Taj Palace Cuisine of India — Restaurant in San Luis Obispo

I was visiting from out of town and was looking forward to eating here because I love Indian food and locals rated this place highly.

This is among the worst Indian food I've ever eaten. I could't finish my first and only plate, and I'm one who doesn't like to waste food.

I went there for lunch, which was a buffet. There were not many options. The rice was dry. The chickpea curry was okay, but needed more spice. Not heat, just more curry spices. The butter chicken tasted like they used a can of tomato bisque soup and added curry spices, but not enough. The sauce was kind of anemic; it was thin and watery when it mixed with the rice, which was unpleasant.

It's bizarre that an Indian restaurant's main issue seems to be not enough spice in the food.

The iced tea was good, which I appreciated. It had more spice than the food.

A basket of naan was brought out well into my visit, when I was almost done eating.

Aside from the food, it was a little frustrating that I tried going there to eat the day before and their "open" sign was on when they...

UPDATE: Ended up coming back here for the buffet by a friend's request. Unfortunately I have to stick with my prior rating of 2 stars. The buffet was well priced and the food was decent. But the inside of the restaurant is a mess. Food splatter and grime on the walls, cobwebs on the ceiling, a layer of dust everywhere, papers and junk cluttered and stacked in corners and on the desk. The place needs a very thorough cleaning, for me it was just gross to eat in such an unkempt place.

PREVIOUS REVIEW: I am an avid Shalimar SLO fan, but I decided to give this place a try. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed by my experience. The staff was not very polite or friendly. I got Chicken Tikka, which was very dry, and Aloo Korma, which was very bland. The naan was decent, but besides that, I couldn't find any compelling reason to...

Unfortunately I don't think there are any great Indian restaurants in SLO (I'm comparing them to restaurants in SoCal and the Bay Area, plus homemade food from my Indian friend), but we do go there occasionally to get our Indian food fix. Probably our favorite thing is the Samosa appetizer, which is super tasty with the two accompanying sauces. We recently ordered chicken tikka, one of my favorite dishes, and it was extremely dry. I can't say whether it was merely overcooked, but it actually made me wonder if it was reheated leftovers from their buffet. It reminded me of reheated leftovers at home. I love that at home, but I don't expect to feel like I'm eating that in a restaurant. Lastly the service is always mediocre. Not horrible, definitely not great, slightly below average, and not...