Review Royal India - Cairns

The food was great, not as filling as other Indian restaurants though where I pay less at. Plates were all dirty. Lovely customer service though rate 10/10 for the staff there 😁 I recommend this place if you want lots of flavour!

The staff were courteous, very attentive and great at explaining the differences between dishes on the menu. The food was very tasty and came to our table in a fair amount of time. Will definitely be back, definitely reccomend visiting Royal India for dinner

Friendly service Tasty food Tried the lamb kadhai. The lamb was melt in your mouth tender. The eggplant dish was also delicious. Great naan bread Yum. I suggest you try!

My partner and I were visiting Cairns and being from India I love indian food and everything about it. And love trying Indian restaurants wherever new place we go. But this "Royal India" is disgrace to Indian cuisine and what it represents. Firstly the food is fine dining expensive. The service was bad, tables were poor quality and especially the cutlery and plates appeared that they were bought from Kmart on special. As far as the food goes. Disgusting would be an understatement. We ordered khadai paneer, methi malai chicken, vegetable tawa biryani and laccha paratha. Khadai paneer was just awful. The curry base was so bland and flavour-less. The paneer was below ok at best and there was no presentation whatsoever. My partner had the chicken and he loves his chicken curry but by far this was the most disgusting chicken curry he's ever had from a restaurant. The chicken tasted like it was frozen for months before it was cooked and served on a poorly made curry base. The biryani was ok. It had some flavours but nothing worth spending $19. Laccha paratha was kind of the highlight of our meal as it was fresh but again it lacked salt. Customer service close to zero. Everything tasted like it was made by someone who clearly hated their job and didn't want to be there. I am sorry but if you are going to charge fine dining restaurant price then you must deliver what you charge. This was a memorable experience but for all the wrong reasons. I will put up the payment receipt so the owner cannot refute my review stating someone is after him or whatever. Seriously mate close your doors, re-evaluate your entire business.

I must say this place doesn't even deserve a single star, it is below zero. Terrible sevice, worst ambience and chef was too rude. For entree we ordered samosa and it was totally tasteless and got it after 45 minutes of waiting. In main course both curries were not rich in flavor, very watery and didn't lead up to our expectations. The staff members didn't even listen and give priority to customers preference. They were fighting with each other and played very worst quality of music with extra loud volume. I suggest not to visit that place. Total waste of money and especially time. The worst quality Indian food I ever had. Very bad experience.

Went to this restaurant after a tiring day and had to wait for our food for more than 30 minutes. And guess what, vegetarian fried noodles and tandoori roti were a nightmare. However, we returned it and got our food as per our taste. After we got our bill, we noticed that there was an additional $36 in our bill and when asked the waitress was so reckless and told that it was the wine that we ordered which was $9 and was there on the bill already. The waitress didn’t even care to apologise and was extremely reckless. Wouldn’t go back there for sure!

Despite the bad reviews, I decided to go here. While their competitors were running a busy crowd for the evening,there was only one table booked here. I would say the upkeep and Maintenance of the restaurant is not great. Not a great look from a customer point of view. With things thrown in the corner of a table. Staff are very nice though. Tasteless mango lassi and I remember the Naan was very dry and crispy instead of soft.

The chicken curry dish was fantastic. They had tons of options including vegan and vegetarian. Overall experience was excellent, friendly staff and a quaint beachside dining area. Would recommend to anyone staying in Cairns.

I absolutely love it! Been back a number of times and have never been let down yet! I really enjoy the butter chicken. I also really enjoyed the rice super fragrant and has actual spices throughout!

