Rani Vegetarian — Restaurant in London

This is a fairly overdue review. Also, you may realise I have reviewed this restaurant positively in past but I thought needed another review after our last two similar visits. We decided to go to this restaurant as we it is our true and old spot for authentic Indian meal. The only vegetarian place I, my husband, our kids and rest of our family always turn to for real food and friendly service, until this last time.

It was earlier this week, when me and my family visited Rani (second time this month very usual routine for us, it has been for over 20 years). We had made a reservation in advance we had no worries on waiting for free table. The place has bright colours, rather beautiful glass front and it looks clean and tidy inside. However, the first thing that you will notice and which disappointed us yet again, was the very loud and very monotonous music. So loud, we couldn't eat comfortably.

When you get in, there's usually a man (the manager/boss I think) who greets you before a waiter finds your reserved table. Oddly enough he was not friendly at all and as about the waiter, well he had an unpleasant looking on everyone all the time. The menu has no certain speciality, to most of you Indian food lovers I believe, as it doesn’t have the typical Balti, Vindaloo or Korma. But it has tickled our tongues for years now and that’s why we revisit them. It has aubergines, potatoes, beans, bananas and more aubergines! As its major four kinds of curries, similar the one to each other with no main difference. With years of practice, we can taste the very subtle flavour difference between them.

We tend to go for buffet most of the times. However, my husband and my daughter decide to go al a carte. They ordered a couple starters and a couple curries with Rani's every so delicious chapattis. Sadly, I don't think that any of the dishes made in the real-time...the temperature of the food was good but I am sure they used microwave oven, what with lumpy rice and cold potato with half hot aubergine! The quality was just not okay and the taste thus became rather appalling. Both of them regretted going off their routine and ordering from the menu.

The service was absolutely disappointing. Having visited Rani for 20 long years, we have never experienced such service. The waiters (all relatively new faces) were yelling each other and they generally made fuss annoying us. In addition they could hardly notice us when we wanted something (water, more wine, the bill etc.). The two of them (guy and girl) had their own thing going own away from us, I witnessed.

Although, new faces almost each time we visit has been a trend at Rani's, some waiters have been very professional and catering, whilst the ever changing new faces have disappointed us almost every time we were served by them. But I won't complain much about them since they do have some very good staff too! - Friendly, smiling and catering professionally. You've just got to pray for the right mood of the others!

Finally in the food department, the buffet this time was unbelievably under filled. Considering, there were hardly 10-12 other customers in the restaurant other than us, buffet looked disgustingly dry and stale. It was badly maintained, with salads floating in sauces and pickles swimming in yogurt! The starters were not only running out fairly quickly, but the refills were cold too.

Our jaws dropped with such a poor management, below average food quality and inconsistent & disappointing service. Perhaps because we got beaten harshly in each and every department, all on the same day (?) OR this may just have become their recently dropped standards! After two consecutive visits with more or less the same bad experience we are inclined towards believing the latter of the two options being true. Well you can be the judge, since we won’t be visiting them again. Rani you’ve lost us, but it was a good 20years of lots (and lots and lots) of aubergines, potatoes and bhelpooris. Ugh, to find a new bi weekly...

This might have been the worst food I've eaten in my life. I'd give this place zero stars if possible.

I came here a few months ago (circa May 2017) and had one of the worst meals of my life. That's no exaggeration. We ordered a selection of à la carte dishes and all, without exception, were hideous. The dal was watery and tasted awful, all of the vegetable dishes were mushy and had the combined flavours of staleness and raw chilli. I ordered a pau bhaji expecting a delicious vegetable curry served with a handmade bread roll, and instead received a toasted shop-bought burger bun, accompanied by raw onions and a revolting vegetable puree. It tasted like they'd boiled a bag of cauliflower-heavy mixed frozen vegetables and then added a whole chilli at the end. It, again, had the flavour of raw chilli and no other spices. Truly horrendous.

One last complaint, and this is one I've never previously levelled at a restaurant. We ordered water for the table and were served a large metal jug of water. The water had a metallic taste to it (probably imparted by the jug) and also a faint chemical taste, ammonia perhaps. We were not the only ones who noticed this either - I overheard the table behind us complaining amongst themselves about the taste of the water.

This restaurant has existed for 30-something years, as its owners are always too keen to tell you. Particularly when you write unfavourable reviews (look on TripAdvisor). They will also tell you that there are other Gujarati restaurants nearby, so the suggestion that people come to their establishment through the lack of choice is incorrect. All I will say is that this place is monstrously bad, and I would go (and have gone) out of my way to discourage people from...

To have an all you can eat Indian Vegetarian Buffet meal after an afternoon in nearby Victoria park seemed an ideal way warm up and relax with a good meal before heading back to our homes, I was on a trip out with my friend from the suburbs to Victoria park and she suggested Rani Vegetarian as good place to eat, we arrived after the main lunchtime rush and easily got a table for two, although the chafing dishes were a little depleted, there was plenty to fill and refill our successive plates, we restrained ourselves and had two full plates of food, opting each time to serve ourselves from alternate dishes, we ended with a dessert and all washed with a jug of Passion fruit juice, the restaurant is warm quiet and peaceful, the service is discreet, leaving our table to get our next course, we would return to find out previous plates magically whisked away while our backs were turned, all the food was excellent and cooked to perfection, I could not criticise anything on offer and left happy and full but a little hot after having a few chille dishes which I haven't had the pleasure of eating in some time, although this restaurant is off the main Broadway it is worth seeking out, Indian Vegetarian dishes Excel over the meat versions every time and offer a more extensive range of food to eat, I am a self confessed carnivore but when it comes to Indian food I always go vegetarian, if you are in the area and want a good meal head for Rani, they have an extensive menu if you want to order a range of dishes to fill your table to share all in a...