Drink Masala tea over a plate of Tandoori chicken in a 200-year old ancient Chinese style house. The newly relocated Raj Indian Restaurant and Baris now inside the former site of a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) home. The house is so well preserved that the wooden structures basically look the same as they were 200 years ago. The addition of classic Indian elements forms a contrast to the exposed old Chinese-style wooden columns and girders coloured with age-old red paint. Purple and pink  curtains help create a sense of softness.

The restaurant is owned by a Chinese, but the chef is Indian. The food here mostly comes from the tastier, spicier North Indian cuisine, and is presented in a more international style.

The first thing the chef does after he arrives at the restaurant in the morning is to make five pots of fresh curry: yellow, brown, red, green and white, each with different ingredients.

The restaurant's Tandoori chicken tikka and vegetable platter come in a black iron bowl set in a wooden plate. Before it is served, sauce is poured into the dishes in the hot iron bowl, so that they are sizzling and fragrant when presented on the table. The chicken is tender, and the vegetable platter has many different things such as cauliflower, potato slices, mushroom, tomato and sweet green chilli.

The Indian chef also recommends mutton Rogan Josh. For appetizers, diners can taste vegetable samosa and Raita mixes vegetables. For soup there is Rasam soup Madras. There is buttered naan, and naan with garlic crumbs.

Currently, a Chinese dancer performs Indian, Turkish and Xinjiang style dance performances Friday and Saturday evenings from 7:30-9:30pm. The manager hopes to bring old Indian performing artists at the end of November.

Average spending is 80-100 yuan. The menu is in both Chinese and English.

Tandoori
Opening time:11am-2pm, 6pm-11pm.
Address: 31 Gulou Xidajie, Xicheng District.
Tel: 010-6401-1675. 31