It’s All About Quality Ingredients And Great Presentation At India Grill & Bar
For nearly a decade, India Grill & Bar has been serving authentic old and modern Indian cuisine in Royal Palm Beach. The restaurant has developed a loyal following of customers from all over the region, happily welcoming new patrons as well.
The restaurant is designed to look like an Indian palace with hues of gold and a circular 400-gallon saltwater fish aquarium as the centerpiece. That ambiance, mixed with fresh, imported spices, is what restaurant manager and owner Soye Thomas said it’s all about.
“I’m from the land of spices! That’s one primary thing for us. Much of it we import straight from India. We never use powder,” he said. “We get the cardamom and organic cumin. We have dried cumin straight from India. We roast and grind all our spices right here. The flavor and aroma is so fresh and real. It’s amazing. Next, we focus on getting the best produce. Once we have that, the rest is easy.”
One of his favorite spices — cloves. “It has a spark to it,” he said. “A burst of flavor.”
The daily lunch buffet is a great way to get a taste of it all.
For starters, try the Sambar lentil soup, Tandoori chicken and vegetable samosa.
Buffet entrees include chicken tikka masala, lamb roganjosh, chicken biryani on the bone and daal makhni. For sweets, you can enjoy galab jamun and Punjabi phirni. The entire buffet is offered daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., all for $9.95.
A wide selection of light and fluffy naan is extremely popular with guests. Flavors include cheese naan that’s mildly spiced, there’s also garlic with cilantro and Kashmiri naan, which is mildly sweet with cashew and pine nuts, coconut, saffron, honey and raisins.
When it comes to dinner entrees, there are a number of Tandoori specialties to choose from — all made to order. The most popular is the mixed grill platter. It’s a combination of tandoori grilled shrimp, seasoned lamb chops and tandoori grilled chicken tikka. “We use an all-charcoal grill,” Thomas explained. “It sears all the juices inside.”
Several vegetarian and vegan-friendly options are available on the menu, as are gluten-free choices.
The restaurant also offers a banquet hall for up to 200 people. It includes a separate entrance, private bar and reception area, suited for private parties or corporate events.
There’s also a tasting room for as many as 20 people, also privately set with its own bar. In addition to the restaurant as home base, Thomas also runs a nationwide catering company known as Madras Catering & Event Production.
“We are very big into catering weddings and large events. We’ve done events at the Breakers, Boca Resort, Fontainebleau and Four Seasons,” Thomas said.
It’s at Four Seasons, JW Marriott and Hyatt where Thomas worked in management after coming to the United States from India in 1997. He used that experience and added his own twist, with now 17 years of catering under his belt. He has catered an average of 40 weddings a year, often with 300 people or more per event.
“For me, it’s very personal,” Thomas said. “The food, presentation, food culture, spices, quality of ingredients. I get to know the clients.”
It’s that same personal touch that makes India Grill & Bar a success. “Guests come here and say, ‘Wow! The food is amazing.’ But they don’t realize the chefs cooking for those weddings are the same ones cooking for them,” he said. “There are no shortcuts, anywhere.”
There are also no shortcuts when it comes to a great Sunday brunch. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., a culinary experience is topped with bottomless mimosas.
“We bring a grill to the table, a live station, dosa of all varieties,” Thomas said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for people to come and taste everything.”
For Sunday brunch, adults are $16.95, while children are $6.95.
The cuisine for both the restaurant and catering covers all areas of India with four chefs, each from a different region. “We have a south Indian chef, a north Indian chef, one from Bombay for the snacks and one from the east side to cover all the seafood,” Thomas explained.
A huge selection fills the bar, including exotic cocktails, a variety of spirits, and a large beer and wine menu.
New plans are also on the horizon for Sunday evenings, which are big in the equestrian community. Coming soon will be dinner specials, a lounge and live DJ until midnight.
Meantime, Thomas and his crew are always looking for new infusions by going on tours to India, checking out new flavors. It’s that deep passion for people and love of food and flavor that keeps them going, to the delight of many happy customers and their taste buds.
The restaurant is open seven days a week with lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. Delivery is available through DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats and Delivery Dudes.
India Grill & Bar is located in the Royal Plaza at 650 Royal Palm Beach Blvd. at the northeast corner of Southern Blvd. For additional information, visit www.indiagrillandbar.com or call (561) 249-7168. Learn more about the catering end of the business at www.madrascatering.com.
