Taj Mahal Restaurant

I am from Dallas… So I thought this place was going to be okay… I was wrong.
This place is a hidden gem! Everything is absolutely delicious!
Palak paneer, malai kofta, chicken Karahi and biryani!!!
The owner was great. This is like home cooked Pakistani/​north indian food.
Even the naan was delicious!

Finally, a decent ethnic restaurant in East Texas. The chicken tikka masala was flavorful tender and spicy. The portion was generous. I have eaten Indian food all over the world to include London and India itself. This was certainly acceptable. I’d have no qualms about bringing friends who have eaten lots of Indian food here. While not the most elegant setting, it was clean and comfortable. If you’re tired of the same old Mexican food or fast food, give this place a try. You’ll be happy you did.

We LOVE the food here. I have actually learned to cook some great meals at home from scratch (read my past Unilocal reviews and infer how that came about lol) and when I don’t feel like cooking, we go here and are never disappointed. I challenge everyone to up the level of spiciness they order… Not only are spices so good for you, but «spicy» in Indian cooking implies they use more spices, not just that they make it way hotter with peppers. It’s not a dry heat, but a wonderful, complex, acquired taste, that’s also spicy. Or try the lamb wraps, my husband’s favorite to take to work. Unfortunately, we haven’t made it to the lunch buffet yet, but they might not like us so much in there if we go uncontrollably devour everything in sight… The lunch buffet lives to see another day…

Some of the most well flavored Indian food I’ve ever had. Flavors were strong and delicate at the same time. The Thali platter is a great option if you want variety. I had the chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, and the dal tadka. Everything was fantastic.

I decided to try Taj Mahal after reading mostly favorable reviews on Unilocal.I was hopeful because I typically love Indian cuisine. I’ve eaten Indian food in many places around the world– some good and some, not so good. This place falls in the bottom half of the latter. The waitress talked us into the lunch buffet and away from a menu order. I found this odd but I obliged. The buffet seemed fine but it wasn’t really what I wanted. The buffet had butter chicken, basmati rice, lamb shanks, chicken tandoori and a few other items. I tried a selection which included butter chicken and tandoori chicken. These are usually staple items at most Indian restaurants. Though the items looked appealing, they lacked the complexity of flavors that I typically identify with good Indian food. From the naan to the chutney, everything was just okay. There was not one thing that stood out as an item I really wanted to try again. Bland flavors paired with a relatively high price for the lunch buffet left me feeling underwhelmed.
This is not a location I will visit twice. Though the staff was pleasant enough, it just isn’t enough to keep me coming back. I want flavors that pop when I think of good Indian food. This isn’t the place for that.

I go here once every two weeks. I love their Malai curry but I substitute panner with the vegetable balls.

Went for the lunch buffet. Food at 11:30am was cold. Very small buffet compared to all the other Indian restaurants I have eaten. Food was mediocre at best, unfortunately, as Tyler is probably ready for good Indian food. Also, the lunch buffet for 2 people, drinking water, is +$ 28! If the food was outstanding, it would have been worth the price, but for now I would advise sticking with canned or frozen Indian food.

Great Indian food. Everything I’ve had has been very good. Nice atmosphere and friendly service as well.

Rating system:
5 stars — Must try. You’re really missing out if you don’t. I’m either a regular here, repeat patron, or would be if it wasn’t cost or distance prohibitive
4 stars — Highly recommended, but may have minor things that keep me from being a regular or from giving a higher rating
3 stars — Good most of the time but not great. Will only eat here if I have a particular craving, or am unable to eat at my 4 or 5 star choices
2 stars — Do not really like it but will only eat here if I have to (eating group overruled my veto)
1 star — Avoid. Save your money, time, and stomach
I went here once a while back and tried their buffet. I had high expectations because there were a lot of high ratings. However, I am going to have to disagree with most of the reviewers here. I have eaten much Indian food, both in restaurants around the country, in Indian homes, and I can cook it as well. The food was subpar and my Indian colleagues agree. Now, I’ll eat it if I’m invited, as I don’t really think any Indian food can be so bad that I would just avoid it completely, but I wouldn’t choose to come here on my own or take guests here.
I tried almost every item on the buffet. I think the only thing I liked was the lamb shank (I was surprised they had that item on a buffet as it is relatively expensive and it is usually only the foreigners that eat stuff like goat/​lamb at an Indian restaurant). It had good flavor and came off the bone relatively easily, suggesting that they properly braised it. The rest of the items were either too dry, greasy, overcooked, or old. Since we went during prime lunch time, there was no reason anything should have been old tasting since the containers were mostly full and they had only been open an hour. The flavors were ok but overall they could do a much better job.
Maybe we went on an off day or maybe my standards are too high. But the quality of the majority of the food is on par with a Chinese buffet. In other words, it doesn’t pass the Asian person test.

