Sigh
With it being the yuletide season I wish I could bring you tidings of comfort and joy about Royal India. I can't.
Louisville has some good Indian restaurants. Shalimar, India Palace and Kashmir all produce some individual specialty that really shine, depending on your personal taste preference. My personal favorites are Shalimar for al a carte dining and India Palace for buffet.
Royal India has opened just a few doors down from Havana Rumba. That will be their doom. I'm not sure that the spillover will help them. The idea of "if Havana Rumba has a wait maybe we will get the folks who don't want to wait" begs a separate question: If your taste buds are set for cuban food, how well can you switch mental gears and go for indian food?
Until lunch today it has been impossible for my family to pull up near Havana Rumba and then go next door to a different restaurant. So I went solo today.
It was still extremely difficult but I stumbled through the doors of Royal India at 1145 and noticed that even the crickets had headed next door. I was seated at a 2 top. All the tables have attractive, sturdy wooden chairs. The tables are glass topped with white cloth tablecloths underneath. Dark blue cloth napkins surround chunky cutlery. The walls are adorned with painting of rural indian village themes. There appears to be a small bar in the rear near the restrooms. Handicapped access didn't appear to be a issue as everything is on one level.
The menu opens with 14 different breads ranging from plain naan all the way to Mooli Paratha (Paratha stuffed with a mild white indan root vegetable.) I ordered Aloo naan, stuffed with potato. They have 11 appetizers with different pakoras, samosas, tikka. 3 different raitas for cooling are also available. They have 3 soups being mulligatawny, coconut and chicken herb. They have vegetarian, chicken, lamb, seafood and rice specialties and a few "Indian Chinese" specials like chow mein and chicken or vegetable manchurian (candidate).
I ordered a vegetarian thali for lunch which had small spot of saag paneer, channa masala, rice and a poori. Saag Paneer is spinach cooked with homemade cheese cubes in a mild sauce. Channa Masala are chick peas in a mild cream sauce. Rice was basmati. When I say a small spot, I mean small. I had a sectioned plate with a 1/4 cup of each item and a cup of rice. The poori was fluffy, baseball sized and grease free. The naan was the highlight of the meal. It was very chewy and had a good portion of potato inside.
With the thali, naan and a diet Coke the total for lunch was $14.60 plus a $3.00 tip for fast, efficient service. It couldn't be inefficient service as I was still the only diner there when I left at 1230. That is an expensive lunch for such pedestrian fare. I wish it well, but I wonder how it will survive.
As a side note it does carry 22 ounce Flying Horse, King Fisher, Maharaja and Taj Mahal beers and 12 ounce Lion Stout, Sam Smith and Blue Moon.
The have Indian cola, Indian lemon-lime soda, Masala Chai tea, mango lassi and mango shake along with the usual suspects of the carbonated soda world.
Royal India
4123 Oechsli Avenue
502.896.0025