Ok vegetarian food. Not impressed with their service. I would have given it 3 stars but for the rudeness I encountered.
They need smaller bowls for the various sauces and curries. I was trying to put the coconut sauce in the large soup bowl, since I don't like all the liquids running together and the owner came by and said "that is not a soup. you are taking too much sauce" and proceeded to put it back in the tray. WTF? Who does that? I told him that he needs smaller bowls for the sauces. He just snickered.
The food is not very flavorful since onions and garlic are not used in the cooking for religious reasons. Go is you have to have a vegetarian buffet but I felt like my $8.95 would be better spent at Evergreen or Taste of India where I can shoose to eat all the vegetarian items on their buffet. They have a ton of vegetarian choices and use onion and garlic in their cooking.
Aw hells naw. There is such a thing as good vegetarian/vegan food in the world, but Govinda's would not have you experience any of it.
Even cultist restaurants can be exceptional (Ie: Supreme Master Ching Hai's Vegetarian House has excellent food, despite the fact that she freaking ascended the Himalayas, walked among the clouds and communed with God; if anyone deserves to justify mediocre food with worldly transcendence, it would be God's bff, Ching Hai.)
Unfortunately, I was so appalled by Govinda's that I broke my fat pact (nothing over 20 grams of fat in one sitting) and walked over to the Valley River Center after dinner to get myself a Cinnabon. Which, by the way, had no onions, mushrooms or garlic, and was still delicious.
Normally, I tack on an extra star for great service (and the people at Govinda's are really nice) but... the food was just that bad. As in, "I left the buffet hungry" bad. I also generally further elaborate my point with an actual experience, but that would mean reliving my dinner, which makes me throw up a little in my mouth. So for further detail, see Truth B's review.
Bottom Line: Please... no more asafoetida... I'll do anything.
At Govinda's Vegetarian Buffet old hippies eat for free...
Just kidding, if old hippies ate for free at Govinda's it would surely close in a week. This place is ripe with draft dodging hippies and warrants a visit regardless of whether you have a gray beard or shave your pits.
The fact that half the buffet is salad is a valid disappointment. Less disappointing though because the salad bar does have a bevy of options and some unique salad dressing offerings. The cauliflower pakora and tamarind chutney was the highlight of our visit.The staff was very friendly, unusual in Eugene.
Govinda's is as Eugene as a Frog joke book or a public meeting full of awkward questions and rumblings about bad democracy. Walk it out at the thrift store across the street if you eat until the point of explosion.
No onions. Â No garlic. Â How's that for starters?
To call this place 'vegetarian' is actually a little misleading. Â It's a Krishna joint, so you won't find a variety of herbs "because they root the consciousness more firmly in the body". Â Hey, I can dig that. Â Whose soul wanted to leap out of their body before a heap of garlic fries? Â Not mine, brother. Â The afterlife can wait. Â Pass the ketchup.
Unfortunately, my trip to Govinda's happened to be on the night that these enlightened folks decided to divest themselves of their earthly possession of 'Flavor'. Â Half of of the buffet's 9 feet of fury is a very ordinary salad bar. Â What remained was rice, potatoes and a broccoli/cabbage dish containing 800 millisieverts of coriander (about 7 times the exposure that Indian chefs are permitted in a given year).
Don't get me wrong. Â I wanted to like this place. Â We need more vegetarian options. Â Unfortunately, Govinda's perpetuates a stereotype that vegetarian food is bland or boring.
I have eaten at Govinda's from Paris to Peru and by far Eugene's Govinda's is the most tasty and clean,(except the windows), establishment of them all. The salad bar is sufficient with many delicious dressing to choose from. The buffet was humble but adequate. They don't use garlic or onions as they believe that it makes people sexually aroused, (which I have never noticed to be true), instead they use asafetida, which can be noticeable in some foods. Desserts could improve, but if you are still craving something sweet drive down few minutes to Choice Market for a nice selection of vegan ice cream.
