8Elements Perfect Indian Cuisine

This is the most expensive Indian lunch buffet at $ 16/​person. I saw an advertisement of this restaurant in a magazine and decided to give it a try. The quality of the food is mediocre and most of the items were luke warm even though we went at noon. When I asked for the check and gave the waitress the coupon from the magazine, she asked if I could pay with cash instead. Good thing I had enough cash with me, so I paid. The total was $ 25.60 and I gave her $ 30. She gave me back $ 4. I don’t care that she short changed me $ 0.40, but if you’re going to put a coupon for advertisement, you should not be asking customer for cash and not give the correct change back. I will never come back to this place.

This place is for you if you love spicy food and are not too concerned about identifying what you are eating. I for one, don’t fit into either of these categories. Perhaps this is what authentic Indian food tastes like. Since I’ve never been to India, I wouldn’t know. Here are a couple of suggestions that would have made our experience more enjoyable. 1) Identifying the level of spiciness for each item by marking the label with 1, 2, 3 or 4 symbols like a hot pepper. 2) Allowing multiple guests to sit together and each pair to utilize the free buffet coupon. 3) Changing the credit card tipping option to allow the guest to enter what he/​she would like to tip or at the very least offering the 10% option since that is the customary tip at a buffet.

Today went out with a group of friends for lunch and decided to check this place out. Great Indian buffet for $ 17. Had a wonderful selection of vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes. So many choices of biryani’s, curries and desserts. I really enjoyed the goat biryani and goat curry! It was spiced right and was great on my palette. If you get a chance… check it out!

Delish! Would go again during poppin’ lunch hours because they refill the foods often! Naan is really good and fresh. Went for the buffet lunch which was tasty and filled us up really good!
Parking: Went during lunch hours and wow, there was no parking near the restaurant! Maybe because there were other poppin’ lunch areas but we had to park pretty far away.
Service: Meh service, it was lunch hours and really poppin! Went for the buffet lunch so they usually take your plates when your done so you can grab a clean one. The wait staff was very much not attentive to clearing our table. They were like «peace» once they gave us the water. You pay at a register so don’t really need the wait staff unless they’re taking plates to clear table. Really busy with big parties at lunch from surrounding companies so time it well!
Food: Super yummy! Went with some Indian friends and they said it’s just like mom’s and suggested the place because they thought the food was very traditional and good quality. I agree with them. Some dishes were not soo good like the desserts which were tacky and dry and left out a bit too long because noone was biting from the buffet. The naan was fresh and yummy and all sauces were bomb. Great foods and options. Can get really crowded though!
Overall, yummy food but meh service.

Waste food!!! He mixes yesterday food and today’s !!! My stomach got upset and high price

I love Indian food, particularly paneer tikka masala, and I was looking forward to trying a new Indian spot. While the masala wasn’t bad, it wasn’t as good as others that I’ve tried. There was a slightly sweet flavor that I couldn’t quite put my finger on and the sauce contained vegetables as well. Every other paneer tikka masala that I’ve had has consisted solely of sauce and cheese so I was taken by surprise that there were veggies mixed in. I’m not a veggie fan and had I known that the dish came with veggies, I would have requested that it be made without. I even just pulled up the menu online to verify and there’s no mention of the veggies. I ate a bit of the dish but let my boyfriend have the leftovers.
My boyfriend ordered another vegetarian dish that I didn’t catch the name of.
We also ordered paneer burji dosa. Neither of us had ever tried a dosa before and we were intrigued by it. It was much larger than we had anticipated but also very thin so while it looks like a lot of food, it’s actually quite manageable. The dosa is a thin crispy crêpe and this variety is filled with a crumbly cheese. It’s served with a couple kinds of dipping sauce. I don’t know that I’d go out of my way for a dosa but it was perfectly fine.
We tried the paneer and garlic naans and they were both great but then you can’t really go wrong with breads.
I’d love to return to try their lunch buffet sometime as they were setting up for it towards the end of the night and it looks rather expansive.

Ordered takeout. The food was delicious, but portions seemed small and don’t include any rice or other sides.
We will come back to try the buffet, as these other reviews make me think that’s the way to go.

