Royal Hyderabad — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I was recommended this place to be the best Indian food in town. So I was so looking forward to it bc I haven't had Indian food since last year. Also, I love Indian food from Tampa, where I'm from. But I wasn't impressed unfortunately.

Upon arriving, the place looked very modern and clean. There was one person at the counter taking care of take out, then seated us after he was done. The dining area wasn't very busy, maybe 4 tables were seated. We were served water without ice (which I learned culturally that's normal), I was fine with it bc my partner prefers no ice. After that, we weren't asked any questions until 10 min later. I was looking at the menu, but it felt like it was awhile before they gave us any attention. It could be that host was also our server and was tending to other tables. But when I finally ordered our appetizers, he kept standing there awkwardly until I repeated that I'm still deciding on my entree and will start with that. I started with Samosa Chaat, Garlic Naan, and Tandoori Butter Roti.

Bc there were no descriptions, I had to Google foods that sounded familiar or interesting. I'm familiar with the popular fare, but I was curious about Goat Vindaloo. My partner doesn't like too much coconut flavored anything, so that's why I didn't opt for Butter Chicken, for example. I was informed the goat would take 30 min. I wished that they mentioned the delay in time on the menu. But I agreed since we were going to enjoy our appetizers.

When the apps arrived, I asked if they had a spice tray. In the past, most had a spice/ chutney tray. They don't here. So I was a little disappointed. I should have waited to order the Garlic Naan and Tandoori Butter Roti later to eat with the meal. I was also a bit disappointed that they only provided 3 pieces of the bread per tray. In the older pics in reviews they used to give 4/order. I found that compared to other places I've been, the Garlic is more pronounced (which I love), and the Roti was ok. I was expecting more flavor. The Samosa Chaat looked appetizing and crispy on the outside, but inside it was actually still cold, which was disappointing. I love opening Samosa and it's piping hot inside. :( The mint chutney in my opinion is quite thin, but maybe bc it's vegan? It didn't have quite enough flavor like I remembered from other places.

When the Goat Vindaloo arrived, it was lackluster. I ordered it Medium spicy, but it tasted Mild to me. I know it's subjective. So if you like heat, ask for more spice. The Goat was actually tough to chew. I expected if it was going to be cooked for so long, it would be tender. I found one piece that was kind of tender. There's also goat rib bones? The flavor was also lacking to me too?! There's even a whole cinnamon stick in the sauce too.

After we were clearly done, it took awhile for the server to check on us if we were done or needed boxes till I put my card on the table. Don't get me wrong, the service is polite and friendly, but there's no sense of urgency. We had a lady fill our drinks and asked us how the apps were but that was the extent of asking if we were OK. But the dining area wasn't busy either. Maybe it's normal in this establishment?

Overall, I wanted to love it on my first experience. I spent about $40 after tax. But I thought it was cool that they had a quick system to cash out at the table. Even though it was a miss with the meal, I'll come back to try their dosa and vegetarian options, and dessert. I remembered that it's usually the vegetarian options that I enjoyed more from other places.

Edit: I just had the leftovers for lunch and it tasted way better reheated. The spice level of the Vindaloo was spot on, my nose was dripping. There were 2 bones when I had it for lunch and 5 bones this time. I had 3-4 pieces goat before, so I think you get about 8-10 pieces of goat and about 6-8 large chunks of potato, which were tender and cooked well. In last pic, you can see the cinnamon stick and 2 chilis. Oh, and I found a 2in strand of hair with the...

Seems like all the salt in the restaurant was in the shakers on all the dining tables and not in the kitchen. Perfect imbalance of spice and salt made the food unpalatable. Word of advice to the management - Please make sure to put dishes that are otherwise unavailable, under specials and not in your regular menu. It is disappointing to ask you for something in your menu and constantly getting told that it isn't available. Also, your restaurant needs better hospitality. The patrons of your restaurant are not just local Americans alone. Even fellow Indians from India dine here and they deserve as much respect and attention. That said, if you're an Indian restaurant wanting to display the Indian flag in a wine glass right as you enter, please make sure that the flag is accurate. As someone who is an Indian Citizen who has immediate family members in the Indian Armed forces, I was shocked to see the Ireland Tricolour instead of the Indian Tricolour and when I pointed it to one of your hosts, I was rudely asked " How do you know? Who told you so?". Shame on you for committing that mistake and for questioning someone who corrected that. Every Indian should know their flag irrespective of where in the world you are. Not a good start Bawarchi. Not a good start.

Edit- updated on 15th Dec 2023

Atrocious service. No sense to even man the front counter or attend courteously to folks waiting there to be seated. I drove almost 20 miles to this restaurant to dine in at 7.10 PM on a Friday evening, waited for 10 minutes only to be rudely told that there weren’t any tables available when an entire column of booths were empty and barely 3 other parties waiting ahead of my family. When asked what the wait time was, I was told 40 minutes and even then a table wouldn’t be guaranteed. You should ideally have a board that says no open tables and have the door locked or something so you can save the frustration for people who drive such long distances. Or, atleast mention on your Google card or website that you need reservations. It doesn’t matter if you change your name or management. If your customer service is lacking so badly, nobody would even bother about the food you’re selling. Negative 100...

My whole family are huge fans of Indian cuisine and this is a place we plan on coming to again very soon. We started with the stuffed jalapenos (sorry, don't know what they are called) and the chicken 65. We were warned that the peppers were spicy and they did not disappoint. The peanut filling was amazing and the batter on the outside was nice. The chicken 65 is something we will all crave! Perfectly crispy and not oily, juicy and tender with a ton of flavor. The onion, cilantro and the other leaf (that comes out fried and crispy) adds layers of depth and freshness. The chicken Tikka Masala was wonderful! The chicken was cooked well, the sauce was thick and creamy and the rice was perfect. We tried the fish biryani to try something new and we really liked it. I was not expecting fish cakes (for lack of a better word) but they were very good, lots of them and very moist. The sauces were very good too. The shrimp biryani was also very good with plenty of shrimp and lots of flavor. We also really enjoyed the Naan - it's thinner than the other locations in town and we really enjoyed that. We had the chili and garlic naans. We went home with lots of leftovers that we will enjoy.

My critiques are (with the understanding that this is a very new restaurant): the menus need descriptions and to be laminated. The service could be better. The people were super friendly and very helpful but there is a lot of refinement that needs to happen. The water boys were on top of it and the food came out very quickly and HOT which was wonderful. We had to ask for plates and silverware, we had the menus at the table almost the whole time, the Naan was forgotten and we had to ask about it (and because it came so late and we had to ask, it should have been comp'ed in the end), dishes need to be ceramic, the paper place settings don't fit the beautiful decor, they still have painters tape in places, it took forever for our server to come to the table and then we were checked on only once. Again, these are regiment issues and that they are due to inexperience and being so new and not lack of care.

We will absolutely go back! We love supporting our community and we hope...