Taj Indian Cuisine

I always walk into Indian cuisines skeptical of whether they can meet my all time favorite restaurants standards. After one bite, I decided it was definitely going to be one of my favorite places. I ended up coming back just two days later. If you like flavorful vegetarian dishes, I recommend the Aloo Gobi.

Tonight was my first visit to Taj and it did not disappoint! This restaurant was highly recommended and I was excited to try Taj’s take on authentic Indian food for myself. I live in Massachusetts but my twin sister moved to Maine and I visit her often. She suggested that we dine here during my last trip up to Vacationland.
My twin’s wife met us at the restaurant and we were quickly given a table. The restaurant is relatively small but was buzzing with other diners and helpful waitstaff.
Our waitress greeted us promptly and took our beverage and appetizer order. I used the check-​in feature on Unilocal for a free samosa and we ordered two more samosas so that we each could indulge in our own individual piece of heaven. The veggie samosas were perfectly fried and were served piping hot. They were spiced authentically and had just the right balance of heat, sweet and savory. The potato and pea filling was creamy but still starchy and offered a great texture contrast to the fried outer shell.
I had never tried Taj Mahal beer and eagerly ordered a bottle to pair with my meal. The bottle is a bit larger than your average beer so don’t be shocked by the $ 5.99 price tag vs. other beers on the menu. The lager was very light but crisp, but fell short of my expectations of a beer with such a grand name.
For our entrées, we split three dishes — lamb curry, chicken tikka masala and the Taj Grill. We’re also nan fiends and mad sure we had an order of each the classic and garlic nan.
The wait for our main courses was a bit long but let me tell you — it was worth it.
The Taj Grill was the first dish to arrive and it made quite the entrance! This dish is served on a sizzling skillet plate and it was brought directly to the table. The skillet was blanketed with a layer of fresh vegetables — onions, sprouts, fresh lime wedges, carrots and cabbage. These were all cooked perfectly and added a crunchy texture when paired with the meat in the dish. The Taj grill came with three pieces of Tandoori chicken (two legs and one thigh), two large white meat chunks of chicken tikka kabab and about 10 small shrimp. The shrimp was cooked well but beyond the texture, the flavor added little to the complexity of the dish. The tandoori chicken was great — the chicken was juicy and had just the right level of spice in each bite. The tikka kabab was my favorite part of this dish. The chicken was moist and flavorful and the yogurt undertone from the marinade really shined through.
Next up — the lamb curry. Though this dish didn’t offer anything extraordinary, it was extremely fresh and delicious. The dish offered large chunks of tender and juicy lamb meat. The curry gravy sang with fresh toasted spices, cooked onions and a deep, rich tomato flavor. We ordered the dish «medium» and the spice level was just right.
The chicken tikka masala was the star of the meal. The creamy tomato base (also ordered medium) offered the perfect balance of spice, creaminess and fresh tomato flavor. Even when I was completed stuffed, I found myself spooning more and more onto my plate to enjoy with the crispy, fluffy and chewy nan bread.
Parking can be a little tricky on a Saturday night as the lot gets crowded with guests at other nearby restaurants like The Olive Garden and The Tilted Kilt.
I love trying new restaurants when I am in the Portland area but I will find it extremely difficult to try something new when I know that it would mean passing up a great meal at Taj!

Outstanding food, service, and atmosphere. The food that my wife and I ordered was incredibly tasty and well priced.

The service was fast and friendly and the food was great! Was it the best I’ve ever had? Nope, but it sure was good. Slightly better furniture and richer sauces could go a long way towards making this place impeccable.
Price is comparable to other Indian restaurants.

1. Service was pretty slow
2. If you have a nut allergy be aware! ASK! Nut ingredients are not listed in the menu
3. Food tastes good, but we all had tummy issues that night.

Yum! we stopped in on a rainy Sunday to eat some buffet Indian foods. It was busy! Which I like to see at a buffet because that means the food is going to be fresh as we eat it all up.
Really all I care about is the saag paneer, which was great! They bring naan out to your table as you sit down; nice choice!

Being a Jersey City native I was always spoiled by the amount of Indian restaurants close to my proximity. After moving to Maine my taste buds were having a mean craving. I found Taj via Unilocal and I was not disappointed. When I say Flavor — I mean FLAVOR! Holy cannoli!
I’ve eaten at Taj’s buffet 3x already and am always blown away. The food is fresh, delicious, and OoOoOo the flavors — It’s a great fix in case you’re craving Indian food.
Definitely a must try! I’ve only been there for their buffet lunch — $ 12 for all you can eat Indian Food? I’m 3 plates in! I think I gain about 5 – 10 lbs when I’m rolling out of this place haha.

