Le Taj — Restaurant in Montreal

The food is too expensive for its mediocre quality and the waiters were also a bit negligent.

VIBES: looks gorgeous from the outside, but once you’re up close and personal you realize a lot of it is just for show. The menus were made out of the tawdry metal-looking plastic to make it look beautiful, but they were actually falling apart when you tried to use them. They serve the dishes on a metal plate that looks cool but is functionally… not cool, because it’s concave so it does not support the bowls well. They gave us napkins on a metal dish too which was pretty unnecessary. Rice had carrots to look fancy. It also is a lot smaller inside than it looks on the outside, which is why it always looks full.

COSTS: we ordered a lamb dish & a mushroom dish, each cost around $20. But, unlike most Indian restaurants, it did not include rice. Rice cost an additional $6-$10+, and naan the same, so we ordered the cheapest rice & garlic naan. The alcoholic beverages cost over $20 which is absurd, so we did not order any. With taxes and tips it totaled around $80 for two.

FOOD: the rice was… rice. With carrot strips to make it look fancy? The garlic naan had a lot of garlic on it but did not really taste garlic-y at all, so we suspect they used the pre-minced garlic you can buy from the grocery store. Honestly the most disappointing garlic naan I’ve had (usually I look forward to garlic naan a lot when I go to an Indian restaurant)! The lamb was submerged in at least a cm of pure oil, which is not normal for the dish we had. The mushroom dish tasted good, but not authentic.

SERVICE: everything took a long time to arrive, including the napkins on the metal plate. We also waited over 30 minutes for our bill. They were not really attentive, which was disappointing because that would’ve been the only thing for me that would’ve justified the outlandish price.

OVERALL: the food was not bad, the waiters were not rude, it just was not an experience I would pay $40 per person for — more like $15-20. Very over-priced and over-hyped, probably due to its legacy of being the first Indian restaurant in Montreal. I’ve had better, for cheaper, including a different Indian restaurant...

Le Taj offers a beautifully warm and elegant atmosphere, with vintage Indian décor that creates an inviting and authentic setting. Service was professional and attentive, and the ambiance alone sets a high expectation for the dining experience.

We opted for the "feast" menu, which included a salad, appetizer, main with a vegetarian side, and dessert. The cucumber and tomato salad was refreshing, if a bit oversized. My fish appetizer was flat in flavor and oddly textured, though my partner’s papdi chaat was crisp, tangy, and truly excellent.

For mains, the butter chicken had perfectly cooked meat, but the sauce lacked the depth, spice, and balance expected from such a signature dish. My partner’s lamb vindaloo, however, was a standout - bold, rich, spicy, and deeply satisfying. On the side, the paneer masala had a beautifully balanced tomato-based sauce, while the saag paneer was watery and underseasoned. The naan was exceptional, and the basmati rice decent, though a bit soft.

Desserts were pleasant but unremarkable - gulab jamun was as expected, and a milk-based paneer dessert was unique but not particularly memorable.

The low point of the evening was unquestionably the cocktails. At $20 each, both the mango mojito and mango martini were disappointing - overly sweet, poorly balanced, and lacking noticeable alcohol & technique. They tasted more like juice than proper cocktails, which felt out of step with the overall experience and definitely a disappointment.

In summary, for the overall modest cost (about $120 per person), the experience was fair - beautiful ambiance, attentive service, and a few excellent dishes made it worthwhile. Still, based on its 4.2-star rating and reputation, we expected a bit more across the board. We've enjoyed more flavorful meals at lesser-known Indian restaurants, and with a few refinements - particularly in the cocktails and consistency of dishes - Le Taj could truly shine.

While the restaurant itself merits a solid 4 stars, the cocktails were disappointing enough to bring the overall experience down a notch to 3 stars. Fix...

Fantastic food, but won’t go back!

So here is the reason, I went to this restaurant as a planed outing with a bunch of coworkers to celebrate a holiday in India which my coworkers were missing while being in Canada. It was also a discovery meal to teach those of us unfamiliar with Indian cuisine. We were a large group, over 12 of us. The food was great, the garlic Naan was amazing! We spent approximately 2 hours at the restaurant and were raving about the experience.

That is, until the bill came. We knew this evening wouldn’t be cheap and when the bill came and it was nearly 700$, we weren’t surprised. We asked for an equal split and were happy to all add gratuity. The restaurant brought out several de it machines to speed up payments, which we appreciated.

However the last payment being made, the waiter was apparently unhappy with the amount of his gratuity and took it upon himself to throw the receipt in my coworker’s face and berated her for the tip amount.

This was the last possible minute of the meal experience and this waiter completely ruined an evening out with my coworkers. I have sat on my thumbs and waited a couple weeks to write my review to allow my anger to pass and so I could write more factually than emotionally.

We called the manager over, made the situation clear and he said he would speak to his employees about this. I was quite dissatisfied with his response and his laidback attitude . He made no offer to have us back or offer a discount on the 700$ meal we just had. If he had offered us even an order of Naan to go it would have been something.

A very sad end to what was a wonderful meal experience. I won’t go back and will bring our work events...