A brand new Indian eatery is ready to open this week on Fifth Avenue in Fifth By Northwest/Grandview, appropriately known as Taj on Fifth! We had been excited to see the opening, as one of many companions in it’s Ajay Kumar, whose household was lengthy historical past with eating places in Columbus. His father began Taj Mahal, certainly one of Columbus’ first Indian eating places, in Outdated North in 1984. (It was within the outdated house the place Cazuela’s now sits.)
We visited many, many instances through the years, having fun with the dinners and their weekend buffets. Ajay was all the time splendidly welcoming to our household. When Taj closed in 2013, it was offered to relations and briefly turned Mughal Darbar, whereas AJ ran AJ’s Cafe downtown the place 4th and State is now. However he’s been out of the restaurant enterprise for some time, till he partnered with folks (together with the house owners of Everest Delicacies in Worthington) to open Taj on Fifth.
Taj on Fifth occupies the western nook of The View on Fifth, a comparatively new growth on Fifth Avenue. (Within the parking zone behind it’s the glorious Moonbird Espresso Co. trailer.) The area has cycled by a pair totally different ideas already. It encompasses a full bar and eating room, plus a entrance lined patio.
The bar encompasses a vary of beers (together with some Indian beers), wines, a collection of scotches, and a signature cocktail checklist. That is the mango piña colada with Jamaican rum, coconut milk, and mango chutney.
I loved a style of Brew Kettle’s White Rajah IPA.
We began with a combined pakora platter, which includes evenly fried cauliflower, onion, potato, kale, paneer – served with a pair of cilantro mint and tamarind chutneys.
We additionally tasted a particular starter of fried salmon sticks. Each had been properly seasoned and crispy with out being too heavy.
After which we rolled out a quartet of entrees. They’re all served with sides of jasmine rice.
First up, and our clear favourite of the meal, was the dal makhani. The dish consists of black lentils and kidney beans which have been gradual simmered with a mixture of spices, butter, and cream. It’s splendidly wealthy and even a contact smoky. It reminded us of the black dal we’ve had at Dishoom in Edinburgh and in London.
The Mughali beef korma was one other hit. It’s slow-cooked with cashews in a cream sauce, and served with half a tough boiled egg.
We loved the saag paneer, too. Cubes of gentle saag cheese are cooked in a spinach sauce.
And we will’t go to any Indian restaurant with out ordering their model of rooster tikka masala. We loved this tackle it, though the sauce was a contact grainy.
And naturally we ordered up a pair baskets of garlic naan to scoop all of it up!
It was nice to see Ajay and crew return to kind! We anticipate many extra visits, and we hope Taj on Fifth continues the traditions of nice Indian meals in Columbus.
Taj on Fifth
1021 W. Fifth Ave.
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 696-4844
Internet: tajonfifth.com
FB: Taj on Fifth
IG: @tajonfifth
