Review The Taj Indian Kitchen - Queenstown

Me and my husband from Australia and came New Zealand for Holidays. First food we tried in New Zealand in this restaurant and I would say it was so delicious we orded Palak Paneer and Chicken curry they served that with rice and Cucumber salad as well. Tandoori Naan was freshly made in Tandoor Friendly Staff😊 We decide that we will go there again ☺️ It was great experience in NZ Indian Restaurant Its located on The lake view Scenic view from the window

Amazing food and cozy atmosphere, would come here again. Had lamb for entree, nice little spicy kick to it, ordered some garlic nann and partner had chicken and I had the lamb rump for main ~ delicious. Mains were recommended as we asked and it was great :)

Best Indian food in town! The food was done just perfectly right, enough spiced and not too strong, and was scrumptious. The atmosphere was nice too. You get the view of the lake and mountains out the window. The service was also exceptional. The staff was very friendly with great service. Love the extra clean utensils and plates warm from a dishwasher. The pots and bowls and glasses they use to serve food and drinks are high quality, too! All in all, we highly recommend the Taj Indian restaurant!

I had a butter chicken with saffron rice and naan. It came with elegant presentation and looked very appetising. Staff was friendly and welcoming.. it was a reasonable price for a relatively large portion size...highly recommend.

Absolutely incredible food and amazing presentation! We did not have a reservation but they were able to accommodate us at a table outside. This was probably the best Indian food we have had to date despite our many Indian restaurants back home in Boston. So happy we had a chance to enjoy this delicious food and the experience was amazing! Not rushed during out time there and Raj checked in to ask how everything was. Thank you for a wonderful experience!

Absolutely Delicious Food and Best Customer Service - we were delightfully looked after by Rahul who was amazing not only at service but also in conversation. Omwe ordered Paneer Tikka and Malai Brocolli for Entrees, Sabji Diwani Handi, Paneer Teen Mirch ka and Dal Tadka for main. All dishes were absolutely amazing in tatse and presentation

The food was really fresh and every dish was full of flavour. I tried a chilli, cheese, garlic naan and that was exceptional! All of the dishes we tried were really good! I’d eat here again.

We had a great dinner for my better half's birthday and reserved a table because we were told it can be full. There are tables on the first floor with fantastic views to the lake. Service and meals were first class, even though they seem to be a bit adopted to New Zealand. We highly recommend to go there if you are in the area. Nice people great service yummy wine selection and super nice food.

The dining experience at the Indian restaurant was truly delightful. The cheese-stuffed mushrooms were a delightful appetizer, showcasing a perfect blend of textures and flavors. The lamb on the bone in curry was exceptional, with the tender meat effortlessly absorbing the rich, aromatic spices. The culinary expertise was evident, making it a memorable and authentic gastronomic journey. On a side note, it would enhance the overall ambiance if there were considerations for a door that doesn't slam, as the occasional noise slightly impacted the otherwise serene and enjoyable dining atmosphere.

Our second visit and it keeps getting better, they have some slightly different Indian dishes and they are ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. An absolute must visit restaurant, great service, great ambience and great food, generous servings as well. 5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

This is the best Indian restaurant that I have ever eaten in by nine. Excellent service combined with an excellent menu. 6 � from me

Wonderful service and great food. Definitely would love to dine again. Surely recommend this place Indian food awesomeness

Brilliant place, amazing staff & gorgeous curries, very classy place, just needs to have hotter chillies (we like vindaloo++!)

Awesome place for Indian food and lovely staff.� geat Indian street food best place for dosas in New Zealand love you guys. Reminds me of back home.

Delicious food, appropriate portion sizes & friendly staff. Also a great atmosphere (even when not many people in there) if dining alone. Free wi-fi for travellers needing to do the online thing. If going as a bigger group (more than 4) i'd suggest booking so they can set up for you.

Staff amazing and hospitable....food delicious...would highly recommend this place to try out some amazing Indian food ...especially lunches!!!

Beautiful fresh tasting food and amazing service . I asked for dairy free options and got the yummiest chickpea curry and kachumber salad � Loved it . �

Most amazing Indian food I have ever had in my life! Nothing compares! Loved it amazing service amazing ambiance and the food was just out of this world! If you're in Queenstown this place is a must!

Some of the best Indian I have had. As a local I am so excited to have a new high quality Indian place in such a lovely setting. Great value for money and beautifully presented meals. Highly recommended.

We came for the lunch menu a couple of weeks ago and loved it so much we booked the Degustation for our anniversary so we could try more dishes. Absolutely delicious food. Did not disappoint

The food was amazing. A step up from your standard Indian with a contemporary twist, and fantastic flavours and attention to detail. The staff really want to make sure that you love the food and go away happy. I thoroughly recommend to everyone.

