In a mood for some North Indian food last Saturday night, my parents and I went to Maharajah North Indian restaurant at Cuppage Terrace. We decided to sit outdoors as it was nice and breezy and really, I have enough of airconditioned places throughout the work week so I much prefer having some fresh air.
The papadums are really fresh and crispy too. There’s nothing worse than being served soft and stale papadums in an Indian restaurant. Apparently there are many ways to spell "papadum". Here's a whole list - go take your pick.
For starters we ordered the vegetarian samosas which served to give a first impression of the food that was to follow. The samosa’s pastry was nice and crisp without being too dry. The potato and vegetable filling went well with the yoghurt dip that came with the appetizer.
I ordered a mango lassi which I didn’t like because it was rather diluted. Thankfully, the food that came along left a better impression. We had the butter chicken, prawn butter marsala, lamb shank and cauliflower curry. And of course, there was the requisite garlic naan.
The butter chicken curry was rich, creamy and smooth and the chicken was tender. The prawn butter marsala tasted pretty similar to the chicken’s but I preferred the chicken’s. The didn't think the prawns tasted fantastic. They weren't that big too - just medium-sized. The cauliflower curry actually came with potatoes but because I don’t like them I requested for them to be replaced by more cauliflower. And kudos to them, they obliged my request. That’s what I like—flexibility. The lamb shank was quite tasty but I just felt it was a tad dry. The garlic naans were well-baked, crisp yet soft and I just adore eating freshly baked naans.
Overall, I thought the food was pretty good and I was really stuffed after that. We were served a complementary scoop of ice cream each topped with a wafer. Not fantastic ice cream so I gave it a pass.
Service: Good
Cost: $30-$40 per person. No discounts for any credit cards.
Maharajah
39 Cuppage Road
Tel: 6732 6331