Kalachandji's

With recent threads on vegetarian food and soul food, I thought I'd get your experiences on this place that's been in business some 30 years in East Dallas.

I have been several times - and my experience has always been positive. The food is good and very reasonably priced - and served all-you-can-eat buffet style. The service has always been friendly. And I have never had anybody try and push religion on me - something I was a bit concerned about on my very first visit. Best bet is to visit when it is not really cold outside as most of the seating is in a very nice courtyard. There's indoor seating as well - but the courtyard has a certain charm to it.

Kalachandji's is an excellent place to eat. My husband and I first ate there while we were dating, probably not long after they opened. The newspaper did a review of the then new restaurant that piqued our interest. It was not originally a buffet but changed to that format after a couple of years. Over the years we have eaten there many times and always found it quite enjoyable. The courtyard is very pretty and there have been many improvements to the building over time. We've had friends who declined to dine there for fear of being pressured by the Hare Krishnas but that has never happened. In fact, while taking a History of World Religions class a few years back, we visited on a feast day. We were invited in to watch (and participate should we choose to do so) the religious celebration, then invited to share the community dinner, for which there was no charge. I was very sorry to hear about the recent fire and hope they will be up and running again soon. There are other places to get vegetarian Indian food these days but few have the charm and character of Kalachandji's.

Wow. I was not aware that there had been a fire. However, according to the following article, they just reopened again:

[thescoopblog.dallasnews.com]

That is excellent news indeed.

Not wanting to hijack the thread but are you the same Dismuke that has the music web site?

Yes, that's me. I probably ought to set up a .sig line with a link.

For those not familiar, I will put in a shameless plug given that it does have something to do with history. I operate a 24 hour online radio station devoted to 1920s & 1930s popular music and jazz. It is at [RadioDismuke.com] I also occasionally blog recordings from my vintage 78 rpm record collection at [dismuke.org]

I love your site. Great stuff. 20's-30's jazz is some of my very favorite music. I have many 78 rpm recordings but have had to keep them locked away while the kids were growing up. It's great to be able to enjoy the music without the risk of breaking the record. :-)

Are you familiar with Matt Tolentino's Singapore Slingers? They are a local band that plays 1920s and 1930s music. They have an upcoming performance at the Pocket Sandwich Theater next Tuesday, June 5. Here is info from the Pocket Sandwich website - scroll down to the appropriate section: [www.dallas.net] Unfortunately, it does not look like I will be able to make it to that particular performance. You can also read more about the band at: [www.myspace.com]

This thread is drifting a bit but the Levee Singers also play the Pocket Sandwich periodically and are great fun.

AND back to Kalachandji's...the court yard is great and I am sorry to hear about the fire.

For anyone with an interest in such, Kalachandji's also offers cooking classes.