royal indian curry house

royalty is the perfect word to describe this restaurant. the interior exudes class, sophistication and eminence and at the same time, radiates a homey laid back vibe due to the earth tones and purple hues of the decor. the place was filled with indian expats so we knew we were in the right place! the menu is really extensive but we stuck to our gameplan. we got the cucumber raita, the saffron rice, the murg makhani and the mutton rogan josh. we opted to have our dishes in medium spiciness level. good thing the cucumber raita helped to balance the spiciness. the butterchickenwas perfect. tender tandoori pieces cooked in tomato gravy. it was creamy, savory and had an intense kick of butter flavor. my colleague really loved it! next is the mutton. it is spicy and rich. spices were really emphasized in the gravy with the mutton being the main star. the meat was super tender. next is the saffron basmati rice. it had a few strands of the prized spice. it definitely had a subtle aroma and taste of saffron. overall, we deeply enjoyed our meal. price point was okay but i think serving size can be improved. no service water available by the way.

i tried a couple of indian restaurants but nothing compares to rich. the butterchickenhas a thick, rich and flavorful gravy. eat with warm naan, a must try if you're planning to dine here. staff are friendly too. plus points

indian food has a special place in my heart. each dish is a melting plot of flavors and colors. i recall reading years ago about how indians are known for incorporating six different flavors in their meals in accordance with ancient guidelines.

using that as a starting point, let us focus on the food served in the royal indian curry house (r.i.c.h.). i was given the opportunity to try some food in the makati branch near a-venue, and i am grateful that the food gave me the chance to satisfy my indian food craving.

we started off with a masala papad, which is apparently a common appetizer for indian guests to r.i.c.h. it is like an indian tortilla, thin and crunchy. minced onions and tomatoes are placed on top along with herbs and spices like coriander and possibly paprika. by itself it is tangy and has a tiny spicy kick.

i recommend breaking some pieces and spooning one of the three accompanying sauces on top. they are an orange spicy sauce, a green, minty coriander sauce, and a dark brown tamarind sauce. indian guests apparently prefer the coriander sauce, and filipino guests are more partial to the tamarind sauce, i heard. but i suggest one to feel free to explore each one.

with the masala papad done, we move on to the samosa. these are pyramid shaped pieces of golden brown fried dough stuffed with vegetables and/or meat. the one we had was stuffed with mashed potatoes and green peas. it is a good starter while waiting for the main dish as it is a little sweet and savory.

for the main event, we had a paneer curry,chickenmalai tikka, and murg makhani (butter chicken). paneer is a white indian cheese that is mildly salty and usually cubed for cooking. it meshes well with the savory brown curry sauce and it still retains that salty flavor.

thechickenmalai tikka is a dry (without sauce) dish of spicedchickenpieces served with shredded cabbage on a sizzling steak plate. the meat is tender, juicy, and white all around. it is tangy and mild, so serves as a good contrast with the other flavorful curry dishes with their rich sauces.

speaking of rich sauces, their butterchickenis my favorite among the dishes they served. cylinders ofchickenare placed into an orange tomato sauce mixed with butter and cream on top. i can taste the rich, sweet butter with every bite of chicken, and its warmth floods me with delight.

with all these sauces and meats around, some starch is needed to cleanse the palate. enter the butter naan and the hyderabadi biryani. naan is an indian flatbread that is soft, fluffy, and chewy, with streaks of melted butter brushed onto it giving it a golden shine. these are best eaten by tearing off some pieces and ladling the curry sauce and meat into it before pinching the sides together into a kind of dumpling and eating it whole. any leftover naan can be used to mop up any leftover sauce for a more delightful take on the old chips and dip.

the hyderabadi biryani (a specialty of the hyderabad region in india) is composed of long-grained basmati rice marinated along with pieces of lamb meat and spices. the rice is colored yellow possibly due to saffron or turmeric, lending it a slight spicy kick. the whole thing is served in a clay pot covered with a piece of naan that puffs out when cooking. think a savory souffle or a french onion soup with a pastry crust on top, but it's not french or soup.

