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.
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