Maharaja Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Copenhagen Municipality

As a Londoner, I have a cultural and gastronomical history with Indian food, and the take out habits that come with it. When testing a, to me, new place, I often check out Lamb Rogan Josh or Lamb Vindaloo. These are dishes that are more European in their history but it's a good place to start.

I chose the latter from Maharaja. At 111DKK the price is steep, add 20 DKK for rice. The female employee who took my order on the phone was not impressed with me skipping the rice. She advised me the food would be ready 15 minutes later. I got there exactly on time and they tried to charge me an extra 4 DKK just for the paper bag they had packed the food in, you know one of those takeaway paper bags with handles on!

So my business impression is that the restaurant tries to top their asking price in incremental steps by 25% with the accessories that the rice and the bag make out. Checking out the menu I do also find the other condiments come with a hefty price hike. Crikey!

No thank you to the bag, and I noticed the bland service from the employee. I was unceremoniously handed my food in the container, it had already cooled down enough for me to hold with no problem whatsoever.

Got home seven minutes later, tried the dish with my homemade rice; I was entirely underwhelmed.

Little to no notes of turmeric, ginger or fenugreek seeds, just an oily tomato sauce, a stingy helping of about 4 tiny chunks of lamb meat, and oh did I mention I had to microwave the food a bit to get it warm again? I have tasted jars of Patak Vindaloo and Rogan Josh paste that delivered more punch and tasteful depth then what I sat with.

As a side note I did get a completely anonymous and unnecessary little plastic container of a "chilli paste" most reminiscent of the free helpings you get when you order at fast food Kebab takeouts. Seen from the perspective of this restaurant supposedly delivering high quality Indian food, one does wonder what the signal is with the superfluous Kebab sauce? Perhaps they just couldn't be bothered.

The portion itself was also underwhelming, I noticed that container has an inverse indent on the bottom minimising the quantity of sauce and food whilst maximising the visual oppression from above. I squeezed what I could out the container, but my palate and my stomach felt quite let down.

My baseline recommendation to a customer would be to try the fresher and more authentic Indian experiences that Copenhagen has thankfully become so blessed by in the recent two decades. Maharaja Østerbro was established in 2009, and report a gross profit before wages of 1.2 million DKK.

To the owners of Maharaja, I suggest you turn your back on the business "smart" way of cutting corners and maximising profit, (little meat, packaging designed to minimise quantity but maximise visual impression, additional prices for rice as well as for a paper bag(seriously guys, whatever next?) and try taking a 4-day trip to London to see how Indian food really is done in the takeout and home delivery business, in a highly urban and gastronomical demanding environment. And then, simply test the younger and fresher competitors in Copenhagen who most definitely is eating away at your customer base.

EDIT: I received an offer from the owner for a replacement meal. When I took him up on it, he still wanted to charge me for the meal, AND the rice AND ... wait for it; the bag :-))

In exchange for a roughly 39 DKK discount on the "replacement" meal, he also wanted me to remove this negative posting. That's really not great.

Well, at least I know how "much"...

Ok food however, completely unacceptable that allegedly vegan menu contains milk (cream in the soup) and cheese (feta in a salad)

Comment added after owners reply: The two stars is a result of many combined considerations and I actually write that the food i OK (but your arrogant comment forces me to elaborate):

1. Yes we parted as grown-ups which does not mean that I was happy and I certainly do not want loud public discussions and complaints with my guests being present; thus I contacted you at the counter
2. As one of the guests (the vegan) suffers from multi allergies, (we actually mentioned gluten, but still there were croutons in the soup). As certain food can cause serious problems to people with allergies it is relevant to warn others
3. When the soup (that contained cream) was replaced, you came with a chicken soup?
4. Yes you started by giving me and my wife (the alcohol drinkers) two extra large beers. However, only when I specifically asked you, you also compensated the non-alcohol drinkers
5. I appreciate the explanations you gave us about the kitchen not being used to vegan food (which btw I find quite complicated myself) however, a review should be a guide to other users and it would be problematic if a restaurant could buy better reviews by 'bribing' with extra drinks.

Finally I have to say that I find it sad that you (when confronted with critique) answer with a personal attack on the person who actually takes the time to give...

This was probably the worst restaurant experience I had, ever.

First of all, and also the main point why I would never come back here and what I really need to point out, is the owner‘s behavior. When we were visiting the restaurant we were the only guests for a while, which is why we could hear the interactions between the presumable owner and one of his workers. The worker was doing a wonderful job and was honestly the only nice thing about this visit, but when she returned behind the counter we could hear the owner critique her in multiple, unreasonable points. One of these points was even referring to her appearance and in what way she should change it - completely unacceptable!!!

Secondly, the food was super plain and flavorless, the rice was overcooked, wet and soft and overall it was very underwhelming. When we were asked, by the owner himself, if we like the food & we explained why we did not really like it, he got very defensive, not taking in the feedback or apologizing. Right after that, we were sent the bill (probably from him), even though we still had drinks etc. So after all this, we were basically thrown out.

Overall I don‘t see a reason to recommend this place to anyone, on the contrary: i would urge everyone NOT to visit this...