I love Indian food. It’s flavourful and yummy. Taj Mahal doesn’t disappoint and their thali plate is one of the best ways to go. My only reason for giving four instead of five stars is that the restaurant was freezing cold.
To me dining is a complete experience and the inability to really focus on my food due to the sensation of freezing sort of dulled the experience. But, I’ll be back because the food was so good. Perhaps I’ll bring a heavy coat next time — it would be a shame to wait until next spring.
The papad was served warm, the rice was perfectly cooked, and the mango lessi/​lhassi/​lassi (no matter how you say it) was well made. My daughter loved the well spiced lentil soup and that’s saying something because she is miss picky pants about that particular dish.
So, come get your curry on!!!

This place was great! The servers don’t really talk much though. The food is amazing and that’s where the 4 stars came from.
I ordered the chicken biriyani, must try! I’ve also tried Thali Plate which came with rice, naan, butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, and a vegetable curry. Both dishes were delicious!
I recommend the Mango Lassi, it is very tasty. The Masala Chai was decent. For Dessert, I had the Gulab Jamun. It’s extremely sweet, but perfect if you’re wanting something sweet.

In town from Houston for work and did not expect to find Indian food this good! I got the Thali plate (choose 1 chicken and 2 vegetable dishes) with chicken korma. Everything was delicious, and service was excellent. Would definitely come back!

We were looking for an Indian restaurant around Mt. Pleasant, Texas. We couldn’t find anything closer than Tyler. Even in Greenville we couldn’t find Indian. So we took the drive to Tyler. They serve samosas as an appetizer. Ricky ordered butter chicken and he loved it. I had the Thalia plate (vegetarian) a sampler, and the Saag Paneer rocked. The rice was great too. I couldn’t eat much of the Chala Masala or the Dal, because they were just too spicy for me. The had a good flavor, just too spicy for me. They didn’t go to waste because Hubby gladly ate them. I haven’t tasted Naan that tasted quite like this. It was hot a fresh and so good. I was really disappointed they were out of Tamarind chutney, and whats indian food without it. We’ll be back but next to time I’ll order Saag Paneer dinner.

This is a hard review to write bc it was our first experience eating Indian food ever. The only thing we had to go by was the Unilocal reviews. That’s what I love about Unilocal!
So, we shared the platter that included 2 meats and a vegetable for $ 14.95. It included Naag and a dessert. We had buttered chicken, another chicken?, and spinach. The Naag (bread/​tortilla) was really good. It’s baked fresh! We ordered extra.
We suggest going with an open mind. If you are expecting to get something similar to what you eat at other restaurants you might be disappointed. This food is so different than anything around here.
I love supporting local restaurants and wish the best for the owners.

I had to drive into Tyler from Longview for an errand. It was rainy and on rainy days I always crave Indian food. I really wanted to get the Thali so I could sample a lot of their dishes, but unfortunately the manager or owner said they cannot prepare the Thali for take out. I ended up getting chicken vindaloo and lamb biryani. They were both very delicious. I love the spice level on the vindaloo.

Great service. Food very fresh.
If mild taste; recommend butter chicken or saag paneer.
For a bit more kick, tandoori chicken & kadhai chicken. I’m sure there’s even more spicy dishes than that, but my taste buds haven’t ventured that far yet.

