Very tasty South East Indian vegetarian curries and excellent selection of freshly made dosas, naan, papadums and puffy hollow fried balls. It's centrally located on Broadway at Oak, with a comfortable interior, and courteous service. Get there earlier on weekends because it tends to get busy. Decent value for $11.99!
Recommended!

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 :)

The food is a touch spicer than I'm used to, but it was still well worth it. The waiter was more than accommodating when it came to pointing out which dishes were vegan. The atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired as it's pretty much just one big open room, but if you're just interested in the food, Saravana will do you just fine.

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.

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

Absolutely agree with most posters here. This is a unique restaurant in Vancouver. I've been to their lunch buffet at least 4 times. The food hot and fresh. Choice are aplenty. Service staff did their best with a smile, which is always a challenge when it is as crowded as it tends to get here. Overall, excellent value for money. I will certainly return when I feel like having fresh and filling vegetarian food.

For those interested in geography, South Indian cusinie is food served in cities such as Madras (Chennai) and Bangalore, India.

Decided to check this place out after reading all the wonderful reviews. I've never tried South Indian food before and I was quite excited and abit nervous.
Came here on a Fri at 6ish and the place was almost full! There were lots of ppl working but it was still hard to get their attention once we're at our table.
I heard that their doza is good so I decided to give it a try. Doza is similar to crepe (abit crispy) w/ fillings inside. The fillings could be vegetables and/or meat. It was very delicious!
My partner ordered the dinner special which was very appetizing and flavorful! It's abit on the spicy side but I totally recommend this dish for first-timers. The dish came w/ assorted spicy dips, 2 puffed breads and something similar to Papadam but w/ no spices. Very good!
I also ordered the Eggplant appy and that was quite addictive. The server suggested us to get Kulcha (it's similar to Naan but w/ more flavors) and that did not suit my taste.
Overall, it was a nice experience. Very authentic. The place doesn't look too fancy but I will definitely come back.

Quite good! First time I've tried a South Indian restaurant. I've been there 4 times by now! Opened not long ago! First two times I had buffet, just love the freshly made Pourri and Dosa. Naan I've only tried once (the server misunderstood when I said "no thanks".. and he gave me a piece of naan anyway).. Naan was a little chewy, not fluffy. Dosa was light, fluffy, quite nice to eat with sauces. Pourri was also quite nice though I can't eat too many, they fill me up!

Other buffet dishes are pretty good! Third time I went I wanted to try the menu and not stuff myself too much (after shoving food down my stomach the second time!) This time I tried .. don't remember the name. It's a pancake thing with chilli, onion and tomatoes, with 2 chutneys on the side, one currie type of sauce, and another cup of a delicious sauce to pour onto the pancake. This costed $7 something, under $8 for lunch. Looong line up that day to pay at the cashier.. servers were too busy to bring the bill. It was around noon.

Fourth time I visited, decided that the buffet was a great deal so had that again. Lots of dishes for $9.40 before tax and tips. Am tempted to try those desserts by the counter.. don't know which is good though! Next time I crave South Indian food I'll know where to go! Funny thing is, first time I went I didn't realize the dishes were vegetarian! Didn't miss the meat, and I am a meat lover..so it was a bit of a surprise I didn't realize until a friend pointed it out!

Dishes are not stale like some buffet places are.. Very nice.

Ate here for the second time tonight-more than Pleased with the food-it was delicious.

The service 'bumps' that seemed to be an issue in the past have been addressed-the staff have the drill down and were functioning smoothly.

The kind young waiter who served me saw I was cold, confused and in need of sustenance so he suggested a 'special meal' of
Poori (2), Channa Masala, Rice, Sambar, Rasam, Special Kulambu, Two Vegetable Curries, Raitha, Curd, Appalam, Pickle and Sweet-it was outstanding and just what I needed.

The sweet in particular was heavenly-a kind of Carrot pudding with a breath of Cardamom quite unlike anything I've ever had anywhere.

If you haven't tried South Indian food this place is a wonderful introduction to this unique and intriguing cuisine.

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...