with all that eating, one must feel thirsty. enter the mango lassi, which is a creamy shake made of ripe yellow mango and yoghurt. each sip is sweet and also a tiny bit sour. but the cooling effect cannot be denied. for people who are weak against spicy food (though diners can ask for an adjustment in spiciness when ordering), i suggest a sip once in a while to put out the fires within.

and to cap off with another sweet ending, we were provided gulab jamun for dessert. it is a couple of orange balls in a clear sauce. the balls are made of curdled milk and flour fried and served warm. the sauce is a thick mixture that is very sweet but also a bit earthy, possibly due to the spices used to flavor it. the whole thing is topped with sliced almonds to give it a satisfying crunch.

all in all, i think that the royal indian curry house is a great way for first-time indian food diners to be introduced to a cuisine that is so colorful and flavorful that just one visit is not enough to cover all that the subcontinent has to offer. i will certainly return in the future. i'll raise my glass of mango lassi to that.

china ian cordero reich torio enricorner

i missed indian food so i was happy i found this on zomato with great reviews. we loved everything we ordered! the afghanichickenwas very well cooked, my mom loved it. the prawn pakora was very crispy and delicious too! the butterchickenwas a bit tomatoey/sour. i've tasted better, but it was great nonetheless. we also had butter naan, onion kulcha and gulaab jamun which we also loved!

the ambiance was okay. they have billiards near the table, they have a view of the city which was very cool.

terrible food, you just cant eat it. ordered palak paneer andchickentikka masala and cheese naan. 1500 went to waste. was only able to eat the naan. i used to eat at the restaurant and food is good, however when delivery i guess they just don't care. i contacted the restaurant to complain and promised to send me another delivery but until now they dont reply to me anymore. they made me waste 1500 for a food i threw in garbage.
thanks rich i will make sure not to order again and congrats oj ur stuff very professional for ignoring my texts.

butterchickenis to die for! naan breads are great too.chickentandori is okay.chickenmadras are 3/5.

however, the prices in their menu are exclusive of vat and service charge; prices should be inclusive of vat per the consumer act. this against the law. on their defence, there’s a very clear note on every page of the menu about the exclusion of bot vat and sc. i still suggest they update their menu in compliance with the law.

great food - very poor service.
we arrived and the waiter didn’t attend to us, we actually had to ask to be seated somewhere.
he then rudely made faces at us as he couldn’t understand our order.
the restaurant was noisy as staff kept the kitchen door open, so you could hear shouts, cutlery being dropped and plates being banged about. the kitchen door has a sign saying ‘keep door closed at all times’
i commented on the poor service to a waiter and his reply was ‘we’re busy sir’! to my horror, i noticed another member of staff wrapping cutlery and bagging up food outside the toilet! very unhygienic. i commented this to the manager that they should go elsewhere. not only is it highly unhygienic but was also very noisy. the atmosphere felt stressful because of the constant noise from the kitchen, the cutlery being wrapped outside and food being bagged outside.

fortunately, the food was very good. decent value and generous portion sizes. the mutton andchickendishes we ordered were fantastic. so were the samosas. the food clearly isn’t the issue. it’s awesome.

i wouldn’t hurry back though because of the chaotic atmosphere (not a relaxing dining experience), rude staff and poor hygiene. if you want great indian food but don’t mind rude staff, noise and general chaos - go here. if you want a relaxing dining experience with polite staff and a normal restaurant ambience - avoid like the plague.

it's been a while since my last #newrestaurantsfor2017 post! josh and i have been quite busy with work and family, and we can't seem to find a common time. it's been a month before we finally got the chance to go out on a date again!

i volunteered to visit him in makati, since he had work last sunday. oblivious to the schedule of restaurants during the weekend, i came up with several options... but when we got there at around 6pm, most of the restaurants were closed already! this is the disadvantage of not being a makati person. 😢 it was my fault, too, for not being able to check the store hours first.

after minutes of searching for alternatives online, josh decided that we try royal indian curry house (rich), since it is near century city mall (we wanted to have dessert there). to be honest, i'm not really a big fan of indian food, but i'm willing to give it another go.

when we got there, we saw that many of the customers were indians, so the food seemed legit 👌 we went ahead and ordersed our food, based on the recommendations made by our server:

✔ samosa (php 159) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
we were torn between having all-veg or non-veg ones, good thing the server informed us that we may have two pieces of each! i liked the non-veg ones more, since they were more flavorful and the filling is a bit firmer compared to the mushy filling for the veg samosas. they provided us with three sauces: tamarind, mint, and chili. i especially liked the tamarind sauce with a few drops of chili sauce. 😍 the crisp wrapper tasted great, too! to me, samosas are like indian empanadas.

