Taj Bar & Grill

We ordered mushroom mattar and baingan bharta, an eggplant dish. Both entrees, as well as naan and basmati rice were scrumptious. The medium spice was perfect for me. However, the vegetable pakora was too dry and the breading was very thick, not good at all. Decent atmosphere, pretty retro, and good service overall. Probably somewhere I’d get takeout from but not sit and eat.

Went for my daughters 30^th birthday as she has been dying for Indian food. Realized this is was the former Lyons when we walked in. Buffet was 11.99 per person and not that much of a selection compared to other Indian buffets I have seen so we opted to order off the menu.
Overall the food was very flavorful and well presented. I am no expert on Indian cuisine but it seemed to be very authentic. It did take a while to get our food so good thing we got appetizers which were also very good.
The service was very good. They were very pleasant and attentive… I could tell they were making sure we were OK due to the time it was taking to get our food.
Overall we liked it and likely will be back when we have a craving for Indian.

$ 20 for two, lunch buffet. Not bad. There wasn’t a lot of variety, but I gotta say that their basmati rice and chicken korma are THE BOMB. I wish I had a bigger tummy because I would eat all of that korma. So goooood!
That said, I still wished they had a wider selection. For dessert, there were sliced apples that didn’t look too fresh. I couldn’t remember anything else. I was disappointed with the lack of gulab jamun. And there were also flies landing on my food, which I had to keep swatting and eventually made me give up on my meal.

Smh give me another second so i could smh once again, smh! Ok im a shake this spot off now. Man the only question i have is, why is this place rated so high?! Man, all the food on the buffet was left overs from the previous day! «Im a keep it G real» lol only thing that was fresh was the naan bread thats it. Everything else was left overs the deep fried fish was chewy the veggies were tough and chewy nothing was fresh from the «buffet line». Mango lassie smh shit tasted sour ass hell! The employees were dressed im pajamas! Real talk, my co worker treated me for indian food shes indian she was absolutely shamed if the food they were calling «indian food» i love indian food but again im not indian so anything labeled indian and with curry im bamboozled believing its authentic indian food but my co worker is a indian woman that cooks indian food everyday. She couldnt believe that a mango lassie was 2.99 she said for 2.99 you could make 30 glasses of the same size they brought us of mango lassie’s. It sucks that she told me her real opinion bout indian food cuz now i dont even wanna mess with it, she said if i want better and more authentic indian food to travel to the bay or L.A. I guess im gonna be taking a trip soon, but not back to this place any time soon. I’ll keep it real im never coming back at all lol. Dont let my opinion ruin it for u, u might like the taste of old stale indian food.

I don’t know how this place has such a good rating. Probably because no indian has reviewed it. I’m an indian foodie and I know what I’m talking about when I say I know my food. Few things about this place–
1. Limited buffet options but I won’t be very strict about that cuz it’s just 8.99 per person
2. Labels and dishes were messed up. Now this is serious for a buffet place. Label said paneer and the dish was a mix veg and there were more than one instances of the mix up
3. Naan was very dry.
4. Tikki was absolutely bland
5. All the gravy dishes were bland and tasteless
6. Rice kheer tasted sour. We brought it to the notice of the manager/​owner and he took it off the menu. Offered complimentary gulab jamun to go but for some reason it smelled and tasted very garlicky.
This place is a joke in the name of indian food. Skip it.

Decent buffet for the price. I have to admit that I was a little Hesitant of going here to eat. I’ve only lived in Carmichael for little less than 2 years. This restaurant has changed at least 2 or 3 times. After reviewing on Unilocal I was excited to try their food. SO WORTH IT. Been craving good Indian food. :)
We will be back for more

Sad to have to change my review on this place but the last time I ate here wasn’t too good of an experience. The service seemed to be a lot slower than usual and the portions of naan seemed to be a lot smaller. The worst part was that two flies flew into my food– at two different times. I looked around and there were lots of flies everywhere which grossed me out and had me wonder if any of those flies flew into the food in the buffet line.

I was a loyal regular at Sher-​e-​Punjab but it was obvious they were struggling. I sure hope Lovely is doing well as he was always so welcoming. I’m glad this spot reopened as a new Indian restaurant/​buffet. On my first visit, I was blow away by the variety and high quality of the food. I’ve always left satisfied but the lunch buffet varies for amazing to good. Service is spot on but I miss the Bollywood videos playing mid day.

Short and sweet buffet review:
The flavors were excellent, but $ 15.99 for the dinner buffet, and kids are $ 7.99. I can’t justify spending the money for only 3 veggie dishes, rice, salad, and vegetable pakora. I would think there’d be 2 steam tables set up for that price, yet there’s only one holding 10 dishes, the same number as the lunch buffet. 1 is rice, 1 is a pakora/​samosa combo, 1 is a shrimp or potato cake. That leaves 7 entrees, only 3 being vegan/​vegetarian friendly. The spice factors were fantastic, the service polite and efficient, and décor standard for a somewhat remodeled Lyon’s restaurant. Their lunch buffet for $ 8.99 is well worth the price, but sadly I must pass on the dinner buffet in the future :-(
They used to offer the dinner buffet on weekends only, but now it’s every Tuesday and Friday? Random…

Came here with a friend for lunch buffet 1^st time! Place was easy to find ample parking and was greeted right away when we walked in!
We chose the lunch buffet and what a great value it is!
Chicken vindaloo
Goat curry w bones (i love that)
Basmati rice w peas
And veggie selections
Fresh naan, but ask for garlic naan trust me!
Fresh yummy fresh fruit, golab jamin for dessert & chai tea!
Plenty of clean seating for 2 but feel free to bring large groups! Great customer service and attention by the waitress
We had time to eat talk enjoy laugh and enjoy our sunday lunch! All for $ 20! Wow
I cant wait to try the dinner buffet tue and fri nights! Be prepared to be impressed with flavor and a great dining experience.

