This place always seems packed, but on 2nd try, we didn't have to wait too long, maybe only 10-15min.
Restaurant is still new and clean, the washrooms are definitely cleaned up from when it was the Cambodian place (that's a long time ago).

Servers are all very friendly and they certainly try, but they're horribly inefficient. Well, not the worst I've seen, but they really need to get things in order, that would clear up some of the lineup/waiting issues.

Food? Hey, well, it was quite good. The dishes seem to be quite small, but I recommend trying to limit yourself just 1 per person, maybe you can share another with 3-4 people. Because the dishes are deceptively filling, you just have to wait a bit for it to kick in. We ordered 4 dishes for 2 people and we were really, really stuffed afterwards. Fortunately, it is not expensive at all. I think nearly everything is under $10 and most are like $5-7.
Most of the stuff there is well prepared, but very, very spicy (though I'm hardly a spicyiness fan). Yes, and it is completely vegetarian. No meat there.

What can I say? Decent South Indian "fast" food in a nice clean restaurant. It's worth a 1st trip. Depends on if you're a fan of South Indian, it might be worth a 2nd trip. Me ... I might pass, kind of prefer mid to North Indian I think...

I can't BELIEVE this place isn't more highly rated! I'm an Indian food connoiseur, and I give this place five stars for food.
Buffet food can often be a bit below-par as it's been sitting out for a while, but even though we arrived for a late lunch, the food was all beautifully fresh. AMAZING flavours; some dishes I'd never tasted before. There are about 16 dishes in the buffet, and you get a metal tray with 'dividers', as well as little pots for soups and sauces (you must try the coconut curry, and the lemon pickle, with your papadam). The butter paneer is to die for. One warning: don't take too much at the buffet, because as soon as you sit down, the servers bring you freshly made puris, nan break, AND dosas!
The service here is excellent, and has been every time. Good chai and Indian coffee too.
Nice clean restaurant, nice simple decor.
Really, I have NOTHING bad to say about this place - I will be back here often!

Food: I haven't eaten a lot of Indian food, so I don't really have anything to compare it with. The food is generally very spicy, and there are lots of variety...mostly sauces though. There were lots of Indian people there, so that's always a good sign in an Indian Restaurant

Service: Friendly service, the waiter kept on explaining how to eat each type of food (''dip this in that'', etc.) Very prompt.

Value: About $10 /person for lunch. Keep in mind it's vegetarian food though...

Ambiance: Very clean.

Recommended

I've been searching for great Indian food around Vancouver for years and finally found it here. It's primarily South Indian food and is vegetarian. The food is excellent as the menu is varied and everything tastes exactly as it should. In fact, this is a small chain that includes locations in India as well. The staff are incredibly friendly and will gladly help you navigate the menu if you are unsure of what all the dishes are. No Indian food in the city will taste quite as good once you've been to Saravana.

This be a good place to have tasty south indian food. The lunch buffet (i am not sure if it is everyday or just on weekends) is great value. I would not order the north indian food they prepare though, but the dosas, idlis, sambhar et al are just great.

Am a repeat customer and eat here whenever I am feeling like eating Indian food while in Vancouver. First experience was with their all you can eat lunch buffet and it's a good value for the variety that they have to offer you. Everything is fresh and their dosas, roti, etc. is constantly being brought out by the servers straight from the kitchen.

Have had take-out from here during non buffet hours and it was still really good, portions were reasonable. Have yet to eat in the restaurant during non buffet hours, but if you want to try the place out - definitely come during their all you can eat lunch buffets.

Since everything is vegetarian, didn't have to worry about checking about what was in the dishes before selecting what to eat :)

I love the variety of the food offered here. Buffet or no buffet, there's a lot to choose from. The tandoor dishes are a personal favourite as I myself am a carnivore and it doesn't remind me of the fact that I'm not eating meat! The flavours are great, spices are great, just wished their portions reflected the price a bit more. I remember when it first opened the prices were phenomenal! Then they bumped them up so high it seems almost wrong to charge that much and get so little...not even a small bowl of rice with the tandoor dishes!
The service is decent, better than at most other Indian restaurants...the ambiance is also decent, it's certainly an authentic Indian experience, that's how it's set up back there. Comfy chairs and tables and such would be nice though.

