I've been meaning to put in a review for Taj for quite some time, now, but it's hard to put all of our experiences here into one review. Over the past several years, we've eaten here dozens of times, and ordered takeout I don't know how much. There have been times we got takeout three times in one week. It's our go-to place for special occasions, comfort food, out of town guests, and "just because".
I'm thoroughly addicted to the malai kofta, and my husband uses their butter chicken as the benchmark against which all other butter chicken compares. (The best butter chicken he finds elsewhere earns the compliment "It's delicious -- but not as good as Taj.")
Birthdays, New Years, whatever, my husband always laughs if I ask what he wants to do, because we both know the only choice is Taj. And to top it off, the staff is so friendly and warm, you feel absolutely at home there. My parents came to visit, and we (of course) took them to Taj (actually, one night my husband and my father picked up takeout as a surprise, and then we went again on their last night visiting). My father is a huge food buff, and a fantastic chef in his own right, and he and the owner got along swimmingly. Now, when we stop in, this kind fellow still asks how my parents are doing and sends his regards. I can't think of a nicer place for delicious meal and happy atmosphere.
As for food -- malai kofta and makhni paneer are my favs. It can be hard to decide, so sometimes I get both, and take 3/4 home to have the next day or two. It goes really well with the vegetable biryani, which is a delicious vegetable rice dish. My husband always gets the butter chicken, but if he gets a second dish, there's several chicken or lamb dishes with which he's also thoroughly happy. For appetizers, my favourite is the paneer pakoras (best brushed into a mix of the tamarind sauce and mint chutney that you spoon onto your plate and mix.). There's also a potato chaat (perhaps it was simply called aloo chaat?) that I had the time before last that was really overwhelmingly good. We also always get at least two naan -- one butter and one garlic -- which is best when you use it to scoop up a bite of sauce and biryani wrapped in the hot flatbread). For dessert try the gulab jamun with a cup of chai (which is always quite hot when they bring it out, so you may need to let it cool a bit). The gulab jamun is quite sweet, so the best way to have it is, don't sweeten your chai, but instead take a bite of the gulab jamun and then a sip of the chai, and let the flavours blend.
I could go on and on, but the gist is this -- splendid food, splendid people, lovely atmosphere, you cannot go wrong and you're sure to have a lovely time. read more