Anniversary at the Taj

Monday, for the Anniversary of our first date, Erik made a dinner reservation at the nearby Taj hotel that is just opening in Whitefield. December 15th was supposed to be their soft opening so Erik called and they took his reservation.

We pulled up to the hotel on our 2-wheeler (kids were at home with Jennifer) and we were immediately surrounded by security. (The Taj hotel in Mumbai was one of the targets of the recent terrorist attacks). We tried to explain that we had a reservation but we were told the hotel was not open yet. Finally Erik mentioned the name of the Manager who he made the reservation with. That made a world of difference. Someone went into the hotel to fetch the manager and we were VIPs from that moment on.

We couldn't believe it. The hotel manager escorted us into the hotel. It was beautiful and fully staffed - yet we were their only customers. We got the VIP tour. Everyone came up to us to shake our hands and wish us Happy Anniversary because WE WERE THEIR FIRST CUSTOMERS! So we were as big of a deal to them as they were to us.



We toured the hotel then went to the cocktail lounge for a pre-dinner drink. The DJ was spinning tunes, the ambiance was fabulous, and there were waiters and bar staff at our beck and call. We were given flutes of champagne while we selected our cocktails.

After our drinks and a nice walk around their rooftop garden we headed toward the restaurant. Again, fully staffed, just for us. We chose an outside table. They presented us with the full menu but Erik asked the chef to decide what he wants to cook. We had an assortment of starters similar to tapas but Indian. Our main meal was an amazing broccoli dish and lamb briyani with NO BONES! The meal ended with fresh strawberry shortcake and strong coffee.

The pastry chef came out to meet us. He wanted to know if the dessert was up to expectation because he had not planned on making anything that day and whipped this up quickly (wow, would never have known).



As we got up to go, we had our picture taken with the chefs and some hotel staff because we were their honored first customers.



Truly unforgettable.