Raj Mahal

My friends and I (9 people) were really well accommodated for by this restaurant. We did not make any reservations and decided to pop into a restaurant that could fit us and we got really lucky. The service was great. The waiters and waitresses were extremely polite and were always ready to cater our requests. The workers made the restaurant feel like we were eating at grandma’s home in that the atmosphere was really warm and welcoming. The food was also delicious with many choices to choose from! I ordered the Dildar Chicken Curry and the chicken was really tender and was bathed in sweet curry. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! The naan bread was also super soft and hugged my tongue.
TLDR the food and service is great! They even gave us all free mango ice cream. I’m really glad I stumbled onto this gem in the city. I would definitely eat here again!

I haven’t been to the restaurant. I got their menu slipped under my door (in Stuyvesant Town) and started ordering delivery from that menu.
Their food is what’s expected of good NYC Indian food. No real complaints there. My big complaint is the last time I called to order, the guy taking my order just plain couldn’t speak English very well. He had to keep asking me to repeat what I was saying, and then giving him my credit card # was just a nightmare… He had to call back TWO TIMES to get it right!
GET SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS BETTER ENGLISH TO TAKE YOUR ORDERS.
THEN — the delivery wasn’t complete. We (my 2 teenage kids who LOVE Indian & I) ordered TWO ORDERS of meat Samosas — and only received ONE. I called to tell them their mistake. He said he’d have another delivered. 45 minutes later, we got the 2^nd order, but by then we were done eating, so we saved it for the next night. The next night, upon opening the Samosa — we find out it’s the VEGETABLE Samosa, not meat.
Disappointing obviously… Now we have to decide whether to chance using them again or not. Ordering your food shouldn’t have to feel like you’re at a CRAP-​SHOOT… Sad.

We had a terrible experience the other night. Found something that looked like tree bark or mulch in the saag paneer and some seeds in the rice. There shouldn’t be seeds in rice. This place is very dirty.

If you enjoy eating shit on a plate, this place is perfect. Smells like shit, tastes like shit. Even looks like shit!

When I was in college I used to love going to 6^th Street for the Indian food. There was place after place and each was as good as the next. Last night I made the mistake of stopping in here without checking Unilocal first (WHAT?! I know. Total rookie move.) and let’s just say I will not make that mistake again.
The last word that would come to mind when you think «Indian» food is bland, right? Well it’s the very first word that I think of when I recount last night’s meal. Not only was the food flavorless, it was luke warm when they brought it to the table. I know that most Indian food can not be made fresh to order. They spend hours upon hours cooking their dishes and at best it will be on a low simmer awaiting your arrival. But this food seemed like it was prepared yesterday and had just been sitting out on top of a non-​functioning hot-​plate.
The first clue they were terrible was the man outside, beckoning us into the restaurant, like a desperate fortune teller trying to sell her snake oil. But I saw a man playing a sitar in the window and thought «well, that seems authentic enough» and ignored my first instincts. Never do that.
Side note: I know it’s customary but I just don’t want to be three feet from the two bare feet of the gentleman serenading us with his sitar. Dirty bare feet are not appetizing.
We ordered the plain Saag, the Aloo Matar Gobi, and a Mixed Vegetable Curry which is described as «fresh vegetables cooked in lightly spiced sauce. Recommended at mild.» But I don’t think these people could prepare a spicy dish if their life depended on it. Mild is another word for tasteless in this case. The saag was a strange consistency and the Gobi was literally only 4 pieces of cauliflower in some lame sauce with some peas.
I choked it down because I’m a pro and I had a plane to catch and didn’t want to sit hungry for 5 hours but I didn’t like it at all and would not recommend.
When you are seated, they give two half pieces of papadam with a gross onion relish, watery mint sauce, and even more watery tamarind sauce. Then when your meal comes they try to take it away so they can charge you for more. Bizarre.
In hindsight after reading that one customer got his wallet stolen by the staff I suppose I should feel lucky I walked out with all my belongings. Sadly, though, I read another review where the guy said he saw a waiter leave the bathroom without washing his hands and noted that the «A» in the window is a photocopied fake. That made me just pray that I didn’t get food poisoning and so far so good???
Will not return. Do not recommend. Bland, bland, bland with a side of bland.

While visiting New York about 4 years ago, the wife and I were treated to our first ever Indian meal experience thanks to our wonderful cousin. I have since been hooked, trying all these different types of dishes at various Indian restaurants in our travels. But I digress, this is about the amazing experience at Raj Mahal.
Starting with the warm service and treated like family, our host provided us with warmed towels prior to beginning our feast. We started with regular and garlic orders of naan — which are the best! The garlic is flavorful and the bread is soft.
We had samosa’s which are so flavorful. Like empanadas filled with lentils, potato and spices — they’re to die for.
For our entrees, the wifey opted for the creamy Palak Paneer which is just about the best spinach we’ve ever had. I went with the Chicken Malai in a creamy coconut sauce and our cousins choice: the traditional Chicken Tikka Masala is so flavorful with tender chicks of chicken in this tomato-​based sauce that is nothing but spiced, heartwarming goodness.
Needless to say, we were beyond full but only in the best way ever and a wonderful dining experience was had by all.

