Spice Palace Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Virginia

I had only been to Spice Palace before for its (excellent and encyclopedic) luncheon buffet, but I am not likely to review any buffet as I am looking for places to relax and enjoy reasonable portions of fine food in a comfortable environment with attentive service—and as you know, buffets are not generally aimed at providing those features.

But yesterday evening, November 4, 2019, my son Chris and I drove up to Williamsburg for dinner at Spice Palace Indian Restaurant, and now I can wholeheartedly recommend an evening dining experience that should please everyone who loves Indian cuisine—even Vegans and Vegetarians! I believe fully half the menu is composed of vegetable and/or cheese dishes, and the admirable descriptions of them make any of them as difficult to resist as I am sure they are difficult to prepare!

Even in an Indian restaurant I have seldom taken so long considering the menu before placing an order. The choices are all splendid: hunger finally forced us to our decisions—Lamb Rogan Josh for me, and the Seafood Shaadi platter for Chris. Incautiously we also ordered appetizers, as the rarely-found Lamb Samosas and a remarkable wrap, Gyro Roll, nearly filled us both before the main dishes arrived, huge and sizzling, to the table! Basmati rice is served with the dishes, and it is characteristically fluffy and aromatic; but in addition virtually every sort of naan is available for an additional charge.

I had ordered the Rogan Josh at a “five star” spiciness level, and I was delighted with the entire preparation of the dish: but my impression is that you will receive what you ask for very precisely, so do give careful consideration to what you want. Portions are generous—half of my dinner came home with me, and heated up well today as a very sufficient lunch.

The water glasses were very considerately filled and maintained throughout the meal; in addition, I enjoyed the Flying Horse beer, and Chris had a Coca Cola.

There is nothing amiss at Spice Palace either in cuisine or service. With only a few touches to the ambiance, which might or might not be possible in a Williamsburg environment, Spice Palace would acquire even a fifth star. I really loved the meal—and...

Update: The pandemic seems to have hit a lot of my favorite restaurants VERY hard. I visited Spice Palace after 2 years away, and sadly it is now pretty mediocre. They seem to have cut a lot of corners, and the quality of the food is now only so-so. Not bad. Just... mediocre. (Side note: For Hound's Tale it's even worse. Their food is now terrible.) This is really sad, because I used to go here every week, and ordered every single item on the menu at least once. (I was even awarded a gift certificate back in the day for the achievement of ordering literally every single item.)

If you're in Williamsburg and wanting Indian food, try Masala Craft, my new favorite restaurant in the entire region. (And yes, I've now ordered every single item off of the Masala Craft menu and I can affirm that all of them are very good -- and at least 80% of them are simply outstanding.)

Old Review From 2018 Below This might be the best restaurant in all of Williamsburg. (My other favorite is Hound's Tale.)

You can tell that the food is very lovingly prepared. It is absolutely packed with flavor, presented beautifully, and cooked to perfection. Also, the decor is lovely, the service is excellent (so friendly and attentive!), and the prices are reasonable.

If you don't know where to start, you can't go wrong with these classics: chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, and garlic naan.

Spice Palace, thank you for existing. You make this town a better place to live. Please keep up the good work, and I will be back many, many times.

(Disclaimer: My visits have only been for dinner. So, I can't speak to the...

We have been all around India, and took my nephew (whose family cooks the most delicious Indian food I have ever eaten) and daughter to the Spice Palace yesterday evening. He had chicken biriyani ( a dish his family has perfected) and I had chicken tikka masala with garlic naan ( not sure what happened to those pics- but they were beautiful ). Best Naan I have ever eaten here or in India! The dishes were both absolutely delicious and he gave the biriyani a 9/10 with his family’s being a 10…a high compliment, as they are expert foodies and critics when it comes to Indian food!! Very rarely does any dish get such reviews from him. Well done!! My daughter tried the chicken tenders as she doesn’t have a spice tolerance. She also loved the garlic naan. The waitress also had impeccable timing ( as a former server, this is something I look for)! We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and are looking forward to the next visit!! I highly recommend this place!!

UPDATE: I returned again tonight to see if it was a one-off; but I’m happy to report that it was just as good as the last visit! JYOTI, my server was attentive, polite and knowledgeable about the dishes and answered all of my questions and checked on me perfectly throughout the meal. I has the chicken tika masala and garlic naan along with trying the masala dosa. The food arrived after about 10 minutes and all were piping hot and delicious! I had enough for another meal the next day! This is my new go-to place for Indian food! My only note is that it is a bit too dimly lit. It could use a bit of warm lighting. Highly recommend...