Taj Indian Restaurant & Bar

First the main ingredient, then the sauce at Taj

The sauces come with their blueprint on the menu, not just a name. Korma is mild, made with cream and grated coconut. Pasanda works with cream, almonds and pistachio, badami with cream, tomato and almond, kashmiri with cream, banana and fruit. Bhuna arrives with roasted peppers, coriander seed, ginger and fenugreek leaves, dopiaza builds entirely on the onion family, jalfrezi on peppers, cumin and coriander. Karahi is fried in a cast-iron pan, dhansak ties lentils to ginger, garlic and fruit, saag is a thick Punjabi spinach curry, rogan josh an aromatic Kashmiri version with tomato and a touch of cream. If you like heat, you end up at madras or vindaloo — and the spice level can be set from mild to extra hot.

Alongside that sit house specialities that ignore the modular system: butter chicken tikka in the Punjabi style with tomato, cashew and butter, a tikka with mango pulp, one with chilli, peppers and soy, one with extra garlic and cumin seed, and the Agra Especial with its yoghurt marinade, creamy masala, cashews and fried onion. The house name goes on the Taj Fusion: chicken, lamb and king prawns together, as a curry or as a biryani.

Straight from the tandoor

The sizzlers are the second pillar of the house: chicken tikka, lamb tikka, tandoori chicken thighs on the bone, king prawns, paneer tikka, sheekh kebab of lamb or beef and a shashlik skewer on onions, mushrooms and peppers, each one with lemon. If you cannot decide, there is the mixed tandoori grill. The marinated chicken wings among the starters come out of the same oven.

The bread runs from plain naan through garlic, cheese and butter naan to keema naan with minced meat and the sweetish peshwari naan with coconut, sultanas and almonds, plus tandoori roti, puri and bhatura. Rice is more than a side here: pilau takes on cinnamon, turmeric, cumin and cloves, while other versions come with lemon juice, grated coconut, minced meat, mushrooms or egg. To open, papadum, plain or with cumin.

Vegetarian and vegan

The meat-free choice is no afterthought — it has two sections of its own. The kitchen's own specials are paneer butter masala, palak paneer with spinach, malai kofta, baingan bharta from aubergine cooked in the tandoor, and mushroom bhaji. Things get more classic with bombay aloo, aloo gobi, saag aloo, tadka daal, daal makhni and chana masala. Curries and biryanis can be ordered with paneer or tofu, and the starters include onion bhaji, vegetable samosa, vegetable pakora, paneer pakora and aloo tikki. Vegan dishes are marked as such.

Who fits in well here

Taj is a family place: kids' menu, high chairs and a changing table are part of it, and so are larger parties and people eating alone. Entrance, car park, toilet and seating are step-free, and dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables. The bar pours beer — Indian Cobra among them — wine, cava, sangria and cocktails, along with coffee and tea. Reservations are taken by phone or online, and you can also collect your food or have it delivered. To finish there are gulab jamun, pistachio and mango ice cream and a mango lassi.