Tough call on a single score for this place . Good food, good prices, weird customer experience. I ordered the butter prawns and my bride ‍ ordered the equivalent of lamb saag. Both were excellent!...with a surprisingly generous amount of shrimp and lamb. So if you are considering this place for takeout, this place is a 6 on a scale of 1-5 . For the Canadian travelers, read on ... The restaurant was almost empty when I arrived at 7 pm, so that was a bit of a warning sign. The server seated us and took our order. She offered us each a bottle of water ( not sure why tap water was not offered) and we ordered a bottle of wine. They did not have any of the Cabernet on the menu, so they offered us a different Cabernet at the same price. It was fine. Two things that struck me as strange: 1. The server brought us our wine and two glasses, but did not open the bottle. I had to walk up to the bar to get an opener, and open the bottle myself. Granted, we visited just after the Covid era, so I want to give them the benefit of doubt on staff hiring. It took awhile to actually get our food. Thank goodness we had the bottle . To recap: good food, weird, in person customer experience read more

In the heart of the yyc theatre district, Royal India Cuisine is my favourite theatre restaurant. You can park and not have to leave the building for dinner or drinks. read more

We walked in on a Monday night. The place was empty. We ordered the veggie platter with paneer and veggie samosas. The onion pakora was excellent. The main dishes were palak chicken, kadai lamb, peas pulao and paneer naan. All were tasty with large servings. The price was reasonable. We enjoyed the whole experience. Maybe lowering the hindi video volume would be nice read more

Royal India Cuisine - Dining room - Indian Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

Maybe its because I have had lots of Indian food in Vancouver. I want to say this place is wow but its mediocre. I know its not fair to say Indian food is not as great as back in Vancouver when there is a higher population of Indian people there / Indian restaurants. Overall it was ok. I came here and did the all you can eat lunch buffet. It does have a very good selection of food. Food tasted ok. I did notice one or two tiny fruit flies flying around. Also if you check in on Yelp, you get a free chai tea. read more

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Not the worst food ever, but it's not trying to be good, tasty, or anything reasonable. Order from anywhere else is an improvement.

Don't waste your money. Not worth it. Worst indian food in yyc. Butter chicken didn't taste like butter chicken at all, sauce was liquid like water. Naan bread is more like a thick pita bread. Veggy samosa are made with spring roll paper and the veggies in it were not fully cooked. They also sis not come with any sauce. If I could give 0 stars or less I would. I took one bite and ordered another order from OM India cuisine because there is no way I am eating this garbage. So disappointed. Don't believe the stars on skip the dishes. read more

Order take out. Butter chicken, naan, samosas -- the usual. We asked for recommendations for a beef dish and the lady suggested one for us. Wish I could remember what it was called but it was delicious. Great authentic Indian food. Will definitely order again. read more

A couple of friends and I went here during a trip to Calgary and the food was absolutely delicious!

The naan stole the show. The nan alone gets one star. It was of the thinner more crispy type, not the thick fluffy type. Three stars for the curry. I did not think it was better than the other smaller Indian places around Calgary. Personally, I prefer the smaller mom & pop Indian restaurants. Royal India would be good to host banquets or company events, the place is huge and even has a dance floor. Overall, the experience was not bad and I would go back. read more

Royal India Cuisine - Indian Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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The first time I was confronted with Royal India's buffet, my stomach expanded six times. Buffets are not my friend, and this had a selection of all of my favourites - delicious butter chicken, fresh cooked Naan, paneer, samosas, paneer, vindaloo. My plate was full like a little mountain, and I felt like I was going to explode for the rest of the day. Which was a bad thing, because at the time I worked in the building above the Royal India. Try concentrating when you are about to burst. My proximity to the restaurant meant that I went back for lunch a few more times - while exercising careful restraint of course. And the second time around I noticed that while it is pretty decent Indian food, it isn't quite stellar. Quality is sacrificed for quantity, at least buffet wise. Also, can I just say that the service here is pretty stellar. A full star full of service actually - I was debating three but they have never been anything but courteous, helpful and kind. They legitimately ask about your day, and are always quick to fill water glasses and to take away dirty dishes but also to let you linger if you want. read more

Royal India Cuisine - photo credit: waymarking.com - Indian Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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Food was requested for Medium spice but was extremely spicy. Didn't sound like they care about customer service at all.

