Royal Taj — Indian Restaurant, Columbia, Maryland

Royal Taj

8874 McGaw Road

Columbia 21045

www.indiadelightcolumbia.com

We’ve just had such a delightful evening going out for dinner at the Royal Taj, a relatively new Indian restaurant in Columbia, MD!  I always find it hard to decide where to go in Columbia.  Some places are just parts of a chain, and, quite often you find yourself waiting for ages before you can get a table in some of the more popular restaurants.  Everybody agreed when I suggested giving Royal Taj (formerly India Delight) a try.  I’d been there before for their buffet lunch ($9.95 or weekdays and $10.95 on weekends).

Royal Taj is nicely decorated.  (I didn’t have my camera, but I will try to go back to get pictures of the restaurant and the food.)  But what was so very different was the warm and genuine welcome as soon as we arrived.  We were seated immediately and ordered our food and a bottle of Château St. Jean Chardonnay, 2008 ($28).  I ordered Onion Bhajia ($4.95) to start with and Lamb Vindaloo ($15.95) for my main course.  Iran had the Chicken Makhani ($14.95) and our friend had the Chicken Tikka Masala.

I especially enjoyed the Lamb Vindaloo.  I ordered it very hot, but the heat did not drown the very tasty lamb in the tangy sauce.

The food arrived quite quickly.  It was freshly cooked with nice fresh herbs sprinkled over the spicy food.  This is certainly the best India restaurant in Columbia!

The bit that really made the difference was the kindness and friendliness of the owners.  They sat around and talked to us, and also brought us a complimentary dessert.  As we chatted and laughed they kept on offering to bring us drinks — whatever we wanted.  I don’t think I have been to such a nice friendly restaurant for a very long time!

Highly recommended!