Kalachandji’s

Hands down my favorite restaurant in Dallas. I’ve been going for years and they consistently serve up quality and creative vegetarian food. The restaurant is located in a temple and has a beautiful open air courtyard for seating, as well as in door seating. I love to bring friends from out of town here. There menu changes daily so be sure to look at their website before you go if you have any specific dietary needs or restrictions. The food, the temple, and the service is always a treat.

This is such a peaceful, beautiful place to enjoy a meal. At $ 10.95, the lunch buffet is an incredible deal. The buffet includes a very sweet, but tasty tamarind drink (I cut it with water and it was perfect). The buffet has a hot bar, cold salad bar, bread, and dessert.
The food was fresh and well cooked. The bread is even fresh baked at the restaurant. You can purchase loaves of it to take home. According to a sign in the restaurant, food items change daily. I enjoyed the food, and the staff was very nice.
Although I’m no longer a vegetarian, I still enjoy eating mostly vegetarian meals. This place is now on my list for yummy vegetarian spots in Dallas.
Oh, and the restaurant is beautiful. It was a gorgeous day, so I ate in the courtyard. There is also a temple there, and you are welcome to look around. I really wish I lived closer; I’d eat here every day.

Had a really great meal as part of their lunch buffet. Would love if there were few more selections but everything we had was quite tasty including the rice-​based dessert.

Never disappoints! Great food and atmosphere, especially the patio! The pappadam was the best I’ve had. Being gluten-​free, I appreciate all the choices I had to choose from; everything is super fresh and flavorful.

WOWWWwwww! I had no idea that Kalachandiji’s even existed and I was so impressed with my overall experience dining here. The location of the joint is located in beautiful temple, which is something I’ve never experienced in the heart of the Dallas, Texas. The temple is filled with so much history and I was in shock with the unique architecture! I wish I was able to get more photos of the temple, but this will only make you all much more curious about exploring Kalachandiji’s.
Im definitely not a vegetarian but dining at this fine establishment has made me forgotten. The cafeteria style buffet provided so many vegetarian options which I enjoyed so much. I do love a good quality buffet (fat girl at heart)! I really enjoyed the potato side dish and I recommend all readers to try it! The curry is also very good and is strongly recommended!
I am DEFINITELY coming back and will be bringing all of my friends to try it as well. This place is great to bring out of town guests and it will for sure impress them :)

I was so excited to try this wonderful restaurant I had heard so much about from my friend. We went to lunch here a few days ago and it is now «my favorite» of all Indian Restaurants! Service was awesome and the people there are so wonderful! Everything made from scratch even the fabulous cinnamon raisin bread! Can’t wait to go again! The temple there is just beautiful! Don’t miss this opportunity to try their restaurant!!!

All give stars for this place! There are so any options for vegetarians looking to feast! I love the tofu dishes, and all of their handmade breads and deserts are delish! There are ample offerings on the true «salad bar» I appreciate the fact that they Julian their vegetables– some even include raw zucchini and raw beets. If there is a table open you’ve got to sit in the outside courtyard. It is absolutely beautiful and very peaceful. Before you leave don’t forget to check out the gift shop for cool gifts and a large variety of incense.

What a hidden gem! My fiancé frequents here and finally took me. Everything was yummy and had a chill vibe. The tea was
!

Vegetarian or not, Kalachandji’s is a must see. Just seeing the Hare Krishna temple itself, nestled in the heart of the Mount Auburn neighborhood of East Dallas, is enough to give this spot 5 stars. The fact is, this temple has so much more to offer than just a photo opportunity. The people, the classes and instructions given out to help others get through their daily lives, the positive impact that it has had on the surrounding community… each of these reasons deserve a 5 star rating… but I’m here to talk about the food!
As you enter the temple, you can either follow the signs to lead you to the restaurant section, or you can just follow your nose. Fresh aromas lead you to the buffet where you can snag a tray and a plate and go to work! The menu changes on a daily basis. During my visit I got some rice, bok choy, and this awesome dish of brussel sprouts and potatoes… this was soooo good! The potatoes and sprouts were cooked in a tomato sauce with the perfect amount of seasoning! (I actually went back for seconds) I spoke with the gentleman who was putting out the food, and he told me which dishes were vegan (there are a couple of dishes that use dairy, just ask and they’ll let you know, if not, the daily menu indicates it as well if you look online). You must try the tamarind tea too!!! Please take a sample… you really won’t regret it!
The atmosphere is awesome! If the weather permits, sit out on the patio… it’s probably one of my favorite outdoor eating areas in North Texas! It feels like you’re in a small garden with a fountain right in the middle. The seating encircles the fountain so everyone can have a relaxing view. Soothing music accompanies you throughout your whole eating experience… it’s just a totally stress free and delicious experience all in one!
Like I said at the beginning, vegetarian or not, Kalachandji’s is a must see! The food is delicious, and the atmosphere is even better! Let me know what you think when you check it out!

