India Palace — Restaurant in Lawrence

"Namaste" ... India Palace is a "WELCOME", but Expensive, Delight!

I ordered a Fat Tire ($3.00 - 12 ounce mug), one of two draft beers available on the menu, the other being Boulevard Wheat (also $3.00) and Coke products are available in addition to an assortment of bottled beer and wines. I started with the meat samosas ($4.95 for two), a blend of ground beef and lamb, lightly seasoned with Indian spices and containing less vegetables than other samosas I have eaten at chow halls around the world. They were moderate in size, crispy dough outside and hot, flavorful meat inside, accompanied by three sauces, two of them chutneys. It was one of the better samosas I have had, having eaten in dozens of Indian restaurants stateside and in the United Kingdom where Indian food is a weekly staple.

We ordered the Lamb Rogan Josh ($14.95): tender morsels of lamb cooked in an onion sauce with yogurt, nuts, and a unique blend of spices and coriander; Sag Paneer ($11.95): simmered with fresh spinach cooked with homemade cheese and spices; and Beef Curry ($12.95); succulent pieces of beef cooked in thick curry sauce with herbs, all accompanied by large servings of bismati (white) rice. I asked the server if they had pilau rice, my favorite, a kind of Indian fried rice with peas, onions, and other vegetables and spices, much more flavorful than the bismati rice we received, but unnecessary because the rice is quickly covered with the entrees when consumed.

All entrees and the bismati rice are served in small copper pots, piping hot from the kitchen and easily shared amongst our table. The lamb rogan josh came with medium size chunks of tender lamb in a medium-thick, creamy and mildly spicy red sauce which was delicious. At $14.95 for entrée with rice, I would expect more food, but would recommend lowering the price instead because the serving is more than enough for one person. I have seen entrees that size and quality in the $8-$12 range at other restaurants, so maybe that explains why India Palace was not busier on a Friday night. It is a shame because so many restaurants, including India Palace, try to generate profits by raising prices instead of providing quality food at a reasonable price or through competitive marketing (e.g. Social media, coupons - Groupon). In a college town like Lawrence, you are not going to generate much business by charging $10-$15 for entrees (ala carte) and that seems to be the case at India Palace.

The sag paneer is a thick, spicy, creamed spinach concoction with chunks of Indian cheese and was mild enough for my Italian wife who cannot handle spicy dishes. Slightly sweet, yet spicy, it was one of the better sag paneers we have tried in recent memory, but again, at $10.95, slightly overpriced based on the inexpensive ingredients. The majority of India is vegetarian and I am a carnivore, but Indian chefs use exotic spices such as curry and coriander so well that I do not even miss the meat! The beef curry was also a bit pricey at $12.95, yet rich and delicious. As a comparison, I recently had a wonderful beef Massaman curry at Zen Zero, a Thai restaurant down the street from India Palace on Massechussetts, including jasmine rice for just $7.69 ... $5.26 less than my curry at India Palace!

CombatCritic Gives India Palace 6...

Granted, it was a busy Saturday night and there were 7 of us, but this was ridiculous. We were seated, given water and then waited 15 minutes for our order to be taken. While it was theoretically cool that all of the staff were actually (maybe?) Indian, the fact that our waiter was not fluent in English really slowed down the whole "ordering things" part of going to a restaurant. We then waited 45 minutes for our food. This wouldn't have been so bad, but in the meantime we had to hunt down the waitstaff and wave emphatically just to get new pitchers of water, which they gave one of to 7 people at a time, which we would immediately empty because we were all thirsty from waiting for water. Two of our friends had to leave because they had other obligations that evening and had only allotted and hour and a half for dinner. The food, when we finally got it, was mediocre at best and of absolutely tiny portions, dry and often burnt, definitely not worth the $12-15 per plate that we paid. I was so disgusted that I could barely eat. That said, the food wasn't terrible and the atmosphere was kind of cool. But everything that you would normally want from a restaurant (ie: food, service and drink for a reasonable price) was pretty below standards. I would need a lot of encouragement before coming...

I am disappointed with India Palace. I ordered my food at 5:47pm this evening. At 7:47pm, I called to check on my order, and they had forgotten about it. I was told that they would deliver my food soon. I told them I would like my food comped. They told me they would send me mango Lassi. I asked again to have my food comped, and was told that they would discount my next order. I told them that I no longer wanted the order, and would like my card refunded. They told me to call Menufy about it. They kept trying to tell me that they would send me my food, and I told them multiple times that I no longer wanted it, and wanted a refund instead. I told the man on the phone multiple times I no longer wanted the food and told the man goodbye and hung up. I was then called by the restaurant and the delivery driver, which I did not answer. 20 minutes later, someone showed up at our doorstep with the food that I no longer wanted. I feel like I wasn't listened to 3 times. Once when my order was forgotten, twice when I wasn't heard on the phone call, and thrice when the food was still sent to my home after numerous rejections. I'm truly disappointed because I really do like the food. But will be ordering elsewhere in the future, where I can be heard and respected. Instead of someone just trying to hold on...