General Review Details:

• Reviewed Restaurant: Taj Mahal
• Review Date: Tuesday 3rd March 2009
• Current Weather: Clear Calm Evening (14 Degrees)

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Piccante Restaurants Web Awards:

The Piccante Ratings:

Restaurant Ratings:

Restaurant Ambience: 7/10

Restaurant Hygiene & Layout: 8/10

Restrooms Hygiene & Layout: 6/10

Overall Service: 8/10

Value For Money: 9/10

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Food Ratings:

Timing & Followup: 9/10

Presentation: 7/10

Food Taste: 10/10

Menu Variety: 10/10

Wine List Variety: 7/10

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Overall Piccante Rating

9/10

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In-Depth Review:

Getting There:

The Taj Mahal Restaurant is situated at The Strand, Gzira. Finding this restaurant, or simply just bumping into it, should be no problem at all since it is nicely located on the shore heading to Ta’ Sliema, a couple of meters away from the Captain Morgan takeoff point.  On the other hand if you have no idea at all whether you are you are at The Strand or not, The Strand Hotel glowing sign will surely confirm it.

With regards to parking space, we had no problem at all in finding one; however please do keep in mind that our visit was made on a Tuesday Night during the winter season and this may not be the case during the summer periods.

(Taj Mahal Logo)
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(The Entrance To Taj Mahal)

(Situated Along The Strand)

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The Restaurant:

The Taj Mahal restaurant has an Indian style interior. The walls are covered with a fitted wall carpet throughout. Moreover, Indian paintings and mirrors are also noticed on the walls. Televisions are set on the Indian Bollywood which also includes Indian background music. The chairs are very comfortable and the tables are set very well so that everybody can have some privacy. Candles are also available on all tables. The ambience temperature in this restaurant was a little warmer than we would have preferred.

In the upcoming months (Planned On Starting On April 2009), this restaurant will be going through a small interior renovation and when ready, the restaurant will be benefiting from a smoking area as well as a new bar and some other structural changes.

WiFi Connection: Not Available.

(Inside The Restaurant)
.(Inside The Restaurant)
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(Inside The Restaurant)
.(Inside The Restaurant)
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The Service:

The staffs at this restaurant are all very friendly and helpful, and one can notice that all of them have a smile on their face at all times. Once we entered the restaurant we were given a table and then we had a little chat with the restaurant owner. Then the menus were given to us and we made our order. The drinks were served immediately and sometime later the starter was served. The empty plates were removed immediately. The waiting time between starter and main course is neither too long nor short. The main course was served and then, dessert and coffee were served simultaneously. Overall, the service is quite good, with the staff always ready to help you when needed.

(Our Selected Table)
.(Some Nice Indian Style Paintings)
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The Food:

Menu: The menu at Taj Mahal is impressively rich and had some nice features that we enjoyed. It opens with a very brief description about this Indian Restaurant which dates back to 1978, and just before the Wine List, which is located on last page of the Menu; there is some brief information about Indian Cuisine and the health benefits that it has to offer.

With regards to the dishes everything is well explained and most of the menu items are marked with a grading such as; Very Popular, Chef’s Specialty, V.V Good, Famous, Traditional, House Specialty and even Right For Celebration.  These grading will help you in making your decisions, especially if you are totally new to the Indian Cuisine Dishes. Apart from that another important factor when it comes to Indian Cuisine, when applicable, dishes are marked as Mild, Med or Hot.

Opening up the Menu you will be presented with an excellent choice of Indian Cuisine Dishes, divided into 12 different Categories. Starting with 10 Appetizers to choose from, one can then proceed with a starter, which consist of 14 different Entres Tandoori On Sizzler (which are marked as the Best Indian Kebabs on The Island!).

Proceeding to the Main Course, the Menu at Taj Mahal has a massive selection of dishes available, whereby one can mix, match and share according to their personal preferences. From 16 Quality Lamb Specialties, 21 Chicken Specialties, 5 Beef Specialties and 15 Fresh Seafood Specialties, one will surely find the right dish to suit their tastes! You can also opt to choose for a selection form the Dishes Of The Day available (which are listed on a little board hanging on the wall inside the restaurant).  Apart from that, each Main Course dish can be further varied and enriched with a selection of 10 Indian Home Bread (which is freshly and individually baked) together with 12 Kohinoor Basmati Rice And Popular Biryanis, which are famous all over the world.

Another interesting feature on the menu is the vast selection of Dishes available for vegetarians! Apart from the dishes mentioned above, for Main Course one can also opt for the Vegetable Garden Category which consists of 21 Indian Dishes suitable for vegetarians plus an additional selection of 5 Cold Salads.

