Get the Goat at Royal India

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Let’s Eat!

The website of Royal India (3400 S. 27th St.) boldly states that it’s “Milwaukee’s Best East Indian Restaurant.” They make a case for themselves. Within its inauspicious, strip mall-like location, an effort to impress is maintained with its white cloth napkins and bright atmosphere. 

Wherever Royal India lands among its many competitors in the city, much of its menu systemizes its variety of entrees in a simple way similar to how many Chinese restaurants have for years: pick a base and add a protein. Royal India includes goat among options such as fish, shrimp, lamb and chicken. 

The goat, on a recent visit, was prepared Kadhai style in the Indian equivalent of a wok. The bone-in chunks of meat stewed in an aromatic brown gravy amid diced red and green bell peppers and white onion. 

My dining companion opted for chicken, ala' Malabar, with morsels of white meat bathing in a coconut cream sauce prepared with herbs and spices offsetting the sauce’s sweetness. Each main course and its accompanying side of tender Basmati rice served in a compact silvery bowl. 

With a side of pillowy, nearly steaming naan bread, the meal was nearly complete. A tall glass of ice-chilled roofhaza, the milk drink made with a rosewater-based syrup, could have passed for a liquid dessert in a pinch but wasn’t so sweet as to distract from the food it washed down. Other subcontinental beverages, such as mango lassi and chai tea, and actual desserts, including gajar halwa (carrot pudding) and rasmalai (cheesecakes in a sugary, nutty cream), may be had as well. Other entrees include biryanis and other rice plates, tandoori oven preparations, Indo-Chinese entrees, and vegetarian fare, like the piquant mashed eggplant stew of baingan bharta. 

Anyone yet unconvinced of the deliciousness and healthfulness of East Indian fare can also read from Royal India's website for a mini course in the benefits of many of the seasonings used in chef Jaswinder Singh's cuisine. But if tasting is believing, Singh's creations at Royal India make for easy conversion.