I had delivery. Paneer Chilli is soy sauce overload. Any online recipe would guide you to a tasty dish but this was beyond pathetic. The malai kofta was tasteless and the roti was bad. I definitely do not recommend.

very nice food 1st day in cairns and we tried dal bukhara was really amazing. had to come back next day coz of good service and lovely food . Must try chicken biryani, dal bukhara and chicken tikka masala<br/>

<br/>Zesty Traditional Indian Food Restaurant in the Heart of Cairns <br/>Near the Famous Night Market <br/><br/>The Food is Authentic and Good in Quality <br/>The Chamba Masala was perfectly crafted to taste and it is a must try <br/><br/>The Ambience is ok, could be done little better and the air condition didn't seem to be working <br/><br/>Rest it's quite a Decent Food Place to visit while in Cairns

Highly recommendable .Great value for money. Provides finest quality of food and various varieties to choose from. Staff is quite friendly ..

We found this restaurant while strolling around Cairns and were so glad that we gave it a try. We were there earlier in the evening which was helpful; the food was served promptly and was delicious with generous helpings. Nan bread was great - we would recommend this restaurant to others who savor Indian food.

Amazing Indian food<br/>Family dinner with two children, loads of seating, amazing food! Quick service, presented well. Clean tables, clean fresh food, located cairns esplanade. Amazing!!! Definitely would recommend to others

Best Indian food in cairns<br/>This restaurant has the most authentic Indian food we've ever had. The food, the ambience, the service - everything was perfection!

Visited Royal India once again, after visiting last time i was up on holidays, have to admit the new owners have improved on everything, the food and service is alot better than the previous time visited, very gald i gave it another shot, definitely recommending this to friends

friend birthday dinner last friday restaurant was very busy but service was very fast and staff is very friendly .new owner really change this place

After reading all the previous reviews, let's say, we gave this place a benefit of doubt. I wouldn't recommend this place if you are looking for a quality authentic Indian food. Our Dal Makhani was no way close to what we expected. Kadhai paneer was still fine, breads were not good.

This is a cosy restaurant on the esplande of Cairns which is bank opposite Lagoona n Reef Terminal. Indian delicasy seems to be good. Staff seems to be courteous and they treat you really well. Ambience seems to be typical roadside cafes setup and gives a good variety of food in Veg n Non Veg. Indians should be happy with this joint as taste seems to be very good n delicious.

Awesome food man,all Indian should have food here only. Best Indian food of Cairns. Run by a cute Panjabi family. Great hospitality. N lovely ambient <br/><br/>

I'll have to combine 2 reviews in 1 here. I was really craving Indian food in Cairns, and just happened to see this restaurant. We visited them 2 days in a row. On the first day we ordered wine and 2 biryanis - chicken & lamb. Although it took a long time to prepare, the wait was worth it as both the biryanis were amazing. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. Because of this, we returned the following day to have biryani again. We ordered the exact same biryani and it took the same amount of time to prepare. When it arrived, it had no salt! Four of us felt the same, so my tastebuds were perfect. I complained to the manager and told him that we'd come there today because of our experience the previous night, but the biryani was hopeless. I really didn't want to wait for another 45 minutes for another biryani. But they made it in 10 minutes and it tasted good. I've had 2 experiences in 2 days. Try you luck!<br/>

Fish this place. You know what I mean ;) Do yourself a favour and do not go this place. The worst Indian restaurant ever and this is coming from an Indian.

The food was hit and miss. One lamb dish was as good as any Indian I've eaten anywhere - including in India. However a side dish of mint raita was literally rancid. To allow rotten food to be served is unforgivable. The service was very slow: 15 minutes for a drink and 40 minutes for the meal. Plus they got one of the orders wrong. Overall: avoid.

Food took 50 minutes. The food took 50 minutes to come out (I was keeping track of time). Now, I don't mind waiting for food--I'm guilty of waiting 6 hours for a cronut in the middle of winter in NYC--but for food that is barely acceptable, I was frustrated at waiting almost an hour to eat. To make matters worse, three parties that came and ordered after us got their food first.

First meal was great, latest was a shocker. I visited this restaurant a few years ago and it was one of the best Indian meals I'd had in a long time. I went again on a recent visit and it was a disgrace. No more than 15% of the beef in my meal was edible. The rest was garbage you wouldn't feed to a dog - fat, gristle, even bone fragments. See photo of remnants. I decided to pay in the end, but passed on these comments to the cashier/waiter/manager and strongly suggested he ensure the kitchen staff were advised and remedial action be taken.<br/><br/>If this was a one-off, then that's unfortunate. It's hard, however, to see that this occurred by mistake or misadventure as the offending material could have - and should have - been extracted at the outset.

