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2nd Ave-Houston St (F, V)
Astor Place (6)
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Walking towards the restaurant, you're greeted with a bright red glow emitting from the millions of little red chili lights that hang from the ceilings, doors, chairs, any place they could physically hang them. It is indeed, a sight to be seen. You're also greeted by about 3 gentlemen trying to steer you to their particular establishment, and away from the competition. They work hard for your business, so don't disappoint them!
Don't just stop at the door to peer in and wonder, go on inside! Grab a seat! But make sure you bring your own alcohol, as they don't serve it there. The nan was amazing, the curries delicious, and the overall atmosphere is great. Fueled by whatever cheap booze you brought, it's bound to be the start of a great night when you come here.
It's cheap, it's so much fun, and it's a definite experience that everyone should go try.
Stroll down Curry Row/6th St on any given evening, and you'll be subjected to an amusing chorus of harassment and aggressive sales tactics from desperate Indian restaurateurs. They'll advertise $9.95 prix fixe's, free wine, BYOB, live Indian music and more!
Because i'm a sucker for BYOB and kitschy decor - such as Royal Bangaldesh's chili pepper christmas light motif - I joined a group of friends here for dinner.
However, various triggers about the restaurant and the food set off alarm bells in my head:
- Desperate / pushy management | people are probably avoiding this place for a reason
- Questionably dirty bathroom | I wonder how clean their kitchen is?
- Grimy gunky menus | If they can't bother to wipe off the menu's, how clean is their refrigeration unit?
- Oddly low prices | Razor thin margins equals sub-standard quality
- Dim lighting | So we can't see any hidden vermin in the dining room?
- Stale naan | Obviously re-heated. Wonder where they got it from, and how long ago?
- Dining companions openly discussing - "Does wine kill the listeria bacteria?" | !!!!
- Lamb vindaloo comes out watery and with 3 wimpy chunks of protein that don't really taste like lamb | Strange, i've never seen stray cats or dogs around the East Village
A star for the BYOB and because no one got sick from the food.*
* Tapeworm incubation period is 8-14 weeks. Crossing my fingers that I won't need to write a review update in 3 months.
Royal Bangladesh rules. We brought our own bottles of wine and sat "outside," which is probably your best bet because "inside" has a five and a half foot ceiling.
Their naan is SOO GOOD but so is everything else. I haven't been to a ton of Indian/South Asian restaurants, but the ones I have been to just mix the rice in with everything. Royal Bangladesh gives you a plate with your curry/vindaloo/whatever and a big bowl of rice for the whole table.
The food was great. My friend that got vindaloo had to tap out of the conversation after he started eating because he was in pain. So if you like spicy this might be your spot. I got dindar curry which was great and has pineapple. Their menu is extensive so whatever you want you'll probably find it.
Dessert on the house, it came out to like $12/person, and they accept cards. Overall a great experience. I think the "outside" would be great for groups too.
The food here is horrible horrible horrible. The place was filled with drunk frat guys the nite I went (prob because BYOB) and it was so loud and obnoxious that I considered running out.
If you want kitch and no quality, this place is it. The low ceilings and the lighting are intriguing and the waiters outside ordering you to "come inside and eat here" are insane.
I'm in a battle right now... with my bowels. I ate their vindaloo last night, which was awesome. I'm now however paying the price... All of that aside, this place is a great deal.
So there are like 5 indian/sri lankan restaurants all in the same spot on 1st; this place is one of them. All of the guys from each place are out on the sidewalk yelling at you to come try their food. It's hilarious and endearing . They're hard workin fellas and they provide some solid service.
Additionally, it's byob, so I got wasted on some 2 dollar chaz from trader joes.
When all was said and done, I woke up this morning with a solid hang over and some gas. Not to mention the fact that I've been blowing up the bathroom at work all morning. ANNNND I STILL HAVE 8 OF THE 20 DOLLARS I TOOK OUT FROM THE ATM! BOOYAAAAA, MUTHAFUCKA!!!
See you soon, my Indian friends. Save me some of that weird orange jello!!!
I tried out his restaurant as the rest on the top of this place which had much better reviews was full and we did not have much time to wait.
My first reaction was " U kiddin me".... These guys had Christmas decorations everywhere... they did not have proper lights and just used Christmas lights. And i wasn't sure why this place was soo full. Then i checked the menu ...and realised why there were soo many people in . The dished were dirt cheap .. but that's what to get for that price..dirt. The food was not that good, very mild and service was also horribly slow. Took 40 mins to get our food.
The only thing i liked about this place was the cheap alcohol and the 2 stars are for that. 17-19 $ for a bottle of fine and 4$ for a beer. But that should not be an incentive to come to this place.
