This is not so much a review as a public service announcement. The only 3 other people I know who have eaten at Taj Mahal were not as offended by it as I was: a Frenchman who recommended it and an American and a Turk who thought it wasn't that bad. But I'm English and we've long approximated (and some might say bastardized) Indian food, so when I have the urge for a curry it has to be the same intricate blend of heat, spices and the crunchy bits, which, the uninitiated don't realize, are to be picked out.
Last time I was having the curry DTs and was taken to Taj Mahal, I had not much anticipation, as I had been grossly let down in Indian restaurants before. I knew I was in trouble when they didn't have poppadoms, which caused huge cognitive dissonance. Indian restaurant, check. Poppadoms, no. What was I supposed to do while looking at the menu if it wasn't to eat so many poppadoms (with mango chutney) that I would be full when the food came?
I managed not to stomp out in a huff, and we ordered 3 dishes, rice, and naan (7-12 YTL per main). Am I just being picky, pointing out that pide is not naan? As it turned out, the dish names would be irrelevant, as they all tasted exactly the same. And the main flavor was salt. I don't need a curry to be really hot, but I do have as a basic requirement that it tastes of curry. And how much salt? I was still draining pints of water, hours later, as my body desperately tried to halt its own mummification.