Friday Night Review: Ta’al.
I have been getting death threats about not posting; so here is my Friday night review (which I wasn’t going to write).
We decided to go to Ta’al for lunch on Friday; the new Indian Restaurant in Bida’a/Arjan. Reservations were made before breakfast (Big mistake); never (ever) make reservations for Indian food before you have a meal (except if you ate at Hashi … everyone leaves hungrier after Hashi). We ended up having breakfast, canceling the reservation, getting hungry around 5ish and making another reservation, only to postpone that reservation another hour.
Where is Maki with their Nazi reservation principle (You will come on Wednesday, at 8pm, on time, you will bring three friends, you will order the essa maki, and you will leave by 8.46pm.) I think we have been spoiled by the people at Ta’al for being lenient on their reservation policy.
Anyway .. The restaurant.
When you enter, you are greeted by a huge man wearing an Indian turban. Reminds me of the semi-bouncer that stands by the door of Mughal Muhal when you enter. He serves no real purpose other than opening the door and posing for pictures. Although, he is damn good at opening doors and posing. The turban can make anyone photogenic.
The seating area is er, different. The majority of the tables are somewhat secluded. You will probably only be able to see 5% of the people in the restaurant while having your meal. We were seated upstairs in the weird double couch with two tables. They must have stole the design from a 1950’s Moroccan strip club; big chairs .. tons of velvet. The next time I reserve, I am requesting the upstairs booths. They are not as claustrophobic or have that Moulin Rouge feeling to them.
The food… Ah, where do I start.. After I saw the menu, I was glad that my chair was secluded from the other patrons. Indian food does not make for one to act nonchalant whilst eating. Indian food requires you to fold up your dishdasha, put your qitra in a chraimba and scream Liban multiple times over the period of an hour. so, the food … It was unbelievable. The Chicken Tikka Masala (or butter chicken) was amazing… Honestly the best I have ever had in Kuwait. It is the only restaurant that can rival the Chicken Tikka Masala of Sindhu (Michigan). I can’t remember the other things on the menu… except that they were unbelievable. As with all food from this region of the world, we ate until we lost the ability to move. I actually believe that Q is a genius when he suggested that waiters wheel you to your car
The restaurant service was also exceptionally good. Although, the Filipino waitresses were not well versed in what the menu contains.
Whats the differnce between Lassi-1 and Lassi-2?
They are both sweet ..
yes, but whats the difference?
One is sweet and the other one is also sweet
Then I will have the sweet one.
Which one Lassi-1 or Lassi-2?
Just give me the lassi mint.
However, they were very friendly and quite fast. For some reason they also served you the food, individually. There is a waitress that stands near the table serving each and every dish .. really.. While that might be great when eating simple foods and acting nonchalant… it has no place in an Indian restaurant. We just told them to place everything on the table and come back after 10 minutes.
The desert menu came, and we all looked at it like it was written in Sanskrit. Desert? After a meal that must have put two species to extinction… maybe next time.
The pricing and portions were also very reasonable. It is a bit more pricier than other upscale Indian restaurants .. but well worth the difference in pricing.
All in all, great restaurant, very highly recommended… amazing service, food and photogenic turban guy.
I love Indian food.
“Indian food requires you to fold up your dishdasha, put your qitra in a chraimba and scream Liban multiple times over the period of an hour.”
funny
i love your reviews dude
You made me hungry! you made me want Indian food! and I DON’T DO INDIAN FOOD! Ahhh…
I just had Kabab and I can relate to the cart-man principle.
Indian food requires you to fold up your dishdasha, put your qitra in a chraimba and scream Liban multiple times over the period of an hour.
LOL I tend to want to do that too! & Im a female lol ;p
hahahahha K, wonderful review!
heyyy….btw, do you remember that guy at mughal mahal with big mush? my friend steve got 1000000s of pics with him……poor guy he smiles all the time…thats his job….smile and open the door….say “thank you for visiting and please come back”…..he got to smile even when he got personal probs….no choice!
smile and get paid…
Bs mino a7la? Asha’s or Ta’al…thats the question?
did you get your photo taken with the photogenic turban guy?