✔ murg makhani - butterchicken(php 439) - ⭐⭐⭐
this dish was recommended to us by the server -- according to him, this is a bestseller in rich. when the food arrived, we instantly loved the rich aroma it came with. upon tasting it, we were a bit underwhelmed with the taste. personally, i would've wanted it to have a taste more inclined to its tomato component, but instead, it was too buttery -- a bit too much for my liking. josh initially said the taste was one-dimensional. though, we appreciate that thechickenchunks were super tender, and not the least bit dry. after eating the dish for quite a while, josh said that the taste seemed to be growing on him, and he's starting to like it more and more.

✔ tandoori prawn (php 499) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
this was josh's pick. he loves prawns so much!!! 😅 for me, it was good -- but too pricey (there were just 7 pieces of prawn). the prawns were fresh and newly grilled, and had a smokey flavor. it can be eaten on its own as it is already really flavorful, or you may also drizzle on some of the tamarind / mint / chili sauces depending on your preference. it is slightly spicy, but nothing that is too much to handle.

we paired all of the above menu items with an order of plain basmati rice (php 179), which is already good for 2-3 people. since i am on a reduced rice "diet", i ate around 1/4 of the rice, and josh finished the remaining rice. the rice was so good with the butter chicken! 😍 i also love how al dente and not sticky the rice is.

the service was good and fast, and the ambiance was great, too! you'll feel like you have suddenly been transported to india because of their interiors. 🙊 i'm glad that this sparked my interest in trying out more different cuisines -- even if i'm uncertain whether i'll like them or not.

as for rich, it was worth a try -- but a bit too pricey for me. 💸

#newrestaurantsfor2017
#eatdrinksplurge

out of all the asian cuisines, indian food has always been the most unfamiliar to me. i think i've been intimidated because my knowledge about it is zero and i've always thought that their dishes would be too spicy for my liking. so this foodie meet-up is literally like the beginner's guide to indian cuisine for me. let me share with you this delightful culinary adventure where this n00bie (~moi~) eat indian food for the first time at a legit indian restaurant. 

the interiors looked very lavish, regal and impressive. purple velvet chairs, intricate ornaments, the pillars, the ceiling, the lights, the doors -- everything looked elegant. i wasn't able to take photos because it was a busy lunch time when we went there, a flurry of expats would come every now and then, and the entire resto is actually 5 floors, so i just settled on getting snapshots of the food.

i was blown away by the flavors of these dishes! i can't pick a specific one i enjoyed more above the rest because i was just continuously munching on everything all throughout. haha. we started with the masala papad, which was crunchy, light and bursting with flavors. my favorite dip to go with it would be the coriander. for drinks, i had a mango lassi, which is sort of like a mango smoothie but 5 times better. another one i fell head over heels with was the butter naan. there's just something about that soft, sheen chewy bread with that distinct butter taste and smell that's so addictive.

i honestly just did a whole mish mash of the dishes (a heap of hyderabadi biryani topped with murg mukhani pluschickenmalai tikka and some paneer lababdar on the side) and it completely worked for me. the paneer lababdar was such a revelation because i didn't know that it was cheese until i took the first bite. there was this balance of the soft cheese with the creamy sauce. you could tell it was cooked well because the cheese didn't disintegrate or got lost in the whole mixture. i love how everything we had was flavorful (sweet, creamy, spicy, savory, smoky, nutty) and the perfect blend of spices added this extra bite and bounce to all the dishes. there were the other components too that i don't usually encounter: yogurt, coconut milk, coriander and chickpeas!

