Chichabas Taj — Restaurant in Bengaluru

I have been eating from this place for donkey's years and I wonder how I missed on reviewing them. Luckily I happen to visit them on the day they were renaming themselves to what they are famously known as 'Taj Hotel' back to their old days glories. From childhood Taj hotel has always been a choice for not just me but my entire family it was always our go to place when it comes to the yummy biryanis their kebabs and many other dishes that they are famous for. It was nice to see this modern concept get a traditional name just like how it was in Shivaji Nagar. I remember how chichaba's Taj had a tagline 'wahi taste - Naya andaz, they still will present the same tagline, still the most yummiest food you can possibly find and with great hospitality and service. I could visibly see the changes they have bought in their food, service as well as the look and feel of the place. I was told they are going to have a new menu with completely traditional dishes as they served in Shivaji Nagar which was always loved by many in and around Bangalore. Even though I could not see the new menu I must say I am very excited about what they have in store for all diehard foodies. Let's talk about food, undoubtedly this place has my most favourite biryani even in a crowded market of biryanis in Bangalore I have never eaten a biryani as tasty as they serve, largely because of its the authentic flavours it carries which reminds me of traditional Muslim weddings, this certainly is a must try if you plan to visit this place. A good combination with the biryani are there kebabs equally good if not even better than many of your favourite restaurants that serve kabab I can guarantee you that. Also don't ever forget to try their brain fry along with wheat roties, really delicious a combination for everyone who eats brain (mutton of course). I have to make a special mention for Paya soup, it is so rich in flavours it is so yummy with its peppery spice infusion that you are going to fall in love with it all over again (it was literally living my childhood days). There is so much to try and I do not want to talk about all of it because this blog post is going to become a chapter of a book. I obviously have to keep my vegetarian friends in mind in places like these too. I often joke about how if a place can get paneer right they can also get pure veg food right. trust me they have some amazing vegetarian dishes too that is a must try, such as shahi paneer, paneer tikka, paneer Butter masala and specially along with their ghee rice. and I know that they have a wider non-veg menu than veg but with whatever they have they definitely do justice to suit all the pallets and all the taste buds. There so much more that I want to say but I will leave you with a lot of pictures that will sort of give you a glimpse of how amazing my food experience has been with this place and also hopefully my blog as well as the pictures are going to be a big motivation for you also to visit this place and know it for yourself. Happy eating!

My Recommendations -

Non Vegetarian - Mutton Biryani Chicken Biryani Pepper Brain dry Mutton Paya Mutton Sheek Kabab Nalli Nihari Sallu ki Butter Chicken Lal Mirch ki Phaal Hari Mirch ki Phaal Bheje ki Galouti Murg Kalimirch Barrah Chops

Vegetarian - Lal Mirch paneer ki phaal Paneer tikka Paneer kalimirch Kumbh Shaan e Aam Veg Biryani

Accompaniments Chai Biscotti (They are planning to add to menu) Sheermal Seviyan

Desserts – Ande Ka...

When you head down to Commercial Street for a day long shopping & craving some good food after all running around the narrow lanes, how far can you go to satisfy those hunger pangs.

Well, we took a short drive to Fraser Town to enjoy a heavy lunch at {Chichabas Taj}. This place came highly recommended by my BIL & he was almost in an insulting tone referred what sort of a foodie hasn't dined here in Chichaba's. Now there is no stopping after you hear this comment & we all (including the BIL & his family) ended up for a slightly late lunch at around 2.

The very hungry bunch got seated & quickly ordered what was recommended. A Tandoori Chicken, Mutton Seekh Kebabs, a Seer fish fry, Raann Ka tukde.

The Mutton Seekh kebabs were absolutely delicious, beautifully seasoned, wonderfully cooked. The meat was succulent, & juicy, the whole bunch devoured it in minutes. We decided not to order one more portion as we have already orders too many starters.

Then came my absolute favourite, The Tandoori Chicken. This one served here is not you regular one loaded with red chilli paste & food colouring. The Tandoori Chicken was a tasty dish & I loved the fact that it had more pepper undertones blending well with the meat rather than the usual red chilli tandoori masala.

The biriyani was made with jeera samba short grain rice, very similar to other authentic places around town. Very aromatic, less spicy with balanced flavours. Loved the Brinjal Salan served, very different from the usual mirchi salan.

Overall a great place for a meal with family, very pocket friendly & great service. Definitely...

Visited after having heard quite a lot about the legacy of this restaurant.

Was let down by the taste of mutton biriyani, tasted like tomato rice with some mutton pieces in it. However the mutton pieces were cooked to perfection n its combination with the rice was driving my tastebuds in 2 opposite directions.

Not completely blaming the preparation of rice as it still had the blissful aroma of saffron n other spices but somehow the tomato pieces in the rice seemed to completely overshadow the taste.

Still giving 4 stars only because of the starters. Ordered murgh phaal, bharra chops, sallu ki butter chicken n khamiri naan.

Highlights of the order were chops n butter chicken. The chops were of mutton n trust me anything in mutton can almost never go wrong. Chefs really deserve a praise for this delicacy though. Just can't have enough of this.

Coming to the butter chicken, the chicken itself was not that tender but it more than made up for it with the heavenly taste of butter n cream. The thing that I liked here was that they didn't overdo the cream part n it was ever so slightly sweet. Fun fact is that I randomly ordered this as a gravy item for the naan(naan was better than the softest of breads, loved it) but it turned out to be a semi-gravy starter... still enjoyed it by rolling the pieces in the naan n of course the tasty butter ensured that I didn't miss out on gravy :D

Prices are a bit on the higher side considering the street side options that u get on MM road but for a fine-dine restaurant...