Royal Masala Restaurant Bar - Hartford

The Goods The Interior is very nice Service was great Menu selection is very broad Food tasted great The Weirds The entrees were kind of small for the money Sorry we don 't have the Bombay Chicken Wings Sorry, we don 't have any chai Sorry we don 't have any unsweetened iced tea Sorry we don 't have any sweet or salted lassi Huh?? The Scoop Stopped in tonight after a show at the Bushnell, walked in around 8:30 and the restaurant was not crowded at all. We were seated promptly and had our water glasses filled quickly. After we ran through the barrage of things we wanted but weren 't in stock see above) we ordered a chicken chili appetizer $8),a Keema Naan, a Murg Zafrani, a Kerela Shrimp Curry, and a mango lassi. The chicken chili was strips of fried chicken in a slightly spicy sauce served with peppers and onions. It was a nice start to our dinner, but to my palate it seemed a little too salty. The Keema Naan $5) was described on the menu as bread stuffed with ground lamb , instead what we got was bread with a minute quantity of ground lamb sprinkled on top . It was OK, but not what we were expecting from the menu. Our entrees were both served with rice. We had Murg Zafrani $14) chicken cubes in an delicate saffron sauce, and Kerela Shrimp Curry $16) four decent sized shrimps in a terrific coconut milk onion sauce. I ordered the dish very spicy and they delivered!! It was sooo good. Again, I thought the food was very good but the portions weren 't that large. But just about everything else about our meal and dining experience were pretty good, except for the weird shortages of so many items especially beverages) that were on the menu.

I rarely have indian food but really wanted to try it. I usually order for delivery because I'm too lazy to drive and find parking. During dinner hours, it takes about 45 mins to an hour, not too bad. From the menu descriptions, I decided to try Chicken madras, it comes with rice. Other than chicken, there's not much texture in this dish but I love it. The sauce pairs so well with the rice. It may seem like a small dish but it's very filling. I also tried the garlic naan not bad. I tried almost every dessert on the menu didn't like any of them... probably cause I'm not used to Indian desserts. They only deliver during certain hours, so make sure you find out before you get hungry!

I cant believe Ive lived within walking distance from Royal Masala for years and never tried it until last night. It is excellent. We walked in around 8pm to a completely empty restuarant, which made me very concerned right off the bat. Fear not, by the time we left around 9:30-10 there were many other tables seated and eating. It just seems to be a later crowd. We ordered tandoori chicken, chicken madra and garlic naan. Everything was fantastic. The chicken was cooked perfectly, no hint of dryness...no hint of pink. The flavors of the tandoori andthe clay oven were outstanding. The madras I ordered medium and it definitely had some kick to it. Great over the abundant amoutn of rice the served alongside of it. The garlic naan was smothered in fresh garlic and olive oil. Really worth going. The only down side, I will say, is that the waitrees made us wait about 15-20 minutes after we had our plates cleared and finishing our drinks before bringing the bill. She walked by multiple times, i even tried staring at her... nothing. It was like she deliberately ignored us. In the end she brought us the bill without us getting her attention but clearly she had seen us trying to flag her down. Never asked if we wanted any more drinks or dessert, which we probably would have ordered. Two tables that sat and ate after us were gone long before we were. Not sure what the issue was since she seemed friendly when we actually spoke to her. Besides the service, everything was great. I should note that when we first sat, we had a gentleman seat us and bring water. He also took our order... he was fantastic, very attentive.

Honestly, I have to agree with everything the former reviewer said before her retraction. The food at Masala the freshest, and most flavorful Indian food in the Hartford area. They have a wonderful lunch buffet (great for the indecisive, experimental Indian food newbie), and excellent service to back it up. Give Masala a shot the next time you're in Hartford.

Royal Masala has a reasonably priced buffet that includes dosa and even chai! (a lot of buffets don't seem to have dosa or chai which saddens me because those two things really make a meal feel more complete .. we got there early on a saturday with some fellow yelpers and we all agreed the food was good A OK. Appetizers were good. There was a fair selection of vegetarian options (maybe 4 choices even if it wasn't my favorite dishes everything i tried was good and spicy (more spicy than the average buffet i didn't really look at the meat department (it looked like maybe 3 meat options on the buffet . if you order from the menu on a buffet day you may be waiting quite a while. (3.5 stars maybe?