Taj Mahal, Stevenage

Loved the food,not bad for the price. Sadly the down fall with this place the manager should have prices for there drinks...As when getting the bill( a pint of soda and lime) got change a bad price of 4.00 (should have had a proper drink )Manager wasnt available to complain to!!

Thinking I had already sampled the delicate and unique fusion of traditional and innovative fare served at Stevenage's excellent Taj Mahal, I was delighted to have discovered yet another culinary gem. Served on a bed of keema rice the Naga Chill Rogan is simply the most flavoursome curry I have had for a very long time. Unlike many high street 'Curry houses' the chef resists using the pre-prepared 'Mr Naga' chilli oil in this amazing dish. Instead he uses fresh Naga chillies, which when blended into the tomato based sauce, is incredible. Although the dish has been created for those who love their Curry with a kick, you can have this superb dish customised to your liking.

For my side dishes I went for a keema mushroom curry and and a niramish bhaji which had so many subtle herbs binding the vegetables together, including cumin, fenugreek and garlic. In order to counteract the wonderful but slightly explosive effect of the Naga chilli, Rogan the waiter brought me some homemade mint sauce which was delicious and certainly provided the 'calm after the storm'!

My partner, who likes her curry a little milder, ordered a chicken and keema pasanda, which I simply could not resist sampling. It was superb! The chicken was so tender and the minced lamb that formed the basis of the sauce was just to die for. I also cheekily sampled her side dish, which was one of the best aloo peas I have ever tasted. Her stuffed paratha was also excellent. In fact due to the fact that I devoured most of it, she was compelled to order another.

Then we received a special surprise from the kitchen when the chef presented us with his masterpiece. Egg and keema bhuna. Although not on the menu, the Taj Mahal cater for the individual palette, and on overhearing how my partner had sampled this dish in Nepal, it was customised with immediate effect! I have to say the textures were amazing. Although it contained a myriad of aromatic spices the taste retained subtlety, and had an air of traditional home cooking.

Another dish we could not resist sharing was the beef tikka bhuna. The sirloin beef, (which is an unusual meat to find in an Indian restaurant), was so tender, and the perfect companion to the thick spice infused bhuna sauce. Despite all we had eaten, we still managed to devour the entire dish, along with 3 freshly baked rotis, which again had the flavour of traditional home cooking.

As the Taj has a fabulous reputation for seafood, we (at the risk of sounding greedy) ordered a prawn pasanda and a pair of delicious crab cakes, which were just fabulous.

During the course of the evening we had two bottles of Blue Cove wine (one white/one red), and a pint of ice cold Kingfisher beer each. I must say the wine list looked as extensive as the eclectic menu, which has to be the most diverse I have ever seen.

Having sampled the food at the Taj Mahal on two occasions, I am now set to become a regular. It is certainly the best Indian food I have tasted for decades.

I have always enjoyed the food at this restaurant and have tried the lunchtime buffet a few times (cost has increased from £5 to £6.50). However, I must agree with several other reviewers re the buffet. Firstly, whenever I visit the Taj Mahal the staff always appear surly - there are no "please / thank you" or welcoming smiles. Indeed I have a feeling of trespass. As one reviewer commented, none of the lunchtime buffet items were labelled, the rice was cold and many of the dishes very runny particularly the tarka dhal. Two waiters spent the entire time guarding the door as if they believed any of the diners were "going to make a run for it". Sadly, I was disappointed by the experience.

The food was horrifically terrible, very expensive and we both got food poisoning from it. Curries were incredibly bland, oily and flavourless. Had Chicken makamwallah which tasted so sweet it was like a dessert. We both decided that the Asda £7 curry deal beat this curry house into the shade! Ordered and it took 1.5hr to arrive. It gets 1 star because ZERO starts is not provided as an option

I don't know if the food is good - because after an hour and a half of waiting for it (with no apologies from the staff and no sign of its arrival being imminent) - we left.

Next time we'll go somewhere else. Somewhere we can actually get food.

Don't be tempted by the £5 lunch offer as you will be disappointed. The buffet is not plentiful and when I visted there was no meat and just some runny curry sauce. The food is not labelled so you don't know what you are eating. The onion bharjis are soggy and the rice cold. There was half a poppodum going begging though but as I didn't know who had the other half I decided to leave it alone.

Have known this restaurant for years having tried all such establishments in Old Town, Stevenage and I have always considered this to be the best quality food. However, why do they always seem to have such surly, unfriendly, almost intimidating staff? My most recent visit was during a weekday lunchtime. The food was excellent but the atmosphere terrible - two of the waiters were evidently having a heated argument and after I finished my meal they claimed the PDQ machine (which processes debit / credit cards) was not working and that they required the exact value of the meal in cash as they did not have access to the cashbox! Very offputting re a future visit.

Awful food and terrible service.

After my last review, I take it all back as it was just a very unfortunate experience. After my review I was contacted by Murad (the owner of Taj) he was very polite and could not have been anymore helpful.

He personally delivered our food and i must say the food and the customer care was absolutly amazing.

I would definatly recommend that you either go to the restuarant or get a takeaway you will not regret it!

First time using this indian as a take away received 1 meal 20 mins after the rest as they made a mistake a medium curry was far to hot. WOULD NOT EVEN RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO AN ENEMY . im going back to my usual curry provider