Raj on Taj Hyde Park — Restaurant in Adelaide

The ambience was lovely when we walked in, and the staff greeted us warmly. They took our order promptly, and we appreciated their hospitality.

However, we did experience a few challenges during the meal. It took around 20 minutes for our entrée to arrive, and almost an hour for the mains. We noticed that guests who ordered the more common dishes were served much quicker, which makes sense as the kitchen may have been more prepared for those.

We ordered lamb biryani, Madras chicken, an aloo and eggplant dish, along with naan and tandoori roti, and requested everything to be mild. The Madras chicken and the breads were enjoyable, but the biryani was very spicy and didn’t quite resemble the traditional style we’re used to. It seemed more like a rice base with flavouring, with the meat added afterwards. When we mentioned the spice level, the staff kindly took it back, but it returned quickly with extra rice and without the meat, so the dish was still quite spicy. Perhaps there was some miscommunication.

The aloo and eggplant dish didn’t quite meet our expectations either, so overall we left a little disappointed. From our experience, the restaurant seems to cater more towards diners who enjoy the popular dishes such as butter chicken, which may be their specialty.

While it wasn’t quite the authentic Indian experience we were hoping for, we did appreciate the warm service and...

I've visited a few Indian restaurants across town and Raj On Taj was... different.

The good - Location and decor are quite nice. The outdoor seating area is pleasantly intimate, the dim lighting creating a wonderful atmosphere. Staff are helpful, friendly and are more than happy to highlight popular items on the menu.

Vegetarian samosa's are incredibly light and tasty. That's where it ends.

The Bad - Two dishes were ordered: Paneer Manchurian (Chef's Special) the Tandoori Raan along with garlic naan and rice.

The Paneer Manchurian in its dried chili and spicy sauce tasted like a sweet n' sour pork dish you'd get from a Chinese restaurant/takeaway. And the lamb shank came out covered in flames (which was awesome), but once the fire subsided. The chunks of lamb covered in the flammable liquid that weren't cooked off were inedible.

I asked the waiter to see if the kitchen staff would cook off the meats. I was assured lemon ignition fluid was edible. It wasn't and I ate around it. Also, the sauce was reminiscent of Szechua chill oil in Chinese cuisine. No real flavour.

Whether you want to try Raj on Taj is up to you. I don't recommend the two...

Absolutely appalling experience with Raj on Taj Blackwood. We placed an order that cost us $110 and live less than 10 minutes from the store. After waiting over two hours with no delivery, we called multiple times and were repeatedly told the food was "on its way"—yet it never arrived. When we asked for a refund, we were passed around between three different people, only to be told they couldn't refund us because the food was supposedly being delivered.

When we pushed back and insisted on a refund, we were told no one there even knew how to process one. This is not only terrible customer service but also a clear breach of ACCC consumer rights. Eventually, they agreed to a refund—but said we wouldn’t get the food, which we accepted at that point just to be done with it. Even then, the refund wasn’t processed, and we had to drive to the store ourselves just to try to get our money back.

Still not sure if we’ll ever actually see that $110 again. Completely unacceptable—will never order from here again and wouldn’t recommend...