Royal Indian Cuisine Is the Indian Food We’ve Waited For [Review]

Let me start with my usual disclaimer: I paid for my food and was in no way reimbursed for doing this review. The folks at Royal Indian had no idea I was reviewing them. I take good food very seriously.

I had been dying to try Royal Indian Cuisine since it opened and on the first really chilly night I went by in hopes of some spicy, savory food to warm up with. I was not disappointed.

Usually when you think Indian Food the first thing that comes to mind is a lunch buffet (which I will be back to try) but my fiance and I decided to go at dinner. The dining area had several other customers- a great sign. Since they've been open awhile that showed me they've developed a base of customers on merit, not new-ness.

We were greeted immediately and allowed to sit where we wished. We were served some complementary crunchy, airy lentil cakes with a minty chutney and a hot sauce. It was a fun way to whet our appetite.

We ordered a mango Lassi and an appetizer to start. Our appetizer was a hard-to-find-favorite of my fiance's- gobi manchurian, a fried and sauteed cauliflower dish. He had never seen it anywhere besides Minneapolis and home cooked by us. That is one thing you will notice about Royal Indian right away- there's a ton of options. After warnings from our server will still ordered it "spicy" because we both can't back down from a dare.

It.was.hot. Nuclear hot. Deliciously amazingly hot and exactly what I wanted. In spite of the extreme heat it was wonderfully flavored and I kept hurting myself to eat more. Luckily, the service was fantastic so
I drank about a gallon of water. And totally killed that Lassi, which was perfectly creamy and tasty.

For our entrees we exercised a little more prudence and ordered them "medium" - which was perfectly spiced but not enough to make your mouth bleed. You get the option of Naan or basmati rice, so we got one of each. We chose to go for the garlic naan, which was an explosion of garlic.

The only thing I can think to compare it to is the garlic fries at Ranger's Stadium. Yes, that much garlic. I loved it.

Entrees are served family style in the prettiest metal bowls. We ordered two vegetarian dishes- a scrumptious buttery Mutter Paneer and  a toothsome mixed vegetable curry. Both dishes delivered in flavorfulness and satisfied my craving for savory. Between two very hungry people it was more than enough food and in fact we took some home.

Over the course of the meal we asked a ton of questions and our server was happy to answer them all. If you're new to Indian food, or even know quite a bit but want to expand on your knowledge, this is a great place to learn.

The bill was correct and totally reasonable for the quality and portion size. Again, the service was top-notch. I felt welcome and truly like a valued guest the entire time.

Royal Indian Cuisine is located at 3806 50th st #226.

I will absolutely be back and I'm thrilled to try their lunchtime buffet.

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