Worst Indian food I’ve tasted. Too much sugar put in their dishes. Prefer the taste of many spices over super sweet, Suharto dishes. I won’t eat here again. I prefer the royal India flavors down the street from here. You might like it here. I just don’t like sweet chicken tikka masala or korma.

Short and sweet. Decent food and slow/​bad service.
Planning to try Indian food for the first time? Give 8 Elements a try — offering a pleotera of entrees, you can be sure that you’ll get a good taste of what Indian cuisine is.
The lunch buffet runs at $ 14.95. Each designated section offers a menu of meats/​vegetarian dishes, salad and eclectic desserts. Each item is labeled which was great; but it would be useful to include a short description of each description. It would certainly be useful for people who had never tried this type of food before.
Service is horrible. When we were seated, the server asked us if we wanted any drinks. Came back with them and that was the last time we saw her. Our plates started piling up and in need of a water refill for quite some time. We tried flagging someone but none were giving us any attention nor trying to scan the area and/​or make eye contact. It was frustrating. Side note — it wasn’t busy at all. We were the first patrons of the day.
Eventually, they came and took our plates but never asked us if we needed anything. At that point I was ready to leave. We finally asked for the check and it took forever for that.
Bottom line, the food was alright but the services pretty much what set this review to a three star rating.

Used to be good! But now rude customer service, pricey. Ordered biriyani, it was very spicy, even though asked for medium spices, under cocked rise and cold egg added.

An Indian restaurant that serves up South Indian food — a cuisine that was under-​represented in the US, but less so, with other options in San Diego. Their lunch buffet is probably their highlight, and they don’t shy away from variety and the spice level. Both veg and non-​veg food items, and also desserts — you can get a sample of each and feel very full. Their regular menu, however, seems sub-​par compared to their competition. Their kebab night was a disappointment. The meat was extra-​ordinarily dry! Not the ‘juicy’ kebabs that you would imagine.
The service leaves a lot to desire for. The manager who lets the waiter do the bidding while standing 3 feet away from me, with his back turned away, to enforce a ‘no outside food’ policy, was just not what I can give a good rating for. Although the policy is understandable, you don’t want to toss your customer without offering some options where the outside food is there for a kid with allergies and make us want to come back while enforcing policy. Very unprofessional, and not customer friendly.
Sorry, you just lost me for good.

Pros: Variety Variety and Variety coz there are one too many items. But that is the plus side though. Had been for their buffet and i liked it. Starters were great, they had dosas, great chutneys, a million types of gravy’s and lots of good desserts. They have a very decent and peaceful ambiance. The staff were patient and very polite.
Cons: I don’t think so 8 Elements tops the list when it comes to taste because i have had better. The gravy’s were kinda tasteless and some even too spicy. The dahi vada, ras gulla and jamuns were as hard as a brick and i don’t think they were fresh outta kitchen. What is the point in keeping so many items when not all of them are really fresh and tasty because the competition is tuf out there.
But overall a good place if you ignore the taste bit. Great ambiance, Polite staff and variety menu to savor a weekend brunch at leisure.
Check it out!

I had to try this place twice and now I’m sure, the food here is amazing! The butter chicken was sweet but spicy. The masala shrimp was tasty. If you have the time to dine in stop by and enjoy the atmosphere and great food!

Very polite staff, great food. If staff would be more attentive and remember the proper tools and food orders will bring up the rating stars.

The best DOSA… Thanks chef Shiva. Appreciate the staff who took care of us.
I rate Dosa Night 4 on scale of 5.
Thank you team 8element.
We thoroughly enjoyed our Pongal, feast of infant Jesus and power ball victory.