Lunch buffet. Need I say more?
This place was super legit. Fantastic service, and a wide selection of items at the buffet. Naan bread and drink refills were always quick to find their way to our table.
I can only comment on the lunch buffet, which may be the best deal in SoPo (less than $ 11 after tax). I am told by others that the regular food items are also just as amazing, but I cannot comment on these items myself.
Overall, come for the buffet. You won’t regret it.

I was very surprised when I realized I hadn’t yet reviewed Taj.
I just spent the past month and a half living in Bangkok, which has a significant Indian population. Needless to say, when I returned back to the states I had a craving for Indian food.
I have been to Taj four times over the course of the past three years. Twice I went for dinner service and twice for the lunch time buffet.
The food on the buffet is hot and replaced relatively often, however I prefer the quality of the individual dishes prepared for dinner service.
I think the difference between this establishment and local competitors is relatively similar when it comes to the lunch buffet. I can say with certainty that I much prefer their dinner menu when compared to the other establishments in the area.

Went to lunch buffet on Saturday. The food was good, we liked the fresh naan bread brought to the table. A bit spicy for my younger kid, but my older one enjoyed the curry with lots of water.
We would come back here when we come to Maine Mall next time.

Went to the Taj the other night with a Brit, well OK he’s actually a Canadian but that’s almost the same thing, and this dude grew up in the UK so it’s good enough for the instructive comparison du jour: to size up the Taj against the UK version of a curry shop, that ubiquitous presence in every ‘burb in England, in some places more reliably so than the «chippy’ down the corner. We were numerous, we were starving, and we were, most of us, drunk: perfect condition to test the Taj! First big disappointment, no Dosas or Lamb Frys tonight! The owners’ mother, I believe, is the real secret behind the miracle Dosas that make this place stand out, and she had taken off a month (!) to attend a wedding back in India. So good for her, so bad for us. But we soldiered on and ordered samosas and bajjis, curries and kormas, biryanis and tikka masalas, and on the side some naans and bhatooras, essentially the entire freakin’ menu at once. After many Kingfishers and much belly-​stretching, the verdict from my friend, who has hurried and scurried his curries from coast to coast: «as good as any curry shop in the UK», and the best curry shop he has visited in America! High praise, carry on, the Dosas return on 11^th December. We shall be there.

I had been to Taj once before about 2 years ago and remembered nothing special about it. In the past two weeks, 4 (!) different people mentioned Taj to me as their hands-​down favorite Indian restaurant in the area. So, early this evening, my husband, youngest son and I went to check it out for dinner. Wow! The food (and service) here is superb. I have always loved Indian cuisine, through most of my 20’s I could be found in lower Manhattan in «Little India». I have eaten at EVERY Indian restaurants in the greater Portland area and Taj is a standout!
We started with Samosas, which had a delicious light filling and were perfectly fried, they came with a house made tamarind sauce. For dinner, I ordered my go-​to, chicken saag. I have never tasted a chicken saag so expertly spiced, now I know what chicken saag can actually mean. My son ordered the lamb korma and my husband an incredible tandori chicken. We also ordered garlic naan and poori.
Everything was so so good, I can’t wait to go back! They have a lunch buffet every day from 11 – 2:30 that looks amazing, AND when I checked in on Unilocal,A pop-​up thank you came up with an offer for a free samosa! Score!

New favorite Indian place! First Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to that had a kids menu, so huge bonus points. My daughter had their mini dosa and loved it. She also ate some of our rice and chutneys but we asked for all of our other dishes spicy, and they were absolutely mouth pleasingly hot.
Had standard samosa appetizer (got a free one with a check in Unilocal coupon) and everyone enjoyed, but the stand outs were the entrees. We got saag paneer that had great flavor, lots of cheese cubes and really great heat.
We had a tandoor chicken dish which was perfectly seasoned and cooked with a nice char from the tandoor.
We sampled two different naan offerings, both which were great, and the three of us shared a mango lasse which was enjoyed by all and not too sweet.
Tastefully decorated, Taj is an inviting space, with a few tweaks could be great, like not keeping their vacuum in the bathroom and on busy nights (packed at 6:00 on a Friday) maybe the tv doesn’t need to be on. But that’s just nitpicking. The place is solid and if you’re looking for great Indian Taj is definitely better than the downtown Portland offerings.

Really enjoyed our meal here. Highlights were the fish curry — perfect combination of spices with just a bit of heat (we requested it mild) and the garlic naan. Chicken tandoor was fine, but not exceptional, tender but a little dry and not very flavorful. Although we ordered the naan, we only received one dipping sauce and not the usual selection of chutneys. Not sure — did chutney need to be ordered separately?
One drawback, entrance does not have airlock, so if you’re seated near door you get a blast of cold air when it opens, and if there is a waiting line it queues up right next to your table. Suggest you wait for seat further away from door.
Service was friendly, and prices were very reasonable. We will return.

