Raja Fine Indian Cuisine

My family and I love Indian food and frequent Indian restaurants wherever we travel. The food here was subpar and barely tasted like Indian food. The butter chicken my children ordered tasted like tomato soup. Rice is not included in the meals and there are no refills on sodas. For a $ 100+ meal for 4 people, I was not impressed.

There are quite a few food options in Stratford for those seeking a bite to eat, but sometimes when you want something very specific it can be hard to find. I found myself in this boat when I was in town craving Indian food. And then I found the Raja website online.
I ordered the following for take out:
Beef Vindaloo
Chana Masala
Chicken Korma
Garlic and plain naan
While the chana masala was delicious and filled with flavour, my favourite of all was the vindaloo. Not for the faint of spice, be forewarned that the Vindaloo is a naturally spicy dish, however, unlike most restaurants, Raja does not try to simply overwhelm you with the heat, but rather the dish contains the marvelous tangy and flavour of authentic Goan cuisine.
Service was helpful and friendly, with the waitstaff even offering us pappadoms as we waited.
Definitely worth a repeat visit.

Excellent dinner this evening. Lamb Korma and Garlic Chicken Chilli with fresh-​baked Nann and rice. Meat tender and juicy, sauces tangy and well spiced. Service is amazing, attentive but not rushed. Quiet atmosphere appreciated. Highly Recommend if you are in the area (we were visiting from Toronto). Will go again no hesitation.

One of my favorite Indian restaurants in the world, including trips to India. Eat here at least a few times every year when in town. Delicious, true Indian cuisine & décor. Service is always great & the owner hours out of his way to greet customers.

Have eaten here for probably a decade, always great food and never had a bad experience. We usually order take-​out and receive 10% off the bill. Keep in mind if you eat in the restaurant, expect to be there for awhile! Service is slow, but part of your experience is taking your time to enjoy the meal and the people you are with.

3 course meal special for $ 25! which actually felt like 4 or 5 courses, because they also bring you that big chip w seeds on it (don’t know what it’s called) with dipping sauces… and before your main entrée, the rice is served with a chick pea dish.
Our main entrees were HUGE.
If I lived here, I would frequent this place.

Raja in Stratford is a bit pricy and the service is slow.
Food wise Raja is the best Indian food in town. The portions are large, full in flavour, and come with lots of extras!
Don’t forget to try the Onion Bijohn (sp?) it’s amazing!

2 stars for price (high,) servings (small,) and service (abysmal this time.) This is the second time we’ve eaten here. A couple years ago the meal was so good we have been thinking about the next time we would be in Stratford to enjoy it again. This time, we couldn’t even get anyone to take our order, even though we had reservations and there were only about 4 other occupied tables. I finally strode into the kitchen and demanded that someone get with it and get our orders. It took a while longer, but they finally did.
Once they did get with it, the food was good, if a lot blander than we are used to (although one in our party wanted ‘not too spicy’, which we requested.) The pakora and samosas were quite good. The Aloo Gobhi had a helluva lot more aloo (potato) than cauliflower, but it was OK. The lamb saag was decent, the lamb cooked tender enough to cut with a fork but not overcooked. The paneer dish was very good, if a little sweeter than we expected. The papadams and the garlic naan were fresh and IMHO the best part of the dinner. When the bread is the best part of the meal and the service sucks, well, you get the picture. For the price, we have had much better than this time. So between the two experiences I would give 2 ½ stars if I could, but based on this last time it’s a two bagger.
The manager did (sorta) apologise for the delay in service, but seemed to want to talk his way out of the problems, saying that they had a shortage of staff, and he thought their service was stil the best in town. Ahem. News flash: it ain’t.

We’ve eaten in at Raja a few times, but typically order takeout. It’s one of our favourite restaurants in town. If out-​of-​town guests enjoy Indian, we bring them here and they’re never disappointed.
The butter chicken and chicken korma are favourites, especially since we have kids who aren’t into spicy dishes. Generous portions with large chunks of tender chicken. The naan is baked on-​site and is always warm and fluffy. We usually order the mushroom rice as a side.
If you’re in town for the theatre, you might miss it since its tucked down a side street, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

