Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant

I ate here tonight. This place is not closed — that’s a damn lie. In fact the bearded guy in one of the photos played an instrument and smiled at me tonight, so it’s definitely open. The place is a rip-​off if I’ve ever seen one, with the non customer service a glaring problem. Try getting a plate taken off your table when your done, see how far that goes. There’s one waiter for the whole restaurant and he refills your water every two seconds but doesn’t do much else. If you order a 15 dollar meat dish, you’ll get four small chunks of meat bathed in sauce and some hand me down condiments to go with it. The add-​on special dinner included a mixed platter with three deep fried samosas, a table spoon of rice pudding and a tea that looked more like coffee. The bathroom was gross.

Looks like it’s been closed for a long time, yet
is still offering certificates. Beware.

Not sure why this place only had 3 stars but it was great! They had a coconut flatbread which was great and their curry was good too. The service was also very good.

I’ve been eating at Taj Mahal for decades. The food is delicious and inexpensive.
Often there’s a sitar player which enhances everything. I’ve never been disappointed. The staff is friendly and attentive.

A lovely little restaurant with very friendly service of good Indian food. We went for the $ 9.95 dinner special and it was really very nice. Nice portions of good Indian food. The Naan bread, which was warm and fresh, was delightful. When we were there the place was very quiet so we had a wonderful meal together. The staff was very friendly. Excellent value for a nice meal.

The prices and portions are awesome, the service is friendly, live music is ultimately what sets off the great energy in this place. YEs the place is small but what place isnt in the east village?
Ive been going here for the past 5 years and im always satisfied with the food and service.

I live in Little India. My reviews of Indian restaurants are pretty tough. Service was a little pestering as we had eight people and I felt a little rushed when we first sat down and was trying to get situated. I ordered my typical chicken saag and it was decent.
I think what really bothers me about this place is the ambiance. It’s a little too dark for my liking; you could barely see what you’re eating. Also, the rug looks like it hasn’t been changed in years. Also, I’ve been to other restaurants down this street and some have a live sitar player. This place was too small to have that. Food is alright, but I’m sure you can find better down the block.

The very worst Indian meal I’ve had in NYC. The papadum was served burnt. My vegetable samosa was not cooked all the way through and my meal (aloo gobi) was almost inedible due to the strange aftertaste in the sauce. My companion’s meal was too spicy for him to eat, although he requested mild. We ate relatively late (9 pm), so perhaps the chefs were asleep. Blegh.

Ok food, somewhat lacking in flavor. Could have used more spices and more spiciness overall. If I say spicy then I mean spicy… even the sauces on the table weren’t spicy.
Service was confusing – waiters wouldn’t stop pestering me for 10 mins and then disappear altogether when I tried to get their attention. And I’m pretty sure of them was deaf, though very sweet.
Points for cleanliness and ambiance, which is less gimmicky than at some of the other places on curry row.
Not a bad dining experience but I’ll try a different place next time

i have eaten from here many times, but only delivery.
the korma is great, i get it with lamb every time.
the rice is boring tho, but they do always throw in some good lentil soup that i pour over the rice.

STAY AWAY!
I’d give it no stars if I could. This place is absolutely disgusting. I went and got the prix fixe menu. 8 dollars and 95 cents later I wanted to regurgitate what I had. Dinner came with a bowl of mulligatawny soup, which looked like a bowl of fluorescent buffalo sauce. They acted surprised when I didn’t eat it.
Next, I ordered a vegetable pakora as the appetizer of choice, and inside it looked like the only vegetable that was in it was a sweet potato. Again, an orange food. The outside was charred, and obviously fried too long.
For dinner I ordered the chicken korma. I’ve had plenty of chicken korma in my day, and this was the absolute worst. It was a plate of chicken with sauce that looked like they got it from a jar of pre-​made curry sauces, and then swirled some cream in it, almost as an after-​thought.
The basmati rice and the nan were the only edible things on the table.
Didn’t even bother to taste the coconut custard they wanted to give me for dessert. I couldn’t wait to pay the check and get out of there ASAP!
Take my word for it, this place is aweful. Sorry…

I decided to try Taj Mahal after passing it by a million times on East 6^th Street. I brought The Hub, bless his hungry little heart, who joins me in all my culinary musings.
Wow, this place was WAY dark inside! So dark that we had to take turns tilting the little candle on our table to get a glimpse of our menu. Once we decided (chicken mushroom for me, shrimp korma for him), we squinted a little longer and chose some apps (kuliji bahji me, meat samosa him), an order of naan, and a coupla diet sodas.
I wasn’t too thrilled with the kulija bahji (chicken liver w/​spices over poori) because they mince the chicken livers instead of serving whole. Ugh. If it hadn’t been so spicy I’d have sworn it was cat food. Hubby’s samosas (2) were a little overly spicy, too, and not very large. The server was very attentive, though, often refilling our water glasses without prodding.
The entrees were not bad. Hub liked his shrimp, and the sauce was nice and creamy. My chicken mushroom was good, also with a nice thick sauce, although I truly could not determine what color the sauce was (I believed it to be red). We were given basmati rice at no additional charge, and they even brought more upon request. The naan was pretty good, nice and chewy.
After the apps, naan, and rice, I couldn’t finish my entrée, which our server courteously packed up to me. Once I got home, I at first believed they had given me some other diner’s leftovers, because this dish was a bright yellow and mine was red… or was it? Remind me next time to bring one of those little flashlights like the bi-​focaled old folks use.
All in all, this place was pretty good. We have returned several times since. The food is good, and so far, we haven’t found anything to complain of.