My aunt invited me and my mother here for lunch for yesterday. My mother is really fussy about food and usually doesn’t eat out. My aunt made sue to look for an Indian restaurant that serves brown rice. She gave us two options and this was the one my mother chose.
Once the three of us were seated around 1:00 PM, my aunt inquired about the brown rice, indicating that someone on the phone had told her earlier in the week they serve brown rice. The waiter proceeded to tell us that was only for to-​go orders. If we wanted brown rice it would be $ 3 per person.
I can understand the higher charge but what I cannot understand is why they had an issue with serving us for brown rice for a dine-​in order, They did eventually bring us one bowl of brwn rice and then one bowl of their regular saffron rice for me
I ordered the shrimp malai which came with their saffron rice. My mother ordered the chicken curry. I forget what my aunt ordered, but she is a vegetarian.
We also ordered the assorted vegetarian Indian appetizers for my aunt and myself.
My mother was not pleased with her order for whatever reason but according to her account the server wouldn’t replace it and encouraged her to eat what she ordered.
My shrimp were big and tender. The ratio was rather off so that there was plenty of sauce by the end with no shrimp. The flavor of the sauce was spicy, not too hot. However I had plenty more sauce when the shrimp were gone.
The appetizer selection was rather good. Even for two people, my aunt and I, it was a good portion.

Chicken curry didn’t smell nor taste like curry much. I guess they put too much water in the cooking process. The water began to separate from the curry. Shame, cause the chicken was okay.
Also, on grub hub they only have brown rice and saffron rice for options, and I believe saffron is a seasoned rice. I chose that but still got plain basmati.

Raj Mahal is located in East Village on a street with other similar Indian restaurants. You have to step down to the lower level to the restaurant, so it was dimly lit. As soon as we were seated, the waitress served us two pieces of papadum with three different types of sauces (onion relish, spicy mint sauce, and sweet tamarind suce). While nibbling on this appetizer, we browsed through the extensive menu. My boyfriend ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala ($ 11.95) with a side of Garlic Naan ($ 3.50), while I got the Tandoori Dinner Combo ($ 15.95).
The Dinner Combo came with additional appetizers, including soup, samosa, and pakora. The soup looked like baked beans. I am guessing it was made out of garbanzo beans? The skin of the samosa was a little too thick and it was lacking in fillings, but still pretty good. I am not a huge fan of pakora (potato fritters) and it was super greasy, so my boyfriend ate it all: p
Shortly after finishing these appetizers, we got our main entrée. The Chicken Tikka Masala was served in a tin bowl. There were chunks of boneless broiled chicken cubes cooked with a special tandoori mild spiced sauce. The sauce had the right amount of creaminess. The saffron rice could have used more flavors. For my Tandoori Dinner Combo, I got a tandoori chicken leg and onions (served right from the grill), shamai kebab (ground sausage… it had weird seasoning), smaller portion of vegetable curry with brocolli, cauliflower, potatoes, and carrots, and a bowl of dal (it had weird coffee flavors that I didn’t like). At the end of the meal, we also got mango pudding.
Throughout the dinner, there was a man at the entrance playing Indian drum music. There are so many other Indian restaurants to explore around the neighborhood that I’d go visit there before coming back because the food didn’t absolutely blow my mind.

I actually never knew that there are so many indian restaurant located 2 blocks away from st. marks. thanks to my bf that brought me here on a casual night out.
So we haven’t had indian food for a while. he was just taking me here and we wanted to have something delicious and cheap. So how did we ended up at Raj Mahal? We wanted to check out which restaurant has specials. So Raj Mahal has someone standing outside promoting. telling us that only 12 dollars, 3 course meal + naan + papadam. We just entered and decided to be random.
We were immediately served with papadam once we were seated. the papadam was quite different than what I have tried but it was good. We were both so hungry. and we went with the 3 course meal.
As you can see I «eat like a man». and my bf and I ate a lot. we both couldn’t finish the 3 course meal.
appetizer
— vege & meat samosas. To me. I never like the meat samosas. I love the vege one because it has potato in it and tasted like curry puffs. they are both good tho. my bf ended up liking vege samosas. WIN!
Entre
— lamb kurma. I thought it was curry at first but it was not. It has the curry texture but it’s sweet. I really love it especially with naan
— ** Chicken tandoori. They grilled it on a sizzling plate and they served it in front of you so that you won’t smell like chicken after you leave the restaurant. The chicken is not dry. my bf was really surprised why I like tandoori chicken because it’s always so freaking dry. but he really enjoyed this dish! You should try this!!!
Soup — I think it’s lentil soup. It’s so thick, creamy and delicious.
Naan — This is the biggest naan I have ever seen. Omg. we both can only FORCE ourselves to finish one of it. it was serve warm. it tasted so delicious with the lamb kurma and tandoori chicken.
Dessert — dessert wasn’t as great. it was something with coconut. at least is not so sweet. I can still enjoy it.
The have live music here. It is a really nice small little place if you want indian food in east village.