The Place:
My wife and I knew the general location of the restaurant, but were not familiar with the corner, so we entered the shopping center and literally drove right past the restaurant and only looped back around when my wife's keen eye spotted the strip mall sign near the road. Needless to say, it's ticked away in an aging shopping mall. Inside is decorated with similar art that I have seen in other Indian restaurants. The only thing that detracted a bit for me was the Indian music and videos playing on the TV.
The Food:
Great food - vindaloo and eggplant + samosas. Mango lasso
We decided to start with veggie samosas which were a revelation. I suppose my experience with these fried balls of love have only really been with food that was prepared ahead of time and was cold. These were piping hot and filled with lovely veggies and spices. Quite a treat.
We ordered chicken vindaloo with a "5" spice which was quite spicy. The flavors were rich and the meat and veggies plentiful. This was my favorite. We also ordered an eggplant dish that was a bit more on the sweet/hot side of things, and was also divine. The rice that was served was unremarkable, but I'm no rice aficionado. The coup de gras for the missus and I was the garlic naan. Holy crispy, garlicy, herby, chewy goodness - it was as if the Indian god of delicious bread stuff dropped a basket on our table. Yes, I would have eaten that and that alone.
The Bottom Line:
It's a shame that this gem isn't closer to my south Chandler abode for I would love to frequent for lunch dinner. I highly recommend the dinner - and as is par for many Indian restaurants there is a lunch buffet which seemed reasonably priced at somwhere around $7-8.
We spoke to the waitress who I believe was also the owner and met her 3 year old daughter. It's my pleasure to support good family restaurants like this. The Taj Mahal is a royal find.