I stay near the place and have been patronizing it for.ohhhh.about 7 years. Yes! The ambience is pleasing and soft. Afternoon lunches with a family group is great. They are "aged friendly" i.e. very accomodating to aged and infirm people. As far as the evening crowd goes it can tend to get a little bit noise on the weekends. On weekdays it is yet soft and one can hold a conversation without having to scream.
Service: Friendly. Sport a smile and you’ll see it reciprocated. The staff is very very helpful specially towards the aged who can tend to get finicky with their needs. But all met with a smile.
Food: A must-have is the Chicken Pahadi Kebab. Its soft, succulent and a favourite of us all. The prawns are not all that great in size. Whats kingsize for them is "What? Where?" for you. And I’ve had it around 3 or 4 times. Koliwada dishes ain’t that great. You’d be safer sticking to the tandoor items.
Drinks: Don’t expect hi-funda brands. Mainline stuff, beer and hard, all available.
Crowd: Sometimes you will come across the odd patron who is garullous. Mostly, you won’t. the ambience itself encourages and promotes quiet conversations. its the odd boor who doesn’t recognise his surroundings that will talk loud and make a nuisance of himself. Generally Royal Challenge is frequented by the senior mgmt types in the day time(a group even) and by small business group types in the evenings. On a weekend you’ll find it populated by families.and hence perhaps a bit noisy.
Oh yes, they don’t do takeaways. But if you smile and ensure them a big order then they will xerox their menu and welcome a call from you!(Voice of experience!)