oven - that's Northern Indian). Skip the bread (or have purri - it's pretty greasy but isn't that what you need sometimes?) and have a lentil donut. Seriously. There's lots of coconut in the food and great use of legumes of all sorts. If you are there for the buffet be sure to try all the chutneys in the condiment section. And don't worry, it's pretty darn cheap. more

I'm a native New Yorker (Manhattan) and, I have to admit, we sometimes tend to be snobs when it comes to food. I'm sorry -- that's just how it is. I grew up eating the best Southern cooking, bagels with lox and cream cheese, Chinese food whipped up by a friend's father who ran a restaurant in Chinatown and food from around the globe. So when I moved to the DC area, I - in my NY snobbery (again, apologies) -- did not expect to find much in the way of Indian food....at least, not the kind I'd had back home. So I was absolutely delighted to find Udupi Palace. The food is awesome. Simply awesome. And the numerous write ups from the Post and other publications posted all around will attest to that. It's fresh and that perfect brand of spicy -- not so hot that it turns your breath into fire, but enough to make you go "ok, that's, like, really really good." Make sure you know where you're going. Udupi is located in a strip mall -- the kind you'd probably pass every day for about three years without noticing. The service is good and quick and the prices are reasonable. There's an attached bakery too, if you're feeling really adventurous. One note...Udupi does not seem to have a liquor license. more