By Royal decree or an Eton Mess?

The Oakham Curry Club (OCC) is a well-respected Institution with multiple international franchises. This review of The Royal Taj being the latest by our Singapore branch.

The OCC takes pride in searching out the finest Indian restaurants and providing impartial reviews of Curry Houses all over the world.

Members vote anonymously without being influenced by other members (we call this “no swaying”) on 5 categories, and an average score out of a maximum 10 is given to each restaurant we review.

On 25th and 31st of August, The big lads of OCC visited The Royal Taj - Somewhere in Sentosa but still no idea where it is exactly.

For full transparency, see below scores (out of 10). The voting is based on the votes from OCC members.

Restaurants must score an average of 7/10 or above to receive the OCC sticker of recommendation. All OCC members have been through a rigorous selection process to gain entry into the Club. In short, we all know our curries.

Quality: 7.88

Customer Care: 7.42

Value: 6.02

Service: 7.5

Atmosphere: 6.25

Overall: 7.01

Royal Taj IS AWARDED the OCC badge of recommendation.

As Singapore continues with small dining groups, the OCC Singapore Branch was forced to split their attendance for August’s Meet over 2 sittings. Yes, Lawrence Wong, it was on 2 different days thank you.

Gypo, Jessie and Dutch made their way down The Mayor’s Island in the Grey Chariot blasting some heavy UK Garage. I was already apprehensive about having a meal at the Royal Taj as it is a Posh Curry House (normally these places are proper rubbish). As we were driving around in circles trying to figure out where in the world this place actually is, I’m thinking there’s more chance of Chilli Brett putting a seed in his Mrs then there is of me enjoying a meal tonight. Pls note – that the Taj is a logistical nightmare and impossible to find! By Elephant might be easiest.

Fast forward 30 minutes; following an in-correct parking, a pointless walk, 3 grown men nearly peeing in their pants (bladders bursting) and we find ourselves sat in a nice venue with decent attentive staff albeit because there is literally only one other couple in the whole place.

Poppadoms arrive promptly and we had a nice chat with the lady serving us.

What was lacking in atmosphere was certainly made up for by the awesome Assorted Non Veg Platter (proper Juicy meat and the platter was huge) that landed soon after a second helping of Poppadoms. All of this being washed down by ice cold Corona’s and Red wine for the group. DJ Jessie then decided that we would create our own atmosphere as he preceded to very quietly think of tunes from The Dubliners and if memory serves me correct Beer, Beer, Beer by the Clancy Brothers. Thanks Lawrence

The lamb Vindaloo was perfect for my palate but understandably for folks who enjoy a higher level spice, like our boy Dutch, it might a bit of a let down. So trip Advisor Community if you like your Vindaloo hot be sure to let Jeera (lovely lass) know so she can give the kitchen a heads up. Large portions of Garlic and Butter nan along with Taj Butter Chicken was not bad at all but certainly nothing to write home about, even if you haven’t seen your mum and family in 2 years (We understand you are doing your best Lawrence, and thank you).

A smoke and sup of some red wine on the patio rounded off a delightful evening in the end and I was converted to accepting that posh curries can be aight. (and turns out, Chilli, has put one in her).

The Royal Taj Lands the coveted OCC sticker of recommendation having delivered on great food, Staff was full of life and attending to our every need (even if they did want to get rid of us by 10pm). I was expecting a huge bill but it landed at less than a ton a head which is decent given that we all had 2-3 drinks each. Good value!

Get involved. I’ll be back.