Udipi Cafe Hillcroft - Houston

This is one of my favorite Indian restaurants in houston, but some of the waiting staff do not know the menu very well and will suggest that contain milk. it is always best to check with the manager.

I am vegan, but my family is not, but this is a place that we all meet for the tasty and inexpensive lunch buffet and let everyone be satisfied. my family never misses meat and the owner always makes us welcome!

I used to go here for lunch semi-regularly with a friend from work, even though it was a long drive from our job. We went as fans of the cuisine and the food was always excellent. Tasty and generally spicy, the way I like it. It's been 2 or 3 years though and I had the opportunity to go back recently for a lunch buffet. So happy to report it is still delicious and spicy! And although they have doubled the size of their seating area, I don't think the prices went up. Along with the all-you-can-eat buffet, a waiter will bring you your choice of dosa. There are several varieties to chose from and you can't go wrong with any of them (except I'm not sure if all are vegan My favorite is their spring dosa as you get a mouth watering blend of crunchy veggies. It would be helpful to understand which items in the buffet are traditionally vegan vs. vegetarian, since the vegan ones aren't specifically labeled as such, though I'm sure you could ask. Unfortunately you can't eat everything they offer, but your taste buds will be very happy with what you can. Decor is mostly plain and functional with the major exception of several large framed prints which are sort of come hither or sexually suggestive depictions of life in India. I'll list this as a con, not because I'm a prude but it's a bit tacky and more thought could have been put into this. The overall impression is that the restaurant's a bit on the shabby side, but not chic. Would give Udipi 5 stars if they improved this.

First of all, I'll admit that the vegan friendly selections on the buffet are delicious! I absolutely enjoyed the dosa, fried bread and a green bean dish that they have on their buffet (I don't remember the Indian name for these dishes though). But my initial enjoyment of the food is as far as it goes. I really regret that I made a second trip to the buffet table to grab a little more of the green bean dish! As I was standing there waiting for someone in front of me to get their helpings of the buffet, a friendly little roach just politely sauntered to the edge of the serving pans of food (but not going in the food itself. I don't think. Though I tried to point out the little critter with as much discretion as possible to the apologetic server, mostly everyone in the line saw it! I just went back to my seat empty handed, not able to bring myself to get anything else. I thought to myself Okay, self..you're from the hood, it's not like you haven't seen a roach in a kitchen before . So I talked myself into finishing the little morsels I had left on my plate that I had before. As I was finishing up that food, I picked up my fork only to detect a hair that was slightly thicker than any human hair, more like an antennae. Yikes! a roach antennae! I paid the tab (against my friend's wishes) and walked out never to go in this place again. To each his own, so if you don't mind a little roach essence in your food, it's worth a try. (shrug).. Updated from previous review on Thursday October 20, 2011

I have eaten here many times over the last several years and have never been disappointed. The food is served buffet style and has the usual selection of soups, vegetarian dishes, rice and pasta in the southern Indian style. What sets this place apart to me is the wider selection of Dosas (a type of filled crepe) than is normally offered. I love the Spring Dosa which is very crispy and jammed with all sorts of crunchy veggies. The coconut chutney and tamarind chutney are really nice with this. They nearly always have at several varieties of desserts. Usually a cold one (rice or pudding) and kheer plus my personal favorite, gulab jamuns (a fried milk dumpling in rose scented syrup.)So it's not a vegan restaurant, but they have vegan dishes on the buffet. Parking directly in front of the restaurant is limited, but there is plenty in the adjacent tract center. It can get crowded in this place on the weekends. This is one of my favorite Indian restaurants, worth the drive from the western burbs.