Raja Rani

Gone downhill since new owner took over.
[edit 8÷13÷15; My review of Raja Rani’s replacement:
]
I’ve gone to Raja Rani for years. The first time was back in the 1980s, and since then Raja Rani has had its ups and downs. There was a stretch in the 90s when the food really wasn’t that good at all, but the past few years have been very good.
And now the 90s have returned. Until recently, I enjoyed the lunch buffet. It had a great selection of well cooked, well seasoned dishes, from the butter chicken to the paneer. But now it’s awful. The food is badly cooked, badly seasoned and oily. The deep fried items are almost burnt and coated in oil. The spices are raw and badly integrated with the meal. And bland, oily, Chinese noodles? What’s up with that?
RR changed owners in October 2014. The latest owners (who may be the same owners from the 90s) said they would keep the menu the same but add some other regional dishes. Well, they were half right: the regional dishes have changed, but most of the old favorites are gone.
The current owners say they’re going to change the name to something else. They might as well: Raja Rani is gone. RIP.
— — — — — — — — — —
Update: 1÷23÷15
Unilocal is showing this business as «Closed» now. The transformation is complete, as RR is now a completely different Indian restaurant named Suvai. I haven’t been there and based on my experiences of the past couple of months, I probably won’t.

Pros:
— Lunch buffet gets the job done and is conveniently located for students around the Main Street/​South of the Union area that are headed to campus to grab a quick meal.
— Price
— Ambiance (quiet/​ambient Indian music)
— Not packed
Cons:
— Loss of the dinner buffer. With the recent buy out by Suvai mgmt. the R&R team cancelled dinner buffet on Monday and Tuesday, which was honestly the biggest sell behind R&R, as their buffets are generally perceived as being (lower quality + food selection for similar price). The dinner buffet was the only option of its kind in Ann Arbor.
Best Fit:
— Lunch (quick or extended) with friends
— Has quality vegetarian and meat options
— Tea

The management changed and the quality of the food and service went up. The food is nice and homely. Nothing out of the world but the prices are reasonable and one can park onsite.

A house turned restaurant with awesome food. The location is an Indian buffet with a wide spread of choices of tummy filling Indian food. I enjoyed the chicken (bourbon and Curry), white rice –during my first round at the buffet, then a mixture with veggies during my second round at the buffet, and a host veggies and different sauces. All the food offered at the buffet is tasty. My follow up enjoyment of chai after my deal and right before my dessert.
Great place to experience.

I was there for a dinner and I liked this place. Cosy dining room, good (yet not overwhelming) selection of dishes in the buffet, tasty food. I especially liked goat in some kind of complex tasting sauce. The masala tea was fantastic.

The thali is fun. Saag paneer is awful, tastes muddy and indecisive. The muttar paneer is decent though.

We went here for my sister’s birthday, and I was pretty impressed. The food was fantastic, the portions were decent and they brought us a free appetizer and dessert. We were the only ones in the restaurant, but several people came in for to-​go orders. Also, they have outdoor seating, which is a plus for me.

Tried the Saturday buffet:
Most of the food was from the previous night! Dosa batter was so fermented that the dosas tasted unappetizingly sour!
The milk based sweet rasmalai seemed like it was from the previous night too and tasted like it was going bad.
None of the other food was enjoyable. The only saving grace was the roti or naan and the shahi paneer.
I will not be coming back to this place

The buffet is very worthwhile with the deal.
Particularly saying I am very picky about taste of food and Raja Rani is not the best place fitting this criteria. But if you care less about this and more on the fact such as having a lavish goat meat feast then probably you can’t miss Raja Rani,

The food here is delicious! I’ve been coming here since I first moved to Ann Arbor in 2007. My favorite dish here is the mango chicken! It’s amazing! The naan and the samosas are good too.
I’ve been to the lunch buffet which is pretty good but I prefer getting my food of the menu.
I’ve never had an issue with the good service and I prefer this place versus any Indian restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor!

Consistently good Indian food. I’ve been coming to this place for years & they always have the best Indian food in town.
The lunch buffet is great because there is such a variety to choose from.
A must try!

