Rajvilaas

This year, ownership has changed with new name for this place — Masala Kitchen. Somehow the owners are never able to keep the quality of food in this restaurant. First Tawa then RajVilaas and now Masala Kitchen. When the restaurant opens, excellent food is offered at reasonable price. Gradually the quality of food deteriorates and pricing goes up. I have heard these restaurants also failed inspection several times and got fined by Health department.
If you’re looking for authentic Indian restaurant in this area go for ‘Chand Palace’ (vegetarian only) or Diwan (both veg and non veg food). If you’ve time and really want to relish good North Indian food, go to ‘Guru Palace’ on Route 1 (15 minutes drive).
Always make sure to check your bill before you give tip bcoz most of Indian and Asian restaurants already charge tip in the bill.

(re-​posted from an older Unilocal account… original dining date was June 13, 2013)
Went there last night for dinner, and this was my second trip to Rajvilaas for a meal (the first time was a month ago for the lunch buffet.)
Overall: OK
Recommend that on warm summer days that you arrive there after 7:00 PM. I arrived there around 5:45 PM and the place was like a sauna. The staff apparently turns on the A/​C only after the first customer arrives… and by the time I left, it never quite really cooled off.
Service was very good. In fact, when I asked if they served Taj Mahaj beer, they said they didn’t have a liquor license… but were happy to run next door to the local liquor store and get me a 20 oz. bottle… which they did after I gave them $ 5.00 cash to pay for it. Big tip for that!
Some poppadums came out first, and were a little ‘chewy’. Good chutney to go along with a poppadums. I went mainstream last night and ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala, and some garlic Naan. Both were very good. But it was ready about 1 minute after the poppadums arrived at the table… bad timing. Also, when the main course came out, there wasn’t any rice. That was an extra charge. Hmmm… been a LONG time since rice didn’t come with a main course at an Indian restaurant. The rice and main course were all very good, and the Taj Mahal (albeit a bit warm…) was a great finish.
They brought me a finger bowl at the end… that was a nice touch and something I haven’t seen in a long time! Wonder how many customers try to drink it… thinking it is some sort of Indian after-​dinner drink?
Had to pay cash… since their credit card machine was inop. Ugh… glad I had some cash on me!
So, a nice meal with a few distractions: they need a full liquor license, need to turn on the a/​c and cool the place down well before the first paying customer arrives, need to offer rice as part of a main course, and need to get their credit card reader fixed.
Brad
— — — — — — — — — — —

The most disgusting Indian food I have ever consumed ! The food is cold, not edible and portions are rather skimpy !
I ordered lamb tikka Masala, it was a little bowl of soup with some bones
and grizzle ! Totally not fit for human consumption !!
This a a true «Clip Joint » !! They get you everywhere they can !
The service was dismal and when I received the check, they had tagged
%18 ½ percent gratuities to the check which I refused to pay !
When I visited the bathroom, I found it smelly and lacking hand soap !
Avoid this place BY ALL MEANS !!!

Awesome service. Amazing food. Vegetable Jalfrezi was flavorful and healthy. The butter chicken was perfect and the atom bomb for dessert was the icing on the cake! Shreekant really knows the qualities of a good restaurant. Good food, service and atmosphere. Definitely coming back over and over.

Ordered for delivery. Quality was good, but quantity sparing and price high. Small lunch duo tray with butter chicken and rice is about ½ size of other local places like Delhi Garden for delivery. Naan pieces are also smaller, and minimum delivery charge is high.
All the quality was as I would expect (admittedly better quality than Delhi Garden) but high minimum delivery fee also not great.
Also, ordered mild and it came surprisingly spicy.

Highly recommend: shrimp pakoda! Chili chicken was a bit spicy, but good.
Friendly service.

I must admit, I was a bit afraid of coming here after reading the Unilocal reviews. My boyfriend took me here for our one year anniversary (this doesn’t seem like much, but he knows i love indian cuisine and we rarely ever go because he’s not a fan) and I thought the food was delicious.
I didn’t go for the lunch buffet, so I can’t say what that’s like. But a la carte was a good experience. I ordered Saag Paneer, while my boyfriend got Lamb Tikka Masala. We also ordered Garlic Naan and Butter Naan. The food came out relatively fast, maybe 10 minutes after we ordered. They were put in tin bowls, which is very unique. At first glance, you think the portions are small just looking at the bowl, but wow, this place gives you pretty good portions. I didn’t even finish half of my paneer. My boyfriend managed to finish most of his, and he usually finishes everything he eats.
Taste wise, I thought it was pretty good. Not too spicy and had nice flavor. My boyfriend enjoyed his dish as well. The garlic naan is delicious, I highly recommend getting it.
Service is up to par with what everyone else says. Our server always made sure our water was full and came in to check up on us often. Décor is nice as well. The place is very clean and neat.
Overall, the a la carte experience was good. The quality of the food here compared to the price is much higher than the quality and price at Chand Palace. I will definitely be back here again!

It took them 2 ½ hours to deliver my food. Once the food arrived it was bland and cold. I will never order from there again.

