The Royal Turban- Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Queanbeyan

Written October 2019

Looking for a 9pm feed I trudge hungrily through hostile territory, stung by the rejection of closed and closing pub kitchens, into Royal Turban. I've been down the main street hundreds of times but never seen this place before. A smiling waiter greets me inside an empty oasis of brand new furniture and decor in a soft department-store colour palette: off-white, blue-grey, taupe, eggshell and so on, joined by a few other complementary but fairly indescribable in-between hues. He tells me it has been open a month, beaming with pride in the quality of the food and the vibe. The vibe is something you can't see from the street, he tells me. Most Indian places make all their dishes from only a few different sauce bases with different spices and their entrees all taste the same, he says, but not at Royal Turban. He assures me the sauces are many, and each bhaji, pakora and curry puff is imbued with a distinct flavour. I am informed that some of the cooking staff came from Blu Ginger, and it is one of the good ones, but not as good as Royal Turban. This pristine dining room is filled with tables all carefully and hopefully set just in case someone arrives besides me, and one smartly dressed Sikh family. Nobody does. But it is 9pm on a Wednesday in Queanbeyan. A beer appears so fast it almost seems they knew what I wanted before I ordered it. As I ponder this temporal anomaly, several papadams materialise with that light green sauce. I eat paneer and chicken and bread and rice, and realise my beaming interlocutor is no braggart. This is fine cuisine, no question. Uncommonly good in every respect. Satiated, I box up the leftovers, pay my gracious host and stumble back out into the...

The food was okay, but the service was very disappointing. I clearly mentioned not to mix the garlic naan and butter naan, but they still brought them together on the same plate. When I pointed out that I had ordered them separately, one of the staff members took the plate back, simply separated the same naan onto different plates, and returned them to our table.

Unfortunately, my son ended up vomiting in the restaurant. I informed the staff right away, but due to their lack of knowledge and training, no one provided proper assistance or information about how to handle the situation.

Before we paid the bill, they even asked us to clean up the vomit ourselves. The way the staff communicated with us was poor and unprofessional. It seemed like they understood basic hospitality but had no awareness of food allergies or customer care.

It was a very bad experience overall. The staff definitely need more training, especially in their behavior and attitude. The girls serving food were placing dishes on the table as if they were throwing them.

This experience wasn’t just bad because they asked us to clean up — it was worse because they didn’t listen carefully to our order or show...

I went there on Boxing day for dinner. The restaurant was a fair bit busy and the music was on, it was overall a nice ambiance. One staff on the floor who was extremely sweet and friendly and was very willing to help and suggest wherever required. Another Sardar ji working both in the kitchen and front was immensely hardworking and it was a treat to see someone so passionate about what he was doing. I mean you could tell that he is in it not just for money, but for doing what he loves. And all that was worth it when i took the first bite. We had Butter Naans, Chicken Tikka Masala and Kadai paneer. The naans were literally the best naans i have ever had and am not even kidding, they were as soft as a new born’s bum hahaha. The spices in the curries were at its best and just what i asked for, i asked for extra spicy and they rightfully delivered. We were so full that we skipped the dessert and let our tongues burn a little bit hahaha. I would definitely go back again and again and again and recommend paying them a visit bcz you won’t be sorry.

FYI this is not a paid review. I just appreciate a good meal with a local business. They...