RUCHI | Ruchi is an Indian restaurant (primarily a buffet) in the shopping complex on the corner of Whitesburg Drive and Airport Road. We were celebrating Wise Pat’s birthday today and he requested Indian cuisine. Ruchi is one of the only Indian restaurants around, so we decided to give it a shot! We all got the lunch buffet.
(The parking is a bit scarce and seating is a little limited on Fridays at lunch time, just be warned!)
Wise Pat
While looking for an ethnic taste food in Huntsville we found Ruchi. Ruchi’s in the very corner of the Village on Whitesburg Shopping Center. When I opened the door I felt like I stepped into a little India. A little overcrowded, fresh naan steaming, and the smell of curry. It was something like The Chronicles of Narnia. Not sure about dinner but for lunch they serve a buffet which had a several different options that really let me explore my love for Indian cuisine. I would recommend anyone to try Ruchi’s and I will definitely eat there again.
Strings O'Shaughnessy
I had only had Indian food once prior to today. Before going to this restaurant I had described the flavor as, “You know that old childhood shirt you never let go of that’s in your attic? Try taking a bite out of it and that’s about what it would taste like.” Honestly after today my statement still stands, all of the food had that exact same flavor, and I couldn’t tell a difference between all of the buffet dishes. I opted to eat white rice as the rest of my meal because of this. The service wasn’t anything special, it took a really long time to get my drink, but other than that it was good. If you have a palate for Indian food, give it a try. But if you are a picky eater or you are not adventurous, do not not go.
Mr. Clearwater
Ok. This isn’t going to make much sense (and I have this issue every week), but you just need to eat at Ruchi’s. I got the buffet and got 1 plate with a little bit of everything that was available. I didn’t read the signs, I didn’t hesitate in the slightest, I had a goal to reach and I was in the zone.
This is what you do: Get some of the yellow rice with a little bid of red in it. Put that on the right side of your plate. Next get the “plain-looking” white rice and place it to the left. Next, get the weird green goop-looking stuff with the lumps of something in it and place it all over both colors of the rice. Next, get about 3 ounces of everything else available. Finally, as the waitress (nicely) for 23 flavors of Dr. Pepper, hand her your credit card and tell her to keep the change. The End.
Judge J.
So I have been pushing for an Indian restaurant for a little bit. It’s my favorite cuisine and I know some of the others have not experienced it before. I also had not had a chance to try any Indian restaurants in the area just yet, so I was super pumped for this one. And it was wonderful. I stuffed myself silly with tons of buttery naan bread, mild chicken tikki masala and, my personal favorite, goat curry. It’s a must and I’ll be back again!
The Hipster
Today we went for Indian cuisine at Ruchi, an Indian buffet. We waited about 20-30 minutes to get a table, and in the meantime, we went to a toy store nearby and browsed around. When we came back to the restaurant, we had a smattering of great Indian food. Our drinks took a while, and when they came out our waitress only brought out a few drinks at a time, but not all at once to everyone at the table, which was a little frustrating. I went for seconds, as I did not get the rice I wanted the first time around, because all of the food went pretty fast. The setting was colorful and fun to look at in between conversation and waiting in line for food. While the wait time was long, it was worth it, and the food was good.
The Engineer
The food was great! I have been to India and the food was definitely close to authentic Indian food! I am not the biggest fan of Indian food, but overall I did enjoy the taste. The waitress was pretty sad, being that it took her a long time to bring drinks, to which she didn’t write down and guessed, got them wrong, then had to make another trip, and if you’re eating spicy Indian food, a drink is basically required! I would definitely say to anyone looking for authentic Indian food, they should give this place a visit.
The Detective
I’ve never had Indian food. I’m not someone who eats spicy things or curry so I was a bit hesitant to try the food. But I was very pleasantly surprised! I enjoyed everything I got and it was a great experience trying new things! The restaurant was authentic, nicely decorated and busy. This seems like a very well-liked location in Huntsville. I would recommend to anyone looking for good Indian food!
The Boss
Approaching the restaurant, I realized we probably should have arrived a little earlier. The parking lot was packed and we had to circle around a few times before finding a spot, which was still a good walk from the restaurant. (The shopping center hosts several popular restaurants, causing the parking lot to be full around noon, which is when we arrived.) After speaking briefly with the host, we learned that it would be a 15-20 minute wait. Since there were some interesting shops nearby, we decided that was fine, and we just perused the toy store and the furniture store nearby until we had tables available for us.
I don’t really like buffets usually, and this one was about the same. I’ve also never had Indian food before, so I don’t know what to compare this buffet to. I will say, the buffet consisted mostly of variations of chicken and rice with some goat and vegetarian options thrown in. Everything was very flavorful. Eating chicken off the bone isn’t my preference, so I didn’t really care for that, and that made up a lot of the protein options. Our waitress was pretty slow with getting our drinks out and many of us were left without drinks for the first part of our meal. Overall, the flavor of the food may take some getting used to, but it was fun to try out!
Lyndsay
5 Mar 2019Other great Indian options in the area are Sitar and Saffron. If you are afraid of the heat of some Indian dishes, Sitar is a safe bet for buffet sampling. Their dishes are still fragrant and flavorful but in my experience way more mild than Ruchi. I enjoy reading your reviews!
Huntsfull
8 Mar 2019Hi Lyndsay! Thanks so much for letting us know! The cuisine was new to most of us, but we really liked it overall, so we were looking for other good local Indian places!