Taj Palace — Restaurant in Owings Mills

Located off of Lakeside Blvd. in the Common Brook shopping center in Owings Mills- I've been waiting for this place to open for what seems like years. Simply because there's just not any decent Indian food place in Owings Mills. Last night I decided to check and called and someone answered. I placed my order for pickup and stopped on my way home to grab it. The Owner/Manager/Bartender - not sure what his title was, very friendly guy - but he told me I was in for a real treat. He was right.

I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala, Garlic Nan, Lamb Samosa and cream of crab soup. Yes, you read that right - cream of crab soup. I had no idea what to expect from an Indian Restaurant as far as cream of crab goes - I was just in the mood for it and was surprised to see it on the menu. I am going to say this - I LOVE good cream of crab soup and I have lived in Maryland for most of my life and had "the best cream of crab soup in town" more times at more places than I can remember. So I would say I'm an expert at knowing when I'm eating good cream of crab - this place has what I would arguably say is the best cream of crab that I have ever had. Anywhere. Ever. Sorry to write so many words about a bowl of soup, but that's just how good this stuff was. It had AT LEAST two whole crabs worth of jumbo lump crab meat in it. There was almost a sizable chunk of crab in every bite. And it was $5. FIVE DOLLARS. I would have happily paid twice that for this cup of soup. I can't emphasize this enough. If you are a fan, just go here for the soup if you have to - although everything we ordered was delicious.

If I had to reach for anything remotely negative to say about my meal, it would be that the garlic Nan was very garlic-y - but I love garlic, so it wasn't a problem for me at all. It was fresh and delicious.

The lamb samosa was perfect. It was cooked to a golden brown, crispy and seasoned just right.

As for the Chicken Tikka Masala - I know it's the go to dish for most Americans at an Indian food restaurant, and I love it, so I ordered it as a barometer for how the other menu items would be since I'm very familiar with how it should taste. This was on point. Other places that try to dabble in Indian food can't seem to get it right. It's either over-spiced or the chicken is tough (I'm looking right at you Akbar Palace) - anyway, this was seasoned to perfection and the chicken was tender and very flavorful. We ordered one "hot" and one "Indian Hot" to see how they stacked up against each other. If you like things with a little heat but not overwhelming, the hot should be your choice. The "Indian Hot" was perfect. I like things pretty spicy and the hot version was good but the Indian hot would be my choice next time. If you like your mouth to be on fire kind of spicy,you may ask them to kick the Indian hot up a notch for you. I'm sure they'd oblige.

I absolutely can't wait to go back and start trying the rest of the menu, and I will start every meal I eat there with the cream of crab soup. Sorry to beat that point to death, but again, it's really just that good. So dinner for two with all of the above - $42 - and we had enough left over for lunch today.

Again, I carried out, but the restaurant has nicely decorated tabletop dining and a full bar. Next time, we'll dine...

If you are in the mood for Indian food I highly recommend Taj Palace in Owings Mills Md. This is some of the best Indian food we have had so far. Don't let the idea of Indian food scare you if you have never had it. The menu there was very detailed in what each dish contained and it also broken down into vegan, vegetarian, and meat dishes. As a starter we ordered the Paneer Pakora. This is a fritter made with lentil flower batter and filled with homemade cottage cheese. Fried till golden brown. I do not eat cottage cheese and this did not taste like or have the consistency of cottage cheese. It was more solid and tasted great. I ordered the Chicken Tikka. Succulent, boneless chicken breast marinated in a special recipe and broiled in a tandoori clay oven. Served with long grain basmati rice and a choice of dal makhani (yellow lentil sauce) or creamy spinach. I had the lentil sauce. The chicken was very good and moist. It came out on a cast iron skillet much like fajitas. There was cabbage and onions sizzling under the chicken. Ellen ordered the Chana Masala. Chickpeas slowly simmered with onions and tomatoes, then garnished with fresh herbs. I tasted it and it was not bad. She loved it. Very tasty and filling. As a side dish we got the Assorted basket of bread. A nice size basket of assorted garlic naan, roti and that days naan creation. We had enough to bring some home. One of the best features of the menu was that you can pick the spice heat of your meal. I picked mild but if you want to add some major heat they will do it. The restaurant itself was very nice and staffed really well. Fine dining in a casual atmosphere. It is about a 45 minute drive from our house but well worth it. I recommend to leaving the little ones at home since the tables have nice glass wear and table cloths. Kids running around would be a distraction. This is coming from a couple with a 2.5 year old. Will we be going back? Yes we will. On our way home we were trying to think of friends that would like to go. It would be a shame to hide this gem from everyone. Thanks for reading and hope you can enjoy the food as much as we did. Update 12-29-23 Dinner with wife and 8 year old and it is still amazing as always. Waiter was awesome and suggested some good dishes for our son. I still highly...

I was so excited to have Indian food since it had been a good while since my last opportunity. The location was nice and easily accessible. My first impression entering the restaurant was that it was clean and neat. That's when the experience started to go downhill. Our waiter was quite rude and often questioned what I had ordered (not in a communication type of way but an "are you sure?" way). I had to assure him that my choice of "Indian Hot" for a dish widely known as spicy was not a mistake. Unbeknown to the waiter, my mother is from Southern India and I grew up eating exotic and spicy dishes - but still I found his "are you sure" prodding rude and a bit profiling as someone with a Caucasian appearance.

He served me a Corona in a warm glass and only poured a quarter of the bottle. My order was Chicken Vindaloo with Roti Bread and starting off with an order of Vegi Samosas. The most flavorful part of my meal were the Samosas - complex in flavor with a nice crisp texture to the outer shell.

My Vindaloo fell flat in flavor - no complexity or other spice detected other than the heat of the chilies. The Roti bread is supposed to be flat wheat bread pan fried with light butter - it was undistinguishable from the fat/dense (and very dry) Naan bread ordered by my fellow guests. BTW - bread should be a complimentary item to any dinner item purchased and is often done so in other Indian restaurants - not the case at Taj Palace.

I ordered a dish to go as we dinned. Lamb Rogan Josh (curry) was enjoyed by the guest at home.

When the waiter returned to ask us if we were finished, I told him yes and I would like to get some things wrapped and have one of the other guest's meal put on my bill. The waiter's response to me was "that's not what I asked, do you want separate containers". I was highly insulted at his behavior. If he does not want to be a waiter or serve women, then he should look for another line of work. Mind you, we attempted to be very friendly with this man and even after all of that, I still tipped the waiter at 15%.

Proceed with caution if you are a true Indian...