Viceroy — Restaurant in Durham

The husband and I had a great date night here last night. We've been wanting to try it for quite a while now and it was well worth the wait, as well as a return visit (or several) which I hope will be sooner rather than later!

First of all, the interior is very cool. I would totally have that wallpaper in my study. Nice vibe and atmosphere, and the smell when we first walked in was just delicious and a fine portent of things to come.

I had the Watermelon Margarita which was very good, not too sweet (a huge turn-off for me when it comes to fruit-flavored cocktails) and very well balanced and a little too easy to gulp! My husband first tried the Tamarind Daiquiri which was really interesting. It had a lot going on - sweet but also tangy and almost a touch of savory or umami. It was kind of weird but good. I recommend it if you really like unique and exotic flavors. Next he had the Spicy Papi which was like a nicely spicy Pina Colada at first, but then watch out because wow does that heat build! That one did not work for me at all but if you like spicy cocktails, especially those that take you by surprise, then it's the one for you!

The garlic naan was wonderful, the Thai chili naan was far too spicy for my taste and even my husband wasn't nuts about it though in his case that wasn't about the heat (he has an iron mouth than can tolerate a ridiculous amount of spice). But go for the garlic, it's great. The raita was pretty good but I could have done with a more cucumber. It was surprisingly smooth compared to most I've had. But it's a great counterbalance to the heat and goes well on probably anything there.

The mango papaya salad is the best version of the salad that I've ever had, and the best version my husband has had in the States (the best version he's had being in Thailand, unsurprisingly). It was very delicious, bright and refreshing. For entrees, we shared the London Mixed Grill which I am still thinking about. It will be very hard not to order that again next time. I'd love to try all the other things that caught my eye but damn, that mixed grill....so very good, so many excellent, complex flavors and all very well executed. I think my favorite things on there were the shrimp and the Hariyali Chicken. We also had the Lamb Kashmiri and it was good but surprisingly not very spicy despite choosing medium level for that as well. It was tasty but not as mind-blowing as the mixed grill.

The rice is absolutely perfect. Light and fluffy and subtle and delicious, and obviously high quality long grain rice. In my opinion of Indian restaurants, nailing a very good rice is almost paramount.

Finally, the service is terrific. The hostess was prompt and friendly, our server was great and funny and charming. I wish I had caught her name. She was also delightfully "awkward" (if she reads this, she knows who she is!) At one point I had dropped my napkin but it took me a moment to realize it. I went to wipe my hands, noticed it wasn't in my lap and as I just barely started to look around and saw it on the floor, a hand suddenly, magically appeared around my shoulder holding a fresh, folded one. And it wasn't even our server, just another lovely obliging one who was on point!

So. The take-away? Viceroy rocks. One reviewer claimed it is over-priced and over-hyped. Them's fightin' words. But seriously, it is not over-priced, and the hype is very well deserved. If I had to pick my new favorite Indian restaurant in Durham, Raleigh or Chapel Hill, Viceroy...

There is a great deal about this restaurant that I was looking forward to. However, I have to say that the bad rather overshadowed the good.

The service varied. Our main server was very attentive and did an extremely good job. That said, the rest of the service was spotty at its best. Used plates lingered on the table well into the next course and servers would briskly wander off before you had the chance to either request a drink or that the primary server come by. It was nearly 35 minutes into the service before every member of our party received a drink because of the whack-a-mole beverage service.

The alcohol--a simple but important part of a dinner out with friends--was downright poor. The cocktails--our table got five of them between us--were uniformly weak. Particularly disappointing were the martinis. When a member of our party removed the three olives in her dirty martini, it became apparent that the drink occupied less than half of the up glass. All the martinis at the table seemed to have either been left to languish with ice or shaken rather too long (which, inexplicably, seemed not to help with the meagre portions). Additionally, for a "British Pub" concept, that there seemed to be only one (over-chilled) English-style ale on the menu, was a disappointing lapse.

