The Taj Mahal Palace &Tower, Mumbai has for the second time been awarded the Condé Nast Traveller 'Best for Food' category in The Gold List 2008.

Condé Nast Traveller’s Gold List is in its fourth successful year and provides readers with the ultimate guide to the world’s hotels. The prestigious list separates hotels according to service, rooms, food, ambience & design, location and leisure facilities, taking into consideration those hotels that have received the highest ratings in the reader’s Travel Awards 2007, plus the editor’s choice.

Listed according to continent, Taj Mahal Palace & Tower scored an impressive 94.75% within the Asia section, beating off strong competition within the luxury hotel group.

Taj Mahal Palace & Tower has consistently made it into the Gold List for the past four years:

2008 – Best for Food (94.75%): “There are eight restaurants offering a huge range of cuisine, including Eastern Mediterranean at the rooftop Souk and contemporary Japanese at Wasabi.”

2007 – Best for Service (95.98%): “Considering this is Mumbai's grandest hotel, it has an exceptionally warm, inviting atmosphere. The Taj Club Room butlers assume the role of both guide and assistant.”

2006 – Best forFood (94.85%): “Superlative, edgy Indian cooking and the best Chinese in town, too,” says panelist Loyd Grossman.

2005 – Best for Location (93.04%): “Landmark 1903 building with staggering views over the Arabian Sea, the Gateway of India and the city of Mumbai.”

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has long been recognized for its culinary expertise. Pioneers on the food scene the Taj Group has been revolutionizing food in India since the early 1970’s; introducing Szechuan delicacies and bringing Thai, Californian, Mexican and Italian influences to the sub-continent. In 1972 the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower was home to the first 24-hour all day restaurant in India.

At Taj, food is not a passing fad. Every chef across the 247 restaurants has traveled the length and breadth of several continents to unravel culinary secrets to create enticing menus for global palates. The Taj, with its strong roots in unearthing and showcasing various forms of ethnic cuisines commenced on a new path to contemporise traditional Indian cooking. This implies a lighter touch with both spices & fats while allowing the finer flavours to shine through Chef Hemant Oberoi travelled across Punjab to retrace and revive old recipes for Masala Kraft – Taj Mahal Palace & Tower’s signature restaurant, in which east meets west as classic Indian cuisine is reinvented with a contemporary twist. The Masala brand has been successfully established as Masala Art in New Delhi, Masala Bay – in Taj Lands End, Mumbai and will be launched in Bangalore as Masala Klub.

Ever on the pulse of the needs of the international traveler,
and in keeping with the tradition of innovation Taj introduced many world cuisines. The Golden Dragon at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai introduced Sichuan cuisine to India over 30 years ago and continues to be a favourite. Wasabi by Morimoto: Mumbai’s first contemporary Japanese restaurant, showcases food by the legendary chef Masaharu Morimoto, known to many as the Iron Chef. Overlooking the spectacular harbour from the 23rd floor of the tower wing is “Souk”, a stylish restaurant, offering East Mediterranean cuisine. While, Zodiac Grill is arguably the best contemporary European restaurant in the country.

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Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces