Madras used to be the strongest Southern Indian game in town—whichever town it was in—but recent visits have found it slipping a bit beneath one or two of its competitors (although we shrink from the notion of competition as a bad thing; there’s room for plenty of Southern Indian restaurants in any city of any size). Some of its handful of Texas locations feel, even the older ones, like a work in progress—often, a buffet steam table takes up a good amount of space, and the rest is mostly unadorned, save for some distinctly 1980s touches. Service can be a bit gruff, and English speakers difficult to find (which inspires confidence).

Most notable are the tremendous dosai—at a foot and a half long, these rice-and-lentil-flour crêpes might be the biggest around, even if they haven’t been nearly as crisp and hot as they used to be. Best of these is still a buttery masala dosa, filled with curried potatoes, onions, and nigella seeds. Curries are also a good choice—palak paneer has an unusual nutty flavor to its spinach, and the cheese comes in nice big cubes. Spicy malai kofta has sliced almonds and is so rich that you might not even realize that the “meatballs” are vegetarian.

There’s a good-sized and cheap daily lunch buffet, which, by the way, is totally Kosher. L’Chaim!