Indian Empire — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

"I recently had the opportunity to dine at the Indian Empire Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, and while the experience was generally positive, there were some notable drawbacks.

The Indian food served at the hotel was good.

One of the major challenges was the crowd. The hotel's dining area was always packed, and I had to wait for at least 20 minutes to get a seat.

While waiting is understandable, it would be great if the hotel could find ways to manage the crowds more efficiently.

The service was also a mixed bag. Some of the staff members were polite, friendly, and attentive, which made the dining experience more enjoyable.

However, I had a disappointing encounter with one staff member who seemed quite rude. When I asked him if I could get medium-spiced fried rice, he curtly replied that they only had two options: normal and spicy.

What struck me as odd was that the next day, I saw the same staff member being friendly and explanatory with Western customers. This inconsistency in service made me feel that there might be some bias or discrimination at play.

Another area of concern was the quantity of food served. Given the prices charged, I expected more generous portions. Unfortunately, the amount of food served was quite less, which made the experience feel overpriced.

Overall, while the Indian Empire Hotel has its strengths, particularly in terms of the taste of the food, there are areas that need improvement. With better crowd management, more consistent and friendly service, and more generous food portions, the hotel could elevate the dining experience for...

Update 2025 - Been twice in two days. OK Today wasnt planned, but I was passing and needed to eat. Pander Tikka Masala absolutely divine, with a butter naan and some pickle. Yesterday Neem fish curry, couple of naans and rice. Far too much food, had to take some rice and bread home with me. Was lovely too.

2024 - Just spot on, an easy 5 stars.

My wife found this place online and I'm so glad she did. Start to finish perfect, well nearly perfect. I had the Chettinad fish, which was lovely and soft with quite a strong flavour to it. The sauce was very rich, a deep dark brown with a strong blend of cinnamon, cloves and other spices. Good amount of fish with a very generous amount of sauce. Went with a Lachha Paratha but had order a garlic naan as well because there was so much sauce. My other half had the Fish Pollichatu, this was just lovely! Fish steaks marinated in a thick tomato and onion spiced mix then wrapped in banana leaf and grilled. Flavour was heavenly.

Something that made this place stand out was the service and the staff. Shout out to the guy in the hat who was on the door and looking after customer as he was very attentive and always with a natural demeanor. Same for the rest of the staff. We were checked on a few times to make sure everything was OK and if we needed anything. It felt really natural and was a nice touch.

Pretty much only eat Indian food when in KL and we will most definitely be coming...

We were blown away by the quality of the food here. After reading so many reviews of different Indians in KL we found it had to choose, as there were as many bad reviews as good for most places! We decided to give this place a go and we were so pleased we did.

The best dish was the Chicken Tikka starter - unbelievably moist and still with that deep tandoori grill flavour and strong spices. It was perfection. They had a huge selection of different naans, parathas, rotis and delicious lassi drinks (sweet lassi and mango lassi our favorites). We ordered several different dishes; coconut mutton, chicken tikka masala, and veggie Aloo Globi - all had wonderful flavours and cooked extremely well. I had read online a recommendation to try the Shah Jahani murgh (mild and creamy chicken). It wasn't on the menu, but they made it for me anyway! It was not an attractive colour, but it tasted fantastic.

The staff were very attentive and friendly, lovely people and made us feel very welcome. It was a shame they had to wear facemasks as it was hard to hear what they were saying though the masks, felt bad asking them to repeat themselves. They still made the effort to chat to us between eating which was very sweet.

To sum up, it was a brilliant dining experience, fantastic value for money, and we...