Rajdhani — Restaurant in Artesia

Disorganized service and average food: do not recommend for newcomers. This was my first time visiting Rajdhani as I live in Santa Monica and was passing through Artesia with family. We were seated after a short wait and immediately plates were placed in front of us and the waiters started serving food. I stopped the waiter and asked for the menu, and they said that there was no menu and everyone gets the same food. I asked them what the price was, as I had checked on the website and it stated there were two lunch options: limited meals and unlimited. She said that if I had no refills, it would be the limited meals or I could get unlimited refills with the second option. I said that we would have the limited meals as it seemed large to begin with, however, waiters kept coming to us asking to refill our plate and it was annoying having to decline every time in the middle of eating. Finally, when we asked for the check, we were charged for unlimited meals. When I clarified this with the manager, they said that everyone is automatically served the unlimited meals in the restaurant. However, they were reasonable enough to modify my bill since I had no idea about that, and did not get any refills anyway. I found this quite a bizarre restaurant practice- since I entered, I was not asked what I would have to drink or what option I would prefer, and even when I did express what I wanted to the waiter, it was not communicated or respected. This is the first time I am eating at a restaurant where the customer is not communicated with- nobody spoke to us when we were seated and instead just kept piling food on our plate in a hurry. This was quite unlike the friendly homestyle ambience that was written on their website. Perhaps for people who eat here regularly, they know how the restaurant works, but to a complete newcomer, my experience with them was disappointing and confusing. Regarding the food, it was average and lacked flavor. I was unhappy with the rice pulao that had no salt or spices, and the desserts tasted as though they were out of a can. Overall, not a good experience and do not recommend...

Spent 30 bucks for pretty basic Gujarati food. The dhoklas were too damp, too tall, and not dense enough. Overall the food was a little spicy . If you want to make authentic gujju food you need to make it a little on the sweeter side, c'mon...

I also didn't like either of their chutneys. The sweet chutney was too runny and the green chutney didn't taste fresh at all

The problem with getting gujju food at a restaurant is that I can't really think of any dish that's "party style". It's all stuff you'd make at home on a regular basis. Maybe they should've had Aum rus to go with the pooris or some stuffed pepper. But what this means is that the simple stuff needs to be really well made.

If you want to know what this will be like, just imagine the last time you went to a gathering with family friends who are Gujarati and it'll be pretty close.

Maybe it's good for that kind of experience one time but I certainly wouldn't go back. But hey, if you've never tasted this kind of cuisine before then I don't see where you'd get the chance anyway. Actually I do... you need to find out who is offering a tiffin service and just order from them. It'll be better than this (not to say that it was bad, just mediocre)

The bathroom was also bad in the sense that there's no paper towels to dry your hands (are you gonna walk out touching the door handle and then eat with your hands?)

Ambiance was good at least, and the tables were nice.

P.S. Check out my last name. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to gujju food. And no I wouldn't normally go to a place like this but my friends wanted to try it out so I was more than happy...

This is one of those places that I would recommend to everyone, doesn't matter where you are from.

This place disrupts the notion of Indian food being just some kind of tikka masala and naan; in fact, it is so much more!

It is in the heart of Artesia and is located on level 2 considering the ground floor is level 1, and is not easily visible from the street if you are driving. Don't worry though, you have an elevator if you are not in the mood to climb a flight of stairs or have senior citizens who need help. They also have their name 'Rajdhani' displayed on their porch, so that it glows in the dark or during evenings for better visibility.

Anyway, they only serve authentic Indian vegetarian food, but my husband who is a pure non-vegetarian also LOVES this place!

The food is primarily based on the styles of the western coast of India. The thali contains a starter, some appetizers, 3 vegetables, kadhi, daal, roti and/or puri, rice or khichadi with a dessert of your choice to end it all. You need to have some tolerance to spicy food though.

The 'chhaas' which is flavored buttermilk made out of plain yogurt certainly calms your senses..

The best part is, they serve the food to you continuously without you having to leave the table like you have to do for other typical Indian buffets.

In the end they also serve what is called a 'finger-bowl' in India which is nothing but a slice of lime in warm water to clean and wash your hands with, after digging into the thali with your bare fingers!

You HAVE TO try this place at least once, if you ever want to try Indian food that...