Royal Panjab- Authentisches indisches Restaurant — Restaurant in Freiburg im Breisgau

Beware beware! Avoid this restaurant. Many of the positive reviews seem fake. If that's not enough to dissuade you yet, read on .... Seldom have I been as surprised by a restaurant as Royal Punjab. Unfortunately, this is not due to how good the food, service and ultimately the entire meal was. Instead, I was greatly dissapointed at several points. It is a great shame that I didn't first look at the reviews here. The number of 4 and 5* ratings does not make sense given the number of people having taken the time to explain why they gave only 1 or 2 stars. We were at first really looking forward to the buffet. However, without going too deep into other details, the food was mediocre at best. The rice was the most simple thing I've ever seen or tasted in an Indian restaurant. The curries themselves all seemed to have the same simple flavor. In addition, the salad dressing was either mayonnaise or something pre-made used in cheap Döner kebabs. What ?!? To add insult to injury, the lassis we ordered cost half the price of the buffet. OK, I figured they needed to recoup costs somewhere. I don't know what happened but they were straight up bad. And never worth even 2€. The cheap plastic table cover is also grimy and wiped down in a perfunctory manner after the guests leave. Suffice it to say, because of the food quality itself, I would never come back. However, to top it off, the waiter was just... I don't want to be rude because I don't know whether they were having a bad day or something else was going on but it was an experience I'd really like to forget. Please notice that there are quite a few reviewes who had very similar experiences... As a crowning moment, when it was time to pay, no bill was given. When I handed the waiter the money and expected change (as is customary if one doesn't say anything), they just put the money away and said thank you. I don't know what's going on here but this is just unacceptable. Now that I checked the restaurant out on Google maps, much more is clear. Considering the reviews indicating a similar low level of service going back several years, I would have hoped that things would improve. Yet, I still hope that my review inspires the restaurant to do a huge shake up. In the mean time, do yourself a favor and stay away from here. There are so many better options in Freiburg! We left the restaurant shaking our heads at the 30€ we just spent for sub-par food and service. What an awful lunch. Please don't make the same mistake.

To the management...

Such a fabulous Indian restaurant. They do superb North West Indian fare, flavours of which are genuinely authentic. We had been missing good Indian food from the time we moved to Germany and we found it during our vacation to Frieburg. Sadly, we will miss the hospitality and the food there. The server who took our order was really nice and even customised a few of our requests. The restaurant did look a little empty and we were a bit sceptical when we entered the place, but once we had our first meal here our fears were put to rest. We even returned in the evening and noticed that most of their orders were takeaway and they had SO MANY of them. Turns out they are a popular joint for the locals. I would have given extra stars if that option was available. Amazing service and the food is to die for. A suggestion, do try the Indian Breads.. its probably better than what is available in India. I do see some negative reviews on the service and would like to especially point out that we did visit late afternoon and stayed late for lunch and our server did not rush us...

Overrated and Overpriced.

Giving one star just because I had to give something. First of all we ordered evening Thali which includes 2 curries, one Dal, raita, salad, Papad and Rice.

Quality of Food: Rice : Undercooked. By the smell of it, any Indian can say that it's not properly cooked Curries : They don't give a fresh taste or aroma. One of the subzi we took was tasting as if it was old. Raita : it's just Zaziki with some water Rest : Ok

Service : Didn't like the staff behavior. They never really listen to your concerns. Instead they try to up their voices n argue . This happened with the curry issue for us. Although they gave a new curry, by then it was too late. Moreover, they try to defend themselves by saying look at the tables filled / it always has good reviews etc.

Overall : Food -2 , Service - 2 , Ambience - 3, Value for money - 2 .

I will not recommend this place to anyone. If you know how a food should taste like, you will definitely not like it. You may like it, if you are a first timer with...