Raja Rani has been around for a long time. There can be a significant turnover for restaurants in Ann Arbor but Raja Rani has made it through and so that’s good for everyone.
I can’t say that there is anything wrong with the food here. If you are new to Indian food or you have a particular favorite I am sure it will be fine here. That’s just it though. It will be fine but nothing special or exceptional. There is a standard flavor to each dish which has basically been the same for years.
In the past that probably was not an issue but there has been a growth in the number of Indian restaurants in the Ann Arbor area recently. I’d recommend you sample the others too and then see if Raja Rani offers more that suits your taste.
In the past many Indians did not go to Raja Rani because they didn’t really have the greatest service towards Indians. There was a bit of smugness and arrogance and this must have been over about five to ten visits for our family alone. On a few occasions it really upset me that a nice meal that I had hoped for, for our family, was ruined by nearly complete lack of service. At that time though where else could we go for Indian food? A business needs a diverse clientele to survive so it’s fine to want that, but it’s also silly to not want to keep an Indian clientele too. If you have no competition then people in your own community may still go because the food is fine and the price is decent. However, you don’t see a lot of Indian reviewers of Raja Rani because many stopped going.
I have friends who really like the food so I did go back recently and service was actually pretty good. I also went back with my family closer to two years ago and the waiter was friendly enough. Maybe they are turning a corner, and I will always give a place a chance to redeem itself with service. Still the food was the same, just fine. Give it a try but give some of the other Indian places in Ann Arbor a try too.

Love this place! Lunch buffet was great for $ 9 (make sure to use the Unilocal or their website’s coupons for extra discounts!)
Very tasty food, a variety of choices, plus dessert (that day there was this sweet warm syrupy donut wonderfulness). Didn’t have chicken tikka masala in the lunch buffet as hoped but the variety of curries made me quite happy. The naan bread was especially good! If I were better at remembering names, I’d tell you my favorites, but I for sure loved the butter chicken!
The staff was very friendly! Came over to the table frequently to make sure all was well, take our used plates, etc.
Also there is parking behind the building, so you don’t necessarily need to go find meter parking. (oops on our part)
definitely going there again!

Haven’t been to Raja Rani’s in years, but their Monday buffet lured me into visiting them again. I went with my Monday Foodies group and we all settled on the buffet to sample their offerings.
Things hasn’t changed at all… the layout is the same as it was many years ago, the buffet table is the same as well and in fact, the food they offer for the buffet hasn’t changed at all, it was the same offering on this visit as it was when I went over three years ago.
Majority of the dishes were vegan and three were chicken. The chicken tandoori was dried and difficult to eat… after first couple I stop eating it. settled for the rice and curry broth… the chickens in the currys were also dried out as well. I’m not sure if it’s because it was buffet and sitting in the warmer or not…
I haven’t ordered from their menu before, so when I return, I’ll order from the menu… but for $ 9 buffet, I guess you can’t really complain. Parking can get little cramped if they are busy.

Excellent visit to Raja Rani.
After several visits since a review of RR way back, I am happy to report after this weeks’ visit, that Raja Rani is still the best Indian place in the AA area.
With only a few days ago in Mumbai, I had that irrepressible craving for more Indian cuisine. Only Raja Rani would do.
Though dinner here has been great, the big favorite (and this weeks’ visit) is still the lunch buffet.
Everything fresh, nothing old. Items continually replenished.
Yeh, it falls short of my fave Indian food spot back in Mumbai, but Raja Rani delivers the good stuff here in Michigan and certainly in the A2 area.
Try the spiced masala tea. It’s a real treat.

Dal Makhni (a sort of fragrant lentil stew) is my favorite Indian cuisine, the first thing I order whenever I tryout a new Indian place.
Although I haven’t had it in years, the Dal Makhni at Raja Rani is the gold standard that I hold all others to. Still haven’t found anything else to match it.

Raja Rani is not the best buffet in Ann Arbor, but it’s a great go-​to. They consistently have out lots of tasty food, from appetizer to meal to dessert, plus a mango drink. I like that it feels as if I’m eating inside a house (cool atmosphere) but don’t appreciate that I feel rushed (not too many seats but plenty of patrons), and that the place is a little cramped. It gets pretty noisy in here, too.
In the summer you can sit on the porch. Loud, but enjoyable. Just be careful – our waiter accidentally dropped our change through the wooden slats of the porch and said he’s dropped credit cards down there before!

Second biz trip to AA, found this place the first time around and enjoyed it and sought it out to return. Semi crowded for a Sunday afternoon around 2 pm, half the crowd were Indians which is always a good sign. Free appetizer of fried vegetable clusters must have been taken from the buffet because they were cold and hard — took a few bites but set them aside; who cares, they’re free, right? I hate buffets for that reason — I overeat tepid food that has been sitting on steam tables for hours then feel stuffed and stupid. Ordered my old favorite standard Chicken Tikka Masala, extra hot. It was as good as the first time — steamy hot right out of the pan, many complex flavors in each bite, and ample enough to skip the naan. A glass of Malbec makes it the perfect accompaniment. Friendly service which isn’t always the case in Indian restaurants for some reason. Overall, enjoyed my second trip to Rani Rani and will return next time work calls me back to Detroit.