India Palace Uptown — Restaurant in Minneapolis

I've been coming to this restaurant since 2018. This has always been my favorite Indian restaurant but I left dinner thinking wow it has really gone downhill.

Food Chai(1/5). First of all it is listed as Chai Tea. For my non-Indian friends, that's the equivalent of calling it Tea tea. Something we know some get incorrect but an Indian restaurant? Embarrassing. We also asked for strong karak chai. It was weak milky black tea.

Mango lassi (3/5). It barely satisfied the definition of a Mango lassi. Nothing more. Didn't have that fresh taste, overly tart, it was more watery than creamy like the yogurt based drink lassi is known to be.

Chicken Tikka Masala (1/5) Tikka. Tikka means fire roasted. That is also how it is described on the menu. What was served? A chicken curry. Not a chicken tikka. The first flavor that hits you? Tomato puree. This is my usual order. This dish used to wow me, how every bite could be bursting with flavor. Not anymore, the burst of Indian flavor the cuisine is renowned for is no more. Their Chicken tikka masala is non tikka chicken in a tomato puree with some spice. It did not taste bad but this is not what it's supposed to be, far from what it used to be, and you can definitely find better elsewhere. We took the food home and modified it because we hate hate to waste food. Just look at the color difference afterwards. It's pretty clear which has flavor and which is tomato puree.

Palak Paneer(2/5) We specifically asked for spicy spicy, Indian spicy. What we got was practically baby food. The texture was right but the flavor was scant. Garlic Naan(5/5) Soft, fluffy, crispy, garlicky.

Service Considering we asked for strong tea, spicy spicy Palak Paneer and neither were delivered; poor. After raising the errors in our dishes to our waiter, he (an Indian) did not even understand the difference between tikka chicken and what he had served us. Instead told us WE must be confusing chicken tandoori. This is how chicken tikka is supposed to be. We spoke to two other waiters, out of the three only one really comprehended what tikka means and why we were upset. He explained that's how it's supposed to be but they serve it non authentic western style. Pretty sad considering the restaurant is named India Palace. Don't just take my word for it, see how rare and generic the positive reviews they get from South Asians are. Based on the huge departure in quality, I'm sure they've changed owners and/ or chefs. Either way, they've lost a once biggest and...

ok so here's the deal with India Palace...this is my go to for Indian food,and by that I mean my go to.Picture your significant other looking into your soul and uttering the words "you want Indian food" and you know you share the same brain... it's love. Chicken Tikka Masala is the source of re-occuring vivid dreams of happiness in my life BUT there are 2 things you need to know 1.Naan- unless you specify (even then it's no guarantee) it will be doughy...for my liking. I like Naan crispy on the outside like it's spent a little time in the oven...maybe that's just me. 2.This is the hard one...there's a new person in the kitchen and the only way I'm sure of this is because sometimes my dreams of happiness are turned into nightmares I cannot escape.ex. My go to Tikka Masala had this person's hands all over it because not only was it dry but there was no sauce just chunks of dry chicken.When the dream destroyer isn't in the kitchen everything is perfect..and I mean perfect. That is why I still give...

Came with a friend to dine in and we ordered a lot of items. The really negative thing was the nonstop loud music and dance video that played the whole time. Like being at a Bollywood style rave. Not a good dining experience -- it was hard to even have a conversation amidst all of that sound.

Our appetizers -- pakora, samosa and naan -- did not taste fresh. The fried items had that distinctive unpleasant old oil taste. They also were all only lukewarm in temperature. Not a good start to the meal.

On the positive side, our vegetarian entrées (Shahi Paneer, and a mushroom saag type dish) were quite good, and the portions generous. The rice was perfect. And they got the spiciness level of my dish (a 3 out of 5) exactly right.

Over all, our experience was just okay, with most items lacking the "wow factor" that comes with really fresh authentic Indian food. They probably need to scale down their menu, focus on freshness, serve food piping hot, and have a quieter, more relaxing...