Place Setting: You will feel as if you're in your mother's kitchen, except for the posters of India that decorate the walls. The service is cafeteria-style: Choose your meal from the buffet counter, pick a table in the dining area and wait until your number is called. Pay particular attention to the daily specials.

Cast of Characters: This restaurant draws a mix of young professionals, families (many of south Asian descent) and busy older couples catching up on the week's news.

Great Plates: Succulent tandoori chicken (a bargain at $5.95 for half a bird); the wonderfully tender goat special; the chole, or chickpeas in a mellow spicy sauce.

Waiter's Tip: The counterman recommended the butter chicken, adding that his personal favorite is the alu began, an eggplant and potato dish.

Good Timing: Delhi Dhaba is a great spot for an inexpensive lunch with officemates. It's also a good place to give children a chance to taste fare other than chicken in nugget form (high chairs in the dining area signal that children are welcome).

Parting Thoughts: Indian pop-music videos play nonstop on the restaurant's several television sets, making it a good spot for a casual meal but not for serene munching.

-- Amanda Lenhart