A Taste of Boulder: the Taj

After a bit of a break, it’s time for another entry in my Taste of Boulder series. Today’s featured restaurant is the Taj, an Indian food restaurant just south of where I live.

Located up the stairs, on top of a bicycle store

Those of you who know me know my limited palate and general disgust with certain foods, so the inclusion of the Taj in this series might surprise you. I’ve tried Indian food a number of times over the years and don’t particularly like curry or the general spiciness of Indian food, but the Taj has found a way to offer a few items I like.

A small sample of the food offerings

The standard Indian affair of curry, rice, naan bread, lamb etc can be found at the Taj. Since I’m not all that familiar with Indian food, I can’t speak to whether the offerings are “authentic”, but if nothing else there are several items that I like. The chicken and lamb korma I found to be quite good. I don’t know what flavor the sauce is that they put on it, but it mixed well with the meat and had just enough spice to bring out more of the flavor but not so much that I couldn’t take it (keep in mind, my spice threshold is low, so it might be considered bland to others). The naan bread is also solid and I thought complimented the lamb well. The dish that I had when I was last at the Taj also came with some yellow rice (see photo above). Normally I don’t like that stuff, but my friend Ed (who was with me at the time) suggested I dip the chicken and lamb korma in the rice and two went together fine. I still prefer the naan bread to the rice, but if the bread is not an option I would be ok with the rice. My friend Ed also enjoys their chai tea. One more item of note is the honey chicken. Although arguably a Chinese, rather than Indian item, it’s one of the few types of chicken I actually like and I’d recommend giving it a try.

Ed sat down with me at my last visit to the Taj

The best time of day to visit the Taj is definitely during the lunch buffet hours. Then you can load up on things you like while skipping things you don’t care for that might be included with regular menu items at other times of the day. To get the most for your money, (you can expect to pay something like $10 for the lunch buffet and a few dollars more for regular menu items at other times) I suggest you implement what I refer to as the “Pei Wei strategy”, (a few Colorado people know what I’m referring to) and make this the sole meal of your day. Skip breakfast, stuff yourself to the brim at the all-you-can-eat buffet, and be full enough to not eat again until the next day. While traveling overseas I found this to be a very effective way to save time and money (though I’m guessing it’s not a healthy practice to maintain over an extended period).

Normally the Taj is fairly full, but when Ed and I came for this meal they were in between meal hours. The staff was very kind to seat and serve us even though they weren't actually open for business at the moment.

And that’s the Taj; an Indian food restaurant that I somehow actually like. I didn’t think such a thing was possible, but in town like Boulder you can expect to have your presumptions challenged and possibly even overturned.