Pathetic– food was bland and tasteless they use excess oil.
Nothing even remotely close to authentic indian food. Forget about good ones even If you have had decent indian food than this will come as disappointment.

Since my last home was in Las Vegas, I definitely would say that buffets are a thing that I enjoy. There really aren’t too many all you can eat places out here in Portland, but I was able to try Taj Indian and it was pretty damn, good.
The curries and fried goodies were super tasty. The sauces were great and while I didn’t have one, the lassi looked good (I think everyone else in the restaurant had one). The only reason I docked a point was that some of their silverware and plates looked to have dried, crusty food in places.
Prices are very reasonable and I will be enjoying their cuisine again. Note: I’ll probably only come during lunch when they have their buffet.

Definitely the best Indian I’ve had in the Portland area. Other places are too greasy, or just plain bland and boring.
Everything I’ve had from Taj was very well prepared. Most importantly, they have Gobi 65 on the menu. This is one of my favorite Indian dishes, and it’s not one you can always find. My understanding is the the 65 refers to 6 herbs and 5 spices, or some kind of Indian version of the secret KFC recipe. Like KFC it also comes on chicken (personally, I don’t think the chicken adds much so I just get the gobi which is cauliflower). Unlike KFC, it’s not just edible, it’s crazy delicious.
The service here is friendly if a bit slow. Personally I don’t think I’ve ever had good Indian food that came out fast. It seems to be a trait to well cooked Indian food that it comes out of a small kitchen with one very talented person working all alone. I’ve heard that this is the case here at Taj as well.

I’ve been to Taj on a number of occasions, and it has yet to disappoint! I’d probably go so far as to say it’s the best Indian food I’ve had to date. For all you Unilocalers, they also have a pretty sick check-​in offer. You get a free samosa! Yum! (:
I do wish that the restaurant was in a more ideal space. It’s located in more of a strip mall type area, and with the limited space that they’re provided, seating tends to get quite cramped if it’s a busy night; however, pretty much all of those «issues» that I have are overlooked because they have the absolute best service of any restaurant. The server I have had at Taj is always polite, genuine, and just plain happy! He’s always smiling, and is so concerned with whether or not your dish is prepared exactly to your liking. He always offers to have it remade if it’s too spicy, or not spicy enough… I’ve never had that happen at any Indian restaurant I’ve been to, and it is more than appreciated.
Dosas! You can’t forget dosas! They’re huge, thin, and just simply: delicious. There’s really no other way to describe them. Taj has a variety of dosas, so be adventurous, because there is surely something for everyone. I personally always enjoy the onion dosa, but the cheese dosa is totally on my radar!
The mango lassi is always delicious. Smooth, and refreshing! I’ve had lassi where the mango pulp isn’t completely blended in and then I have a lumpy lassi, and being a bit of a texture-​based eater… I would just sit and gag…): — So thank you, Taj, for not making me gag whilst I sip away on my delicious lassi!
I’m also a beer drinker, so finding imports that I’ve never had is always exciting for me. The last trip I had, I tried out the Kingfisher, which was quite great! Hoppy and crisp. Also: Yum.
My favorite dish is saag paneer (let’s be real here: Cheese. Spinach. Rice. How could you go wrong?) and each time I come to Taj it’s spicy, creamy, flavorful, and filling. Just the way I like it.
So you keep doing you, Taj. You’ve won my heart (and my stomach).

Still just as awesome as ever. I tried the dosas for the first time — and holy moly, I am an idiot for not trying them sooner. They are crêpe-​like and filled with onions or egg and cheese, and other fillings. Fantastic.
Service is great, and this will continue to be my go to Indian food place in the Portland area!

Like I stated before I’m from nj/​nyc. There are tons of amazing Indian restaurants. I have very high standards of Indian food. When I moved to maine I expected non to extremely bad Indian food. We would rather go to trader Joes and pick up their below mediocre frozen Indian that test the restaurants in the area. However Thursday night we turned over a new leaf.
We were both craving India and after my boyfriend did some research he chose taj. Now as soon as I walked in I knew it was going to be better than I expected.
I ordered a Veggie samosa, veg pakora for appetizers. Paag paneer and he had malai kofta. It was amazing everything was amazing. I’m so happy and excited to have a new place to go to. The waiter was very attentive and everyone was so nice.
Going back tonight too. Can’t wait.
Update: amazing food once again. :) garlic nan is nomnom