When it comes to Indian food I’m a big fan, huge.
But not as gigantic as my other half, so we skipped off to the Taj with salivating excitement to try the all new Bombay Brasserie in Wale street.
The Taj has an impressive entrance and the soaring marbled foyer is filled with sophistication and the wafting smells of spice.
On entering the restaurant, the magnificent blue glass chandeliers twinkle in the low-lit sunken room and the ambience is serene. Small and perfect for our anniversary and seriously romantic, although I was relieved I had frocked up, it’s not a jeans-and-a-t-shirt vibe.
Slick service, and I mean really slick; the manager is an informed presence and talked us through the spice journey we had ahead of us and we fell backwards into his trusty hands.
The spiced corn soup to start with turmeric popcorn (funky touch) was unbelievably tasty and set the tone for an odyssey of flavour.
There was the dish of such tender lamb (minced over 10 times) that was created for nobles who preferred not to chew. Fat chargrilled spicy prawns, delicate coconut prawn curry and a fall-off-the-bone lamb shank with saffron that I couldn’t stop eating.
What I loved the most was that they optionally serve each person with a little of each ordered dish. No food envy and one taste sensation after the next left us filled with the fragrance of superb Indian food.
We ended off with a chai crème brulee which was perfectly smooth and an elegant swish of the spice wand to end off our evening.
Chef Harpreet Longani popped out and I was surprised at her youth, she has spent 15 years with the Taj group, perhaps it’s that great skin? I’m not sure what I expected.. . perhaps a yogi master with a turban? It was so lovely I guess I didn’t think she’d be so normal.
If you’re expecting tongue scalding heat, don’t go, this place is about fragrance and the delicate balance of spices, although you can fire it up if you so wish.
It is predictably expensive, (about R450 a head) but for an anniversary meal that had knocked both our socks off in a setting that you could die in, we didn’t mind, and we had gone large.
We went home happy and warm with spice-filled smiles.