One of the city's most consistently excellent restaurants for many years, the Ambassador Dining Room serves elegant, sophisticated Indian food in an equally elegant and opulent setting. Classic Indian cookery--curries, vindaloos, biryanis--are always terrific, but the real dazzlers reside under the Chef's Recommendations section of the menu, where out-of-the-ordinary dishes like shrimp adrak feature a tightrope walk between green chile heat and restrained acerbic lime and sweet tamarind. The vegetarian menu is large and varied, and offerings like the outstanding Bengan bhartha (cumin and coriander-roasted eggplant) are skillfully prepared. The Ambassador's popular lunchtime buffet, served seven days a week, is a terrific deal.