I heard about 8Elements some time ago but had no idea who they were and where they were located in Mira Mesa. I’ve become accustomed to Indian restaurants in Miramar but not really in Mira Mesa. So we were surprised to find 8Elements in the same strip mall as Phở Cow Cali and Bank of America (corner of Black Mountain and Mira Mesa). How have we never seen an Indian Restaurant in this strip mall before? And 8Elements is seriously in the same corner area as Phở Cow Cali.
NOTE: Their AYCE lunch buffet opens at 11:30a.
There is SO MUCH to choose from at this buffet. It was exciting walking from station to station seeing what there was to choose from.
The chicken curries tasted freshly made but we weren’t a fan of the (breast?) meat but that’s just us. There were quite a few rice dishes to try out as well (and MANY vegetarian options!). The standout item to us was the pakora kale which tasted wonderfully seasoned and crispy. I also like the squash mash (of sorts) as it tasted creamy and fresh.
Bummer that the naan wasn’t made to order though.
The desserts tasted a bit lackluster and dry. The spicy guava (as listed) wasn’t really even guava — I think they used apples that day.
Service was attentive as our plates were cleared quickly and water refilled often. The restaurant got incredibly busy by noon with big groups of co workers coming in so 8Elements seems to be popular option for their $ 10.95 weekday lunch buffet. This is probably the largest Indian buffet I’ve seen so far but I still prefer the AYCE lunch buffet at Royal India in Del Mar. The fresh made-​to-​order naan and flavor of the curries there is perhaps more familiar to us. Regardless, 8Elements is worth a try if you’re in the area and want an AYCE Indian buffet option in Mira Mesa.
They also have a few weekly specials that we saw on the walls: Dosa Night, Kabab Night, Biryani & Beer Night. They also said they carry the most craft beers in Mira Mesa! So I think we’d come back to try one of these specials on night.

I came here for lunch with a buddy of mine. I was very hungry, and I was craving some good Indian food. So we came here.
I ordered my favorite Indian dish: chicken tiki masala. I also ordered some shrimp as an appetizer, and opted for water to drink. The food took about 15 minutes to get to us, but the wait was definitely worth it. The chicken tiki masala was very tasty, and extra spicy. The shrimp had a kick of flavor, and came with rice. I ordered their standard naan, which was a good complement for the meal.
To top off the meal, I ordered their chai. It was ok, but the flavor was a bit off. Overall, I left very satisfied. I will be back the next time I come visit my buddy in SD.

I have refrained from writing a bad review about this restaurant (one of my fav Indian food).
Today it went beyond negative… My rating reflects my feeling… I will not got to their (Unlimited Kabob) Dinner buffet any time again at least in the near foreseeable future…
I will be making sure none of my friends go there or take me there either…

We were visiting our friends in San Diego and specifically wanted to return and eat their buffet over new years weekend.
What we look forward to when we dine at a buffet (In no particular order)
A good deal (Doesn’t make sense to pay Vegas style money without getting Vegas style menu options for e.g.)
Lots of variety in food
Signature dish that I could go for seconds and thirds.
Prompt service to remove plates we are done with.
8Elements satisfied almost all of our requirements that we desire from a buffet. That is why we put this in our to-​do list during the holidays.
Pros:
1) Setup consisted of several stations. The meat items were in a station that was the size of a regular buffet station at any other desi restaurant. 13 dishes the couple of times we were there is what we counted. Vegetarian items were on a separate island/​station. Desserts, salad etc. were in yet another station. Even though the restaurant was crowded, this setup meant that there was hardly any line at the food trays. (+1)
2) Their biriyani was very delicious. The mutton curry was also full of flavor. The fact that they had two different kinds of biriyani is also unique to this restaurant, I think. (+1)
3) Authentic Andhra food in the buffet. Some of the items were unique to this buffet. (+1)
4) The waitstaff was very attentive. Abundant seating, and TV’s playing desi pop videos is also a plus.
Cons:
Parking could be a problem?

Given the numerous Indian establishments in Mira Mesa/​Miramar area, I just wanted to give this place a try. The menu is pretty standard, so I went with the chicken vindaloo, medium level spiciness. The flavor was very good and with the appropriate amount of spicy and flavor. The chicken was also cooked perfectly.
So why only three stars? Well, this place is expensive for what it is. At $ 10.25 the chicken vindaloo doesn’t include anything. I feel like at that price, you should at least get a bowl of rice included.
In review, I’m still searching for the «perfect Indian cuisine.»