Chennai Express

I don’t know why South Indian food is so hard to find. It’s very different than North Indian but also totally delicious. (Don’t worry, Chennai Express has all of the dishes we’ve come to expect at Indian restaurants as well, but they also have two pages worth of dosas and a bunch of other Southern options)
I’ve been here twice in the last couple weeks and love it. I’ve tried a couple of the dosas (the masala and the spinach masala) as well as one of the chana dishes. The dosas are fantastic. They’re crispy and come with different chutneys, tonight I think I got cilantro and tomato. The spinach dosa also came with sambar.
Service is great, my food came out quickly and the prices are reasonable.
I highly recommend Chennai Express, it’s like going to a restaurant in Tamil Nadu except quieter, cleaner, and with silverware.

I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner here and highly recommend this restaurant. There were items on the menu that were new to me as this is southern Indian cuisine. We ordered potato and cheese dosa along with a chicken curry to share, mango lassi and two kinds of bread. The spices were so fragrant and flavorful that it was dazzling. We also had a wonderful and helpful waiter who made us feel welcome. This is my new favorite Indian restaurant. It feels like the most authentic I’ve tried. It was so good that I felt I’d taken a trip!

This place supposedly offers delivery but realistically does not necessarily. Tonight was the second occasion that I have gotten excited about ordering a bunch of Indian food only to be told the exact same line, «Uh, yeah… our delivery guy didn’t show up for some reason.» The first time I was disappointed but understanding. Now it is clear that this is just how they do business. If you aren’t offering delivery anymore, just be honest and say so.

Decided to try a new place and we were not disappointed. The food was so delicious and the spices were just the right amount of kick. highly recommended

Had visited Niagara falls. Heard a lot about Indian restaurants in Niagara town, not being good during off season. we had visited in October and it was cold, with fewer tourists. For that reason we had drove to buffalo to eat.
Went to Chennai express. It was a mediocre experience. You can rate a Indian restaurant based on how they make the biryani. We ordered a couple of veg biryani. Chicken and lamb too. The rice was the same in all, only the meat changed. Quantity was less, prices more than usual. Taste was nothing special. The website said open till 11 pm and we arrived at 945 pm and we were rushed. Wouldn’t visit again.

Just visited this place for lunch and I have to say the food was pretty darn good. I got myself a mango lassi, samosas and masala dosa. Everything was excellent and I liked the green (chili) sauce that was provided with the samosas to compliment the sweet (tamarind) sauce. Gave the samosas a very unique, and good, flavor I’ve never tasted with samosas.
Being south Indian, dosa is a staple and I find that there aren’t many places in Buffalo that serve it. Chennai Express is definitely one that does and at that one of the best places in Buffalo, imo, for a dosa.
Customer service was excellent and very very courteous. I live in the Elmwood village and will be ordering from this place a lot more going forward!!!

If you like South Indian food or are curious about it, Chennai Express is a must. Every appetizer we’ve had has been fabulous – like other posters, we also recommend the podi idli. We also say try the aloo bonda and one of the utthapam as well. The dosas are fantastic; hot, crispy and just the right spice level. The sambar is some of the best we’ve ever had.
The only drawback is the lack of readily available street parking, but there is a pay lot practically next door and it’s worth it for the great food.

The Palak Paneer was actually pretty good, but unfortunately the butter chicken was really dry. I haven’t really found many indian places I liked in Buffalo, but this place will get the job done if you’re craving for it. The flavors are great for both the dishes I tried, just wish the chicken wasn’t so rock hard. Price was actually decent in my opinion considering I’m use to paying a dollar or two more for indian (each entrée).

4.5 stars
Okay, being an Indian, I know what I am talking about.
This place is really good. I would give it 4.5 stars.
I and my other friends are regulars at this place. We have been to this place several times and have not been disappointed even once.
The location is really good, can go for lunch from the office or quick weekend evening dinner at Chennai Express.
Podi Idlis are awesome. Attested by my Hyderabadi friends.
The dosas are an absolute must, if you go to this place and do not eat any of their dosas, you are missing a vital part of your life.
Kartik is awesome, he is robust and always refreshing.
Only cons about this place is: that the kitchen is sort of located on the entrance area and creates a very mild oily Indian food like odor (not that it is good or bad). However, compared to the food they serve and the prices they have, this small factor if forgiven.
I would definitely recommend this place to all my acquaintances and for those who are traveling to Buffalo, do not go without having a dosa from this place.

