The Taste Of Raj

Nice and cozy ambiance.
They serve drinks and nice flavor rich food — that translates to Indian food.
I ordered Chilli Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) as starter. I didn’t get what I expected. But it isn’t their fault. I think the Chef tried out some fusion. It was a new dish for me. Served well. But definitely not the dish that I was familiar with or had in mind yet good in a weird way.
They have a large collection of wine. But I am not a wine person. I love Whiskeys and I guess they don’t have a fancy menu for Whiskeys. Mostly the ones that you get in the supermarket. So I just had a double Jameson.
Then I ordered several different types of Indian breads, Paratta, Chappatti, Vegetabe Naan with two curries, Vegetable Chettinaad (a vegetable dish named after a city in South India) and Saag Daal (Spinach and Lentils).
Both the curries were very good. You definitely need at least one large portion and one small portion of curries for two people. I ordered two large portions so we had a lot to finish.
The Vegetable Chettinad was surprisingly good. Made me wonder if the Chef was South Indian. The Saag Daal was different from what I usually have in mind. It wasn’t the curry with gravy, it was think and more like a salsa dip in terms of consistency, not curry-​ish. But no complaints. It was nice too.
But I felt the Parathas weren’t cooked enough and same with the Vegetable Naan (Naan bread with vegetables stuff inside, a vegetarian version of Kheema Naan). And strangely the Chappattis were served in plastic bags as if it was take-​away. I do understand the spirit of a restaurant cum take-​away, but I didn’t expect them to serve it that way. That kind of makes it so non-​restauranty (if you know what I mean at least for the price I paid).
I think this place definitely has a talented team of people working in the kitchen and the locals would love it. But maybe subtle changes could take it way further.
I don’t know if it is really Indian or Bangladeshi (we all used to be one big country till religion and politics drew new borders) but from the way they spelled Mutter (green pea) as Motor (not the mechanical one, just pronouncing Mutter with an O instead) I felt the menu was made by someone who spoke Bengali.
I haven’t had a chance to try out the non-​vegetarian dishes as I went there with a vegetarian. Hopefully I’ll post updates to this review after another visit.
I gave an OK only because the bread wasn’t amazing. Hopefully my next visit will be better.
I think the prices are decent. This would be a great place to take someone as long as they enjoy food that is rich in flavours.

Very good resturant if a little over priced. The food is fantastic and the waiters are very attentive.
I would recommend this to any of my friends who are looking for a special occasion dinner — this was not your run of the mill Friday night curry.

This is an absolutely first rate «personality chef» Indian restaurant.
One sign that you are in the right place.
The locals love Taste of Raj.
While we ate couples and parties poured into the restaurant virtually non-​stop.
The popularity of this establishment is totally deserved.
As I previously mentioned, this is a «personality chef» restaurant.
The chef wants to cook what the chef wants to cook.
So standard Indian restaurant «cliché» items are hit or miss. (Some are quite good — others …).
What you are here for is the chef’s own creations.
These are listed on a special page on the menu — where some 70 different chef-​created dishes are listed.
Most of the sauces are suave — but my favorite is the hottest one on the menu the kori gassi.
This is one of the few dishes I have ever eaten made of chilis — outside of a mexican chile relleno — that actually tastes overwhelmingly of chilis. The dish is plenty hot but you are not eating it for empty mouth burn. You are eating it for a very full very rich very savory chili flavor.
Hot and savory are rarely adjectives applied to the same dish — but it fits here.
Dal here is particularly excellent.
Breads are run of the mill for an Indian restaurant — which means excellent. (Even Anglo-​Indian curry houses do good bread.)
You DEFINITELY want the pappadam and chutneys that come (at a nominal fee) at the beginning of the meal.
You get four chutneys with the pappadams — two good (a mango and a lime pickle) and two amazing (a mint and an onion). I could have eaten chutneys all day and all night and been completely happy.
Tandoori items come out of the oven piping hot but can use some flavoring. (Keep the chutney tray around — and make use of the excellent but tiny dabs for free sauce on the plate with your tikka.)
Desserts come from a commercial outside vendor and are skippable.
The location is another huge major plus. The restaurant is right on the south edge of Blackheath and the window tables have wonderfully relaxing views of the heath while you eat.
Note — the webpage but not the written menu contains a list of persian items and some standard but less common indian dishes.
If these things interest you ask about them — they may be excellent.
But that said — you are there for the chef’s custom creations.
Let him work his magic on you while you take in thevisual beauty of Blackheath.

Last Christmas meal (2010) with close friends. Again the service was friendly, very honest (We droped £10 and they contacted me to see who they should return the money to?) excellent food and enjoyable evening.

A step up from your average curry house, Taste of Raj in Blackheath serves up mega-​tasty Indian cuisine, prettily presented and in generous portions.
Whenever I’ve been there it’s been busy, and although I’d recommend booking, they always managed to squeeze us in at the back when I go there on the spur-​of-​the-​moment. Despite the high number of covers, there are enough staff to serve you quickly, and it’s well worth the little bit extra you have to pay for the food for the good service.
Oh, and can’t write this review without giving a mention to the toilets — lootiful.

Well impressive, can’t fault the food. What more can you say, just highly reccomend it.

We had take away from Taste of Raj last night and the food was delicious! It arrived within the specified time frame. and pleasingly there are enough leftovers for lunch today YUM!

1^st class food and service without doubt one of the best indian restaurant in south london