Review Source:Good stuff. Â Friendly staff and the food is always good. Â It's all that you can eat but, because of the clean and healthy nature of the food, I'd say it's impossible to eat yourself sick. Â I sometimes feel that there could be more options, but everything they have is always good (they mix it up--it isn't the same things every time) and I never leave hungry. Â As another reviewer mentioned, they don't use garlic or onions, and nothing is lost. Â You wouldn't notice if you didn't know. Â
Driving past Govinda's, you might not believe that once inside you'll find a pleasant atmosphere and enough plants, etc to make you forget that you are on River Road. Â I waited a long time to try it because of its location but it's in my rotation now. Â Definitely good for vegans, vegetarians, or anybody who likes good food.
If you want good vegetarian food and like buffets or paying by weight, this is a great place to go. Super friendly people cooking and taking your money and a variety of entrees and desserts to choose from. The salad bar has a variety of dressings made with agave sweetener and there is vegan food here and there. I was told the menu varies day to day.
I went for the buffet and had a split pea fritter (which were all gone by the time I left the buffet line and was not all my doing either), a potato veggie dish, a coconut curry dish with basmati rice, and all of the other appetizers and salad bar stuff. I really stuffed myself and ended up not eating dinner. I have to watch those veggie buffets since it's more filling than it looks.
If I lived nearby, I would eat here often. I hope more people will give it a try when in the area.
True confession: Â I'm not a vegetarian. Â I've tried it for a few months here and there, but I feel healthier and stronger when I eat at least some meat. Â Plus, I occasionally miss it when I don't eat it for long periods. Â Still, I've lived much of my life in Eugene and spent much of my life around vegan and vegetarian types, so I've eaten a lot of meat-free food. Â I'm no expert, but I know what I like.
No disrespect intended, but I vehemently disagree with Kyle's review. Â My family visited Govinda's last year for the Thanksgiving meal and found it...well...bad. Â The tofurkey was dried out and inundated with too much poultry seasoning, a textbook example of the kind of fake meat that no one, carnivore or vegetarian, enjoys. Â The stuffing was dry, tasteless, and really lousy...when Stove Top stomps all over you, you know you have some work to do. Â More gravy would've helped, but they ran out and didn't seem to care. Â The pumpkin "pie" was soft and uninteresting, reminiscent of a failed mousse - disappointing, since Sweet Life has proven that vegan pumpkin pie can be good - though to be fair, my girlfriend liked it (I don't think she ate much else except bread). Â The best aspect of the meal was that for once, none of us overate on Thanksgiving. Â DEFINITELY pass on the Thanksgiving thing if you have taste buds. Â If you are a meat-eater you won't like it, and even if you're not you probably won't find it appetizing.
The rest of the year things are far better. Â The salad bar is occasionally disappointing - often dilapidated-looking and poorly stocked - but the dressings are really good, whether vegan or dairy-based. Â Most of the soups are pretty decent and they have a variety of imaginative savory dishes, most of which are Indian-inspired and several of which are really tasty. Â Govinda's has the spartan sort of environment one might expect in an ancient building which once housed a Dairy Queen, and the tables and chairs are sort of cheap and uncomfortable like the furniture in my first apartment, but it's all good.
Govinda's biggest shortcoming is that they frequently run out of some dishes and sometimes salad bar items too. Â You might want to check the food out before you pay for the buffet, especially when it's busy...although, when it's busy, steering clear altogether is a good idea.
Still, I'd go more often, but their hours blow - by the time I can get there after work, the food is picked over and the place is in wrap-up mode. Â It's sure not Ratatouille, but Govinda's is affordable and meat-free and something different. Â If you're not too hung up on cleanliness and don't mind slumming it once in a while, you should give it a try. Â You'll probably find something you enjoy if you are vegetarian and might be pleasantly surprised even if you are not.
UPDATE: Â Visited several times since I wrote the above. Â They're doing a better job at keeping the hot food hot and the cold food cold - kudos for that. Â The people are really nice, too. Â Unfortunately, the hours still blow and the offerings really tail off towards closing time, which is the only time working folks can make it during the week. Â Â They should charge a discounted price after 7:00 or so, when they tend to be out of some dishes, the salad bar is looking wilted and picked over, and the hot food is sometimes dried out from sitting under the heat lamp too long. Â Otherwise, a solid place to eat.