I think from your review this is the best indian food place in Kuwait right now! And im reallyyy feeling it! Im really feeling indian food! I want to try it now! And thats probably all im going to think about at work! hahaha
Pearls:
But does it love you?
the11thmsue:
yes.
Mark:
This was actually written by Nat.
shopa:
Why don’t you do indian food .. ? The restaurant has a private room, go early .. nobody will see you.
Purgatory:
All restaurants should offer chairs with wheels as a compliment to valet.
FilmGirl:
Go with Shopa ^
CyberRowdy:
I would be on heavy anti-depressants if that were my job. Couldn’t smile for pictures all day.
Delicately Realistic:
I have yet to try Asha’s .. the location is not very inviting. I can’t have inidan food with thousands of 3agad walking by my table.
junoony:
Yup .. I should have borrowed the Turban.
Marzouq:
Moo 6abee3i .. you have to try it; even Stallion agrees (he had lunch their that day).
“Where is Maki with their Nazi reservation principle (You will come on Wednesday, at 8pm, on time, you will bring three friends, you will order the essa maki, and you will leave by 8.46pm.)”
LOL exactly. hahahahaha!!
I’ll try it and post my comment…
NB: Don’t go to Mughal Mahal. My mom and my lil’ bro went there a while ago…I got out because something kept hitting my shoe. Thought it was my lil’ bro. Turned out to be a lil’ mouse :/
Def gonna try out this new joint though…
K,
we went there same night you wrote this review. MAN I LOVED IT! I’m still full from the food!
but do you eat food with your hand or with forklifts? thats the worst part of indian food.chineese is better than indian. I think only indians eat food with bare hands. we, arabs and rest all the people eat with fork and knife. thats the best way to eat any food.
oh and by the way DR and K,
Ashaz suck big time! their food is not tasty at all….
erzulie:
The mice are part of the entertainment … but yeah, new joint is unbelievable.
shopa:
Its amazing .. still going to try out ashas. Yistahlown a fair review.
KKuubbooss:
I don’t eat with forklifts .. too much effort. And I disagree I think the majority of Arab food is eaten by hand.
Taal is exceptional
Ashas sucks big time
I second that - Ashas is rotten period. On any given day Indian vegetarian selections trump non-vegetarian; hands down(and I am saying this even as a non-vegetarian all my life). I could literally go on about it till the cows came home but we’ll save that for another day.
On the downside however;the curries tend to get messier and clearly, Indian food is not for everyone. Eating with one’s hands is rampant not just in India but across South East Asia and for the 75,000 Britons alone who visit India each year there is no shame in going native(unlike some stuck-up prats in our neck of the woods). How you eat is no big deal compared to what you eat. The Japanese eat their sushi by hand; the French their baguette and the Americans their MacBurgers.
Kay,in a break from tradition why don’t your review a stand alone Indian vegetarian restaurant for a change? This way you can eat and tell “la difference” between India nnon-veg and vegetarian.
Sami:
I am going to try out Asha’s sometime this week .. I have heard some good reviews, it can’t be all that bad.
Aryan:
Vegeterian Restaurant .. in Kuwait? Suggest a good one and I will try it out.
The best Indian veggie place in Kwt is in Dubai a la Dasaprakash (Bur Dubai)…unless the underground Hare Krsna movement here, has recently opened an all veg Govinda’s restaurant.
I should have read this review before I went to Ta’al because I would have ordered the butter chicken. instead I ordered the prawns curry and was extremely disappointed. For KD5.500 I would have expected 5 or 6 pieces of jumbo shrimps instead i got around 6 pieces of the tiniest shrimps in the world. The curry itself was average, nothing special. Wouldn’t go back again.