Rajni Indian Cuisine

"Do you want to expand your Indian food routine outside of Naan bread, chicken teeeeeka masala and mango lass-ee? Try South Indian food. This place actually has some good South Indian food. My friend and I had quite the spread. Don't worry. If you are still basic, your naan bread and chicken teeeeeka also await you here. The service was quite good unlike many Indian places where the waiters are especially rude to desis. Enjoy!"

"On Jan 27,2024 Me along with 3 of my friends visited this restaurant for dinner . We ordered chicken lollipops — no salt in chicken, 4 lollipops for 10$ Ordered schezwan chicken fried rice — Again the salt is too less, Quantity is way too less compared to any restaurant in Madison or Chicago areas. One of my friend asked the restaurant staff that your food portions are very small, quantity and $$ are no comparable , then the staff replied that’s our style of serving. I hope the staff serving food to customers should Atleast listen to the feedback of the customers so that they can improvise the dinning experience. Ordered couple more dishes from main course — no salt in curries . Overall not happy with the experience. I Wish it will be better in the future. Feels expensive for the quantity."

"Best Indian food in Dane county. We ordered chicken 555 (our favorite), dosa, Lassi shots ( can try four different flavors), thali, fried rice and Tikka massala. Excellent food that is you don't get to try in most Indian restaurants."

"01-14-24 Grand opening day review. Madison had been longing for a South Indian restaurant ever since few of the older ones closed down. Rajni seems to carry hope for those of us who crave for it and often thought of going to Chicago to satisfy those cravings. I'm a food connoisseur and love critiquing food flavors. We (+friends) went into Rajni with great hopes, however, I would say they are still far from what they can be. Nevertheless, this review will be updated (hopefully) with positives after more visits. Rajni offers a well-lit, decorated and uplifting atmosphere, perhaps the best in town when it comes to Indian places and welcomes you with a touch of warm hospitality. Getting to the food, we ordered North and South Indian dishes, Paneer tikka kebab, Kadhai paneer, Dhaba paneer biryani and naan assortment, along with Madurai Malli dosa, Mysore masala dosa, Idli, and Milagai Podi Idli. For desserts, we ordered pineapple kesari, gulab jamuns and Elaneer payasam. Surprisingly, the North Indian dishes were comparatively better than the South Indian ones. It's rare to see a sizzling paneer tikka kebab laden with spices in a restaurant, the flavor was great and appreciable. Only thing was the paneer pieces were a bit too thick and when you bite into the raw paneer, it was cutting down on the flavor. Slightly thinner (and more) pieces would easily make this dish a popular one. The Kadhai paneer was flavorful, though a bit on the sweeter side but still appealing to the palate, would recommend it. We ordered a medium spicy biryani which felt slightly low on spice than expected, but next time we'll go higher on the spice scale. The South Indian dishes seemingly were a hit or miss and fell a bit short of our expectations. The Idli was superb, soft and fluffy, but the peanut and coconut chutney could have a bit more kick to them. The sambhar was unfortunately a disappointment. We felt it could have a lot more flavor to be authentic and could've used more salt. The Milagai Podi Idli was good as well, a delicate balance of spice with the right texture of onions executed properly. If I could nit-pick, I would ask for the idlis in it to be crispier. Idli, dosa and sambar are what defines a South Indian restaurant in my opinion, which always makes me order those dishes first whenever I go to one. The dosas had good thickness, perhaps could improve slightly more on the crispness. The specialty dosas (Madurai Malli and Mysore masala) didn't feel that special, as the chutneys that were spread on them felt tasteless. The spreads/chutneys need heavy improvement in their flavors. Also, it was a bit weird that one of the spot in the dosa plates was left empty, perhaps just putting some lime or onion would also be fine to improve presentation. In desserts, the gulab jamuns were nice and soft, perhaps a bit too sweet for my taste buds. So was the kesari, didn't feel that much pineapple in it and it was a bit too minced in texture. Elaneer payasam was probably the highlight for us, it had just the right amount of sweetness and a cold desserts feels very soothing with flavor of coconut after a hot meal. All in all, we're glad Madison now has a South Indian place to go to. However, it can definitely improve. Most of the South Indian flavors seemed more suited to American taste buds, however, some of them were too mild for anyone in my opinion. That being said, the North Indian food almost hit the spot. Besides, we only tried a few dishes and Rajni gives us the opportunity to come back again and again and try all the variety of food that they have to offer. Despite being a bit scrutinizing in the review, we're sure our feedback will be taken positively and welcome Rajni to the arsenal of Indian restaurants in Madison."

"Another addition to Madison Indian restaurants list. We liked the place. The ambience is good with all Indian decors from all across south India. Food was delicious, to mention we loved Milagu rasam. All the dishes we tried were well prepared and exceptional. After a long time we are able to have some authentic dosa and steaming hot idlis. All the best to owners."