Average Indian @ Taj Mahal Club, Hong Kong

Words cannot fully describe my dislike for the notorious Chungking Mansions, but I'm going to try anyway. Just walking through the crowded passageway on the ground level is enough to intimidate any tourist. Dark and dank, a little dirty and a messy layout, as a female, the worst part has got to be the leery looks which is worse when you're on your own. Let's just say I didn't hang around too long that first time, and have since resorted to buying spices in expensive little jars from the supermarket. If not for the fact that some of the most authentic and cheapest Indian food in Hong Kong can be found within this building, I would have been quite happy to stay away from here. The things we do for the love of food. It's not our first foray into the so-called "mansions" (which is anything but mansionly) to eat Indian, but I had conveniently forgotten what a pain it is to use the elevators in this building (shared with 4000 other people living here). This time we made our way to the 3rd floor of Block B to Taj Mahal Club, a popular curry house for tourists and expats.

The layout of the restaurant is similar to The Delhi Club, with a relatively clean dining area. Service was friendly and acceptable, and the owner was quite happy to dish out some advice regarding food allergies in young children. We ordered the same dishes that we always do when dining at an Indian restaurant for the first time, and while the food was good, I thought that the food at The Delhi Club was better. This is not the first time our almost-3 boy has eaten spicy food, and he enjoyed the biryani - although if he had his way, he would have drank only mango lassi for lunch. There was of course concern that the food would be too spicy for the boy, but the use of nuts in their non-spicy dishes rendered them unsuitable for his allergy restrictions.

Mango Lassi that could have used more mango purée:

Chicken Biryani (spicy rice) - what we always order for the toddler at Indian restaurants, and also my benchmark dish to compare with other Indian restaurants. Flavourful, but the whole cardamoms, curry leaves and whole cloves should have been removed prior to serving (or at least cooked with the rice for easy removal later, like in a muslin cloth or something similar). I hate biting into whole cloves. The shredded cheese also didn't improve the dish and would have been better left omitted:

Bright red Chicken Tikka. Surprisingly not as spicy as the biryani, and the boy ate this just fine. Delicious with the minty raita and tamarind sauce:

Mutton Saagwala (spinach sauce) - hubby's benchmark Indian dish. The spinach sauce was spicy and tasty, but the meat wasn't as tender as ones I've had before. This was yummy with the biryani:

Aloo Ghobi (spiced potatoes and cauliflower) - a surprisingly delicious dish! This was my favourite dish from lunch:

Lunch at Taj Mahal Club was pretty average. If we ever come back inside this building for Indian food (certainly not for any other reasons!), we'd go back to The Delhi Club.

Taj Mahal Club
3rd Floor, Block B, Chungking Mansion
38-44 Nathan Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel. +85 2 2722 5454 / +85 2 2366 4477