You have hecklers outside this place talking something in Bangladeshi language and asking to come into their rest. They are about 4 restaurant and this place which look pretty much the same from outside.
I would suggest to try out Indian restaurant at Lexington av and bet 20-30 st or some rest at jackson heights.
The food here is pretty good, however beware that if you bring a large group the service can be a little testy and disorganized.
I like that these waiters seem a little less aggressively flirtatious than the guys at Milon, however they get grumpy dealing with sorting through a bunch of people's orders! They also were forgetting to bring people the tea and dessert that are supposed to come with their dinners.
I ordered the crab with poori and it was super delicious. I also highly recommend the banana fritter appetizer.
I usually order the mixed vegetable curry when I come here - the veggies taste pretty fresh and the curry is spicy and not too rich.
Recently, I was here for a friend's birthday dinner and we sat in the back garden under the tent - it was a particularly hot, humid day & the tent seemed to trap all the heat - I really felt as if I was in India! The two small fans in the tent didn't seem to do much to alleviate the heat. I recommend not eating there if the weather is going to be muggy.
Overall, a halfway decent spot for Indian food and more roomy than Milon, however they are a tad bit disorganized. You can't beat the price though. This is a perfect spot for a group dinner where you don't want to force your friends to break the bank to celebrate with you. Don't eat too much or you'll be too stuffed to go drinking afterwards, though! (this is what happens to me here)
side note: Why is it called "Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant" - Bangladesh and India are separate countries, with similar but still different cuisine....
Ultimately, I prefer Milon to Royan Bangladesh but RB is not without its perks! Although in that entire building the indian food is quite cheap, RB's is the cheapest at around $1 less per entree. The other perk is that their lamb vindaloo is WAY spicier than Milon's and finally - the backyard garden's ambiance is the best place to enjoy cheap indian food!
The negatives are that they're a bit stingy with their "free" plates. They expect you to share 1 tiny scoop of ice-cream w/ the person you're eating with. At least upstairs they give you each your own. Also, their staff is not nearly as friendly and chatty as upstairs.
I used to be loyal to Panna II because Royal Bang always looked like its and Milon's boring friend. That is, until I discovered the backyard garden which is truly the greatest dining experience and trumps chilli lights sitting on your head. Most of the time. My allegiance more or less now lies here. Everything is satisfying and their "special dinners" are a great deal (appetizer, entree and dessert for $10) especially since it is also BYOB. A tip for newcomers: DO NOT let them ask you if you want naan. Very sneaky when it is THREE DOLLARS A PIECE. Haha! Fooled me once.
I can do without, thank you!
I came with Jeff C.'s meet up group with my 5 gallon bottle of white wine and best friend visiting from Los Angeles in tow. It was kind of confusing as this is the downstairs restaurant in a sea of about 3 other Indian restaurants and they ALL are decorated the same and hustling to get you inside. In fact, we were originally supposed to go to Milon but we went down here instead as we had a huge group and they were more than willing to accommodate us and BYOB no corkage fee. Sounds good to me.
You go inside and the place is as tacky and gawdy as it can get. There were red lights galore hanging from the rafters and it was dark up in that joint. We all made our orders but waited and waited and waited...bottles of wine already gone and drunk texting already starting..I needed to eat! When my shrimp dish finally arrived, I was like wow..these thing is tiny, but that's fine with me as I'm not a huge eater and the low low prices here are commensurate with the portion sizes so beware. I took one bite into my shrimp with lentils dish and I nearly had to spit it out. DAYUM it was so HOT..and I don't mean temperature wise, it was just like they put the whole damn bottle of pepper sauce in my little dish. I could barely enjoy it and it actually would have been quite delicious had I been able to block out the fact that it was extremely hot.
Anyway, I had a great time and I'd actually go back to this place again, if not for the BYOB no corkage fee thing. Service was actually really good here too. Next time I will avoid the spicy dish though as I know they do not joke with the hot sauce.
The best feature about Royal Bangladesh is that you eat under a colorful brocade tent outside!
The second would be BYOB.
But the food should definitely be the last thing you go here for.
Came here on Wednesday for a birthday with over 20 guests, and the service was pretty good for such a big party. They didnt miss a beat at refilling waters, changing plates, uncorking all our bottles of BYOB wines.
Food wise, it's just average...maybe below but the alcohol made it better?? The birthday girl ordered for everyone, which included 3 appetizers and at least 5 main dishes. Couldnt name a damn thing though, very forgettable.
But $25 for like 22-24 people? BYOB? Birthday celebration? It's a pretty good deal.
