Unpretentious and satisfying food
Situated in the rear side of a small building currently housing an Indian grocery store is this small restaurant serving Indian and Indo Chinese cuisine.

The first thing to be noticed is the romantic walkway to get to the restaurant. Once inside, you will find a moderately decored interior.

Lunch buffets offer a huge variety of foods. On one visit I saw three different kinds of salads, the usual lettuce, cucumber, tomato variety, along with a Mexican salad, and a Punjab-style salad. There were also three different kinds of rice.

The few times I have been here I have had soup that was very flavorful. The tomato soup was memorable and a soup that was labeled as lentil was yellow-gray in color and was pleasantly spiced.

Various chutneys, raita, and some other appetizers are available at the buffet table.

Each time I have been to Royal India, there is typically at least four or five vegetarian dishes, each quite different from the other, at least two different chicken dishes, and a lamb dish. Sometimes one or two of the dishes have a Mexican or Chinese treatment.

Sometimes naan is in a tray at the buffet table, other times it is brought to you. Twice I had naan brought to my table and it was filled with small amounts of fenugreek. This naan was one of the most moist naan I have ever had, like it was just taken out of the oven, or pan.

There are normally at least five or six desserts, of the typical kind offered at such Indian restaurants.

There is also free tea or lassi, depending on the day. On one visit, there was free mango lassi.

Fridays tend to get very crowded here and due to the layout of the interior of the restaurant and the buffet tables, a very long line of customers can crowd restaurant patrons in their path.

On some visits it took awhile for emptied trays to get restocked during lunch, but I think the restaurant has fixed this problem.

The atmosphere during lunch is high-energy due to the music and images coming from the overhead video screen in the restaurant. Restaurant patrons I saw seemed to be in a hurried mode, not of relaxing.

The spice mixture of dishes is very enjoyable, the selections are varied, and I didn't experience any dish containing an excess of oil or butter.

One example is the gazra/carrot halwa (grated carrots in a butter/cream and spice/sugar sauce). It was done perfectly - not too dry nor too buttery.

I cannot recall any dish I have had at the lunch buffet being other than enjoyable. I could say that some could be a bit richer in flavor (the chana masala was mild in flavor and the kheer was without additional toppings like sprinkled green cardamom) but most dishes were as good if not better than a majority of restaurants I have been to. The dal makhni was memorable, as was the cauliflower korma which was a simple but very enjoyable combination of tender cauliflower

As of June 2006, the lunch buffet runs about $7 and for what is offered not only in terms of variety and selection, but also in quality, this is the best value of this kind of restaurant in the western suburbs of Philadelphia.

The restaurant has interesting decor consisting of suspended colored ornaments of some kind which I'd guess come to life in the evening for dinner.

I'd guess the atmosphere is quieter in the evening for dinner. The ambience is not what you will get at a fancier restaurant, but does offer a very nice alternative to the other more well-known restaurants in the area.

Would I come back here? Absolutely - it would be interesting to sample some of the many other dishes available at the lunch buffet. I was told that the selections change daily, which is not the way for some of the other Indian restaurants which sometimes just change a few items.    [22 Jun 2006 02:39:59]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Naan, Soups, Carrot Halwa, Cauliflower Korma, Dal Makhni

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