Royal Thaali — Restaurant in Milpitas

Royal Thaali is a popular Indian restaurant in Milpitas, known for its authentic and flavorful thali platters. It is a fully vegetarian restaurant, offering a variety of dishes from different regions of India. We went there for lunch on a Sunday, and they only had Rajasthani thali platter with unlimited refills for each item on the plate. The restaurant says it opens at 11 am on Sundays, but when we got there at 11:10, the restaurant was still setting things up, so we had to wait for 5-10 minutes. The place was packed by the time we left (around 12 p.m.), so make sure you get there early. Unfortunately, they don't have any online reservation system. The Rajasthan thaali platter included 2 sweets/desserts (choorma, rice pudding), 2 snacks, 4 sabji/curries (paneer / cottage cheese, gobi matar / cauliflower and peas, gatte ki sabji / gramflour dumplings with yogurt based gravy, aalo methi / potatoes with heirloom fenugreek), buttermilk, kadi, roti and puri and daal baati. The buttermilk was delicious and refreshing. Gatte ki sabji was a bit spicy, and the gatta itself was a . Paneer gravy was sweet but really good. All the dishes were aromatic and delicious. Potatoes with fenugreek were our least favorite. I think there were some other dishes too that were served later in the lunch like rice, but we were too full with early servings that we didn't sit around to find out. The service was great. The staff was attentive and friendly, and they took good care of us. The service was fast, and we didn't have to wait for long after we requested a refill. I've been craving Indian food from the state of Rajasthan, and this place...

Today, we were excited to revisit Royal Thali, a place we had enjoyed during our first visit.

The first time we visited, they had a straightforward way to join the waitlist online. We couldn't see it this time, so we called them around 11:30 AM. The person who answered the phone asked us for our arrival time. We were surprised when he asked for the time, but we told him we would be there by 12:10 PM, which he acknowledged before hanging up the call. We requested a table for four adults.

Upon arrival (around 12:05 PM), we were informed of a 45-minute wait. This was surprising as we observed many others waiting, seemingly under the impression that they had a reservation for a specific time.

When we checked back after 45 minutes, the person managing the list asked us to wait another 1 hour. At this point, we asked about the reservation/waiting list and how they divided folks who had requested tables for eight adults when we and many like us who had requested a table for four or fewer were asked to wait further.

The person managing the waitlist had no clue and was calling out folks randomly. He suddenly brought out a new sheet with new names and informed others that they had been on the waitlist longer than us. Like many folks, we were frustrated and walked out without having lunch there.

Although they kept saying they don't take reservations, the person who managed all this today asked people for their arrival time, which many, like us, would assume to be a reservation rather than joining the waitlist.

This needs...

Royal Thali Restaurant is a great place to experience authentic Indian vegetarian food. I have been to this place twice in last two months and enjoyed both weekday and weekend thali.

The restaurant is located in the busy plaza, parking could be challenging at times. The restaurant can accommodate about 30 guest at a time.

I am very impressed with the food and service. The vegetarian thali came with a variety of dishes, including dal makhani, chana masala, paneer sabzi etc. The food was all delicious, and I especially enjoyed the dal makhani and kadhi pakora. The dal makhani was creamy and flavorful. It was great to enjoy the fresh and warm pakoda and pooris.

I appreciated that the food at Thali Restaurant is made with less oil and spices than at some other Indian restaurants. This made the food feel lighter and healthier, but it didn't sacrifice any flavor.

The service at Thali Restaurant was also excellent. The servers were friendly and attentive. I felt the servers were happy and proud of their work.

Overall rating 5 out 5. I had a great experience at Royal Thali Restaurant. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a great Indian dining experience.

Here are some of the things I liked most about the Restaurant:

The food is like home-cooked and made with less oil and spices. The service is excellent. Friendly and welcoming staff The restaurant has a warm and inviting atmosphere.

The only thing which I felt could be improved further is the desert. The gulab jamoons were hard...