Rajdhani Thali Restaurant — Restaurant in Issaquah

Excellent service and delicious food.

*Editing to add some more thoughts now that I have time.

I am not Indian, but have had more than an average Americans amount of Indian food in the United States from Washington to Texas and New York and for nearly four years South Indian food has been a main staple of my diet. I also am not vegetarian and have a tendency to primarily eat non veg. I am not in any shape or form an expert in Indian food and cannot tell my Indian friends that it will be anything like home ( I imagine having American food in India won’t taste exactly like home either to me.) I am not a food critic, I won’t pretend that I can give you some authoritative advice on what the best food is because everyone has different tastes and everyone bases their opinion from their own experience for which many times the experience itself can give food the best flavor.

With my disclaimer out of the way, what I really want you to know about this place is that they have fantastic and flavorful food and it is an amazing opportunity for an American to get an Indian experience. I hope to inspire more Americans to try places like this. Afraid of spicy food? Don’t worry it’s not spicy as in hot spicy, there are spices in the food but it is not hot spicy (though I wish it was).

To my American friends, It’s kind of like having a 10 course meal, they will bring you many things to try repeatedly throughout the meal, you don’t have to eat everything but you should try everything. You will not like some items, you will be licking the bowl for other items and you can ask for more. You will find many things remind you of classic comfort food in America but with more or different unique flavors you may have never had. For example Dokla is like a lighter sweet cornbread, Dal is much like a spiced split pea soup without ham(you won’t miss the ham I promise). Today I had an onion based soup or gravy that reminded me very much of a French onion soup with a beef consommé but there was no beef! I’ve often thought previously that I won’t be full if there isn’t meat or that I will miss it in a full vegetarian meal. Of the couple times I have been here I have always left full and satisfied, some dishes you will swear there is meat but there isn’t and it just speaks to the mastery of veg dishes by our indian friends.

Speaking to my Indian friends, come eat nicely, if you see us random Americans enjoying, say hi and tell us your favorite dishes in the meal, tell us to eat with our hand and how it tastes better(forgive us if we use the left hand to tear the poori we aren’t practiced at it). You have so much great food and culture to share and if we are there it’s because we want to learn about it.

If I had one thing I would ask of the restaurant, please give slightly bigger tables, and Dei give larger cups of the mango lassi 😂, you know we will ask for many more of the little cups. Otherwise thanks to all the uncles working hard constantly bustling around bringing all of...

Disappointing Experience

We’ve been to this restaurant several times in the past and usually enjoyed the experience, but our recent visit on Saturday was extremely disappointing and upsetting.

We are a family with a 2-year-old daughter who likes to eat on her own. As we’ve done in the past at this same restaurant, we requested an extra thali plate just so she could eat comfortably and independently – not to get extra food, but simply to serve a small portion from my own meal. To our surprise, the staff was unusually rude this time. One particular staff member (who later claimed to be the owner) was outright hostile and kept repeating that we must pay for an additional plate, regardless of the fact that we weren’t asking for an extra portion.

What made it worse was how he deliberately came to our table and completely ignored me – didn’t serve me a single item and continued making remarks like, “You will have to pay for the plate.” We tried to calmly explain that this has never been an issue in our previous visits and that we were not asking for anything unreasonable. Still, the attitude remained aggressive and dismissive.

On top of that, the food was subpar this time – bland and not up to their usual standard. When we asked to speak to a manager, we were told he is the owner, though we’re not sure if that’s true.

All in all, this visit was enough to ruin what used to be a good spot for us. Hospitality is as important as food, and this place failed badly on both fronts. If I could I would...

We love to treat ourselves at Rajdhani Thali restaurant as we are assured of a delectable feast of rich and flavorful Rajasthani/Gujarati dishes served with love and kindness. While dishes like Daal baati, paneer curry, khichdi etc are some of the regular items, there is an array of other vegetarian curries, appetizers and sweets on rotation. Yes you will clutch your tummy and groan with gourmand happiness as you leave. It is the ONLY place we know where you can get a whole Thali customized to 'No Onion No Garlic' as well as Jain dietary food restrictions. You have to let them know half an hour in advance while making your reservation. Chef Benjamin usually makes the special food and he has a heart of gold! We recently visited when they had eggplant curry on the regular thali menu. I mentioned that I loved eggplant and was sad that I couldn't have the regular thali. We were the last seating for the afternoon and the kitchen was closing. But Chef Benjamin could not bear to see a sad customer, took the time and effort to search around for an eggplant and made a special curry without onion, garlic just for me! Needless to say, I was so touched by his big hearted gesture! ALL the servers are kind and courteous and serve the food with genuine sincerity. They want everyone to come hungry and leave happy. They know our kids love the mango aamras and always indulge them. So save your appetite and roll in to Rajdhani Thali restaurant for a feast fit...