Good food. Super nice servers. Worth your time to find this little place hiding in plain sight just behind Shea’s downtown. Delivery available, which is a great option for downtown hotel guests.
I’m new to Indian food and Kartik the server was friendly, patient and made excellent suggestions on two visits. Chicken curry is a great intro to Indian food — tender chicken chunks in a savory but not spicy tomato sauce, served with rice. Lamb curry was even better.
Portions were satisfying and prices are fair.
Lamb Vindaloo (tender chunks of lamb in a tangy tomato sauce served with rice) was a quite a bit hotter, as Kartik warned. Tasty, but all the spice I could handle. When I was halfway through the plate, Kartik chuckled that Chennai’s Vindaloo was 6 on a scale of 10 when it comes to spice. 7 would have been uncomfortable for me, and I can only imagine that 10 must be delivered to the table by a waiter in a hazmat suit.
A plain dosa (giant lentil and rice crêpe served with dipping sauces) was the perfect side item.
Lots of vegetarian items.
Gluten-​free friendly: Not certified, but most dishes are served with rice, and the dosa crepes are made with lentil and rice flour.

Seriously. Wow.
We are so lucky to have this place in Buffalo.
I am the pickiest eater ever, and this place has the best menu in Buffalo… hands down.
If you aren’t familiar, dosas are a crispy, thin (like air thin) pancake made from lentil and rice flower. So, if you’re gluten free (like me), you’re in luck. They’re also pretty healthy, but unbelievably satisfying. They are sort of a healthy-​ish comfort food.
The owners and staff are kind and pleasant, and the food is both delicious and GIANT. (My dosa this evening was about the size of a manhole cover.)
Be adventurous and check this place out. It’s outstanding, prices are fair, and the food is tasty and healthy.
Bravo!

My absolutely favorite cuisine in this world is South Indian so obviously I hold it to a very high standard. This is why I was extremely pleased with their food.
On point with the flavor and spices paired with a really nice staff, this place is sure to soar you into a void of ecstasy.
Try the mini-​tiffin which has a taste of all traditional south indian foods — Dosa (rice batter crepes), Idli (steamed rice cakes) and Medu Wada (fried rice batter doughnuts but savory) served with Sambar (lentil soup) and coconut chutney.
I have yet to try other items on the menu but judging from my first experience, I’m sure this place will keep it’s stature.

The naan isn’t naan but roti. Still good but kinda small. The butter chicken has a good amount of spice and hits the spot! The appetizer sampler is good. Has chicken. The cheese masala dosa was ok. Not the most amazing thing but filling. It came with a lot of sauces and a soup. Best of all? The Faluda! Order it. So good!!! Very refreshing watery milkshake thing. The food was hot and flavored well. I’ll be ordering again– once I’m out of this Indian food coma
Just called. No more delivery. :(

Customer service is excellent!
I’m not familiar with Indian cuisine so I only stuck with couple of dishes. Both times I came to pick it up, they had it ready for me. They all tasted very delicious. Medium was just hot enough for me to keep on eating. I imagine hot would have been severely spicy.
The only thing is, my clothes smelled of food when I came out. I know I shouldn’t complain because they use a lot of spices in Indian cuisine but even if I wanted to eat in here, I couldn’t. Or if I did, I would have to come wearing old clothes. Getting my nice coat smelly is one of my biggest pet peeves.
But overall, great friendly service and great food!

My review is for take-​out food that was delivered exactly on time, even though we are having some very frigid winter weather.
The nice, friendly manager was very patient on the phone as he answered all my questions.
Their okra dish was delicious and the medium spice level was right on target. Not bland, nor super hot, right in the middle.
Spinach dosa was a very thin crêpe with a swirl of spinach in the batter. The texture was both crispy and chewy. It came with the most addictive potatoes I have had in ages. Their texture and flavor were really superb. Two chutneys, one coconut, and the other spicier, added extra layers of flavor. There was also a perfectly seasoned soup full of lentils and vegetables.
The fish dosa would have brought my review up to five stars if it had not been studded with so many chopped raw onions i couldn’t avoid them no matter where I took a bite. Next time, I will have to remember to ask for no onions. Of course, if they had been sautéed…
There was no way the food could have been hot while it’s so bitter cold outside, but everything heated up just fine in the nuker.
I would happily order from Chennai Express again. Apparently, some dishes, like their vegetarian Thali are only available for lunch.
If I hadn’t read about this on Unilocal I never would have tried it, so thank you to all my fellow Unilocalers.

