The Royal Rasoi
| Address: | 24288 Swartz Dr, Lake Forest, CA 92630, USA |
| Phone: | +1 949-454-9600 |
| Site: | theroyalrasoi.com |
| Rating: | 4.1 |
| Working: | 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 10
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Felix Lee
The Natraj chain thats monopolized South Countys Indian food scene over the past decade has a new local competitor in Royal Rasoi. When I first heard of the restaurant name "Royal Rasoi", I imagined fine-dine, exquisite modern cooking, fancy plating, tablecloth environment, British-style Indian cuisine. Although the informal decor and ambiance at Royal Rasoi did not quite match my expectations of the upscale description, the excellent hospitality and pleasant atmosphere made the dining experience enjoyable. This review is about Royal Rasoi lunch buffet ($9.95), not the a-la-carte service which I find is generally better than buffets in terms of food preparation. After trying the lunch buffet, I have to say Im impressed with the selection. The buffet spread consists of classic north-Indian food and does not include the boring Indo-Chinese fillers. Its meat-dominant, good for carnivores. I like a balance between vegetables and meat though. During my first visit, there were two appetizers available - fried fish pakoras and giant crispy Punjabi vegetable samosas - very rarely are both handhelds served at the same time in lunch buffets. I noticed that Royal Rasoi operates a tandoor oven to cook crispy thin naan and tandoori chicken. The chefs follow the traditional Indian method of cooking for these items. Royal Rasois prepared the best garlic naan I have tasted in town. Moreover, the pieces of tandoori chicken I ate were tangy and juicy with hints of smokiness, they were not low quality dry and tasteless breast meat reheated in an oven and then doused with red food coloring. Royal Rasoi prepares North Indian staples for the buffet, such as chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, goat curry, tadka dal, palak paneer, etc and also rotates the curry selection on a daily basis. For example, the special items today were malai kofta, garlic mushroom, and Madras chicken. On other days, the specials are vindaloo and biryani. Many of the Indian buffet restaurants in South County do not offer such an extensive and rotating variety.
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Srinidhi Mahendran
SENSE LESS PEOPLE I had been to this place last weekend around 02.20pm i was not aware that they close at 3.00pm when i entered they invited me saying "sorry the buffet is closed" so i asked them thats fine do you take orders now? they told "yes, we do take" i ordered some food and they made me wait for 30 min and the same person came back with few TOGO boxes i was surprised to see that. i asked him man when did i tell you to pack my food???? such irresponsible people they are, i got irritated and asked man what are you doing??? then he says " sorry our kitchen is closed at 03.00pm..!!!" Does he mean to say he just packed some food from the left overs in buffet...???because i saw them taking away the food from buffet once i entered. why couldnt he tell me this when i entered i would have just searched for another restaurant instead of wasting 30min..!!! SERIOUSLY SENSE LESS UNKIND PEOPLE..!!!!THEY DONT KNOW HOW TO TREAT CUSTOMERS...!!!
ME
Melissa Cotrone
Overall best value for price! They brought fresh naan and ice water to our table while we were at the buffet. The meats (goat on bone, fish and tandoor chicken) were tender and flavorful. The Matar Paneer was very good; it tasted like the paneer in both that and the Palak Paneer was homemade, very tasty and fresh. I felt the spinach in the Palak Paneer was more different than Ive ever had, it was not particularly to my taste. The madras lentils, although the sauce was somewhat thin and the lentils were fewer than expected, was flavorful. I especially liked the fruit custard which I mixed with the Kheer (basically a thin rice pudding) You cant get Indian Cuisine of this quality for this price in many places, I highly recommend Royal Rasoi.
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christian marek
The service was absolutely amazing ... I never ate here before .... but did research on great indian. Food near me and found this place and I have to say this is and was the most unreal experience I have ever had at a restaurant in general. .. the staff was amazing the master chef was stellar..... but after my meal the master chef and owner came to my table and brought us a desert that wasnt on the menu as a gratitude of how much we loved the place and the dish ... was beyond amazing ..... my name is Christian marek from renaissance studios in San clemente ..... if u havent tried this place u are missing out on the finer things in culinary delight. ......
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Jared Dayton
Very impressed by this little unassuming location. Very personable service, even suggesting we not get the easy upsell of garlic naan because my dinner already came with enough for both of us, i love that kind of honesty. Flavors were fantastic! Each style unique and with its own strength. Diverse menu and quality results plus a knowledgeable and friendly staff makes this a big winner. Always a good sign when you go in and a 20 person Indian family is celebrating a birthday there with a table FULL of beautiful food. Will return. Had the veggie dinner pictured. All that plus naan just 14 bucks and each curry was excellent!
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Sandeep A
Food was good, price was decent... Very bad service... Depends on who seats you... Some tables were well attended, unfortunately not mine.. The waitress that showed us, didnt care to ask us what we want to drink... Straight away asks water with or no ice? Then threw the menu on table Then someone else came to take our order.. he was from the kitchen, he didnt care either... Or offer better choice I wanted to order more food .. but the waiter never cared to inquire us ... I tried to wave..still got ignored... All in all.. it was good food but bad service
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Andrew Perry
Yesterdays lunch was disappointing. Have enjoyed lunch buffets here in the past so dont know if yesterday was an anomaly or if there has been a drop off in service and attention to detail. Yesterday they were not reviewing and refreshing the dishes on the buffet. Some items were completely out. Others had been picked over so only sauce remained. The dishes that were there were OK. Staff were more concerned with talking between themselves or listening to or talking on their cell phones than attending to us. See photo I posted.
MA
matt b
Wife and I were originally on our way to BJs off of El Toro on the other side of the freeway. We happened to see this place to our right. We both asked each other, simultaneously, "How about some Indian food tonight?" This place was incredible. We had a few dishes which were spiced and seasoned to near perfection. Our only gripe was that the garlic naan could have used more garlic for our taste. It was delicious, just not garlic-y enough. Definitely worth a trip.
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Melissa Reed, DVM
We had dinner here for my birthday. The servers were attentive and kind, and the food was fantastic! It was very flavorful. I had aloo gobi and too many appetizers. The onion bhaji was better than any onion rings, and the vegetable samosas were difficult to stop eating. The aloo-tikka, vegetable pakoras, and hare-bhare were very good. The decor was no frills but there were Indian people eating here which was a good sign! There was lots of parking too.
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Makeitpretty Yu
This is by far the best Indian buffet in town. Great flavors! Very clean, nice decor, great variety in the buffet line that included fried fish, tandoori chicken, chicken tika masala, good creamed spinach, garlic mushrooms,lots of chutney and sauces, 3 food stations, table service, fresh hot garlic naman. So much goodness for under $10! Attentive wait staff, and lots of parking. Great ambiance. Will be back definitely!
