Taj Mahal — Restaurant in New Providence

During our stay, we ate at Taj Mahal and Cabbage Beach. Our entire group unequivocally agrees that Cabbage Beach is much better than Taj Mahal. The food quality there was fantastic and they provided quite a bit of food for a very good price. Taj Mahal is overpriced and the quality of the food is very low - they just add in a ton of cream and salt to cover the lack of quality. They are charging $25-40 per curry only because they are spending so much on cream. The paneer was so hard and difficult to chew, we had to break it down with our forks before eating. We also noticed a couple bugs on the walls. The only redeeming quality was the amazing waiter!

Allergies

We called beforehand to notify them about our allergies and that they are serious. They advised us that they do not use nuts at all, and that the allergies to sesame and coconut wouldn’t be a problem. We clarified again when we arrived with the waiter, who then checked with the chef as well. We were told we can order anything and there won’t be any issues. My brother had an allergic reaction to the food, unsure which item was triggering it. We notified the waiter, who then brought out the entire family that owns the restaurant. They asked my brother his symptoms and when he said his throat feels like it’s closing and he has bumps on his tongue, they suggested that it may be the spices in the food. My brother has had allergies his whole life and can recognize when he is having an allergic reaction. We didn’t ask for a refund or for any sort of compensation, he just wanted to know which item had an allergen in it so he could avoid it. Instead, they all started yelling and escalated the situation so significantly, claiming that they never use nuts and it’s not possible he could be having an allergic reaction. They didn’t even consider that there could be coconut or sesame in one of the spice mixes or cross contamination anywhere in their supply chain. In the meantime, my brother’s allergies were getting worse and worse, but they didn’t care. We asked for a ginger ale 5 times before they finally acknowledged it and brought it out, as that helps my brother calm down until he can take an...

Of late the only Indian place that I have eaten in that has good food. Iam talking about in the Bahamas and the Caribbeans.

Mutton Saagwala - cooked well, tender juicy mutton peices, right amount of spices, well balanced, not greasy or oily

Mushroom Mutter - overall good execution, mushrooms were a bit rubbery like they came from a can, but the dish was well prepared.

Dal Tadka - simple, well executed, hits the spot just right

Chicken Tikka - lacked depth of flavor and smokiness expected from tandoor but done well and was juicy

Meat Samosa - the pastry casing was like patti samosa / spring roll wrapper but the filling was flavorful. Overall done quite well amd served with a selection of chutneys

Roti - would have liked to have mine without butter, but I should have specified this, no fault of theirs

Garlic Naan - done well

Both breads came out piping hot and fresh.

Price - a bit high but fits to the level of service and quality of tableware and linen in use. In line with prices associated with comparable establishments in rest of Bahamas and the Islands. Hey! They are giving you cloth napkins to wipe your curried mouths...there is a price associated with that.

Service - a young gentleman with a little triangular beard, very polite and proffesional. Took care of us and accomodated requests without any issues.

Ambiance - a bit of old school formality in the air, but felt comfortable in my shorts and sneakers

Overall a welcome relief from the substandard food that I have come to expect from Indian restaurants in this part...

I would not recommend this place unless you are really craving for Indian cuisine as this must be the only Indian place near Atlantis. We had a bad experience here. We had been trying to get a reservation for 2 days and nobody used to answer. And when 7 of us with hungry kids took a taxi on a Wednesday evening at 7pm they said they were fully booked and could not guarantee us a table even if we decided to wait. They close their kitchen at 9pm. So we decided to do takeout and while waiting we noticed that most of their tables were getting empty and no new customers had entered and yet they did not bother to offer us a table. By the time our takeout was ready ~8:10 pm it looked like the entire restaurant was empty except in the bar. They need to make sure there is someone to answer the call/online to make reservation. We paid $80 to go in a taxi to do a $300 take out from there. The hostess/waiter said I need to check with my owner a couple of times to decide whether she can give us a table or not, it felt a little strange. The food is just ok. The veg pakora is good, parata was ok. We liked the samosa and the saag paneer. Butter paneer was a little too sweet. The veg biryani was undercooked and had too much cloves. The ambience is just basic and very disappointing customer service. Make sure you have a reservation before you go else you will end up wasting your vacation...