Maharajah — Restaurant in Rome

As an Indian, I have pretty high standards for Indian food. But when I saw that this restaurant has been visited by Bollywood celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, I thought this restaurant must be worth trying, even while on vacation in Italy! Tired after a long day of sightseeing, I ordered delivery through JustEat. The delivery was prompt and timely and the food was hot. Furthermore, the dishes were all nicely packaged to prevent spilling which was greatly appreciated.

First, the good. The butter chicken was just as expected. It tastes exactly like the butter chicken I've had at "lesser known" Indian restaurants in the US and UK. So they certainly get points for predictability and delivering on a cult classic Indian dish. The naan was also adequate, although I ordered butter naan and received plain naan. Both of these dishes were tasty, hot, decent portions and did not disappoint - though I would have been flabbergasted if an Indian chef could somehow manage to screw up either butter chicken or naan.

Now, the bad. In addition to butter chicken and naan, I also ordered Hyderabadi Biryani (mutton) and Rogan Josh (mutton). While the boneless mutton pieces were all tender, they were greatly lacking any distinguishing flavour. If you picked up a piece of mutton from either the Rogan Josh or Biryani, both tasted exactly the same - like under seasoned, bland boiled/roasted mutton. The Hyderabadi Biryani was exceptionally disappointing. The whole dish had ZERO flavour. Biryani should be fragrant and flavourful enough to eat on its own. This was no better than eating plain boiled rice. A few coloured bits of rice and almond slices thrown on top can't disguise what a bland and flavourless atrocity this was. I think it would be embarrassing if this biryani was served anywhere in India, let alone in Hyderabad.

Finally, the mutton Rogan Josh was totally inedible for my family. Immediately upon opening the carton we were overwhelmed by the smell of raw onions. The gravy REEKED of onions and cinnamon - which was revolting and disgusting. I have cooked Rogan Josh myself, and had it at restaurants all around the world including in India, and Rogan Josh paste is NOT made primarily with pureed onions as the base of the gravy!! Unless I was sent the wrong dish, this is a completely made up recipe that shames the authentic Rogan Josh name. Since I am in a hotel and not at home, I couldn't even rectify the dish myself and my family refused to eat it so it went straight in the trash.

I am absolutely shocked at all the five star reviews on JustEat, Google and TripAdvisor. I wasn't expecting perfection from even the best Indian restaurant in Rome, given that we are in ITALY. But THIS WAS SHAMEFUL. Half of my order was absolutely disgraceful to Indian cuisine and the two items they did get right were so basic even my American-born daughter mastered the recipe before she left for college. Being able to cook good butter chicken doesn't make you a good Indian chef, it's entry-level stuff. I'm truly sorry that this is considered the highest standard of Indian cuisine in Rome. They are truly missing out on how amazing and flavourful Indian food actually is.

And lastly, I don't know if the chef has changed since Shah Rukh Khan visited the restaurant, but I have been to two other restaurants (in India) that Shah Rukh Khan has also dined at and I KNOW HE KNOWS WHAT GOOD INDIAN FOOD TASTES LIKE! This was certainly...

I normally don't leave reviews but had to leave a review to ensure this restaurant's above and beyond service and excellent quality of their food is known to all. We were craving Indian cuisine during our holiday trip to Italy. We came across Maharajah on Just Eat and placed an order. We were blown away by the quality and taste of their food and decided to order from the same restaurant the following day. Due to confusion through the Just Eat ordering system we received the incorrect order and were disappointed to learn from Just Eat that the order won't be redelivered but they can see what else they can do once we show evidence of the wrong items received. However the restaurant directly contacted me shortly after acknowledging the confusion and did their best to rectify it. They sent their own employee to deliver the order in person and did their best to comfort me that I would receive the food I ordered. They even gave me the contact details of their employee in case I didn't hear from them within reasonable time, though the delivery was completed quite quickly. I don't speak Italian, but they still did their best to communicate with me in English and navigate to my hotel address. Also the food was amazing, fresh and delicious, best Indian take away I have ever had in any country I have been to (which says a lot given I live in London and Indian take away is very popular and common there). Thank you so much! I know where to get the best Indian food if I visit Rome again....

I was visiting Rome last week . Everone in my family was looking for a good north indian food since it was last day of our Europe trip. We checked out this place and walked in. The website did not say Reservations are required! We were told to head to the ground floor, I said I don't wana sit in the basement , this lady (host I guess) came up and said the upper floor is reserved and basement is good too. We sat there since my kids were supper hungry and no one had the energy to walk in to a different restaurant now. When I walked in, the upper floor was almost empty with just 1 white family sitting, but on my way out the upper floor was completely full with all white people eating. I felt really strange! I did not see a single white person in the basement . I would like to hear from other indians if they had the same experience.

Why spend your money at such places where you are not respected. We ate at saravana bhawan after that - amazing experience !

But the food was good , yes the quantity of the curries was very small. The punjabi guy, we asked him where he was from, served us well in the BASEMENT and...