Finding a place to eat in Oviedo usually comes down to the loop between campus, the mall, and Center Lake Park, and most of that loop is chains with a drive-thru attached. Tabla sits in the City Plaza development at Oviedo on the Park, a few steps from the Amphitheatre and Cultural Center, which puts it inside walking distance of the one part of town people actually walk in.
This guide settles what to order and when to go. It covers Tabla's $14 weekday lunch, what a full dinner runs, which dishes hold up as takeout on the drive back toward UCF, and how to order food online before the 6 PM rush lands.
Quick Summary
Lunch Between Classes, for $14
Every $14 lunch platter comes with:
- Lemon coriander soup
- A vegetable samosa
- One entree of your choice
- Butter naan and jeera rice
- Dessert
- A fountain drink
There are seven vegetarian entrees and six non-vegetarian ones to pick from inside that price, so the $14 does not change whether you take dal tadka or chicken vindaloo.
The same $14 also buys a vegetable or chicken pulao with raita, a chole kulcha or chole bhatura tray, or an Asian platter of fried rice, hakka noodles, or Thai red curry. Shrimp on the Asian platter adds $3, and it is the only thing on the lunch menu that moves the number.
After the Amphitheatre, When the Kitchen at Home Is Not Happening
Shows at the Amphitheatre and Cultural Center end with a few hundred people walking back through Center Lake Park at once, and almost none of them want to cook. Tabla is the closest restaurant in Oviedo to that walk, which makes the tandoor list the obvious thing to look at.
| Tandoor Dish | Price | |
| Paneer Tikka | $23 | |
| Chicken Tikka | $23 | |
| Tandoori Chicken | $23 | |
| Chicken or Lamb Seekh Kabob | $23 | |
| Chicken Malai, Achari or Hariyali Kabob | $23 | |
| Chicken Boti Kabob | $25 | |
| Tandoori Shrimp | $29 | |
| Tabla's Kabob Platter | $32 | |
| Tabla's Lamb Chops | $39 | |
| Tabla's Mix Grill | $41 |
The Mix Grill at $41 is the table order. It is the one plate on the menu that arrives and stops the conversation for a second, which is a useful thing after ninety minutes of sitting quietly in a park.
Kitchen hours run to 9 PM Monday through Thursday, 10 PM on Friday and Saturday, and 9 PM on Sunday, so check the show's end time against that before you count on a sit-down.
Shopping at the Mall, Then Actual Dinner
The curry list is flat priced, which makes the decision about flavour rather than budget. All ten run $23:
- Makhani, the tomato and butter one
- Tikka Masala
- Korma, the mildest on the list
- Kadai, cooked with peppers and onion
- Jalfrezi
- Roganjosh
- Palak
- Madras
- Vindaloo, the hottest
- Tabla's Homestyle
Pair one with garlic naan at $6 and jeera rice at $5 and a single curry feeds two people who have been walking around a mall for two hours.
For something heavier, the Indian Delicacy list runs separately. Dal makhani, chana masala, aloo gobi and dal tadka sit at $21, malai kofta and navrattan korma at $22, and butter chicken and methi malai chicken at $23.
Few restaurants near Oviedo Mall hold a single price across an entire section, and it is the detail that makes this the easiest table to hand a menu to.
The Vegetarian Problem, Solved Properly
Anyone feeding a mixed group near UCF knows the shape of this: one person does not eat meat, and the default answer is a side salad. Tabla is a popular restaurant in Oviedo where the vegetarian half of the menu is the longer half.
- Twelve vegetarian mains on the Indian Delicacy list alone, from $21 to $23
- Paneer Tikka from the tandoor at $23
- Vegetable and Paneer Biryani at $20 each
- Four Thai curries at $20 each, red, green, yellow and massaman
- Alphonso Mango Paneer at $22, which is the one to order if you want to find out what the kitchen does when it is not playing it safe
Chaat covers the smaller appetite. Bhalla papdi chaat is $9, vegetable samosa and aloo tikki chaat are $10 each, and palak chaat and pani poori are $12.
