Royal India Restaurant — Restaurant in Lake Forest

The Natraj chain that's monopolized South County's Indian food scene over the past decade has a new local competitor in Royal Rasoi.

When I first heard of the restaurant name "Royal Rasoi", I imagined fine-dine, exquisite modern cooking, fancy plating, tablecloth environment, British-style Indian cuisine. Although the informal decor and ambiance at Royal Rasoi did not quite match my expectations of the upscale description, the excellent hospitality and pleasant atmosphere made the dining experience enjoyable.

This review is about Royal Rasoi' lunch buffet ($9.95), not the a-la-carte service which I find is generally better than buffets in terms of food preparation.

After trying the lunch buffet, I have to say I'm impressed with the selection. The buffet spread consists of classic north-Indian food and does not include the boring Indo-Chinese fillers. It's meat-dominant, good for carnivores. I like a balance between vegetables and meat though. During my first visit, there were two appetizers available - fried fish pakoras and giant crispy Punjabi vegetable samosas - very rarely are both handhelds served at the same time in lunch buffets.

I noticed that Royal Rasoi operates a tandoor oven to cook crispy thin naan and tandoori chicken. The chefs follow the traditional Indian method of cooking for these items. Royal Rasoi's prepared the best garlic naan I have tasted in town. Moreover, the pieces of tandoori chicken I ate were tangy and juicy with hints of smokiness, they were not low quality dry and tasteless breast meat reheated in an oven and then doused with red food coloring.

Royal Rasoi prepares North Indian staples for the buffet, such as chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, goat curry, tadka dal, palak paneer, etc and also rotates the curry selection on a daily basis. For example, the special items today were malai kofta, garlic mushroom, and Madras chicken. On other days, the specials are vindaloo and biryani. Many of the Indian buffet restaurants in South County do not offer such an extensive and...

UPDATE: Jan 2018, AS USUAL, FANTASTIC! A few different dishes were here this time. Kadi Pakora was vegetable fritters in a tangy yogurt and turmeric sauce that had curry leaves and other yummy things baked right in and I have to mention the goat curry again, cooked on the bone, so flavorful and tender. Another dish ‘hare bahre kabob’, was potatoes and vegetables baked into kabob form, spicy and flavorful. The tandoori chicken is tender and don’t forget the naan bread they make to order and bring to your table. Many of the dishes are vegetarian so there is something for everyone! I can’t recommend this restaurant enough, especially as the lunch special is an incredible deal! (I forgot to mention that the staff are always super nice and pay careful attention to keeping the buffet filled and clean.)😊

Overall best value for price! They brought fresh naan and ice water to our table while we were at the buffet. The meats (goat on bone, fish and tandoor chicken) were tender and flavorful. The Matar Paneer was very good; the paneer used in both that and the Palak Paneer was homemade, very tasty and fresh. The madras lentils was flavorful. I especially liked the fruit custard which I mixed with the Kheer (a thin rice pudding) You absolutely can't get Indian Cuisine of this quality for this price in many places, I highly recommend...

Friendly service and traditional indian dishes. This place should be busy every minute it is open, the mango lassi and deserts are my favorite here, especially the gulab juman i think its called (savory cheese balls glazed in honey) possibly the best desert ive ever had. The carrot desert and rice pudding and sweet sauce with pears is really great too. I went in for the lunch buffett today and to my surprise it basically had everything that i would want to try. It was all good including the veg options buts im nonveg so i love the meats very much. It was all good but if id go back id just get a plate of rice with the goat curry, the southern fried chicken (tastes very similar to chinese orange chicken) and the chicken tikka masala. Dip it with yogurt. Thats one thing i love about indian food just like the indian movies they mix all different genres of food together very well you can have spicy savory and sweet altogether. And veg nonveg fruit all of it. Also the garlic naan they give with the meal is delicious. It is 15 which isnt bad but i still want to save up some money but coming to the buffet every once in a while seems like a new plan specially considering it is really close to my work. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for creating these great...