A friend of mine who has lived in the East Village for a while took me here. It is a great combination of great food and good options. If you want a good cheap meal, it is great, or if you want to spend a little more when you go out with your friends you can get a bunch of different things and really take advantage of the extensive menu.
I also kind of like the crazy man out front yelling at you to come in. I like being able to say, "yes, I think I will come in," and acting like I otherwise would have kept walking.
Oh, and it is BYOB!
BYOB? check
no corkage? check
Christmas lights? check, jalapenos lights even
Bonus: Outdoor garden
I brought my group here for our monthly Mix & Mingle. It was supposed to be upstairs @ the better known Milon, but they were packed to the gills and this place had 24 seats readily available at 8pm on a Thursday. Don't let the omnipresent Xmas lights fool ya. I had originally thought all 3 establishments were the same owner, but they're not. The decor is unpretentious with decent food. Too bad the food took an hour to come out with zero apologies. It was cheap, but you really do get what you pay for. Portion sizes aren't big and quality is just okay. They gave us a complimentary coconut custard (tasted like jelly) and mango ice cream (tasted like a sweet mango lassi) at the end, which was a kind gesture. An extra star for accomodating a large party on the spot.
Ordered:
-Lamb Saag (comped) - this tasted like the ones you get at the buffets, nothing special
-Chicken Tandoori ($8.50) - on a sizzling platter, 3 big chunks of bone in chicken, very very good
-Garlic Naan ($2.95) - good naan, but the garlic was crunchy, would prefer roasted
-Mango Lassi ($2.50) - not quite as thick as Brick Lane's but very good
Total came out to $20 after everything
Pics to follow...
Pretty good Indian joint with excellent nan, tasty veggie samosas and good and tender lamb curry.. The service was good even though they were rushing us a little bit, the reason being the place was closing very soon.. But they were friendly about accommodating us so I appreciated that.. This was my friend's first time having Indian food and he thought it was amazing, but I've had better..
I thought this place was a part of Milon, but I was wrong.
Came with the Walking Yelp's meet up mix and mingle event...and the first thing you see are LIGHTS...MILES of red chili christmas lights draped all around the windows and within the restaurant!!
They accomodated all 20 so of us and even compted the corkage fee. YAY for BYOB!
I had the coconut poori and the beef dildar curry...not bad at all! Tried the lamb saag and chicken tandoori and chicken tikka masala.
Good place for sharing and being loud where the decorations around you are even louder!!!
They supposedly have a garden, which may be quite cool for the Spring and Summer....I pray for those times to come ASAP now!
Had a great time and met many awesome ppl!
Cheap too, Billy and I couldn't find one dish priced over 20$.
I wondered why the line wasn't as long for Royal Bangladesh as it was for the neighboring restaurants. After ordering the saag ponir, I soon realized why the place was empty. It tasted like it had been sitting in the fridge all day, and was nuked in the microwave. All of the other dishes were delicious.
I can't give Royal a bad review, because one dish wasn't up to par. I will have to remove 2 stars though from my original total. The service was extremely slow (considering we were 2 of 6 people in the entire restaurant).
I used to go here a lot, but in the last few years I've only been 2 or 3 times. Something's different, not as good.
If I were to give this place stars based on the numerous times I'd visited in the past, it would get four, plus an extra for nostalgia. But my meal last night -- which I'd so been looking forward to -- was a bit of a letdown. In the eight years since I've been to Royal Indian, I've sampled hundreds of curries, some runny and bland, some hearty and eye-wateringly spicy. Unfortunately, the malai kofta I had last night was closer to the latter. I almost cried.
I've been going to this restaurant for close to 20 years -- at least 15. It was one of my first "haunts" when I moved to Manhattan, despite the fact that I lived far, far away on the Upper West Side. I was such a regular that when my male roommate took a date here, the waiter informed me of his infidelity when he stepped away to the bathroom. When my brother-in-law informed me that the pet fish that greeted you when you walked in the subterranean entrance had died during the blackout, I felt a lump in my throat. When I left for LA 11 years ago, this was where I held my goodbye party.
So you can imagine my disappointment when my much-anticipated experience was far from the rosy memories of yesteryear. The staff was impatient for our order. The wine (what happened to BYOB???) was overpriced, and the malai kofta I'd been dreaming of all day long was no spicier than a pudding and was of a much less palatable consistency than I've become accustomed to. Have I become an Indian food snob? Most definitely, but with all the spices at an Indian chef's disposal, it's not terribly difficult to appease me.