Start with the palak chaat. Fried spinach leaves under yogurt and chutney is a texture most people have not had, and it makes a better argument for Indian food in Oviedo than anything written on a menu board.
When You Want a Wok, Not a Curry
Some evenings do not want gravy. They want garlic hitting a hot pan and something that arrives fast. Tabla runs a full Indo-Chinese and Thai section alongside the Indian one, which is not standard for an Indian restaurant in Oviedo or anywhere near it.
| Asian entree | Price | |
| Indo Chinese Fried Rice | $20 | |
| Indian Chinese Hakka Noodles | $20 | |
| Tabla's Triple Flavor | $20 | |
| General TSO | $20 | |
| Sweet and Sour | $20 | |
| Orange Sauce | $20 | |
| Pad Thai | $20 | |
| Thai Basil Fried Rice | $20 | |
| Thai Red, Green, Yellow or Massaman Curry | $20 | |
| Schezwan Sauce | $21 | |
| Manchurian | $21 | |
| Chilli Garlic | $21 |
Twelve of the fifteen sit at $20, and the other three at $21. The Chilli Garlic is the one people come back for, and the version served as an appetizer at $15 is the smaller way into it.
Biryani, Bread, and the Order That Travels
| Biryani | Price | |
| Vegetable | $20 | |
| Paneer | $20 | |
| Chicken | $22 | |
| Goat | $24 | |
| Lamb | $24 | |
| Shrimp | $24 |
Breads run $6 to $9. Plain, garlic, butter, green chilli and rosemary naan are all $6, along with tandoori roti and onion kulcha. Paneer kulcha, cream cheese naan and lachha parantha are $7. Bhatura, Peshawari and Kashmiri naan are $8, and the two stuffed ones, lamb keema naan and chicken tikka naan, are $9.
Order the lamb keema naan and a raita at $4 and skip the entree entirely. Nobody will stop you.
Dessert Is Where This Menu Gets Strange
Most food in Oviedo ends dinner with a chocolate cake. Tabla ends it with gulab jamun creme brulee, and that decision tells you more about the kitchen than the entree list does.
| Dessert | Price | |
| Gajar Halwa | $6 | |
| Gulab Jamun, Rasmalai or Rasgulla, pick any two | $6 | |
| Rasmalai Tres Leches | $7 | |
| Mango Tiramisu | $7 | |
| Gulab Jamun Creme Brulee | $7 | |
| Mango Tukda | $7 | |
| Dubai Chocolate Samosa | $9 |
The Dubai Chocolate Samosa at $9 is the one that gets photographed. The rasmalai tres leches at $7 is the one to actually order.
How to Order Food Online from Tabla Oviedo
- Place the order through the Tabla Oviedo ordering page and choose your pickup time
- Pickup at City Plaza, the fastest option during the 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM lunch rush
- Dine in when you have the hour, since the soup and appetizer on the lunch platter arrive in sequence
Hours at Tabla Oviedo:
| Day | Hours | |
| Monday to Thursday | 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM, 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM | |
| Friday | 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM, 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM | |
| Saturday | 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM | |
| Sunday | 11:30 AM to 9:00 PM |
The gap between 3 PM and 4 PM on weekdays is the one that catches people out, so an online order placed for 4:05 PM is a better plan than arriving at 3:30 PM hopeful.
Before the Naan Basket Lands
Lamb keema naan torn over a bowl of raita, eaten in a car park at Oviedo on the Park with the amphitheatre emptying out behind you, is a specific kind of Tuesday. So is a $14 platter with six things on it at 12:40 PM between classes. Tabla is the place to eat in Oviedo that covers both ends of that, and the ordering page saves you the wait either way.
Order food online from Tabla Oviedo and pick your time before the 6 PM crowd does.