The food was a mixed experience. The small plates--we got the Siam Salad, Gobi Suka and Baji Chaat--were mostly delightful, reasonably priced, and fairly-portioned. The Siam Salad would have been better served on a plate where the vinaigrette didn't pool below the lettuce, and the quantity of papaya (although mango was indicated on the menu, it was nowhere to be found) was a little on the skimpy side. The mains and tandoor dishes were a different story. The Maharaja Kebabs were served as a mountain of meat with paltry vegetables accompaniments; save for the characteristic color of tandoor chicken, the plating was more like what one might encounter with a fajita plate at Chili's. The Shepherd's Pie was greasy and remarkably, seemed to contain fewer peas (I counted 6) and carrots (0) than one would expect even of traditional English pub food. The pie was also accompanied by a languid and haphazardly mounded salad. The Achari Palak Daal was actually quite good, but at 13 dollars for a half-filled soup bowl with no accompaniment other than rice, this dish served instead to solidify my general impression of expensive mediocrity.

Finally, the restaurant concept was bothersome. I've been to plenty of English pubs cum curry houses that pull off the judicious (and seemingly organic) application of Victoriania and colonial kitsch. The application of this concept at Viceroy somehow goes too far while also managing not to go far enough. The cast of dead white people in sepia staring down from the wall unnerving and would have pushed the limits of good taste even in England. At the same time, the high ceiling, cacophonous noise, and bare table arrangements failed to conjure any of the comfort or coziness of an actual English pub. The restaurant concept seemed to be as much of a hindrance to the aesthetic and ambience of the space as a help.

With a surfeit of other restaurants in a similar price range in Durham, I can confidently say that I won't be returning...

Viceroy looked very interesting to me from the minute it opened. My family is from Bombay, so the idea of a British-Indian pub was appealing to me. What a lot of people may not understand, is that many Indians have fond memories of those days and not the negative "colonialism" view that young Americans are so upset about. No need to be offended at something you don't understand, especially when people from that culture are not offended.

The decor is great, like I said, reminiscent of colonial India. Unlike many Triangle restaurants, it was dim and cozy, and very crowded. Our party of 2 arrived on a Friday evening and the host was a bit rude, saying there were no tables at all. He could only offer us the cheap-looking metal table outside in the 95 deg weather (why a place like this doesn't at least have nice outdoor tables, I don't know) or we could wait an hour. There were quite a few empty tables that remained empty during our stay, but luckily a bar seat opened up.

The menu was mostly uninteresting (I knew this before we arrived)--standard Indian food (and a random Thai curry?), but I really wanted to give it a try based on glowing reviews. We ordered Gobi Sukka, London Grill, and Kashimiri Lamb, everything spicy. The gobi was nice--crispy with the right amount of chaat masala. London Grill was my favorite kind of tandoor, wet with a thick sauce all around it rather than too dry as is typical. The Lamb, however, was a tiny little dish with about 5 small pieces of meat. I guess it was supposed to be like Rogan Josh (which I happened to make at home recently), but it was completely lacking any depth of flavor. Just a generic curry you'd find at any buffet. Certainly not worth $30.

Our waitress asked us if our food was spicy enough and we said it could be a little hotter. So, she offered us some hot sauce and she returned with 0.5oz of sauce that tasted like Peri Peri (but it was not bad). We were very surprised however, to be charged $1 for this tiny amount. I have never been charged for hot sauce in any restaurant (and we get it a lot), and she never mentioned it.

My favorite Indian dishes tend to be Euro-hybrids (chicken tikka, vindaloo, rogan josh etc), but this was a little too catered to American-southern palates. Everything was "safe." Generic curries without too much masala. Viceroy was just ok, maybe the sort of place you take someone on a date if they are afraid of Indian food. But in 2023, I feel like we've moved past playing it safe, at least have 2-3 items that are more legit. Not the worst Indian food, but certainly not the best, and definitely not worth the...