We just found one of the very best food values anywhere: the New Taj India Cuisine Restaurant in the historic Corn Hill neighborhood of Rochester, NY. There are actually several new restaurants here, and we will get to all of them eventually. But we knew about this area from our several visits to Tony D’s. Just a week before we arrived in Rochester for a few get-away days, this Indian restaurant opened. It’s a 3-minute drive from the heart of downtown Rochester yet has free parking and is right on the Genesee River.
We went to the New Taj first for their buffet lunch. Then we went back the next day for dinner, it was that good. The restaurant is quite lovely and extremely clean. Don’t be fooled by the drawn curtains – the place is open and they are anxious to serve you some of the best Indian food we’ve ever had.
The buffet had the usual wonderful selection one finds, and I’m guessing the offerings will change from time to time. But what we were not prepared for was the sophisticated spicing of every dish. We thought we knew tamarind sauce until we had it here. It had a tiny extra kick and the slightest hint of banana, making it a standout among tamarind sauces. The green sauce was alive with fresh ginger and was not as overpoweringly piquant as the green sauce usually is. We never got to the cold offerings – salad items, raita and the like, as the hot food beckoned. Even so, there were so many we only got to about half of them.
Chicken and vegetarian prevailed but this is logical in a buffet that costs only $7.99. We have often commented that, were we to become vegetarians, we would be eating Indian food all the time. It’s the best all-vegetable food on the planet, but Chef Avtar has created unusual spice combinations that were a revelation. My two favorites were the chick pea dish and the winter squash dish. Normally I find these two items to be pretty boring and almost inedible. Not these dishes. I want to know how they were done so I can eat them at home, too!
Included in the buffet, astoundingly, was a delicious hot chai, made with milk and just a touch of sugar. Also there were numerous desserts: rice pudding, a mango pudding, gulab jamin, fruit and more. We totally stuffed ourselves and for the two of us, the bill came to just over $17 including tax.
At dinner we got to sit and relax, and enjoy concentrating on just one dish. The usual crispy bread with sauces was available to eat while we waited for our dinners to be prepared. Dave ordered the Goa fish curry ($13.95): fish cooked in a spicy tangy sauce with coconut. I ordered seafood biryani ($14.95): Basmati rice cooked with shrimp, scallops, fish with onion and bell pepper, spices and garnished with cashews and raisins. I asked for extra cashews and raisins and got them with no problem.
Dave ordered a medium spicing on his fish curry and it was very good, with a savory coconut sauce dotted with peppercorns. I ordered mine mild and it came out very mild indeed. In some restaurants, “mild” still means pretty darned hot for those of us not accustomed to it. Not the case here. In fact, I was pleased that a dish of raita (savory yogurt sauce) came with it. This raita, unlike many, actually added “heat” to my dish and an extra layer of fascinating spice combinations. In my opinion, if you get this dish mild, you’ll enjoy adding the spicy raita to your own heat tolerance.
Dave polished off all of his curry but that biryani was so large, I could only eat half of it. Poor me, I’ll have to have it for lunch tomorrow. We had no room for dessert, mango lassi, tea, nothing. But we will definitely be visiting this restaurant next time we’re in Rochester.
New Taj India Cuisine
298 Exchange Boulevard
Rochester, NY 14608
Tel. 585-546-7775
Fax: 585-546-7778
Open 7 days a week
Lunch Buffet: 11:30 am – 3:00 pm $7.99 every day
Dinner: 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm Mon-Sat
5:00 pm – 9:30 pm Sunday


