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Wednesday, March 5,2008
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Buffet for a King
A Royal Indian lunch
A warm, milky
cup of chai is relaxing any time of the year, but it’s especially
comforting during the chilly endgame of winter. The chai served at
Royal India is a mild pick-me-up for the midday, a gentler uplift than
yet another round of coffee.
It’s also a fine accompaniment to
Royal India’s lunch buffet ($7.95), served 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. seven days
a week. Royal India is nothing to look at from the outside, a drab slab
on a corner of a featureless stretch of South 27th Street. Inside,
however, the restaurant lights up. The tile floor, white walls and
sparse adornment of scenes from Indian mythology and history conjure up
an airy sense of spaciousness. The aroma is wonderful. The Indian music
is dreamy.
The servers are friendly and, without bidding, will
bring you a second cup of chai. The customer is indeed treated royally.
Lunch buffets have become the stock-in-trade at most Indian restaurants
in the Midwest. Royal India’s has much to offer. Separating it from
lesser buffets is freshness and careful preparation. The onion bhaji is
crispy, not greasy. The vegetable samosa, filled with potato and a touch
of cilantro in a paper-thin golden brown crust, is done to perfection.
The tandoori chicken, appetizingly arrayed on a bed of chopped onion
and parsley, is tender but not very meaty and includes a bit of
gristle. Likewise the meat in the kadhai chicken surrenders easily to
the fork but can be bony. The sauce in which the chicken is sauteed
offers compensation with its tasty blend of bell peppers, onions,
tomatoes, coriander and ginger.
Other chicken dishes fare
better, especially the tikka masala with great cubes of meat in a
creamy orange sauce. Unfortunately there was no vindaloo at a recent
visit. Chicken vindaloo is said to be a specialty of the dinner menu.
At lunch, goat curry is also an option.
Vegetarians will have
plenty to feast on, including shahi paneer, cottage cheese in a creamy
herbed sauce; saag, a spinach dish; and a zucchini stew. The sweet
carrot salad called gaimar is intended as dessert but can provide a
pleasant counterpoint to the mildly spiced main courses. With the
possible exception of the mango pickle, one of the condiments along
with the usual mint chutney and tamarind sauce, the flavors at Royal
India’s buffet are soft-edged.
Of course, you can top off the
meal with kheer, the sweet watery rice pudding familiar from virtually
every other Indian buffet. It goes nicely with a final cup of chai. (Photo by Don Rask)
ROYAL INDIA
3400 S. 27th St. 647-9600 $-$$ Smoke Free Handicap Access: Yes
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