Taj Mahal Homestyle Indian and Pakistani Cuisine — Restaurant in Idaho

Just a heads up... Long review and short review below.

Short : Definitely worth going back and the food is great with good portion amount that can be shared between two people. Stick with low or mild spice level as high spicy is extremely spicy and it's not worth it. Lamb biryani is good and so is Chicken Biryani. Keep hearing good things about lunch buffet... Try it out.

Long: I am an Indian, and been living in Chicago for the most part of my life and recently moved to Boise. My wife recommended this place as she is from boise and knows the place and food here. So i went here for the first time yesterday for Dinner. As soon as we entered the place, we were seated and served water. The staff is extremely nice and friendly. I mean forget the part that I'm from Chicago but still the most friendliest of people i have met in idaho.

Now, let's talk business... No matter how good a place looks and how good the staff is, if the food is crappy then no of that stuff matters. So let me start with my background a little bit... I'm from Hyderabad (the birth place of Biryani and moguls) so with that being said. My level of judging Indian food is way higher than normal people. And to top it off with me being a damn good cook... I am a walking nightmare for bad cooks. Ok so all that said. My wife and i ordered the naan and chicken curry and lamb biryani. Took them about 30 minutes or so to prepare.

I asked for authentic spicy level and almost regretted doing so, as i started eating... I quickly realized that I lost my authentic spicy level of food handling years ago and was sitting in a puddle of my own sweat. Big mistake and stick with mild or low spicy level if you are like me who thinks they can handle spicy just because they are Indian.... Lol

Now although the food was great, the staff was even nicer, specially Mr. Suhail the owner was extremely friendly as my wife and the son of the Owner went to High school together. He was extra nice to us. He seemed like a really funny and a nice guy.

Okay let's talk about the food, it was really good and Authentic and ethnic... The only thing i felt differently was with the Biryani.

We make it in a different way and they made it in a entirely different way. Now if you are from Hyderabad or Chicago and have had eaten biryani all your life then i suggest that you don't judge their biryani as biryani you're used to but try it out with open mind.

I absolutely loved the chicken curry and naan. Will try the lamb curry next trip.

Did i mention that we got free Dessert with our food? Gulaab Jamun for free... My wife is the sweetest and the friendliest person you'll ever meet. So when she starts talking to the owner, he had to offer us free dessert. Also she knows them for years now.

Thank you Mr. And Mrs. Suhail... And keep up the great work you guys are...

My husband and I got lost looking for a different restaurant and eventually said, "Screw it, we like Indian food more anyways." So very glad we tried this place! I will say that it is on the pricier side compared to the other Indian places in town (if you go for dinner) but the quality is 100% worth it. As a trained chef myself, eating out can sometimes be a difficult experience as I find my expectations raised a bit too high. I certainly did not have that issue here!

Let me start with the Lassi. I wasn't going to order it originally because the menu said "by the bottle" and I assumed incorrectly that it was imported and not home-made. When the owner himself came to speak with us he brought it up and I couldn't resist. The stuff is heavenly. Easily the best Mango Lassi I've ever had. I'm sure it's a regional variety, but I found the notes of nutmeg to be a small change that made a huge difference. Just from drinking the Lassi I found myself grinning and telling my husband how excited I was for the food.

We also tried their naan sampler. Their chutneys were fantastic! The mint chutney had exactly the right balance of pickled salty flavor with pungent spice. The raiita was, well, raiita. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff on its own; I prefer to mix it with other things. The last chutney I BELIEVE was some sort of mango chutney. It had a nice sweetness to it, with a strong herbal bite and a hint of front-end spice. Very good.

My husband ordered Karahi Chicken mild and I had the Bhindi Masala hot. I appreciated that the owner (who personally took our order) did not attempt to dissuade me from ordering my food hot. I was raised eating spicy food and, especially since I've been pregnant, I've been craving it so much! Many restaurant owners and waitstaff will ask me several times if I'm sure that's what I want. It gets old. Anyways, the food was amazing. My husband's had a very nice, well rounded flavor. It had a little bit more spice than he was expecting, but he loved it nonetheless. The bhindi was to die for. It was cooked perfectly, with just enough saucy liquid for the rice. It was spicy, as I ordered, but in just the right way that I felt my sinuses clearing and beads of sweat, but wasn't inclined to guzzle water.

We WILL be returning to this fantastic restaurant...

Taj Mahal has been one of my favorite Indian restaurants in town since I moved to Boise over 10 years ago. The naan is definitely my favorite in town; made fresh with melted butter on top. As for everything else, there are so many variations on even "standard" dishes from restaurant to restaurant, that I don't really have favorites, I just enjoy them as their own dish, and they can become the version I crave at different times.

I've never been in at dinner; personally, I prefer the lunch buffet because I like a little of everything. My favorites at Taj Mahal are probably the vegetarian samosas and the meatballs (not Italian style - unfortunately I don't know the name, but they're a regular dish during the lunch buffet), but I don't think I've ever tried anything that wasn't good.

On top of the food, the owner is one of the nicest people I've been fortunate enough to meet - every member of the family I've talked to has been very pleasant; and whether I'm in a few times a week or once in 6mo, the owner is always there to greet me and ask how things are. He's even fed me from the kitchen and refused to let me pay when I took a late lunch one day and had just missed the buffet. I've also witnessed him warmly tell his employee one day "no charge, that's not his fault" when a guy came in, dished up a plate, and had to leave abruptly without eating.

Ultimately, it's a local business that's been around for a long time, run by a local and wonderful family; and it's exactly the type of business that I feel deserves to succeed. Sadly, between all of the construction downtown and in the 8th street garage, the reduced visibility and utter lack of foot traffic from people avoiding the construction is really hurting their business.

So if you work in or near downtown and need a quick lunch that isn't fast food, but is very reasonably priced and delicious, look for them at the top of the escalators in the 8th street garage, next to The Balcony - the only other business that has survived all the...