I stopped by this place on yesterday after leaving Oshun just to see what it was all about. I was unfamiliar with the origin of the word Chennai, so I had no idea what type of cuisine they served or what type if restaurant it was. The host (Karthik) was very pleasant and I assume heard the congestion in my voice, because after answering my questions about food recommendations, he offered me a cup of tea on the house. Because of that gesture, I made it a point to return.
I ordered the chicken vindaloo because I wanted something spicy to clear my sinuses. Because this was my first time here, I didn’t go too high on the spicy chart. He started me out at a 7, which was perfect. I could have gone a little higher, but it was a great start. The rice was very flavorful and cooked to perfection. The chicken was tender and savory, providing an excellent complement to the spice and flavors in the sauce.
The dish was served with a coconut dipping sauce, which helped to balance the heat of the vindaloo, for those that need it. I had seen «chutney» on the menu and have heard of it, but was virtually ignorant about what it was. I asked Karthik to explain what chutney is, and not only did he explain it, but he also brought me 3 to try; on the house!
He gave me samples of the mango, mint and tamarind chutneys, so I ordered garlic naan to try with it. I enjoyed the mango chutney more than the others, but neither was bad. The fresh naan would have made it better either way! Karthik hooked me up with another cup of tea on the house, which capped a great experience!

This place can turn you from Luke Skywalker (whiny pre-​Yoda version) into Obewan Kenobi in about 69 seconds. That’s why it’s known as «Jedi Express.» Geeks of the world unite. And dyslexics of the world untie too. And don’t trip on those laces.
I would teeter between a 3 and a 4 for the food. I found the Chicken Curry to be average and fairly boring, it was sort of tasty but not nearly spicy enough for my tastes. I am a huge curry fan and am not even sure if I would order it again if I came back here. I found most dishes to be bland and Americanized unfortunately.
They did a good job with the dosas, they were actually better than the Dosas at the famous Palace Of Dosas which used to be on Millersport but has now closed down. Dosas are large pancake-​like thingamejiggies which are from Southern India and are stuffed with chilled monkey penises.
Okay I lied about the chilled and monkey part. They are warm Orangutan penises. Okay no. Stuffed with nice veggies and stuff. No apes. No penises.
Anyway this place does Dosas well. So that definitely pushes it up towards a firm four.
I was even considering giving them a 5 though, not because of the food, but because of the service. I found the guy serving me to be one of the loveliest guys I’ve ever been served by in any Indian restaurant ever in the history of the world ever I am going for many uses of the word ever in this paragraph and ever I think I have ever used it ever one too many ever times now and I ever need to stop ever before I ever blow ever a ever fuse ever and ever your ever mind ever ever ever ever. Ever.
But even though the ever service is ever lovely, I can’t ever really give this place ever more than a ever four because.
OK ENOUGH WITH THE EVERS.
Because it’s just not 5 out of 5 food to me. Star Of India I like more, Spices Of India on some levels, and definitely the Chicken Karahi at Grill Kabob. And of course Kabab & Curry too. A wetter spicier yummier chicken curry. I have yet to try Taj Grill.
But who am I kidding? Indian food is just f****** tasty. So f****** come here and try it, you might love it. Great service, good prices, good food, what’s not to nom? That’s a trademark by the way. You can’t write that, or steal it. What’s not to nom is all mine. I have it patented. Don’t even ask. No. No. No. NO.
The other great thing about this place was the company. There was my girlfriend Maria (nobody knows we are dating, so shut the **** up you loudmouths, you better not say it on Unilocal or else), there was my boyfriend Alex K (nobody knows we are dating, so shut the **** up you ruffians, you better not say it on Reddit or else), and the boy I wish I was dating and would date if he was a girl (or a shemale), Alex L. He has some fancy job running the whole city of Rochester (or was it Honolulu) on TripAdvisor or GrubHub or something. RateMyCurry maybe. And by curry, I don’t know if they mean curry. Alex will never realize my love for him.
He’s Hawaiian.
Check out Chennai. It’s yummy and worth a try. Indian food is a matter of taste. See if this place is to yours.