I gave a charitable three stars out of, yes, nostalgia, and the fact that the food wasn't inedible, just much less flavorful than I remembered. I'd also asked for spicy, and there was more spice in a cupcake than there was in my curry. But the back patio was still a novelty for Indian Alley, if a few shades tackier than I remembered. And the condiment sauces and papadum haven't changed a lick. I'll go back and give them another shot, hoping against hope that my beloved Royal can redeem itself. But if not, I'll gladly try one of the other myriad competitors on the block. After all, change is good.
Initially, I thought that this place was okay, but now I realize that I must have been dazzled and blinded by all the freaking lights strewn everywhere. It's like Christmas year round here.
I sat outside in the tent area on a cool summer night and it wasn't too bad. The lights made everything seem a bit prettier if a bit cluttered and hectic but it was interesting. The food and service on the other hand, was pretty bad in my opinion. We sat there for about 15 minutes without menus, flagged someone down to take orders and had to consistently flag someone down everytime we needed something. And I do not lie, but we waited over an hour for our food. AN HOUR. Groups that came after us were served before us. We were not happy campers.
By the time our food came out, we were ravenous and I'm sure anything would have tasted amazing to me, but my Aloo Ghobi was watery and had about 4 pieces of vegetables in it along with around 6 hard, undercooked peas. There was no spice depth or complexity, just spiciness without much flavor and the curry was too runny. It was like the cook threw together something last minute that was vaguely curry flavored. There were also a few pieces of tomato in my Aloo Ghobi, which I have never encountered in this dish. Naan was okay. Then the waiter, while opening a bottle of beer let it bubble over onto one of the people at my table and didn't apologize or bring napkins. He then charged us for the bottle of beer even though he had spilled about 1/3 of it on one of us.
It was cheaper than the nicer Indian restaurants, but at this rate I would rather pay more than wait an hour for mediocre food. There are seriously too many better Indian places in town for me to ever return here.
I've been here twice, both times the service was great, the food was great and very cheap. I liked the crappy Christmas lights all over the place, it's kind of charming. The food comes out really quickly and it was very tasty. I had the meat samosa, bhujia, tikka naan and a curry dish. The appetizers were really really good but the main dish was a little disappointing. It was goopy and only had a few pieces of chicken and I actually needed to put salt on it. :(
Their mango ice cream is insane....you must try it.
Also, before walking in, you might be overwhelmed by the guys outside screaming to get you in. I think they must be getting a commission or something. I definitely recommend this place.
I would've given this place five stars if my shrimp bhuna had come in a bigger portion! At the end of the meal, I was left practically licking the plate trying to get more of the creamy, spicy goodness. The vegetarian samosas were wonderful as well, crispy on the outside with a soft, buttery potato filling, and the mango ice cream is just superb. It was a festive, affordable place to go for delicious Indian food - I just wish I hadn't been left wanting more!
I first ended up in Royal Bangladesh a couple of years ago, enticed first by the thick strands of Christmas lights covering the windows (which, amazingly, are enough to make this place stand out in New York City) and second by the reasonably priced menu. The atmosphere is sort of exciting, waiters rushing everywhere, guaranteeing that your table will be ready in just a moment, just a moment, but there is a calm here that doesn't exist in other overcrowded dining establishments I've visited (Veselka, I'm talking to you). The food is alternately really pretty good (vegetable curry) and rather disappointing (green salad--iceberg lettuce is not green, friends), and the prices are always right. I'm not sure if this is always the case--maybe just because it was a busy Saturday nite--but gratuity was sneakily included in the total.
After a friend and I made the wrong choice of standing on the sidewalk for a moment, comtemplating whether we wanted to stand in the line for one of the restaurants upstairs, two men burst from the door screaming "You eat here! Here!!!!!!"
"...do you want to eat here?" my friend asked
"YES. YES YOU GO IN NOW." countered the host, corralling us into the door.
So after we were basically kidnapped, we had to wait a surprisingly amount of time for any of the frenzied waitstaff to uncork our bottle of wine (byob, yeaaah) and ask for our orders. We were dubious of the food, though dazzled by the lights, but I have to admit my chana shaag was quite tasty. "The naan isn't as awesome as it should be," was the lament of my friend, but I thought it was decent. All in all, I was more than happy after our harrowing ordeal getting through the door.
I walked past yesterday and saw a hapless couple get dragged in by overzealous waitstaff as their competition above loudly heaped scorn upon all of them. It made me hungry, I do admit.
I meant to go to another restaurant on 1st ave, but it was raining and my friends and I were hustled into this one. There's another Indian restaurant literally right upstairs. They both celebrate Christmas 365 days a year with their assortment of lights and sparkling decorations.