we finished our indian feast with gulab jamun, which my ignorant self thought at first were tomatoes. haha. i was surprised by these warm donut-like sweet treats (which are, fyi, milk-based!) that are laced with syrup and garnished with almond shavings. every bite of it oozes with the sugary syrup. i can't get enough! it was amazing.

there's no other perfect way for me to ease into appreciating indian cuisine than experiencing it firsthand at royal indian curry house. all the dishes were colorful, hearty and absolutely delicious and satisfying. i am missing out on so much all this time! for someone who has never tried authentic indian cuisine before, rich certainly, hands down, won me over. jsyk, their menu has 17 pages in it, so yes, i'll certainly be back to try more.

no matter what occasion is, rich (royal indian curry house) got you covered. with 5 floors exhibiting each of the owners' ideas on a restaurant, it is able to catch the heart of the public through its comfort dishes. it also uses authentic indian spices which guarantees a real dining experience here.

my favorites from the dishes we tried were masala papad (appetizer), naan (a staple bread for most indian families as referred in my fave book, the kite runner ❤️),chickentikka, and hyderabadi biryani. once you start munching on their masala papad, you can't stop because of its addicting taste. it's also best enjoyed with their homemade sauces-- tamarind, cilantro/ coriander dip, and spicy (note: my personal fave is the tamarind dip yunmm). their butter naan is also a must try! i've never tasted this good naan in a while since i went to malaysia. it's buttery, chewy, and savory! i think i ate two whole big pieces if this! lol.

theirchickentikka is very flavorful. the spices are all infused to thechickenalready. it's best paired with their rice inside a puff pastry (hyderabadi biryani). no wonder many come back to this place over and over again because of how well they aced indian cusine! don't forget to also order their mango lassi! place is super comfortable and i really love the ambience and concept of their place here! ❤️

we've ordered here several times in bulk. they never failed us since. fresh, clean, flavorful, and most of all authentic indian food at a reasonable price. i recommend theirchickenbiryani, plain naan, pluschickenmasala.

authentic indian food. the briyani was delicious. it had the right level of spices and was not too dry. i'm really glad they opened another branch in eastwood. would go back for more and maybe try other dishes like butterchickenor saag paneer 😀

the garlic naan is such a heavenly delight, especially when dipped in the rich, thick, murg tikka masala sauce! the tandoorichickenis so juicy!

everything tasted great. it was like eating in a fine dining restaurant because all food we ordered tasted 'fine'. it felt like i was taken to india. the restroom has indian music too, bidet, soap, and tissue. the venue had good amount of lighting, and beautiful interiors. the hyderabadi mutton biryani was so good, the mutton in it were soft and it felt like it melted in my mouth as the spices surged.chickenkorma reminded me of kaldereta in the philippines because of its spiciness. only difference is that, my mother cooks kaldereta with beef or pork, but never chicken. this korma is authentic, didn't have too much milkiness but i could taste the milk and all other spices. chapati was good. good pair for korma.chickenkorma and biryani is good for two people, good enough to get two people to be full. gulab jamun is the best, my favorite, served hot. it is sprinkled with almonds i think? and it was so sweet it took away the spiciness i had in my mouth after eating korma. waiters were attentive. there weren't any free service water though, you have to buy their distilled water. there were other charges too. i asked the waiter what the other charges are, and he was not able to tell me. no one told me how much was it so i calculated it. before going there, be mindful that their vat is 12% and service charge is 10%. our bill costed around 1.4k without the other charges and the final bill was around 1.7k. i have no issues with their other charges, i just wanted other people to be mindful maybe because that is like what, 22% of their total bill and who knows, other people may become short of money because they weren't aware rich had this other charges, so yeah. even though the prices were a bit steep, it was worth it for the food. i am definitely going back! and next time when i go back, i will go after 6pm so i will be able to play billiards and order drinks in their bar haha ❤️❤️❤️

wow. i wasn’t a fan of indian food until i tried rich. makes me think that all the other indian restaurants i’d been to all these years- in manila, sydney, hong kong & new york- just didn’t make indian food the way it’s supposed to be made. we loved the murgh butterchickenmasala, vegetable kofta, potatoes with honey chili, and paneer pakoda.