Really like the decor, service and food, just about in any order ;) One of the bigger Indian restos ive been to, as these guys been in business for awhile, and do lots of private parties, catering, buffets and delivery. Being in the dt core sure helps too, located right below a major office building. Was there last year for a biz trip, and can vouch for their butter chicken. i just remember also the comfortable lounge chairs, felt like a king ;) Across there's a parking lot so the resto wil reimburse you $2 read more

Amazing restaurant. Great experience. From the traditional set up, plates and pots to the... I dare to say best butter chicken and naan bread I've had. Huge portions too. Couldn't finish my meal... Very polite and nice lady waitress and owner. Would definitely recommend. Honslty a good surpise! Thank you read more

Royal India Cuisine - Butter and korma chicken - Indian Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

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biryani was good and ambiance is superb I made this variation with the recipe https://www.hyderabadirelish.com/2023/08/Hyderabadibiryani.html read more

Attended a private dinner year back in April. This restaurant is quite big, has a dance floor at the back. The food quality was not that good, maybe it was because of the mass amount of people that were in attendance, proper care was not given into preparing the food. Chicken wasn't cooked properly and just left a bad taste in my mouth. Indian food is known to be spicy, all the dishes were sweet for some reason. The staff were so so there was nothing over the top about this place that would make me want to come back. I've been to a few parties that Royal India has catered and it was the same situation, the food on various occasions simply was not good. read more

I kept telling at yelp party it's one of the places that u can visit of those Indian restaurants in calgary, but why didn't I review yet?? Here it goes. When it comes to downtown, I can suggest this as one of the good places for buffet of Indian restaurants. Good that we have lunch buffet here over weekend too.( Saturday there was, but not too sure about sunday.) I would want to rate it 3.5 but as I have an option of either 3 or 4, i go with 4. What makes it a 4 star in downtown? The place is pretty big. Very clean and colorful. You will get to have water in copper coated glasses ( Indian style ). Tandoori chicken is really good outta here. I usually dont taste lamb curry, but got to taste here and it was really good that I opted to taste it again. Also they have pakoda, samosa,salad and all as usual menu as other indian restaurants. But remember to save some space in ur stomach for the desserts. Even if you dont have any space try to stuff it in. Never miss them. Gulab jamoon!!! Oh no!!! mouth started watering already... So smooth, hot, delicious, and fruit custard,kheer,carrot sweet were good too.. Why did I leave the rest of the stars? Little costly. Like it goes around $18 for lunch buffet. Not all dishes are excellent. Some were just upto the mark. It is a typical north Indian food. While Raj palace was more of south Indian flavors. There is one other Glory of India in downtown too. Never tasted its lunch buffet as they don't serve it over weekends. I wish i would try that some day and hope it would impress me for 5 stars.Keep waiting :P read more

I had been craving Indian food for days, and picked Royal India Cuisine after much deliberating over Yelp reviews. Sigh, it was something of a disappointment. This restaurant was *empty* for dinner. I wish I liked this place better, really, I do. Their prices are fair and their portions are pretty good. But we went here for dinner and the food was just .... mediocre. It didn't hit the spot. The palak paneer (fresh cheese in spinach) was pretty good- silky and pretty flavorful. But the other dish we got, the navrattan korma (mixed vegetables in a creamy sauce) was really sub-par, despite being listed as a house specialty. It tasted like the kind of bagged mixed vegetables you can buy in the freezer section of the supermarket, boiled too long, and then plunked into a mostly flavorless sauce. This dish had the quality of a school cafeteria side dish. Rice, naan, papdi chat and mango lassies were ok, but nothing special. The pappadam and sauce were a tasty complimentary appetizer, which was a nice touch. The staff was pleasant and friendly, but once we were seated, the service was not very attentive. There were no more than two occupied tables the whole time we were there (and we were the only ones there for quite a bit of the time), and despite there being two waitresses and the owner present, our water glasses were empty a lot of the time, we waited quite a while to order, and then waited a long time for the food, and we had a hard time flagging someone down for the check. The service was never rude and the people were nice, but it sure was hard to get ahold of them. The decor is quite pretty, with deep red saris over the windows and elaborately inlaid chairs. Though given how tightly packed everything is, I could see how it might be a problem the restaurant gets full. That certainly wasn't a problem for us though. I wouldn't rule out a repeat visit to Royal India Cuisine in the future, but I'm going to continue my search for the delicious Indian food that I am craving, as this just wasn't it. read more

This place is awesome! I came here for a business lunch and it was great. The decor is warm and colorful, and the food is delicious. It apparently gets really busy at lunch time, because there wasn't an empty table in sight when I was there. The place just kept on filling and filling up! But that's no worry, since this restaurant is quite large. We hit the buffet right away, and my favorite thing by far was the naan bread. Fluffy, fresh, and chewy, just the way I like it! The butter chicken was a bit sweeter than I'm used to, but still good. The overall selection wasn't vast, but it was big enough. We decided to skip dessert, as the choices didn't look tempting enough. Fruit, fruit cream, and rice pudding. Also, I couldn't figure out why there was a large container of Clamato .... did I miss something? Overall though, a wonderful place for lunch or dinner. Lots of space and quick, friendly service, as well as a full bar. Would definitely come here again when I'm in town! read more

