Maharaja — Restaurant in London

I always enjoy a good curry when I'm in London. Tonight, I ordered a take away from this establishment as a walk-in customer after researching local curry restaurants in the area. It looked pretty good, and reviews were generally very good.

Their menu says 10 percent off of collection orders, along with a 12 percent added "gratuity" charge. With this in mind, I ordered my curry with the gentleman there, and, as I was paying him, asked if the ten percent collection discount was applied to my £15.95 order of chicken tikka jalfrazi, rice and naan. He replied that the discount was only for orders placed "online." I explained this is not what their menu said (see photo). I asked for the discount, saying, if necessary, I would order online (as I hate being taken advantage). He then said he would take the ten percent off as their menu states.

NOW HERE IS THE KICKER: he then proceeded to pretend to give me the discount by punching some keys on their computer screen (back turned to me), then he turned and gave me £4.05 in change for the twenty pound note I had handed him--he continued to ACTUALLY pretend to give me the discount. Apparently, he thought I couldn't do maths(?) and it easier to be dishonest with a customer than to cancel the transaction and input it again as it it should've been with the collection discount.

At this point I decided not to complain but to take that ten percent I would've saved and "buy" them this review for my experience there. It was money well spent to share my fraudulent experience.

The food? It was average at best--very bland tasting (see photo) and a pretty small portion too.

I'm going to the curry-house across the street tonight for my meal. I bet I'm treated honestly there and with better curry too. Muharaja won't be seeing me or my money again. 👎👎

Tourists beware. This establishment will rip you off, and serve you mediocre curry while doing so. Go across the street for better curry AND...

Walking into Maharaja my first impression was a clean and nicely presented restaurant, carpeted flooring, tables with cloth and cutlery set up. Friendly staff will come over and greet you, Muhammed introduced himself and showed us to our table, my uncle James ordered his favourites and Hussein recommended me a tandoori lamb main, between the 2 of us we had 4 poppadoms and chutney, 3 lamb mains 2 breads, pilau rice and cokes, two happy stuffed adults for approximately £50. We was super hungry so ordering starters or poppadoms was a great idea because it is a quick remedy to warm up your tastes buds, ingredients were fresh, firm, in season and flavourful (you do not want to eat wilted veg) The lamb was tender and the sauces had perfect heat, texture and aromas that will keep you coming back! Staff here are extremely nice and down to earth; Hussein making sure you are enjoying your experience and having a laugh. I would definitely recommend this restaurant and will be coming back, I didnt expect it to be this good but next time I will take photos. Thank...

We were really looking forward to having amazing Indian food in London having heard how great it is in the city. This is not the case at Maharaja. The portions are ridiculously small for the curries, the rice and the appetizers. Dishes are lackluster in flavor, and the service, just ok. We had the mutter paneer, dal, and veggie curry - the veggie curry at least had a good flavor, the dal was spicy but was still missing a lot and the mutter was just bad. Samosas are extremely overpriced for 2 very small pieces that are just ok.

The reason for their high rating and thousands of reviews, you ask? They pressure customers for a review before stepping out of the restaurant, I witnessed the table beside us give a good review on the spot at the waiters request. I was not asked to give a review because I told the waiter my curry lacked flavor. Instead of offering to change it or make it right his response was "yes, that's paneer." I've had plenty of paneer in my life, this was a complete lack of seasoning in the curry. Do yourself a favor and go...