Taj Mahal - San Jose

The app won’t let me give 5* because this isn’t a fully vegan vegetarian restaurant but the options are amazing and flavours my favourite restaurant in San Jose.

This place is located in an outdoor mall with lots of restaurants. When we arrived the whole place was busy but there was no one in this restaurant so we were a little worried. Turns out it was excellent and the place filled up quickly after we were seated. There were 2 pages in the menu that were vegetarian (appetizers and main dishes) and about 1/3 of those dishes could be made vegan. We eat Indian food a lot and this was very good. The price was about $20pp for drinks, appetizers, and main course.

Best Indian food I have had in Costa Rica and in north America for that matter. The lamb was delicious, melting in your mouth. The service is superb. I returned twice to enjoy the food.

I ordered Lamb Tikka Masala. It was tasty but it was the Tikka Masala I am familiar with. The sauce was more like one of Ina Garten 's Lamb and Curry recipes. The curry sauce was more like blended tomato veggie sauce. It was lack of Indian curry flavor. To compensate that, they put freshly thinly sliced ginger to the sauce and also gave me some chili paste. In addition, the lamb was NOT charred or even roasted. It was tender because it was cooked long time but it was lack of that charred roasted flavor that a Tikka Masala dish should have. They absolutely cut corners! I also had garlic naan, not the yeasty one I like. The texture was not my favor hence it affected the flavor. Do not take me wrong. The meal was good but it is not worth 5-star review. It was pricy. Lamb dish was bout $24 and $4 for naan. They also charged service fee (tips) mandatorily. I would not say it is a tourist trap but if you happen to be in the area and want for Indian food, it is fine. other than that, no need to go there to try the best Indian food in Costa Rica (as I did) The waiters were friendly. They spent some effort to make the eating environment nice.

Wonderful, flavorful and amazing ambiance. Would 100% recommend. Friendly staff and wonderful service. Fresh and genuine food.