Extremely poor service and negative value for money. Ten cent sized chicken pieces, limited to 6, bowl served filled with oily gravy; get ready to be ripped off. Don't bother complaining as the service is not worth twenty cents. Customer service is totally absent. Worst Indian restaurant ever!!! So this is how it went down: we ordered chicken tikka masala and it arrived in the usual copper bowl, so far so good. In the process of serving into our plates, we searched for the chicken we ordered, only to find after much stirring and sieving 6 lonely ten cent piece sized dry chicken likely to have been leftovers from tandoori pot. We explained to the waiter that for $18 we expected more pieces and of larger size perhaps fifty cent piece sized would have sufficed. The waiter gave us a blank stare. He went to the main chef and within seconds he returned with the answer that nothing can be done, and abruptly left. This left us in a state of confusion and total dissatisfaction as the request for delivery of value for money was blatantly not delivered and completely and arrogantly ignored. We walked away hungry and feeling totally ripped off. This sort of service cannot continue and I urge all Australians to stand up against any such service.

I had Butter Chicken and garlic naan. Delicious! If I were staying in Cairns any longer I'd go back again and try something else.

I hate to be a grump but small containers that are not fully filled along with thin tough naan along with exorbitant price makes for an unhappy Indian lover. $18 for butter chicken... In my world it needs to be good at that price! Oily does not equate to good in my opinion. Topped off with lacklustre service... So sad! Left feeling ripped off ;(

Very Poor Quality, Quanitity and Service. The Service of this Restaurant is extremely poor. My Partner and I decided to order online and get it delivered as they offer this service. They said it would take approximately 30mins, however it ended up taking an hour. We ordered Butter Chicken which cost around $18, Rice, Naan Bread and Meat Samosa. The Butter Chicken was dished in a medium container which ONLY 5 really small pieces of chicken, it also looked really oily and did not have a good flavour to it. I called up to let them know I am not happy about the quantity especially for the amount we paid and they basically said that you only get 5 pieces.. I am very unhappy with the service, quality and quantity. Would not recommend this restaurant. If you want nice quality food I would recommend to go somewhere else!

Worst indian food ever? Perhaps just worst in Australia. I wanted to say at first that this is the worst indian food in australia, but then i realized that that might be a bit unfounded as I haven't sampled everywhere in the country. Then I realized that this food is so mind blowingly bad, and so much worse than any I've ever had, that if there is worse indian food in Australia, I don't want to know that it exists anyway. The food arrived with a good 2 cm of oil on the top. The lamb vindaloo and chicken tikka masala were almost indistinguishable. Both consisted mostly of what appeared to be canned crushed tomatoes and tomato paste, with a little chili oil added, some potatoes, and a few scarce chunks of meat. The panak paneer was edible, if you are desparate, go for that. <br/><br/>On top of the awful food, the service didn't help anything. The delivery arrived 20 minutes before the time we specified, better than late I supposed, but the driver did not have any change at all despite specifying that this was a cash order, and also did not have any plates or utensils, despite our address being a hotel. THe driver admonished us that we should have requested this things in advance.<br/><br/>I strongly suggest avoiding this place at all costs for teh next year, perhaps beyond that, give them a try at your own risk.

Diana. Apart from a minor misunderstanding the service here was good. Entrees came out quickly, we had the veg & meat samosas. For the main I had the aloo ghobi which was fragrant, fresh & came with a different tasting sauce with lots of spice. Excellent fluffy separate basmati rice too.Nice position on the Esplanade

Really good Indian food. Fresh and very delicious.

Service was excellent, we had a slight mishap with the food, but was handled well. <br/><br/>Would happily return here again.

Ordered delivery and arrived very quickly. Did was impressive. Best butter chicken I've had in awhile.