“Taj X” Indian pop up dinner — exceptional!

[Turtles06]

My wife and I are on the Silhouette right now (Dec. 3-13), and a couple of days before embarkation, I noticed a dinner listing in the app for “Taj X” — a one-time, pop up Indian dinner. We made reservations for this as soon as we boarded.

 

The dinner was tonight.  It was a tasting menu, with three starters, six mains, and three desserts.  All of the menu items were served to us. The food was exceptional, and we’re really glad we took advantage of this offering. 
 

I think it’s a don’t miss if it’s offered on your cruise. 
 

(It was $40pp including the gratuity, and well worth it.)

[Northern Aurora]

We've been on itineraries where if folks don't immediately book the Taj dinner they are out of luck -- these dinners sell out quickly.  We were on the Millennium in September and asked -- no Taj dinner was offered on either sailing.  I agree -- it is a don't miss" if offered on your itinerary.

[markeb]

Do you know what was on the menu? Not an Indian food snob, but really love good southern Indian food, which is kind of atypical in the US. Which isn't to say I don't love Indian food in general, but curious about the offerings!

 

(Ticki Masala is NOT southern Indian, as a frame of reference...)

[chemmo]

Where did the dinner take place? 

[DaKahuna]

I look in the Ocean View Cafe every time we go there for a Vendau dish but guess I am the only one that likes spicy food.

[Turtles06]

8 hours ago, markeb said:

Do you know what was on the menu? Not an Indian food snob, but really love good southern Indian food, which is kind of atypical in the US. Which isn't to say I don't love Indian food in general, but curious about the offerings!

 

(Ticki Masala is NOT southern Indian, as a frame of reference...)

I tried to post the menu last night but Celebrity’s fancy Stream WiFi would not do it. I will try again later and if I still can’t do it, I’ll just list it all. But there was no masala anything. 

[Turtles06]

8 hours ago, chemmo said:

Where did the dinner take place? 

 
In Sushi on Five.  Most of the servers were Indian, and it was a bonus to be able to discuss the food with them. They were clearly enjoying the fact that we were loving the dinner as much as we were. 

[Turtles06]

Here’s the menu from last night

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

 
In Sushi on Five.  Most of the servers were Indian, and it was a bonus to be able to discuss the food with them. They were clearly enjoying the fact that we were loving the dinner as much as we were. 

Thanks, so pleased you had such a wonderful experience.

 

When we were on board Silhouette in September we noticed there was an Indian special in Sushi but we didn’t bother…We will look out for it next time! 
 

Hopefully if this event becomes more popular they may add a few more ‘specials’ in Sushi. Thanks for posting the menu too.

[Turtles06]

9 hours ago, chemmo said:

Where did the dinner take place? 

 

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 
In Sushi on Five.  

I forgot to mention this. Because it was a special dinner, we needed to sign a receipt at the end (nothing we’ve had to do the entire cruise).  The receipt said:

“8 Calif Roll @ 10.00 — $80.00”

 

🙂

[chamima]

I was hoping this might have been a vegan or vegetarian dinner but I can see from the menu that, while there are a couple of items, most things aren't vegan OR vegetarian. 😔

A lot of East Indians are vegan and we are sometimes able to order special vegan entrees but finally being able to participate in a special dinner would have been nice.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We enjoy Indian food but I can't eat spicy food at night. How would you rate the average spice level? I see the lamb is listed as spicy.

Edited December 11, 2021 by CHEZMARYLOU

[Guindalf]

2 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We enjoy Indian food but I can't eat spicy food at night. How would you rate the average spice level? I see the lamb is listed as spicy.

 

It's a common misconception that Indian food is spicy. It does use a lot of spices, but generally, it's not 'hot'. Oh sure, there are spicy dishes, but they will be highlighted.

 

In my experience, I have never found an Indian dish on a cruise ship to have much spice at all, even after requesting it (I LOVE spicy food)!

 

Dishes like Butter Chicken or Korma have wonderful flavors, but are not at all spicy.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Thanks.  We're usually asked the spice level when we go to our favorite Indian restaurant and my DH often overdoes it so we don't share our orders.