Ate there tonight and was not disappointed. Â Now, if you're looking for authentic Indian food you might look elsewhere - the food is somewhat blander to suit American tastes, but it's good tasty vegetarian food. Â
The price is the same for dinner as it is for lunch - prices I should say, 'cause they have an adult rate $8.50, a student/60+ rate $7.50, a child's rate $5.00, plus other rates for single portions of various combinations of soup, salad, and bread. Â Also they currently give 50% off for one's initial visit.
There were a satisfactory selection of wheat-free, gluten-free, and vegan items. Â Three kinds of chutney were tamarind (delicious!), coconut and tomato. Â Choice of brown or white rice. Â Idlis! And a sambhar to top them with. Â There was sweet potato soup as well as dal. Â There was a bland coconut sauce. Â Spicy garbanzos. Â Mixed vegetable curry. Â For those who eat the deadly killer wheat, there was lasagna as well as a wheat ball dessert, and several types of bread. Â The owner said they often have wheat-free bread but didn't this evening. Â
The salad bar had all the basic ingredients - I didn't get to it 'cause I was so busily stuffing myself with all the tasty cooked food.
I went here with a couple of people about a year back, and I was really quite smitten. Their menu, which was almost entirely vegan, was some fantastic Indian food in a buffet setting. I tried to save a bit of room for the dessert items, but everything else just begged to be tried, and I couldn't, sadly. Unfortunately, time's wrought hell on the details of what I tried, so I can't go into too many specifics there. Overall, however, I remember that there were some genuinely star items, though a few of the items were a little more bland and dry. The variety was such that this wasn't too much of a problem.
The service was friendly and helpful, and their knowledge on the vegan entries was great, so I never had a worry as to whether I shouldn't try something. Almost all of the dishes were labeled, and only the desserts didn't have labels declaring animal products and such. It's pretty much self-service, so there's not overmuch about the staff that I can really review here, though I could say that the hostess was really happy to see us when we said we were vegans, which was a neat surprise.
The atmosphere was pretty casual, like a cozy diner. Not really a dress up place, but that sits just fine with me. It fit a place that had such a great deal on food.
Pros: Great vegan selection, friendly service, comfortable atmosphere, and pretty good food. The price makes going here an easy choice when you're on a student's budget.
Cons: Some of the items were a little less tasty than their comrades in pans, and the place itself was pretty simplistic in decoration.
Conclusion: Good, affordable food. If it weren't all the way over in River Road, I would totally gorge myself there on a regular basis.
Today I went to Govinda's for their Thanksgiving Vegan Feast. And what can I say, it was amazing. They had all of your typical Thanksgiving side dishes, all of which I loved. My personal favorites were the mashed potatoes and stuffing with some nutritional yeast gravy. I had about three heaping helpings and loved every bite. And the pumpkin pie was to die for! I would love to go here for every Thanksgiving, and I will definitely be making the trip down there for a few dinners in the near future.
Review Source:A delicious all-you-can-eat buffet of mostly vegan options. The staff are super-friendly and wonderful to talk with (very zen, as it were), and the food is awesome. Split-pea fritters, several kinds of chutney, and great beet soup. Indian-inspired vegetarian food that'll make you very happy.
Review Source:Date Visited: Monday 9/1/08 (Dinner)
It was Labor Day and we were returning from a nice long trip from Ashland and seeing Crater Lake, so we were eager to find a nice vegetarian restaurant that was open. Â Govinda's was open until 8 and once my dinner companion found out I had located a Hare Krishna restaurant, he was very excited.
We got to the restaurant at 7:20. Â You pay for the buffet ($7.95) and then help yourself. Â Everything is labeled as far as what it is and whether or not it has dairy or is vegan. Â The salad bar was pretty normal and had green leaf lettuce instead of iceburg (always a good thing).
I honestly couldn't tell you what each of the items I had were. Â There were 2 kinds of rice and a yogurt-like sauce that was suggested to go on top of the rice. Â I did this. Â YUM. Â There were some chick pea things that went well with a tomato chutney sauce. Â There were some breads and other than the vegan cornbread being a bit on the dry side, I can't really complain about the food. Â We were told to get whatever food we wanted before they packed everything up around 7:45, so I had another helping of salad. Â We walked away quite stuffed and quite content with our meal. Â If you're in the area, I would definitely say go and check it out. Â Be sure to get there early so you can have additional helpings.
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