Return To Taj Mahal – A Half Hour Challenge, in more ways than One

Half an Hour – Half an Hour – Half an Hour 

One does not walk in to a Curry House – Forty Five Minutes – before closing time to be harassed by a Waiter saying – Half an Hour. Half an Hour. Half an Hour. Yes, this was the greeting on  entering Taj Mahal, (Oststrasse 143, 40210, Düsseldorf, Deutschland) at 23.15.    Nope, that was not – A Welcome.

Hector has been here before. The – Welcome – was the same. In the end the Waiter and Hector had discourse and Hector had such an Impressive Curry, the choice from many venues was to return here.

Dear Restaurateur in a Big City, We have THE CHOICE!

If Menus could have been thrown at The Customer, then this was an example of it. Any sane person would have walked by now, which possibly was the objective. Hector was here for – Curry.

The Düsseldorf Curry Scene, so far

There are venues which reportedly exist but do not. As ever, there are venues which do not appear on initial searches – Almas – and – Indian Delight, to name two.

Hector Bounces Back, Day 4

There was no Curry yesterday in Soest. There was Curry for lunch today already. Kenny had declared his interest to join Hector at some point, today was his day. The Hector Curry Rule was invoked: do not suggest we go for a Curry then change your mind at the last minute. The Taj Mahal was chosen this evening because of its proximity to Shumachers, our final watering hole and was known to be open until midnight. Dr. Stan declined to join us. Does he still eat Curry?

The Half-an-Hour Waiter left the building and was not seen again. Instead a quiet Chap stood at our side and said nothing. Ein Wasser mit Gaz, bitte. He stood, still silent. Kenny asked for the same. Ein Grosse Flasche – was offered. Still the quiet Chap stood, silently. Did he think we were going to spontaneously give him the Curry Order without looking at The Menu?

We took our time. After all, we had Half an Hour. The Standard Menu had all the usual Dishes.

Spicy Onions? Asked Kenny. Not a German thing.

117 Lamb Karahi Gosht

Had I spotted this last time? This is Hector’s preferred Dish and this was the first Menu I had seen it on in this Trip.

Trocken, nicht Suppe, bitte. Ohne Capsicum. Zwei mal.  Ein Aloo Paratha auch.

The Quiet Man took the order, no more was said. No Poppadoms and Dips were proved as was the case in my last Half Hour Visit.

Hector went for a wander around the Restaurant. The place is substantial inside yet most people were sitting outside to cater for their other habit one assumes. One young couple were finishing off indoors and were soon gone. The décor is quite impressive, many accoutrements litter the premises. Oh, sorry, – works of Art.

The Quiet Man brought the Curry exactly Thirty Minutes after we had entered Taj Mahal. Dry! Minimal Masala with Oil collecting at the Base of the karahi, as it should. As ever, when Chefs have their hands tied, the Onion content was dominant. Success.

More Rice than two required to share accompanied the Curry.

The Aloo Paratha was an immediate disappointment. Too Flat, not Flaky, Poor. It was however, well Seasoned, and so did its job of complementing the Karahi. Not a disaster.

The Lamb Karahi was a Rogan Josh variant. Big pieces of Tomato accompanied the plethora of Onion. The Seasoning from the Paratha boosted the Seasoning Level in the Curry. There was a slight Sweetness from the Onions. The Tender Lamb portion was adequate, a lot of positives. Most of the expected Flavours were there, Methi would have put it up a level, however Methi is rare in Deutschland.

This was indeed an enjoyable Curry.

Kenny concurred. He too found this to be to his liking. His first Curry in Deutschland? I have now set Kenny a challenge. Kenny is in Bamberg next week, he must visit – Swarg.

Can it still be as bad?

The Bill

€38.88. This means €5.90 for the 0.75l of Sparkling Water, €29.98 for The Curry and €3.00 for the Paratha. It’s €5.70 for the same quantity of Altbier vom Fass in any Bräuhaus. How can Wasser cost this much?

The Aftermath

We departed at two minutes after midnight.  Forty Seven Minutes.

The Calling Card was left on the table. They’ve had one before and haven’t learned.