This stalwart Oak Park restaurant used to be a cozy, dark ethnic restaurant stereotype filled with a lifetime supply of Indian airport souvenir shop tshotchkes. But a recent top-to-bottom renovation has banished all of that in favor of a clean golden-lit, though relatively bland, open dining room accented by exposed brick and filled with white cloth-laden tables.

Thankfully, the eats, palak paneer or silky spinach punctuated by fresh moist orbs of cheese, cardamom-perfumed lamb tikka masala, and neon orange ghee-laden butter chicken reflect the classic great cooking Oak Park denizens have come to expect. A la carte service here is great, but the buffet, a super-spread featuring a heart-stopping cache of deep fried all-you-can-eat pakoras and samosa, is one of the best around. Instead of a gloppy assortment of old skinned-over sauces and flaccid meats, the buffet is replenished regularly.

Don’t forget the sweet treats, either, like pliant orange flavored jalabi and honey and rosewater drenched gulab jaman.

Dine on weekends, and you’ll also be privy to a buffet of performances from castanet-wielding belly dancers to hardcore sitar recitals.

Average cost: $21-$30

Centerstage Reviewer: Michael Nagrant