[photabitha]

We were on the Silhouette in October  and we were offered this within the first couple of days on sale outside of the Ocean View.  I think it was $40 per person  and took place on the last night.  It was fabulous, but lots of it!   The offerings were not  spicy hot that I can remember.  I think the menu we had was a little different to the one shown, but it was great and well worth it.   

[vms]

Sounds delicious! Do you know if it is an option if you have a specialty dining package, or if you would need to purchase outside of the package?

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We enjoy Indian food but I can't eat spicy food at night. How would you rate the average spice level? I see the lamb is listed as spicy.

 

1 hour ago, Guindalf said:

 

It's a common misconception that Indian food is spicy. It does use a lot of spices, but generally, it's not 'hot'. Oh sure, there are spicy dishes, but they will be highlighted.

 

In my experience, I have never found an Indian dish on a cruise ship to have much spice at all, even after requesting it (I LOVE spicy food)!

 

Dishes like Butter Chicken or Korma have wonderful flavors, but are not at all spicy.

I agree with @Guindalf — there are many spices used in Indian food, but the food is generally not spicy, as in “hot.” Certainly the food we had last night was not spicy “hot.” Strong flavors, yes, but that’s different. 
 

Because the spices in Indian food are not what I commonly eat, I have learned when eating Indian food that a couple of Pepsids before dinner do the trick. I ate everything on that menu, and had no problems. 🙂

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, vms said:

Sounds delicious! Do you know if it is an option if you have a specialty dining package, or if you would need to purchase outside of the package?

I’m pretty certain it was purchase outside the package. 

[Homosassa]

11 hours ago, markeb said:

Do you know what was on the menu? Not an Indian food snob, but really love good southern Indian food, which is kind of atypical in the US. Which isn't to say I don't love Indian food in general, but curious about the offerings!

 

(Ticki Masala is NOT southern Indian, as a frame of reference...)

You are fortunate to live in an area (DC metropolitan) where the ethnic foods are available and not "dumbed down" for the general US population.

 

I would make a guess that the food offering are probably just about as authentic as the menu in the Tuscan Grill; i.e., a step above The Olive Garden, but not by much.

[Jazzbo]

Thank you for posting this! Our only scheduled cruise at the moment is a TA from Barcelona next October. I’ll definitely look into it!

[dreams_of_travel]

12 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

My wife and I are on the Silhouette right now (Dec. 3-13), and a couple of days before embarkation, I noticed a dinner listing in the app for “Taj X” — a one-time, pop up Indian dinner. We made reservations for this as soon as we boarded.

 

The dinner was tonight.  It was a tasting menu, with three starters, six mains, and three desserts.  All of the menu items were served to us. The food was exceptional, and we’re really glad we took advantage of this offering. 
 

I think it’s a don’t miss if it’s offered on your cruise. 
 

(It was $40pp including the gratuity, and well worth it.)

Great info.  Thanks for posting. I will definitely keep an eye out for this.

 

Do you know if this is on 7 day or longer cruises only?   (In general)

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Great info.  Thanks for posting. I will definitely keep an eye out for this.

 

Do you know if this is on 7 day or longer cruises only?   (In general)

I’m sorry, I don’t. We’re on a 10-day cruise. 

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, Homosassa said:

I would make a guess that the food offering are probably just about as authentic as the menu in the Tuscan Grill; i.e., a step above The Olive Garden, but not by much.

No need to guess. Celebrity has a significant number of Indian staff and crew on board.  They are already enjoying “home cooking.” It was not the Olive Garden-plus last night. 

[sbcs5390]

I just noticed this on the app for my February 25 sailing. Very interested. I’m traveling solo and with COVID especially would prefer dining alone. Is that still possible with this? I notice the menu says it’s served family style. 

[Northern Aurora]

58 minutes ago, sbcs5390 said:

I just noticed this on the app for my February 25 sailing. Very interested. I’m traveling solo and with COVID especially would prefer dining alone. Is that still possible with this? I notice the menu says it’s served family style. 

 

We have enjoyed this meal on several different ships.  While I attend with my husband I suspect they can accommodate a single person.  Instead of large shared serving bowls or platters the waiters should be able to provide the different dishes in smaller serving bowls or platters.