Went to Taj for dinner ..Wonderful Service (never had this type of service in an Indian restaurant before). Amazing food..Authentic Indian taste( no westernised modification ). Special Thank you to Chef working hard in the hot kitchen and the person who served us(forgot your name ..Sanjay B ??? You are from Delhi ��). Will be back ! Highly recommended �

We were so impressed with the service and food. Went out of their way to cater our nut allergy children modifying a curry to cater to their taste buds. Curries we tried and biriyani tasted very nice too. Would highly recommend it and will return back when we are next in Queenstown.

Really good food and ambiance. Personally I enjoyed the tandoori chicken and Aloo patori for entree!

Perfect. No faults, excellent food, staff welcoming and friendly. In addition the presentation of the food and venue were top draw.

Possibly the best Indian restaurant in NZ. Fantastic food and service

Easily the best Indian food I’ve had in New Zealand. The flavours are bold and delicious and manage to remain authentic while having a twist on your standard fare. Excellent service also made the wait for a table well worth it.

The worst I have ever seen... n the utmost the manager no sense of talking... taking the booking n after u go he tells u to wait for more 30 mins... I tried since 3 days ... really very bad... n the price is the triple wat others charge very bad food... worst I hav been..!!! Can’t tell u such a bad bad experience..!!!

Amazing food. Feels awesome to have tasty Indian food away from home. Thanks for keeping it completely Desi.<br/><br/>Just expand the place a bit, so that more ppl can enjoy the food😋<br/><br/>Reservation is must for this place - else order a takeaway.

Amazing Indian. The food standard is high and the service is good. Not your standard menu which is always nice. They saved a table for us while we had a drink across the road and waited for everyone to arrive. Only downfall was the cleanliness of the bathroom. Horrendous!

Great food, welcoming staff, fast service and prompt response. <br/>They are really good option for Ethnic Indian food, great lake view and in heart of Queenstown.

The best Indian restaurant in Queenstown. Good service. Friendly staff. Good ambience. A must visit for anyone who loves Indian cuisine. !!!

The best Indian food in queenstown without a doubt. We were having a miserable day after eating a Ferg in the morning, tummies upset, weird pukish feeling & couldn’t think of food all day long until dinner time when it all vanished after our first bite of some really tasty food here.<br/>Ordered for the poppadums, Tandoori Mushrooms & Prawns, the soft shell crab which was an absolute delight, the duo of lamb kebabs which was really tasty & melted in your mouth and just stuck to starters as not only were they filling, but gave an idea of how good the other dishes would be. Would definitely come back again for more. The service too was nice as it was really nice to see a European waitress being able to take our order and manage really well with the native names of the dishes.

Best Indian restaurant in Queenstown. Food is absolutely awesome. Dal taj n sahi tukra is one of the best I had ever tasted. Been there so many times n everytime it is constantly awesome

excellent indian food, quality & taste perfectly indian!<br/>great ambience right in the heart of the town, lovely variety of dishes, its a must try!

After craving some Indian food, we discovered this place. Boutique and beautifully done with view of Wakatipu lake. The first thing which made us happy was Dosa and chaat menu. Though they have extensive menu of North Indian dishes alike. So we went with Masala Uttapam, Paneer Kathi Roll along with Papdi Chaat. The aroma of food was just perfect. Masala Uttapam was perfectly made. The batter which was used was just like what we have in India. Sambar and Chutney had perfect flavour. Paneer Kathi Roll was huge with stuffing of cubed cottage cheese. On next visit we even tried Pudina Laccha Paratha and Aloo Jeera, it was very satisfying and made fresh. The staff is very caring and courteous. This is recommended for people who miss Indian food.

The staff is extremely rude and unprofessional here. Once you enter, there is no one to welcome you or usher you to the table. Upon entering, when we found no employee around to ask for our table, we walked to the nearest empty table that we spotted. We were about to sit down when a bearded man, who seemed to be the manager, going by his arrogance, rushed to us to ask if we had spoken to any employee. Of course we had not, as no employee was visible to us. He then had the audacity to ask us to wait outside, as there was apparently a long queue of guests waiting to be seated, who were somehow visible only to him. In any case, we had had enough of this impertinence, so we chose to leave and enter another restaurant, Bombay Palace, just adjacent to this place. I am so glad we did, as Bombay Palace gave us an amazing experience and lip-smacking food.

Hi All that glitters is not gold applies well to this restaurant <br/>Very highly rated. But very disappointing.<br/>Also is very dear as compared to other restaurants but we wanted to try.<br/><br/>Ordered bharvan Mirch as starter. Looked appealing but tasted average. <br/><br/>In mains ordered Murg teen mirch ka, murg tikka makhanwaala & bharvan mirch Masala.<br/>The menu look fancy!! But nothing extraordinary, they are same as other places but named differently ( good way to attract customers!!)<br/>We realised this later. Too late !!<br/><br/>When served, looked good on the table but veg & non veg curries looked same, so much so that we had to enquire what is what !!<br/>Didn’t taste good. We were disappointed. <br/><br/>Positive-<br/>Gave complimentary cucumber salad, <br/>Also we asked for naans to be crispy & they were good. <br/>Have added pictures but as I said all that glitters is not gold!!