I don’t get buzz about this place. I was just disappointed, to be honest. Since I don’t eat meat, this seemed like the place to go while I was in Dallas on vacation, based on Unilocal and multiple websites. The idea is great and the vibe is nice and peaceful, but the restaurant was nowhere near great. Good service, but no selection and what they did have, wasn’t great. I’m from Texas, but currently live in North Dakota, so it’s sad that a place way less cultured has much better Indian food (and food from that general region) that isn’t even raved about like this place is. I get that it’s small, and that the restaurant is not the point of the place, but I don’t get the hype.

I love this place. The food is always delicious and the quality is good. I go about once a week. A great place to come for a vegetarian/​vegan meal. You serve yourself at the buffet and there are always tons of delicious options. The courtyard on a sunny day is one of my favorite places to eat in Dallas. The cinnamon bread loaves are great to take home as well. I do wish they changed up the desserts a little more, but it’s pretty great nonetheless.

Absolutely excellent! The food (all vegetarian) is probably some of the best Indian did I have ever had. Further, the place is spotless! We even sat on their outside courtyard. I tried to find dirt, even outside, and it was immaculate.
They also have a full salad bar. It seems like they grow a lot of their produce on site. The quality of the vegetables was outstanding. I can’t sat enough. We will definitely be returning. We also want to try their cooking classes.

In the East Dallas barrio, there’s this Hare Krishna Hindu temple that takes up the space of a former church. The building outside looks old, weathered, and aged. But step inside, you can see that there have been renovations. The temple’s mandir, or the space and structure housing god (s) in the form of the altar, is stunningly beautiful. Besides this holy space, there’s the gift shop that’s very well-​stocked and contains all things Hindu. And then there’s the outdoor space where they host the festival (when it is unused, it may look barren though). In the outdoor space, you can find a little memorial to a Krishna and also a greenhouse where they grow tulsi (the holy basil and sacred plant in Hindu). And lastly, but probably most importantly, is the restaurant containing the vegetarian buffet that brought this place to fame all around Dallas.
The buffet, priced during lunch at $ 10.95 ($ 9.95 if you’re eating only from the cold salad bar), includes bread, soup drink, and dessert. The price goes up $ 3 for dinner (and up $ 1 for cold salad bar). For the health-​fanatics, the whiteboard on the wall will explain which items are dairy-​free and gluten-​free, which I thought adds to a nice touch but also may make eating here a little bit difficult since the buffet selection is a bit small.
And these are the things they had (pluses for the things I liked, and minuses for the things I didn’t like):
SOUP
— soup (supposedly they always have dal, but i didn’t see this) — I had mung bean soup and it was a bit too spicy, made obvious by the dry chili peppers they added to the soup base
RICE
+ pulao (rice), which is very similar to a light version of biryani, is well scented with various vegetables, nuts, and spices (such as cardamom)
— brown rice (plain)
VEGETABLES
+ kidney bean curry was good
— pumpkin sabzi made with sweet pumpkin was a bit plain
— steamed vegetables (plain, but can use the lemon-​tahini sauce to enliven the flavor) — there was mixed vegetables and bok choy.
MAIN ENTREE
+ eggplant parmesan is surprisingly excellent, considering it’s not even Hindu and was not supposed to be served during lunch, according to their website when I visited (I understood sometimes they’ll have lasagna, enchiladas, quiche, and barbecued tofu instead of this dish)
BREADS
— pappadam (spiced wafer) are an acquired taste, and they can be made good with chutneys (i like mixing two chutneys for use on the pappadam)
+ whole wheat and cinnamon-​raisin breads, made from scratched and baked fresh (they also sell a day old version of this bread fro $ 3 by the loaf). This was actually very tasty, and sweet
DRINK
+ tamarind «tea» is really their «house» juice, but sweeter and more concentrated than what I’m used to
DESSERTS
+ halwah (farina cake) is very different from the halva from the middle east. These are more like bread puddings instead, made with toasted farina and combined with nuts and/​or fruits (mine had coconut and pineapple). Delicious (and a dining companion liked his halva with a touch of rice pudding on top which I thought was a great idea)
+ kheer (rice pudding) is flavored with cardamom, saffron, rose essence, nuts or fruits
What I did not have, but sounded good was the pakora (savory deep fried vegetables in chickpea flour batter). Who doesn’t love fried things? Unfortunately, this was only available for dinner the day I went. Also, they seem to also have lemon-​ginger cookies in the menu online — but I did not see them and probably the cookies wouldn’t be a match for the halvah and kheer.
SERVICE
Friendly. You serve the food and drink yourself, but there will be people cleaning after your dirty plates and that person will also bring out the desserts for you.
It’s extremely rare that I like more than half of the things in a buffet, this buffet makes the cut in my list of buffets. :) This is a nice find, and if the buffet with vegetarian dishes seem to be too pricey at $ 10.95, keep in mind that some of the money goes into helping maintain the building. And also that it includes more than the buffet itself since it includes dessert and drinks. A good meal elsewhere may come to be about the same price, but for vegetarians, the pickings are slim. This temple fills that void.