Stopped in to grab some take-out buffet. They had a private party going on and their buffet was a custom vegetarian only selection. The person told me I was welcome to grab whatever I wanted, as the food was already made and they would not eat it all. But he apologized for the lack of meat options. I didn't mind and decided to be adventurous and try a bit of everything. I was given some naan and after filling my to-go box was on my way. Good price and I appreciated that they let me grab some of their food though it was meant for a private gathering. The items I had were all okay, but nothing was amazing. I love zaag paneer, veggie korma, etc. though they had none of these on offer. All the dishes I ate tasted really quite similar and the naan was slightly burned. I appreciated the gesture but was not a huge fan of what I ate. I would come back again try their normal buffet another time though as it seemed to be a totally legit Indian place and the staff were all very polite. read more

My colleagues and I decided we wanted to bond so we opted to try something new, enter Royal India. When you enter the restaurant you are welcomed by two life statues of people just like you and me except they are wearing traditional South Indian clothing. This is a nice touch, this and the wonderful beckoning interior color decor, fusia and oranges... very stimulating. Our group of 15 were a bit early but yet the owner of the restaurant graciously opened the all you can eat buffet for us, so we had first dibs at fresh tasty Indian food. This spot because of its downtown location caters to the downtown passerby's so therefore it affects the heat of the Indian food, it was quite mild than what I am used to. The buffet itself has many options, most notably the nice assortment of bread and the desserts. The mango salad was so delicious and so was this carrot concoction. My personal favourite is the Gulab Jamon which I could eat forever and create a diabetic problem for myself. Thankfully I was already full with the buffet so I didn't indulge my sweet vice. The lunch buffet is a bit steep at $20, I know other Indian places that charge $11 to $15 for a lunch buffet but I guess you are paying for the downtown location. All in all a nice Indian place to eat with milder South Indian flavours. read more

We ordered for pick up and it was ready in 30 minutes. There were 3 of us and we spent approximately $60 for more food than we could handle. Definitely worth the money we paid. Each dish we ordered mild and it was perfect. I do enjoy spice, but it was a decent way to get a full flavour and test their specific heat levels. I could comfortably handle a medium here. For our meal we ordered 2 meat dishes, 1 cheese/vegetarian, 2 orders of rice, and 2 orders of naan bread. We could have done with one less rice. It is a full round foil container. If you are big eaters this is a perfect amount. The staff was very friendly and the service was prompt. read more

Whenever I traveled to Calgary, I visited this place more than other Indian. This place is neat and food quality is better than other Indian restaurants in Calgary. I liked their buffet the most. read more

After hearing ad upon ad on the radio, I finally decided to give Royal India a try for Sunday Brunch one day. I really wasn't in the mood for eggs, and heck, how often do I let myself indulge in butter chicken. I'm glad I decided to go that Sunday, as parked cars was fairly sparse. Right across from a city lot with discounted parking on weekends, I would hate to go here during the week when parking rates are at a premium. My first impressions was that this was a pretty large place at the heart of downtown, with a HUGE buffet. Easily able to seat a few hundred, it was a little quiet at the time, but it looked like it wouldn't be so for much longer (there was a really long table of 20+ being prepared). And getting things started was easy enough, with a polite enough server just walking up and filling up our cool metal mugs with water. However, nowhere did I see at that time (or on their website), a price list virtually anywhere or a menu for that matter. Still, I said, what the heck, it's a sunday brunch buffet, how much could it be. Now as for the buffet food, like most of the indian places in town, I find that their vindaloo really is set for "helpless white person" levels. Honestly, for something that's supposed to be hot enough to roast your mouth alive, I've had watered down tobasco with 3 times the heat. Most of the rest of the food had the general flavours, and the butter chicken was actually fairly decent. Still, nothing had hit outta the park, but that would have been a bit of a surprise if it did. There really isn't anything of especial note, but still, I did my best to try everything (and probably paid for that later that night). Service was a little slow as I had literally piled about 3 plates over 40 min of eating before they were collected. As they just left me a pitcher of water as opposed to a waitress coming around to pour, they really didn't even need to notice if I needed anything at all. Now, at the end, I finally got the bill, and had a bit of sticker shock. It came out to over $20 a person for the basic meal, plus the drinks (fairly pricy mango juice it turns out) and so on. I paid the amount and left a small tip (for not collecting my plates or even checking to see if I hadn't had a heart attack or say hi), but that'll teach me for not insisting on finding out that they're also the most expensive indian buffet in the city as well. Will I go back? Maybe. I didn't have any problems with the food, just the service and the price a little. Still, it was an acceptable indian buffet and probably worth a trip back one of these days. read more