There aren't many places left where you can fill yourself up for $10 and even manage to take some home in a doggy bag. And it's always a good sign to see people from that region dining there.

I've tried both the lunch buffet as well as the menu driven dinner. Buffet was almost overwhelming in choices. Great deal at $10 AYCE. The only complaint with this is they could come around with dosa/naan a bit more frequently. I never sampled their naan as nobody was around until I was done.

Dinner was good - we all had the dinner special where you get about 8 little things of this and that to try. Maybe I'm just used to the Punjabi type curry, but I find the southern/Pakistani curry to be a bit on the sour side. They could ease up on the hotness of the spices a bit. I'm not afraid of spicy foods by any means, but I found this too hot to actually enjoy. Yogurt and raita can only help your tongue so much.

The pancake (sorry, can't remember what they're called) was good, too.

Maybe I'm not reading the menu correctly, but it didn't look like they had many a la carte curries. Their specialty seems to be in dosas.

The service is very good for an establishment like this. I was a pain in the ass asking to move 2 different times, and they were very accommodating.

I couldn't give it more than 3 stars, however, because I think they could offer a bit more, like more curry choices and level of spiciness. But considering how horrible restaurants are becoming, this one is a shining beacon for value and freshness.

My roommate and I thought we'd check out this semi-well-known Indian restaurant chain. Compared to other restaurants close to the region, such as Maurya's, Akbar's Own, India Oven, and Vji's, S.B. was least expensive. We are poor students, we'd walk the extra blocks to save a couple of bucks.
The extensive menu had many interesting and potentially delicious dishes. However, the waiter and waitress had a "don't talk to me...I don't even want to be here attitude" and were little help in suggesting the most sought out entree on the menu. In the end, we ordered the veggie dosa, garlic naan and the banhji bartha (eggplant dish) with a side dish of rice because it was not included in the entree. Boooooo
I've had dosas from New Jersey (home of the most authentic indian food you'll find in N.America), and was looking forward to another round of tubular shaped bread/crepe thing stuffed with delicious aloo gobi style fillings. My veggie dosa turned out triangular shaped and flat. With a confused expression I asked the waiter for my Veggie Dosa. He returned with a nod towards the oversized and unfried samosa wannabe. I double checked whether there was any filling. O yes...the chef had not forgotten to smear the pastry with overcooked left-over-veggie-scraps. It was a visually disappointing surprise. =(
Regardless it tasted alright. But the fact that it didn't look right and wasn't Stuffed with Veggies left me unsatisfied so we ordered a second dish to share...the aloo gobi masala.
Both the bartha and aloo gobi were generously sauced and it was yummy. We love sauces and had a great time scooping them with naan. However, it did mean there wasn't much substance in the main ingredients itself...we found little cauliflower, potato, and eggplant.
Overall, it was pretty much like any cafeteria experience. Food was already prepared and simply heated when ordered. The ambiance was not conducive for a relaxed dining experience.
Long story short-Being cheap backfired this time. It was agreed that we'd both chill out a couple more bucks and head over to Mumbai's Cafe or Akbar's own for a decent and enjoyable dinner outing.

This is a vegetarian buffet that specializes in South Indian food, and that serves plenty of idli.....

Pros: I love their Dosa. It's served to your table fresh along with naan (they make the rounds, though a bit on the slow side)
The food offered in the buffet is prepared well. Lots of pappadom and everything was delicious!

Service is also good and they're very helpful and friendly (especially if you don't know much about Indian food -- they'll let you know what foods work well with which sauces, rices, naan, etc).

Cons:
Atmosphere is ok, not upscale but very casual.
Limited buffet, compared to the very, very extensive ones I've seen.
Food can sometimes feel a little too greasy for my liking, very homemade-like. Like most buffets, the quality is not nearly as good but there's always plenty to go around.
Naan can take awhile to come around, but hey, you'll get plenty of water in the meantime.