It’s all been said before, so I’m just going to parrot the highlights:
Tamarind tea *heart eyes*
Spinach
Ambiance
Also, look out for the sweets. I talked to a man whose office is in the reading room, and he gave me sweets and a book. How’s that for nice?
That said, I think the price is a little high compared to other similar buffets, like Mumtaz or Ali Baba.

Go here for your health, not so much for your taste buds.
Back here after nearly 2 years. A lot has changed in the way I eat. I’m a vegetable lover now so I thought it would only be fair to try this place again.
Everything here tasted okay. Nothing to write home about. My favorite was the tamarind drink on both visits coz it packed a punch.
The famous bread is average at best, the lasagna had a strange earthy taste which I didn’t enjoy (probably Amaranth?). Dal «soup» was so-​so. The greens were bland (no seasoning whatsoever). I seasoned the greens with tahini to give it more flavor (I tried recreating a dish at Casa de Luz, Austin) but their tahini was runny and didn’t taste like sesame not lemon.
The rice and beans were more flavorful and delicious.
Blueberry halwa for dessert was mediocre.
But hey, they’re priced reasonably and the atmosphere is unconventional.

This place is fantastic! I’ve been going here for years, now – and it’s always a great place to bring new people. Kalachandji’s is a vegetarian buffet located inside of a hare Krishna temple, so not only do you get delicious, healthy food, you get awesome service with a smile in a super cool setting. Definitely check out the temple while inside, and when it’s nice enough sitting outside in the center of the temple is the way to go. The gift shop is also a guilty little pleasure that you can pick up some incense or scarves or any other kind of curios they sell there.

Delicious food! It’s in the same building as the temple and it looks so awesome! The outside patio is so pretty and relaxing. Can’t wait to come back again. Highly recommend and great place to take people out for laid back but interesting place.

I love this place!
Great ambiance and great food!
It’s a buffet with all you can eat salad bar, 2 to 3 vegetable specials, curries, rice and special items like pasta, lasagna, dhokla, ildi, vada, etc.
Desserts are good as well.
But the most awesome part is that they make everything in house. Even the bread!
And everything is VEGETARIAN! NO MEAT, NO EGG, NO ONION or GARLIC! WOW!