Excellent Southern Indian dinners are superior to the good, not great lunch buffet. Try Fish Armistar; chicken 65; Chicken Chettinand. Exciting change from Northern Indian cuisine. Nice décor and very good service – quite upscale for an Indian place, but prices are low and portions large.
BYO.

ugh. Disapointment. I feel so bad for the folks that go here thinking they will get quality. It’s terrible. I’ve had Indian food from dozens of places all over the place.
The décor is quite nice, if you’re into bling. The food is cold, with little flavor. There is no depth to any dish, its mixed together and heated without any regard.
A place that I won’t be coming back.

We had a living social coupon for two lunch buffets here. The food was alright – not the best buffet we’ve had in the area. It was a bit bland. We are vegetarians, so I can only speak for the veg dishes.

As an indian, I have had lots of different northern indian dishes. This place is horrible, I was quite disappointed. The food lacks any flavor, and needs significant improvement. If you want good north indian food in the edison area, I would suggest Mughal, Mughal express, or Rasoii II on Oaktree road. If you want real authentic punjabi food, I would suggest Jassi Sweets in Edison, they have amazing parathas, and chole bhature.

Service was good but food was pathetic.

As long as lunch buffet is concerned, I was thoroughly disappointed. Sunday lunch buffet should be the best among 7 days if you can’t disagree. No varieties and average taste sum up everything. I’m not sure if I visit them for a la carte or not…

Honestly I am suprised that this restaurant has survived. I have notices that there have been many a restaurant that have bitten the dust at this location.
I have had lunch here a couple of time, a standard indian run of the mill place just below average, however if you are in a rush you can get in and out of this place quick. Its a faily large place with a lot of seating, resembles the diners of splendid years passed but living as zombies and surviving day to day

We ordered take away from them several days ago when we were having a house party. But they forgot two boxes of our food. I was not fed, which made me pretty upset. I like the lamb but the chicken was poorly cooked.

First time I had Indian, and I thought it was really good. The reddish-​colored chicken was really tender. And all the other stuff, was spicy with an interesting kick. I really don’t know how to describe most of it, except that the spicy level on average is about a medium, and I really liked their bread.
Few other good things, the servers were diligent, it’s all you can eat, and it’s quite clean and classy looking inside.

Came here for weekend buffet and I was so disappointed. It was fairly empty for a Friday lunch and I should have taken that as my ticket out the door. For $ 12.95, the buffet selection was very lacking. The only two chicken dishes were lukewarm Chicken tikka masala, which tasted like sweet tomato cream soup, and Co-​Co chicken, which tasted like chicken dipped in a cheesy Alfredo sauce.
However, I’m giving this place 3 stars because the service was on-​point. One of the chefs, upon request, brought to our table little appetizers to try. The waiters kept the warm baskets of naan coming and our waters filled to the top of the glass. Also, the few fruits and dessert available seemed fresh.

I came here last night for dinner to use my Living Social deal. I got here a bit earlier than the rest of my group and the owner (at least I think he was the owner) was kind enough to offer me a glass of water while I waited (I’m a fan of small gestures like that)
The service was very kind and prompt the entire evening. We ordered the malai kofta, yellow tadka daal, basmati rice, plain naan, and aloo tikki appetizer.
The food overall was very good. The flavors were right and nothing seemed too strong or weak. However, the chick peas in the appetizer were definitely a bit spicier than expected. The gravy used in the malai kofta was really good and creamy and on par with what I’ve had elsewhere. My only issue is that… the portions are a bit on the small side. The appetizer only came with 3 pieces and the malai kofta only had two pieces. However, as part of the larger meal, we left quite full and packed some items for home.
Overall, this seems like a promising new restaurant and my next visit will be to check out their lunch buffet.

Having been longtime aficionados of Tawa, my coworker and I were surprised to hear that it was under new management. Today after the reopening we finally had a chance to check out the new place for lunch… the results were a bit mixed.
The interior has been completely redesigned and looks quite opulent in comparison to the old surroundings. However, the space is a bit cramped in places — we had to move the table so that my friend could get in and out of his seat, and even then he bumped into a couple of nearby patrons. It seems that the seating is optimized for larger parties.
Moving onto the food, we saw a lot of the typical Indian lunch buffet mainstays — chicken tikka masala, chicken curry, fried potato cakes, spinach, chickpeas, rice, etc… alas, my inner carnivore wept at the fact that there was no lamb or goat to be found.
On the plus side, the chef used nice white meat pieces of chicken, good quality and not the gristly pieces that you might find at other places. The dishes were flavorful (the tikka was a bit too sweet)…but they were a bit cold. Perhaps the steam trays were not at high enough temperature, but it was enough to detract from the enjoyment of the meal somewhat.
Another positive is that the service was good, Our server kept the water glasses full and the baskets of warm naan coming. Also, the manager, Shreekant, was very friendly and attentive to us, seeming genuinely interested in building his business and encouraging us to return.
All in all, it was a solid lunch experience, but there is definitely room for improvement. I think I’ll be coming back to give them another shot.