I’ve eaten at the Taj twice now. Both times I’ve ordered the chicken biryani and garlic nan. Loved it both times! The chicken biryani comes with a lot of rice and a lot of chicken. (Perfect for the glutton who needs to split at the seams when he/​she leaves their seat. Let’s carry on the tradition of obesity and complain about normal portion sizes!)
Service was pleasant both times. No problems, staff was very friendly. Food came out in a decent amount of time.
Atmosphere was kind of quiet, but gave way to great conversation with my lady.
Definitely a good place to enjoy a meal, not necessarily a date spot.
Would also enjoy a beer with some food. That would be a plus, don’t remember if they served beer, but I want to say they didn’t.
Definitely recommend this place for the food!

Pretty darned good.
Had the Dal Soup and the meatball (kufo) curry for take out, and an order of naan.
I’m alone, felt like being anti-​social and eating on my hotel patio with a beer, so…
Anyway, good curry, good dal. Very spicy! I can see where it might be too spicy for some folks, but it is really good, and made the beer good, too.
I will definitely be back here, likely for more take-​out. But it *is* yummy.
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I want to update my review with additional information.
I still think their food is A-​OK, but I’m severely irritated by a lack of consistency. I want to drop a star for that, but I won’t (yet).
I’ve been there four times now, for takeout.
They absolutely CAN *NOT* figure out a consistent measure for a serving of soup or rice. First time, the rice was stingy — about a half-​cup of cooked rice. didn’t even fill the bottom of the styrofoam container. Really got me P.O.‘ed. I wanted to take it back, but I was already home. Soup in the plastic container was about ²⁄₃ full.
Next time, anticipating smallish portion size of rice, I ordered two. Those servings were mounded up, completely maxing out the capacity of the container, and likely 2 cups each. Needless to say I had twice as much rice as I needed or wanted.
The soup — very, very different recipe — filled to the absolute brim of the plastic container. In fact, I was almost thinking this was more of a lentil soup than a dal soup, and very oniony. Still it was good… just not what I was expecting, and more onion than spice.
The most recent time, ordered one serving of rice, and it’s a fair portion. Not as full as the 2x, but certainly more than the first time, and enough for my meal.
Dal soup — really lame. Again, very different soup, very different recipe, and only about an inch deep in the container. What a rip-​off. Super, super spicy! Again, pretty good tasting, but quite different than the other two times and quite stingy on the portion size.
I’ve always liked the taste of the food I’ve received; but it really smokes me when they are so bipolar on portion size. They need to settle on a standard serving size.
Soup recipe? Please cook ONE soup and call it dal soup. It’s okay if you want to have a lentil soup and some other soups/​recipes — just call them something different. And if it’s three different variations on dal soup, then give them sub-​types.
I’m not a particularly picky eater, I’ll gobble down what I get. But when I’m jonesing for something specific, and I get some new version of it — and worse, get about half or less the amount that I have before, it really burns my rawhide.

Place smells great! Ordered chicken samosas, chicken curry with cashews and garlic naan. Samosa was in a crispy wonton type wrapper– tasty with nice crunch. Cashew chicken curry was great– spicy, but not overly so. Garlic naan was heavy on the garlic as expected and desired.
Atmosphere was fine. Music a little too bass-​heavy Indian dance thump… Only saw waitress three times– ordered, brought food, brought check. Service was the weak link.
Will definitely return as food was very satisfying. Perhaps service will improve…

Some friends and I came here for lunch today with our rambunctious group of toddlers. The 2 year olds misbehaved and made a mess and for that I’m embarassed! However, the staff was very gratious to our party and was so kind and patient with us. I will forever be grateful to this restaurant for that and would come back even if the food wasn’t good.
HOWEVER. luckily, the food here is outstanding and I can’t wait to come back! I won’t bring my terrible 2 year old next time, and instead will get take out. I tried nearly half the menu and everything I tried was outstanding. I’m so happy south Tyler has great Indian food! I recommend the Thali plate — it had great variety and tons of different yummy foods to try.