On a whim, my friend and I set out for our search of «Indian Row.» When we found it, we had no idea which restaurant to choose. The hosts on 6^th Street were all equally aggressive. The set dinner deals were equally tempting. We just settled for Taj Mahal just ‘cos.
Now comparing my experience with the sea of bad reviews, I feel quite perplexed. The food, service, and décor was good. It wasn’t mind-​blowing, but it did not disappoint. It definitely did not hurt my wallet, which is always a plus. For $ 9 each, we enjoyed soup, coffee, samosa, chicken curry (with naan AND rice), and rice pudding (dessert). It’s cheap, people. Quit your whining.

In the Little Bombay /​Little India stretch of E 6^th St in the EV, bet 2^nd & 3^rd Aves, there’s a Taj Mahal, a Taj, and a Raj Mahal. I find that an amusing way to copy a restaurant’s name w/​o being sued for it.
Taj Mahal seems to be the most popular of the restaurants on the block. I went way back in the day (about a decade ago). The décor was cheesey with its year round Christmas lights.
I ordered tandoori chicken and kind of noticed that the kitchen was shared with another restaurant. This didn’t surprise me.
Don’t bother with these restaurants on E 6^th St, just walk over to 2^nd Ave and have yourself a much better meal at Haveli.

I love Indian buffets.
On a cold day, tiki masala can stimulate the palate.
But avoid Indian Taj.
The curries are watered down.
The tiki masala lacks the aromatic spices that make the curry addicting.
Other dishes fell very short of nominal expectations.
Average service and below par food, enough said.

Yes Unilocal once again hits the nail on the head.
This is a fine Indian spot on 6^th street, good food, reasonable price, good service, and even clean bathrooms.
I had Vegetable Dhansak which I haven’t had before. I asked the waitor for something a little less creamy. Still there’s ghee in there, but that’s curry, right?
Quiet spot, and nice dining room. Could work well for a date…

As other reviews had said – the owner/​manageris great! I decided to stop in this place for their amazing dinner deal ($ 8.95 for soup, appetizer, main course, naan, rice, dessert, and tea or coffee) for the fact that the owner let me substitute Vindaloo (my favoritee) for the main course even though it is not part of their special.
I have been back a few times and the food is consistently good – I do agree that some of their other dishes are a bit bland but thats why I opt for the Vindaloo – its just the right amount of spice/​flavor, not unbearably spicy like most Indian restaurants. Also, like other reviewers have said – they give you tons of food! The portions are great… usually me and my bf end up bringing home enough leftovers for my lunch the next day.
Another thing – I have to mention that this place is surprisingly CLEAN! Which is one of the reasons I always opt to go here despite the countless restaurants on the block. Their bathrooms are usually very clean and even smell nice and all the silverware and plates are spotless… unlike some restaurants I’ve visited on the street…
NOTE /​the negative: The service isn’t good other than when the owner/​manager is there so try not to go unless you see the guy in the suit standing in the back. The rest of the servers are shaky at best, many of them are unclear when they speak and don’t know what they’re doing. In addition, they’re NOT accommodating at all and don’t let you substitute anything and won’t make any exceptions for anything.
If I hadn’t encountered the below-​par servers there when the owner wasn’t around, this place would’ve gotten 4 stars… but the inconsistent service brought it down to 3.

The Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant lies between the Taj Restaurant and the Raj Mahal. Ask me what the difference is between any of them and I wouldn’t be able to tell you. But I went to the Taj Mahal for a buffet brunch and I can tell you all about that.
Delicious! Not outstanding but delicious! You get what you pay for and I think for $ 6 you get way more than any other meal possible in the City. It’s cheap, you’re fine dining, and the service is good.
The meal starts off with a bowl of Mulligatawny soup. It’s lentils. I’m not a fan of lentils but it was pureed and the thing was like tomato soup. Delicious! Until I found an eyelash in my soup. I picked it out and ate the rest of my soup anyway.
I chose the meat samosa as my appetizer. All the appetizers looked good. The fritters are miniature though. So if you’re going for quantity, the samosa is definitely more.
The buffet is cheap in general but for something like 50 cents more you can get chicken tikka masala. The chicken is hard and the sauce is not thoroughly mixed but it’s alright. Sides of roti, papadum, and rice are served. For some reason I was really digging the papadum. A drink of tea, coffee, or coke is included and just when you thought you were stuffed, the buffet brunch also comes with dessert! The coconut pudding with a single yellow raisin was too cute and the perfect ending to a full meal.
I’d come back to Taj Mahal. It’s clean, quaint, yummy and extremely reasonable for what they are charging. It’s almost a little too generous. I just wish I hadn’t found that eyelash in my soup. Oh well. As my sister says, it’s good luck!

Indian.
Not bad at all. We hit this place as we were hungry and the guy in front was pretty much dragging people in. That being said, the place turned out fine.
Darkly lit, with interesting service– we ordered apps and entrees and they brought them out in a slow procession. Some people like that, some people don’t. I prefer not to have everything tossed in front of me in15 minutes so this worked out good– gave everyone a chance to talk and laugh etc.
The food was fine– not over or under spiced. The keema nan was almost too full of meat. The mushroom bhaji thing was interesting — but it seemed Americanized — but tasty.
Overall prices were damn cheap in my opinion. I’d go back.

The food was real good and cheap. The service was good but it took a while to get everything, even the check. I like quick service.
The space is tight but not claustrophobic like… more cozy than anything else. Only problem with that being the loud 16 year olds probably from north jersey or long island who wouldnt stop yapping about what so and so said to her the day before. No one wants to hear your pathetic high school drama honey, take it somewhere else.