Went there for a friend's birthday first time, awesome place loads of space. They had us in the back area which was great since it was tucked away and private. ... from the street this place looks tiny but man is it ever huge! .... They were super accommodating we had a large party and our friend had hired a belly dancer and the staff and owner were sooo helpful and welcoming with the festivities we had or requested. The food was good -- my only complaint was that some of it was cooler than expected temperature wise. Would go back again. read more

Royal India has a pretty good buffet. I've had the lunch buffet during the work week and it's quite a spread. There's a salad bar, samosas, the different types of curries both vege and meat, tandoori chicken, naan bread, desserts and fruits. I absolutely love the goat curry!! read more

$18 Indian dinner buffet...how can you go wrong? They have a decent selection including all the standard Indian buffet eats. The only issue I had was the $3 buffet coke...$3 for a coke?! The expensive pop aside, I will be returning here. read more

My mom made a reservation for 7 people a couple of weeks ago. Whoever she spoke to informed her that there was going to 75+ people in the restaurant for an occasion and that we'd be placed "upstairs" in a separate dining area - my mom agreed that it was alright. What they failed to mention was that the 75+ people were there for a wedding celebration. With very loud music. That is our biggest gripe. Had we known this, we would not have made the reservations and gone elsewhere. First of all, my grandfather was with us (he has troubles walking around) and the weather was terrible so we figured it was too much of a hassle to relocate to another restaurant. Secondly, it would have been another hassle to find another restaurant that can seat 7 people with little notice. So, we stayed for our meal. It felt like we were eating at a nightclub. Last but not least, because there was a bigger gathering for them to look after, it felt like we we're just pushed aside on the sidelines and weren't given their better quality food even though we were paying the full price for the food and services. When we called a couple of days later to inform them of or grievance, the manager, Pal didn't empathize with us when we asked to be recompensed for our ruined experience. read more

Royal India is by far my favorite India restaurant in Calgary. The curries are rich and spicy. The breads are cooked and seasoned to perfection. I hear that the lunch buffet here is really good; even though I am not a big fan of buffets I am definitely going to give it a try. I would definitely recommend. read more

went here for a private event. worst indian food i've ever had. I'd really save my money and go ANYWHERE else, there's tons of alternatives in downtown. THOUGH, the decor is nice! it seemed really traditional! read more

They cheat you if you are a regular! They are very money minded. The food is not value for the money spent usually. We have been consistent in ordering samosa for our office meetings and parties... apart from our regular lunch outings to their place, as they are conveniently located. Despite being very regular, their samosa size has been cut smaller for us... from big to medium to small and for the same cost ! When the concern was brought to their attention, they couldn't handle it rightly and were perfectly ok with losing the business going forward. I was very disappointed. So this is what you get, for being a regular !! read more

Great flavors, tasty naan bread, and awesome atmosphere!

The Butter Chicken was the best! I would go there again! Wished I would have been there at lunch for the buffet!!!

My fav Indian place in Calgary. They make my dishes perfectly mild - I'm a spice wimp but I love Indian flavors so it's hard to me to find places that cater to my sensitive taste buds. Delicious! I just wish they delivered lassis. read more

The most tasteless!!!!! I had been for the Saturday buffet lunch and it was pathetic!!! I was cursing myself as I had chosen the restaurant for a friends party! The most horrible thing was the indian bread which is prepared in house by any restaurant, here it was served with the buffet food and the other worst thing is it was the frozen one which was heated and kept. I could literally get that fermented smell which we get from the frozen food!!! Yuck!!!! None of the curries were eatable!! Finally the drinks!!! I ordered screwdriver which was as good as orange juice!! They don't even have a BARTENDER!!!!! The waitress must have forgotten to add vodka!!!! read more

Today was my first visit to RIC. The lunch buffet was delicious and well varied. Vegan and non vegan were plentiful. Naan was fabulous and the staples - butter chicken and beef curry excellent. Rice was very ordinary for an Indian buffet. I was expecting jasmine or basmati but not today. read more

Royal India Cuisine - Indian Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

Excellent buffet with a great variety of dishes. Staff were friendly and helpful for our large group. Will definitely be back for more naan and butter chicken! read more

This is our favourite place for Indian. Lots of selection and the food is always amazing. Lots of saucy meats to dip the naan in. My little ones love it too! read more

My engagement party was held here, about 170 people came. Everyone loved it!! The food was delicious, the staff were respectful and nice. Thank you for allowing our special day to be the best ever! read more

Horrible food quality, not fresh at all. Super expensive buffet, would not recommend to anyone.

I read several reviews about this place before hosting a huge party here. And I was a bit nervous because a few of them were bad... but I have to say I was very very impressed! Great food, great service - thanks! read more