Bad experience here personally.
Pros: beer was good as was the water. Location is nice as well.
Cons: the rice was hard as if it was prepared previously and refrigerated. Chicken was dry and far from decent when compared to many other Indian restaurants.
Coming from a Indian background, I was not impressed. Sacramento has plenty of other options where the food actually taste like authentic Indian food. Also something else that was uncomfortable was the manager at the location, kinda chubby guy standing around, kept giving weird looks as we ate which made it very uncomfortable. Another Indian staring at another Indian as if he never seen a Indian person before.
If you want real Indian food, go to another option, you’ll thank me later.

Yum! My husband and I have been on an Indian food quest. So we took a chance and tried here. This place is super yummy and amazing. It leaves you almost giddy. The spice level is perfect not too spicy but not too blan like some places we have been. We so will be back. The portions are generous and if you get the Buffet they will customize the spice level for you. The Naan is soft with a nice crisp texture to it. The goat curry had great flavors to it. The owner is sweet and friendly. Highly recommend.

Located in the old Lyons building. they still have the big corner circular booths (love those)
we were greeted right away.
they have a regular menu and I think on the weekend they have a buffet.
we opt for the buffet; from Soup (mulligatawny) Tandori Chicken, Butter Chicken, Tikka Masala, Carrot Halwa, Saag Paneer, Samosa, salad, Fruit, rice, and many other dishes.
the buffet comes with Regular naan Bread, the Garlic is extra and well worth it.
it was all Delish.
very clean and very personable
I highly recommend coming and trying Taj Bar and Grill.
we think it is worth it. we have been back many times.

Great indian food! $ 12.50 for lamb vindaloo which is really reasonable. Good portions and not too spicy that your tastebuds will fall off. ;) It was a slow night and we were waiting for a bit, but not a big deal. Food was worth it and there was no charge for rice and only $ 1 for naan. Definitely would return.

Great food! Went with a large group and got the lunch buffet. Tons of flavorful food and the service was good. There was a great selection to choose from in the buffet. Everything was labeled but the sauces; which I had no idea what they were as I have not had Indian food a ton-​so that would have been nice. Complimentary naan and chai tea came with the lunch buffet. The chai tea was SO good and such a nice treat to have with lunch. The restaurant seemed exceptionally clean and the staff was friendly. Great prices too-​under $ 10! I will definitely be back!

Came here for the dinner buffet last Friday with some friends. Food was good. I tried almost everything they had at the buffet. I loved their samosa and the naan. The vegetarian dishes were awesome. Due to Lent one of my friends couldn’t eat meat, so this place was perfect because they had several non meat dishes.

My Girlfriend and I showed up Friday night and were pleasantly surprised to find out they actually had a small dinner buffet.
After talking to, who I assumed was the manager or owner, I found out they have a daily lunch buffet but have a dinner buffet tuesday and friday.
So instead of ordering off the menu, which is what we were planning, we noticed most of the things we would normally order were on the buffet and we could also tell that every thing was just made VERY fresh,
Even the Naan was made to order as we sat down.
The Chicken Masala and Saag Paneer were excellent (please excuse any horrible spelling of the dishes) tried every vegetarian dish and those too were great, and they had a lightly breaded white fish that was excellent with the chutney. I believe it was talapia but I could be wrong.
Either way, both service and food were excellent and I would come here anytime to satisfy my weekly craving, and not just for the buffet, as the menu prices were reasonable and the beer prices are AWESOME! another plus is that it is only about a mile or 2 from my house so I could walk if needed to burn off the calories from stuffing my face, but I won’t walk. I will drive. every time. because I am a lazy pig.

Food was great for the price. The staff was what made it for me. Waitress was very friendly. Felt very much at home. Great place to take the family. They also have big screen TVs to watch Sunday Football :).

I had the lunch buffet a few days ago. It’s $ 8.99, and available seven days a week. This was my first visit, but it definitely won’t be my last. The entrees included Chana Masala (on a large plate outside of the buffet table — I guess they need a larger buffet table?) — very fresh tasting; Tandoori Chicken (excellent), Chicken Tikka Masala (also very good), Chicken Vindaloo (not the spicy kind, but pretty flavorful), Malai Kofta (I didn’t try these), Baingan Bharta, Organic (!) Veggie Korma, Turnip (some sort of stir-​fry with onions — very good), Mixed Pakora (also Organic), and something that was signed as Aloo Tikki, but seemed to have fish in it to me (but I could be wrong?). Most of the dishes were not spicy hot (at least one was), but they were all deliciously seasoned and fresh tasting. Too often buffet food seems very salty, but I didn’t notice that here.
Service was excellent. Very efficient, quickly picking up used plates and refilling water, and very friendly. If there was anything that was slightly disappointing, it would be the Naan. I think they may have rushed it out of the oven, as it was undercooked and doughy. Maybe some people like it that way, but I don’t. In all, an excellent experience; I will be back.

This place was alright. The food was good but didn’t seem all that authentic to me (Indian food is my favorite)
Food took forever to get to our table. Our waitress was extremely slow and it took awhile just to get a water refill. There was no good Indian «vibe» in here. There was no music and it just seemed dull. We then got our checks and paid. The waitress comes back after 10 minutes and explains she charged us for the wrong items and asks if she can do it again… Okay.