The food here was ok. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. The peas in the Aloo Gohbi were hard and dry. They were probably frozen. And some of the rice was under cooked.
The lights make it a fun atmosphere for a group, and they have big tables. But the food really is a hit or miss.
It is always Christmas at this little bottom floor Indian restaurant. The food was pretty tasty. I really enjoyed the Lamb Korma, meat and veggie samosas, and onion fritter. The Nan is also yummy.
However, the chicken tikka masala was not the best I've ever had. The Saag Paneer was too salty and lacked paneer. I think i got 5 tiny pieces total.
A major plus for this place though is that it is pretty cheap. Most dishes are around $6
"We don't worry about the people outside, they can die - we care only for you," our friendly, frenetic server at Royal assured us, referring to the people in the quaint garden seating out back. He seemed to suffer from paranoia the first five minutes as we perused the menus and continued to assure us that everything was ok, shouting that we didn't have to leave, the service would be great, the food is fine. This is probably because there is an Indian restaurant directly upstairs with flashier lighting (e.g. chili pepper light strings, glowing santa claus lights) and there are two Indian guys outside heckling passerby to come into their restaurant instead of Royal.
The service was quirky, but what of the food? Frankly it wasn't to die for - half of the entrees were just warm, the flavors were muted and bland in the samosas and vegetable korma and none of the curries was spicy enough for my tastes. The white wine was also quite bad, even for a cheap bottle of pinot grigio.
The highlight? A freebie dessert at the end, mango ice cream and a sweet carrot pudding.
I wouldn't come back here - there are too many Indian places in New York to go back to a mediocre one.
This place is so nice and soooo roomy, I could never eat at any of the places upstairs.
Besides the breathing room, the food is good, the staff is accomodating and the owner is nice. Very group friendly and can seat large parties. Royal is one of the only indian/bangladeshi places I will eat at
it's like chrismas and a mexican restaurant rolled into one! alright, i only said mexican because they had chili pepper lights strung up. my bf took me here for my birthday, and it was not bad, and pretty cheap to boot. we ordered chicken tikka masala, the coconut poori, chickpea poori, and plain naan. both pooris were delicious! the coconut one had coconut flakes and it wasn't greasy or super flaky at all, gave a really nice subtle coconut taste. now if you know me, i'm a condiment whore, and i liked the little trio of green sauce, sweet black sauce, and the tomatoes given at the beginning of the meal.
the tikka masala was good, chicken was little bit dry, but i can live with that. i also got masala tea, and that was pretty tasty. complimentary mango ice cream given at the end, but next time i think we'll try one of the desserts on the menu.
my one complaint is that it took forevvvver for them to give us our bill. there were only 2 or 3 tables occupied when we were in there and clearly we were done, but no one ever came by to hand us our check. finally we asked them for it and they were pretty quick to process that sucker. all in all, not too bad royal, not too bad, your lights are cheesy but fun.
blech. the only reason anyone comes here is because they're underage and want to drink watery wine. i mean, this place is fun for large groups of people. the service is awful and they will charge you for food that never made it to your table AND tack on 100 dollars to the bill for no apparent reason. food is ok. tiny ass portions. overpriced if anything. the outdoor area is really nice though. this place is just so 9th grade. there is much better authentic indian food to be had all around manhattan......
An Indian feast for a small price. Delicious food and festive decor...got Christmas lights? Royal is located in a strip dubbed, Indian Alley. My local friend recommended it above the others.
It's often hard to choose a festive Indian restaurant on the row on East 6th Street between First & Second Aves -- they're all basically the same and yet subtly different from each other. It's hard to remember which one you liked and why. But in the warmer months, the Reverend Vince Anderson and I favor Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant around the corner on First Avenue. The special feature they have is a large garden tent with twinkling lights. It's beautiful back there, and really gives you the feeling of having let the city. The food is perfectly delicious, and is the custom in the neighborhood, you can gorge yourself on a three course banquet for under $15. Whenever I've dined there, I've been "surprised" with a complimentary mango ice cream at the end of my meal.
Food quality is good, not the best of the Indian foods, but it is worth the money, the place is usually packed. Service is not great.
Don't be afraid of the two Indian men outside the restaurant screaming at you to go inside. I had a huge, delicious meal, a free glass of wine, and complimentary dessert for under $15. Lot's of choices, everyone I was with was happy with their food. It's nothing out of this world, but solid Indian food nonetheless. The outdoor tent was too humid so we ate inside, but on a cooler night it looked like a nice place.
Super Lunch at 50 % (Dine In)
Neighborhood: Theater District
$9.99 Daily Lunch Buffet!
Neighborhood: Fashion District
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Indian
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Indian
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