This restaurant was right near our hotel, so after reading the ratings, we decided to have dinner here before our show. I have to say, I was not impressed.
We waited well over 15 minutes for someone to finally come over and take our drink orders. Fortunately, after that rocky start, the service was a little faster though by no means did I find them remotely personable.
I love Indian food. I didn’t even come close to liking this. We started with the vegetable pakoras. They were the best thing I had during this meal, but they paled in comparison to every other pakora I have ever eaten. For mains, we had chicken tikka masala and sag paneer. The former tasted like Campbell’s tomato soup and the latter tasted like it should be tossed with pasta for I couldn’t detect a single spice regularly used in Indian cuisine. The paneer was flavorless too and the texture was more like jello. We ordered the garlic naan and it was unimpressive too.
I didn’t bother finishing the small serving I had. And the bill with one drink came to $ 67. And the place was busy..

One of the highlights of our pilgrimages to Stratford, aside from the theatre & Callan Books, is dining here. We love it, and have never been disappointed with any dish. Scrumptious!

I’m giving it a three, because we didn’t stay for dinner. Price was the only reason.
I’ve been eating indian food since med school in London (UK) in 1984, so I know the food well and was really looking forward to having an Indian meal.
But we could not get past the prices. $ 18 was indeed average, but we asked and this did NOT include rice (extra $ 5!) or naan or anything.
So we left. One of the wonderful things about liking ethnic food is that you rarely get hosed $ 25 to $ 40 for a meal, Another reviewer pointed out it was really good, and maybe so, but I have had fantastic Indian food for $ 10 a plate as well.
BTW, in the price range here on Unilocal,up to $ 30 is moderate?

Ethnic cuisine is typically something you don’t want to mess with unless you really know what you’re doing. Most of the time a typical schmuck who’s had his/​her fair share of dining experiences can tell the authentic stuff from a knock off even if he/​she hasn’t had that particular cuisine before.
Let me tell you that I am one of those schmucks who thinks he can and let me state even further that Raja is definitely the real deal. I’m pretty sure the only way to make it more authentic would be to travel to India. And, hey, this is Canada so we’re already halfway there… or… well, not really.
As soon as you enter Raja you know it’s something special. Elegant surroundings that are subtle and understated let you know that you’re in a nice place without making you feel like you should have worn a sport coat. We’re talking dark textured wood, a nice looking bar, tables with fresh tablecloths, and all that jazz.
Service here is like something out of a fine dining five star restaurant. Water is refilled almost as instantly as it’s gone, plates are quickly removed once you are finished with them, and the servers remain in the background unobtrusive to your dining experience and allow you to ENJOY your meal.
And enjoy your meal is something you will definitely do. Before the meal we were brought some bread (for lack of a better description… and unfortunately I’m not sure of its proper name… I’m fairly certain it was NOT naan) which was kind of like a large, crispy tortilla. To accompany the bread we also had several different «dipping» sauces that were extremely nice… sweet & sour, mango, coriander, and something else which I forget the name. All were exceptional except for the last, which my western tastebuds didn’t care for. Nice, flavorful dishes are served here with plenty (although not excessive) of spice. Another important factor to mention is the level of spice, which I feel was accurately described on the menu — if they say it’s a medium spice… then you’re going to get a medium spice. Not too hot, not too mild. I learned that I could have kicked it up a notch, but I’m glad I didn’t order the one that stated it was «extremely spicy.»
Holy Moses were these portions huge. The prices are moderate, but the serving size more than make up for the sticker shock some people might experience. WIth my chicken madras I was brought a HUGE plate filled with lots of rice, a small salad of fresh vegetables, and a side of something that was garbanzo beans (chickpeas) in a very good sauce. The chicken madras was absolutely awesome and tasted even better when mixed with my rice and placed on top of the naan which was also brought with the meal.
All throughout the service was attentive, on point, and basically rockin’. They didn’t even mind my stupid questions that basically amounted to «Am I doing this right? Is this how YOU would eat it?».
When you’re in Stratford, which is an awesome town in itself with TONS of dining choices, make sure not to miss Raja. If you can only eat at one place while here… I don’t know if it tops the list, but it’s pretty damn close. If you’re here at least a couple days — you better stop here or you might violate some laws. Because it’s just that awesome. F’real.

This is a good Indian restaurant. The food is flavorful and spiced well with generous portions, the service is friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere is pleasant. However, both dishes we ordered, Lamb saag (spinach) and Madras chicken, were too oily.
Most entrees were about $ 18.