Restaurant Review: Taj Tashi Hotel, Thimphu, Bhutan

Towering like a fortress over downtown Thimphu, the Taj Tashi is Bhutan’s newest international caliber up-scale hotel. It seemed a fitting place to celebrate the Fifth King’s birthday, especially when my about-to-depart roommate Buddha Boy was buying. After attending the gala celebration at the Royal Bhutan Police ground, BB, The Bionic Woman (my other roommate), The Golf Coach (on loan from the States), and I adjourned to the restaurant for lunch.

We were greeted at the door with great courtesy and formality by the hotel sales manager who escorted us through the grand lobby with graced by gigantic cast-iron bells – overgrown versions of the implements found on lamas’ tables – concealing the light fixtures. Down a flight of stairs, we entered the sunlit, glass-walled restaurant. The soaring ceilings, elegantly spare tables and settings, and subdued color palate would not be out-of-place in any sophisticated international city. However, such subtly is unusual in Bhutan, where the decorating scheme tends toward the bright and loud. Restaurants are typically housed in cozy pine-paneled rooms, decorated with colorful traditional Bhutanese crafts, with small windows and little natural light. Already, it seemed as though we were no longer in Bhutan.

We were seated at a banquette next to the two-storey windows, where we had a view of the deep green forested hillside, dotted with prayer flags, across the river. The service – which is typically nonchalant in Bhutan – was formal and attentive. Our chairs were held for us, and white napkins were set in our laps. We ordered juices and coffees, which arrived eventually. The Cold Coffee with Ice Cream was divine. Just the right pick-me-up midday.



A pause after our drinks allowed us to assess the surroundings. The window sill next to our table was sprinkled with dust. The one toilet in the ladies’ room, with no lock on the door, was to serve a restaurant that holds up to 66 people. The concrete retaining wall outside the window was already flaking and crumbling. The hotel is still under construction, so these flaws may be rectified, but 25 guestrooms are already open, so it may be difficult to continue refining the hotel while it is filled with guests, especially as the spring tshechu (festival) season is already upon us.

After some time, our food arrived. The club sandwiches looked just like something you would find in North America, but the Spinach Cannelloni with Wild Mushrooms, whose name suggested such promise, was overloaded with a creamy white sauce that smothered all the other flavors. Somehow, the vegetable flavors got blended and mushed into a uni-dimensional dish. Traditional Bhutanese food is a heavy-handed affair in which the two notes of chili and cheese dominate. Unfortunately, even the contemporary cooking has not traveled far from these roots. Thimphu desperately needs a chef imported from California to develop some subtle and sophisticated dishes that take advantage of the fresh and mostly organic local ingredients. Most of the food in Thimphu tastes more or less the same, and the Taj was not much of an exception.



Still, we were enjoying the sunny and elegant atmosphere so much that we went ahead an ordered dessert. The Warm Chocolate Cake had a grainy, rough texture and a lack of chocolate flavor. The Ice Cream that accompanied it was a treat, as ice cream is rare in Thimphu, but at a restaurant of the caliber and cost of the Taj, one would expect rich, hand-churned ice cream. All in all, we enjoyed the atmosphere, the drinks, and the sunlit, leisurely surroundings. The food was fine, but I'm still on the lookout for cuisine that will give me something to write home about.