The Maharaja — Restaurant in Cambridge

Long review shortened: Good food, but an over-priced experience.

I've always been interested in this place overlooking the square and was curious to see if it would make a good date place or a good place to take my parents when they visit. Finally got the chance to check it out one early afternoon with a couple friends.

First impression of the place was that it has seen better days. The entrance was a tad shabby and the decorative woodwork was chipped and broken in places.

The interior of the restaurant was similarly as unremarkable. Writing this about a month afterwards, I was left with absolutely no impression outside of it not meeting expectations covered later.

The staff was nice, but not overly exuberant - which is just fine IMO as long as service was prompt, which it was.

My first issue came from the dirty glassware and plateware at the table - they had small specks of encrusted, presumably, food on it. My friend with me at the time, someone with plenty of experience in the restaurant service industry, told me that this was likely due to the dishwasher not correctly washing the dishes. It's a real turn-off to see dirty dishes placed for customer use.

The food was above average in cost, but average in taste. Naan bread was/is not included in the cost and was a bit pricy. Rice portions were pretty conservative in their amounts and we were afraid to ask what extra would cost.

I would accept the higher prices if it was made up for in any areas of taste, quantity, or even décor, but it didn't. On top of that, they tried to serve us on dirty plates and cups.

Overall, I'd say the place is a bit overpriced. I don't think I'll be returning with my...

A homey perch above Harvard‘s shopping street for delicious Indian food that will make you feel like you’re at a family table.

Have been to the Maharaja multiple times over the years and it’s the atmosphere, service, and high quality food that makes it a spot I should visit more often!

Today we ordered the chicken tikka from the tandoor section for the first time, and it arrived on a sizzling platter with vegetables and a lemon wedge: absolutely delicious. The paneer dish was fantastic too, as were the vegetable samosas and complementary papadums. My only point of feedback would be to reduce the salt level a touch and the sugar level in the mango lassi, but personally I cook very sparingly with these so I am probably more sensitive.

The atmosphere and service is what really stands out here. On this evening, our server came by three times to ask whether we were enjoying our food, and the background music was violin renditions of Coldplay songs i.e. very relaxing!

One thing I will say is that the flavors do seem adapted to fit a broad set of palates. Authenticity isn’t really one of my yardsticks to evaluate restaurants. My palate is informed not by home cooking but by the excellent Indian food I had living in Asia. Could the flavors be a bit punchier and complex? Sure. Is it the best samosa I’ve ever had? No, but that’s a bit beside the point. You can tell the food is prepared with care and love, and all that together with the warm service when dining in makes a visit here like a warm hug. Absolutely recommended for small and...

I would have given 5 Star rating, but then I had a not as good experience here when I went in for the second time. For the first time, I went on Sunday, so they were serving Weekend buffet. It had a great variety of things. The long list includes Dosa, chaat, soup, samosa, pakoda, daal makhni, chicken dhaba curry, mutton curry, palak paneer, aloo gobhi, chhole bhature, garden salad, plain rice, biryani, naan bread etc. In desserts there was mango pudding and gajar ka halwa. Out of all this, I liked palak paneer, dosa with chutney, gajar ka halwa and dhaba chicken the most. Pakodas were really bad (too thick, bland). So overall this was a good experience for the price ($17 including taxes) Next time I went on the New Year's Eve, it was a Monday, and I confirmed that they will be having lunch buffets. But this time around the number of dishes was very less, there was not much variety. Pakodas were the only appetizers, and again they were pathetic. Then, in the main course as well, there were very few things compared to my last vist, like mutter paneer, daal makhni, jeera rice, aloo zucchini, chicken curry, butter chicken etc. And also only one dessert. I understand that the price was reasonable for this ($12), but I think if the weekday is a holiday, then they should serve weekend lunch menu. I won't mind paying a little bit extra, to enjoy weekend lunch!

Overall service was great, views from the 2nd...