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| - My first Indian food experience and I really enjoyed it. Now I really don't know how to judge Indian food so I brought along Mridul, from India but in US for work, to Taj for some good times, spicy cuisine, and some chilly beers. I was really torn on my choice for the night, but between Taj and Cafe Tandoor, Taj won based on location and previous reviews. Not to mention that this is close to my house so if the food was good, I could come here often.
We started off the night right with a beer that Mridul compered to Bud Light in the US, which is King Fisher in India. The beer was good, little bite, but I could drink this stuff on a regular basis. We opted for an appetizer to begin our feast. We decided to go with the India Palace Special Platter - Combination of seekh kebab, chicken tikka, samosa and pakora. Best way to sum this dish up was that I told him that this would be perfect for those hangover days where all you wanted was some deep fried goodness. Everything but the lamb sausage and Chicken tikka was fried. One of the items was an onion ball (not really a ball) that was delicious. I enjoyed everything on the platter.
For dinner we decided to share a couple things just to see how authentic this place was. The one item that Mridul kept talking about is Butter Chicken so that, for me, was a must have. We also decided to go with the Dall Makni - Lentils cooked in butter with fresh onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes, then topped with coriander. Both dishes were accompanied by garlic naan, onion naan, and puri roti - Deep fried puffed light bread, all 3 breads we had to pay for but everything came with a plate full of nicely cooked white rice which cut the heat of the dishes really well.
I will tell you that, in my opinion, the butter chicken was delicious, I absolutely loved it. The makni was spicy, but also really good, I will tone it down next time I get it because it did go perfectly with both of the naans as did the butter chicken. I couldn't decide which naan I liked more so do yourself a favor and get both, you'll eat it. My least favorite was the roti, but by least favorite I mean it was good but I figured I needed to pick out one dish that I didn't absolutely love. Then again the wife loved it. She said it reminded her of an elephant ear from the carnival minus the sugar and cinnamon, I agreed. Guess you could consider that our desert because we were stuffed and couldn't eat another thing.
So we all sat around and talked about the authenticity of Taj. While I had nothing to go on or compare to, I really just asked the questions where Mridul answered. Some highlights are this. When asked how it compared to, on a scale of 1-5, food in India, he gave it a 3 but if he was comparing it to US options, specifically Cleveland, even more specific - Indian Palace, he said it gets a solid 4. He did enjoy the lentil dish more at Indian Palace in Lakewood but the butter chicken has his vote here at Taj. He said the naan was spot on, the tandoor chicken was seasoned great, and that the only thing that the restaurant didn't do traditionally was to serve the plates warm. Taj did offer water with no ice which was the first thing that he noticed and complimented. That kind of started out the night on a good note.
The restaurant itself is relatively small but each table is given enough leg room and buffer where you can feel free to converse / frolic about yourself without the thread of eavesdroppers. There is a smell to the place that does stay with you for a while but when you use bold ingredients like the Indian do, I 100% expected it. The service was great, prices seemed reasonable, and clientele were 75% Indian and 25% other on a late Friday night.
So overall I guess you could say that we really did enjoy the dinner at Taj India Palace and I will be back, if not just to get some things to go. If you haven't been in, give it a shot, but keep in mind that not all Indian food will satisfy. We were lucky to have a tour guide as Mridul noted probably 7-10 dishes that we would not like and it was really an acquired taste. My recommendation, play it safe. Medium-Hot is a good spice level, don't over do it or else it will light your insides on fire. I am proud to say I am a big fan of Indian food.
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