When looking at the address of Chennai Express I expected it to be in some abandoned area of downtown — but it’s actually thirty seconds north of Chippewa and Pearl and close enough to cater to anyone near Allen.
I walked there on a snowy day and half expected it to be closed. The guy that greeted me couldn’t have been more welcoming and the restaurant itself is pleasant, if reminiscent of a 70’s Buffalo bar.
My plan was to go here twice before writing a review — once to try the south Indian and once to try the north India food — but my experience was so great that I couldn’t wait.
I grew up in Toronto, lived in an Indian area in London and have been to India. It’s pretty well my favorite food and I’m extremely picky about it as so many places get it wrong (likely by trying to cater to non-​Indians).
While I haven’t sampled everything, Chennai Express’s thali was by far one of the best I’ve ever had. If you’ve never had a thali you’ve been missing out. Chennai’s thali consists of eight small sampler size dishes (two curries of the day, a dal, a kind of soup, a rice pudding etc., bread, mango pickle and rice) and is a wonderful introduction to south Indian food. Everything in mine was fresh tasting and delicious.
I also ordered the «paper» masala dosa which is like a jumbo crispy crêpe sitting on top of a bubble and squeak. It comes with three small side dishes (two chutneys and a veg curry /​soup like thing). It’s the best six bucks you’ll ever spend.
In short, Chennai Express is worth a visit from anywhere in Buffalo but if you live downtown you should definitely try them out — and as other Unilocalers have noted, they deliver!

A new Indian place downtown that delivers and charges no delivery fee?!
«Honey, I know what we’re having dinner for the next 3 months!»
«Delicious home-​cooked meals by my husband???»
«Yes, I just picked up an Indian cook book and I will impress you with a myriad of Indian dishes. You just need to leave the house while I cook and then magically we will have have homecooked Indian food.»
«Really?»
“Yes, honey. Just leave. I need to mix spices and it isn’t pretty.”
*wife leaves, I call Chennai Express. Delivery, bam, wam. Thank you, vindajaam!*
Indeed, my first experience with them was ordering delivery on a Saturday afternoon. I ordered butter chicken, Baingan Bhartha and Palak Paneer. The delivery came prompt and piping hot. I tried everything. Spices and delicious flavors galore; coming together to make me very, very happy.
If I were to be critical, I would say the Baingan Bharta was a little too oily while the Palak Paneer was a tad too salty, but those are minor personal preferences and I still give Chennai 5-​stars for the sheer awesomeness of not having a delivery fee and taking the plunge and opening up in downtown Buffalo. The Baingan Bharta is a delicious eggplant dish that I have to credit Maria B for introducing me to. That and chana sag /​masala are my go-​to dishes for vegetarian Indian food.
Most recently, I had a meal at Chennai Express with some Unilocalers for lunch. This time, I ordered the chana saag and we shared a spinach masala dosa along with some other dishes. The interior is nice and open, although quite bare. There’s a lone traffic light at the beginning and a bar that is setup, but I don’t believe they serve any alcohol yet.
The Chana saag was delicious. The spinach and chickpeas were spiced quite well, although I ordered it at the «spiciest» level they had and it came to what I would consider on the milder-​medium side. Service was a little slow (especially getting the check… for whatever reason that seemed to take forever), but they just opened up so I’m sure they’re still working out some kinks.
Regardless of the few kinks, I love Chennai Express and that is it the closest Indian place to my house now. I will give them my love and my business. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Preliminary rating for this new spot across from Shea’s on Pearl. I’d hope it goes to a 5 star after more visits.
The menu is large. Lots of vege options but they have meats as well. Even goat. I was told they plan to add some items in a few months and perhaps change some that may not be of interest to their customer base.
I had a masala dosa and vege dish for my first visit. I love dosas but have not had one in a long time. Since I was doing take out it came in parts for me to put together myself. I’d guess they put it together better than I did, but I enjoyed none-​the-​less. I could have had a little more heat I think and I’ll know to ask for next time.
My vege main was baingan bhartha — roasted eggplant with rice. I asked for medium, as a test run, I’ll go for hot next time. For those worried about heat this chef is cautious with it so you should be fine.
The basmati rice was terrific. I don’t remember ever thinking that before about rice. Im not sure why, but this was memorable to me.
All servings were generous portions.
I did not order a drink but the drink menu was typical Indian options. Mango lassi and faluda options.
The space was a bar before and it still has the bar from those days. They do take out or dine in. I’d guess there were 15 tables, with tablecloths and all, there. Easy to move around if you have a larger group etc.
The kitchen is behind a red curtain and you can hear some of the activity there. The daytime staff are mostly family. The chef used to work in NYC Area Indian restaurants.
Parking is street meter. I had no trouble at 11:40 am on a Wed, but could see it being more difficult on a show night.
I give a shout out to Alex K who said it was opening today. I look forward to going back, perhaps with some fellow Unilocalers.