To end up the selection of the Main Course dishes, there are also 2 Continental Dishes available (Fresh Grilled Fish / Chicken & Chips) which might prove to be a suitable and simple selection for some Kids. Finally, listed as Final Touches, 7 Desserts together with 8 Drinks (some of which are Traditionally Indian) are available to end your meal with a pleasant taste.

Wine List: A well varied wine list is available at this restaurant. Wines on the wine list come from all over the world including: Maltese, French, Italian, Spanish, Australian, South African, Chilean, German and Indian. Obviously, the wines available come from different types such as Red, White, Rose, Sparkling and Champagne. If one is searching for a typical region, he could find it in this wine list, because, wines from the major regions such as Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piemonte and many others are all present in this list. The prices are on the low side, obviously varying with the quality of the wine you choose. Our choice was a Bordeaux, JBG Merlot Cabernet year 2005.

Our Selection: To start off our meal a platter of Indian Starters was prepared (suggested to us by the owner) which consisted of two portions of Samosa Vegetable, Onion Bahaj, Paneet Pacoras and Chicken Tikka served with a rich creamy sauce dip.  The Samosa Vegetable has become quite an ordinary platter nowadays (nevertheless it was still very good), however the Paneet Pacoras, prepared with in-house made soft cottage cheese, was quite a new dish to us and was simply superb both in texture and in tang.  The Chicken Tikka and Onion Bahaj were also fine in flavor and a nice dish to experience at Taj Mahal. Overall these served starters where very appetizing and the complimenting rich white creamy dip make every bite worth enjoying.

The Lamb Korma (V.V Good – Mild) served with fresh cream curry sauce was a delicious dish. The creamy sauce had a nice combination of ingredients and spices, which although they did not make it a hot dish (at least for those who are used to some little spices), added up to a very delicate and fine taste. The lamb was very tender and well cooked. This dish is very good for people who do not fancy very hot food, but still fancy an Indian dish.

The Muntaj Chicken (Favorite) cooked in fresh cream in mild unique spices with fine egg, was as well another Mild Dish. The consistency of the chicken was very good and the accompanying sauce in which it was immersed was simply mouthwatering. Both these dishes where shared between us two and they were complimented by some Briyani fried with vegetables and saffron rice and Prawn Nan filled with some nice prawns and good spices. These complimentary dishes enriched our previous selections and provided for a nice and varied main course meal.

As a dessert, the Fresh Mangos where very good. This Indian fruit is very refreshing and leaves you with a fresh and sweet taste. The Gulab Jamoon (Two / Nice & Soft Traditional Indian Donuts) was also nice, and the Hot Syrup with a sweet honey taste in which they were covered with made them even better. Accompanying these desserts we ordered the Royal Chai Indian Tea Masala (Refreshing) plus the Indian Coffee, which both unquestionably have an obvious difference from the ordinary tea and coffee that most are used to.

Our Food Experience: The Menu at Taj Mahal is certainly immense, offering a vast range of dishes to pick from. The offered choices are all prepared using fine, and where possible, in-house Ingredients are used which certainly give each and every dish the proper and a rich Indian Cuisine savor that one should always expect from an Indian restaurant.

(Indian Platter)
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(Briyani fried With Vegetables And Saffron Rice)
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(Lamb Korma)
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(Presentation Is Really Up To Your Imagination)
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(Lamb Korma / Briyani / Muntaj Chicken)
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(Prawn Nan)
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(Mix & Share)
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(Gulab Jamoon)
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(Fresh Mangoes)
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The Bill:

Total: 41.25 Euros (Two Persons)

The prices at Taj Mahal are quite a good value for money considering the rich quality of food that is provided. On average, each dish is priced at around 9 Euros, however this depends from which section of the menu the dish is selected (seafood dishes are the most expensive).  Apart from that one should also consider the Special Offers available (Take Away Starting From Just 6 Euros! / Daily Lunch 2 Course Meal For Just 10 Euros / Dinner Full Course With drinks & A Glass Of Wine For Just 23.50 Euros ) which bring further value to your meal at the Taj Mahal.

Our Overall Opinion:

The overall service was very good and the restaurant ambience gives it quite an interesting Indian style. You can first go for a walk with the Sliema Promenade and then go and have a dinner at the Taj Mahal. The food served at this restaurant was very good with the right spices and Indian ingredients adding up to the right taste. Overall the visit to the Taj Mahal is was a very pleasant one and if you like Indian food, you should try this restaurant.

Without doubt it offers an enjoyable journey into the interesting dishes that the Indian Cuisine has to offer, and we highly recommend this restaurant if you would like to taste succulent and genuine Indian Dishes!

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