Taj Palace offers extensive menu of flavorful dishes from all over region

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A common lament from readers (in addition to “I can’t find a good Mexican restaurant,” “I can’t find a good pizza” and “Where’s all the fresh seafood?”) relates to the homogeneity of restaurants in the Las Vegas suburbs. It’s true that the best ethnic eateries tend to be clustered in the central city, and that the suburbs are heavy on very American (or at least Americanized) outlets of national chains.

Sansone Park Place, a plaza at 9500 S. Eastern Ave., is rapidly becoming an exception to that rule – a sort of colorful, multicultural exception. It’s anchored at one end by East Ocean, a restaurant that specializes in dim sum, and also is home to an outlet of the local Pin Kaow Thai chainlet, an Asian market, a Middle Eastern kabob place and no doubt one or two others I’ve overlooked.

And also Taj Palace, which, as you can no doubt tell from the name, specializes in Indian cuisine, and which is a very worthy addition to this growing multiethnic mix.

On the outside, Taj Palace is a typical strip-center spot, with a Western exposure that gets the worst of the Southern Nevada sun, hence the dark windows. Inside, though, it’s another story. The decor isn’t ornate but it is quietly elegant, with wall decorations that reminded me of the henna patterns with which people of the subcontinent often decorate their bodies. Colors are neutral, the Indian-influenced music soothing, and Bollywood films being shown over the bar are always good for a laugh or two. Or three.

When it comes to the food, Taj Palace measures up to any other Indian restaurant in the valley and outshines more than a few. Vegetable samosas ($5) were larger than many, with extremely light and flaky (that’s a good thing) exteriors and an almost fluffy filling of potatoes and peas.

Another starter, Paneer Pakoras ($7), had large cubes of the housemade fresh cheese suspended in a puffy chick-pea batter, fried just until they were slightly crispy on the outside, which was a great contrast to the supple cheese. With them we enjoyed the tamarind and spicier-than-usual (again, a good thing) cilantro-mint chutneys that had been brought with our pappadum.

Taj Palace has an extensive menu of dishes from all over the continent, and we sure had fun wading through it. Lamb Saag ($16) was a plethora of mild, tender cubes resting in a sauce enriched with crushed cashews and raisins. The tandoori-prepared Chicken Kabab Adraki ($15) was boneless white meat with, in addition to the customary yogurt and tandoori-style spices, cilantro, ginger and mint.

And then there was Good Ole’ Butter Chicken ($16), which we had to get because we loved the whimsy of the name. Yes, this is a staple of Indian-American cuisine, mild and not overly exotic and appealing to a wide range of palates. And this version was excellent, with an impressive depth of flavor.

We had basmati rice, which was extra, as is customary in Indian restaurants ($3 for a half-order, $5 for a full) and both garlic and regular naan ($2.50 and $3.50), which were suitably stretchy and blistered and flaky, although we thought the garlic was on the mild side.

Dessert? You must be kidding; we had a stack of to-go boxes as it was.

Service throughout was excellent, prompt and friendly without being obsequious.

We didn’t see any subcontinent expats in Taj Palace during our visit, which could mean a lot of things. We did, however, see a whole bunch of people who were clearly regulars, and we weren’t at all surprised. Like its colleagues in the Sansone Park Place, Taj Palace is an interesting, flavorful, refreshing break from the homogeneity of the suburbs.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or email her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.