Star of India — Restaurant in St. Cloud

This review is for the dinner service. Earlier in the day, a buffet is available. We have never attended the buffet. (Also, due to supply-related reasons, Star of India has temporarily stopped offering buffet service [as of early August, 2023]).

Tasty food. A variety of options. For us personally, it's difficult to find onion-free menu options for the allergic person in our group, but they can do Chicken Makhani onion-free. The rest of us plant-based dieters struggle to find options without dairy, so we use the vegetarian and balti menu sections and try to avoid rich sauces. I don't remember if we've ever asked them what their base curry is made of. So, the menu could be more informative—when sitting down in a restaurant already, it can be pretty uncomfortable to ask the staff over and over about what each dish contains.

I haven't paid too much attention to it, but I'm pretty sure that they could make a much slimmer menu by combining identical styles (Chicken Vindaloo, Lamb Vindaloo, etc.) and simply listing meat options next to them. Large menus are the style of lower quality restaurants (usually serving frozen foods), and are just more difficult to navigate and understand for curious and/or unfamiliar customers.

The table and booth seating are cozy, and the music matches the theme of the food. We've always enjoyed...

I've never met anyone more friendly and respectful! I've also never had better Indian food! My roommate and I are quite regular here and each visit is as good as the last or better. The takeout is fine but why not treat yourself with the best service and respect around?

_ 7 years later! _ I personally recommend the Chili Chicken dish in hopes it stays on the menu forever! I've gone through the whole menu and was never disappointed but when I need comfort food, I know what I'm bringing home! Depending on the cook that day, it might be more/less sweet, oily, or spicy, all of which are the best flavors to pick this meal.

Some days, medium spicy might be a little underwhelming but that's pretty rare. Only ask for more if you're up for a challenge or in the mood to sweat! 😅

Regardless of what you pick, getting extra servings of the best rice you've ever had will only prolong the flavor and leave you with more leftovers, stretching your dollar....

We went on Sunday for lunch before we headed back to mpls. Being the only Indian restaurant in town, decided to give it a try. We ordered the samosa, aloo, dhal soup, and the bread basket (garlic naan/peshwari/chappati) and also the beef briyani. Our server was very friendly and got our orders in. All the appetizers were great. The mint chutney was some of the best ones I have had. The beef briyani was a disappointment. It missed the mark. It did not taste like briyani at all. It was missing all the basic spice for briyani. Also did not have the cashes or raisins that is usually in the rice. I did bring this up to our server and he said they make their briyani completely different. It had a strong tomato taste and there were green bell peppers. Briyani does not have bell peppers. I would suggest calling it something else than briyani. Overall not bad. They have a lot of options. I would go back to try some of the...