Irrespective of its hype, the chef does not know how to cook genuine Indian food. We had ordered for veg biriyani and that came out to be pretty ordinary stuff with rice not being basmati (as claimed) and the vegetable cooked separately and then mixed together to give it the shape of biriyani ! It was a mixture of cooked rice n veggies being cooked separately n then mixed..that is their concept of biriyani !!<br/>Another irritating part is that in India, pickles and green chillies are necessary accompaniment of food and these things take care of your taste buds in case there is minor variation in the dish. When we wanted to have pickle to adjust to their version of biriyani, the guy (I guess it was their manager Saurabh Bhargava) insisted that we pay extra for the pickle. When we explained to him that we visited the restaurant only for Indian food and green chillies n pickles were necessary accompaniment, he showed us the rule book !<br/>In any case, since the biriyani was a disaster, we left the matter at that point only, with a resolve never to visit the place again nor recommend it to anyone else !<br/>A MUST AVOID PLACE !!

Very busy eating place. Have to wait to be seated.dint like the management of the staff much.<br/>But the food was good , tried paneer tikka , chicken tikka kulcha, chicken chettinad curry , and chicken dum biryani which was cooked in pot. <br/>The worst was shahi tukda which was more of dokla type and the Rabdi given along with that was salty.<br/>And quite expensive.

Recently visited taj..Services are quite good<br/>We ordered dosa, panner karti roll and dahi sev puri..and for dessert sahi tukda..<br/><br/>Paper dosa was super awesome ..Sambhar taste proper South Indian<br/>But when it comes to panner kathi roll..no spices no salt ..it's below average...<br/>Dahi sev puri is really awesome...<br/>Sahi tukda: too much sugary ...<br/>I can go again definitely but just for dosa..

The best Indian restaurant in queenstown. The staff is really polite every dish I ordered was an absolute delight to the tastebuds. The desserts are to die for

Small seating area, but big on taste. My partner and I ordered a lamb and chicken curry, with some naans to share between us and a child. The curry was fantastic, it's rare that I'll get to the bottom of the silver sauce bowel. Only minor regret is the absence of children's choices - so families may want to bribe the young with the gelato store two doors up, but that's fairly normal, and a small price to pay for good curry.

The best Indian food I've tried in the world, excellent fusion flavoured dishes. Everything we ordered was 10/10. Excellent service, the host knew his food well and explained their process in great detail. Very highly recommended.

Absolutely sensational! Best Indian food for a long time. Quality, presentation, selection. Second to none! A relatively small restaurant, but definitely worth visiting.

Best Indian food i have ever had at a restaurant by far. Very unique and sophisticated menu w/ a twist on some of the classics. Would definitely go back if i visit Queenstown again 🌟🌟🌟

Fine dine restaurant in Queenstown which offers Indian food in an different way. Good presentation. Its expensive but worth the money spend. Best dal makhani till date in south island ever tasted. Its different from usual india restaurants. I would recommend this place to those visiting Queenstown to try once. We had dahi ke kebab,aloo patori is must try starter. Make sure book the table in advance as the restaurant is small and is very busy.

It's been sometime since we have been in New Zealand and wanted to sink our teeth into some desi Indian cuisine and let the taste buds walk down nostalgia Street.<br/><br/>The first Indian Restaurant we encountered was The Taj.<br/><br/>Bang in the middle of Queenstown, looked pretty small from the exterior but large on the inside. Tasteful ambiance not overdone but for a fleeting moment you are back home?<br/><br/>Abhi, Waited on us and he was from my wife's State, Punjab, so one can imagine the bonhomie and language switched to Punjabi.<br/><br/>Ordered Dal and rice, the Dal came in a small copper saucepan shaped dish accompanied with a very small dish of basmati rice and a tinier miniscule thimble sized container salad?? The Dal was excellent, great job Chef.<br/><br/>The rice was perfect with the fragrance adding to experience. The mouthful of salad was brilliant.<br/><br/>A plate of idlies, I wish the Menu was more descriptive as they were made from rawa. The coconut chutney was prepared from desicated coconut which a downer. The sambar was good.<br/><br/>Thank you Abhi for being a good host.<br/><br/>VFM???? The other Indian places just around the corner were better priced.Geeta Mayne

Awesome food<br/>Awesome service <br/>Ambience is too good <br/>Small cozy family place<br/>Would recommend everyone to try it<br/>And have a great time <br/>Too good <br/>Marvellous <br/>Stomach friendly