This place is truly a diamond in the rough. Nestled in what looks like a residential neighborhood is a Hindu Temple that also houses this other-​worldly restaurant. I thought I knew Indian food, but not quite like this. The buffet featured entirely vegetarian dishes that simply utilize whatever fruits and vegetables are in season. I enjoyed the experience of being completely transported outside of Dallas, TX inside the luminous walls of this gorgeous building. Fifteen dollars per person seemed a little steep for a buffet with no meat though, but that was the «suggested donation» that came on a green bill, so that’s what we each «donated.» Knowing that it’s going towards the upkeep of such a gem makes it all worthwhile.

An absolute Dallas must. Sometimes I have no idea what I’m eating, but it’s always delicious. There’s quite the vegetarian-​friendly variety and always a fresh salad bar.
Pro tips: They bake bread in-​house. You MUST grab a slice or two. The cinnamon bread is so soft and sweet– it’s more dessert than bread.
Second pro tip: Go for the tamarind tea. Sweet, exotic, perfectly refreshing on a hot day.
My only nit-​pick: Wear pants if you’re going to sit outside because there is a small fountain that mosquitos LOVE.

Luckily for me since I live in the White Rock Lake neighborhood, I come to this wonderful, and peaceful place to eat whenever I work from home. The food is very good, and freshly made… but, this food isn’t very spicy as you would expect it from traditional Indian food. Don’t get me wrong, the food is good… just don’t come here expecting the strong, and bold flavors of India that’s all I’m saying.
Whenever the weather is nice, I love eating out in their patio. The ambiance is just very soothing, and serene… giving me a peaceful joy as I eat their food. In addition, the staff at this establishment are very friendly, and serviceable giving your experience a sense of perfect harmony.

If you’re nervous about eating inside a Hare Krishna temple, don’t be. The restaurant areas are very clearly restaurant and there’s nothing uncomfortable about it. You walk in the door and there’s a sign pointing to where you enter the restaurant. You enter right at the buffet line, where there’s a white board listing the dishes of the day in the order they appear on the buffet line with «spicy», «dairy», «vegan» clearly marked.
A lot of the veg-​only Indian food places I’ve eaten are the southern style — lots of dosas and very ultra spicy curries, but the curries here were more similar to what I get at other places, sauce wise. The okra + potato w/​coconut curry was my favorite, followed by the tofu curry. There was a nut loaf that was the token non-​Indian dish of the day, it was really tasty as well. I should add I normally actively dislike buffets, but this was great.
Trying a little bit of everything in the hot line pretty much filled up my plate so I skipped the salad bar (I can eat salad anywhere). I also skipped the really great looking fresh bread, though next time I need to be pickier and leave some room for it. It was all great. I didn’t miss the meat at all. Most of it was not particularly spicy, the dal and the tofu curry had little bits of hot pepper in it but they were avoidable.
The tamarind tea is really nice but you can also drink ice water or hot teas. They will come by and refill the tamarind tea and water several times throughout your meal.
I was completely stuffed after my one plate but really wanted to try the desserts. These aren’t on the buffet but they will bring them to you. When I went there was kheer and a blueberry halva which had a texture more similar to bread pudding than the carrot halva I’ve had in the past. They were both great.
Definitely eat in the courtyard. The weather was nice when I was there but they also have heat lamps above the table so they’d be comfortable in slightly colder weather as well. It’s a lovely courtyard. There are also plenty of indoor tables.
The bathrooms were clean but a little tight.
You pay at your table, they will split your check if you want. Tip generously because they feed the poor for free. (You should always tip generously anyway, but their generosity should be extra incentive).
The menu changes daily so I’m looking forward to trying them again and seeing what other delightful dishes they can make. Too bad it’s such a trek from where I live.

Very interesting place. It is located inside a temple, so the environment is definitely very unique.
Food is served cafeteria style, where you go up to the food line and just pick and choose whatever you want for your meal. All of the dishes here are vegetarian, which is perfect for some but may be lacking for the meat lovers. Regardless, they offer enough to satiate those with the deepest stomachs.
Since it’s a buffet style, I would recommend grabbing/​trying everything a little bit. I liked the curry style/​tofu, and the meatball substitute looking things, which contained really nice smelling/​tasting condiments/​herbs. But again, I would just say try everything out.
The place where you eat is really cool. It’s like an open, outdoor ish area, with a huge tree in the middle of the courtyard. You sit around that big tree in booths or small tables. I would say it is very peaceful and serene. Good conversation place!