Maharaja — Restaurant in Milwaukee

We're from Madison, WI. The Indian Restaurants here no longer serve buffets, so we decided to try our luck in Milwaukee. Glad we did. We were greeted very graciously by our host/mgr as well as their super friendly waitstaff. Already a HUGE improvement from the service we get at Indian Restaurants in Madison.

The staff explained that there was a lunch buffet $20. We were there on the weekend, a little pricier than we'd like, however, it did include refreshments such as Mango Smoothies, Mimosas, Bloody Mary's, along with fountain beverages. Their Mango Smoothie hit the spot, especially after eating the various curry offered from their buffet.

Their buffet is small in comparison to some of our older Madison buffets, but they make that size up with absolutely delicious, foodgasmic experiences with their choice selections they put in their buffet table. I chose to get the standard Bread and Butter items, such as Chicken Tikka Masala, Saag Paneer, Malai Kofta, Goat Curry, and some fried catfish nuggets. Accompanying that was a few spoons of chutneys (Coconut, Mint, and Tomato) as well as some diced onions that I mixed with hot sauce to make my own type of onion chutney. Oh boy, that stuff was AMAZING! The Chicken Tikka Masala had great flavor, although my pieces of chicken seemed to be a little on the drier overcooked side, the sauce along with the chutneys helped overcome that issue.

The Saag Paneer had a great texture along with their cubed/diced pieces of cottage cheese. The Malai Kofta, great vegetarian option here for those that don't eat meat. The sauce is divine with the pieces of Veggie Meatballs, it's a match made in heaven. I personally loved adding some of my onion chutney with the sauce to scoop up with the freshest of freshly made Garlic Naan bread, so fluffy and soft and warm and buttery as well. I do appreciate the fact that the naan is fresh and not reused from other tables like in some of the Madison Indian restaurants.

The Goat Curry was amazing. Great flavors, not as spicy as I would like it, but I just added some of their hot sauce to compensate for that. The meat so so tender, especially the pieces that are attached to the bone. I cannot wait to go back to this hidden gem around the lake area. I talked to my family and relatives, and they are looking forward to trying this place out in the future. Unfortunately, the Indian Restaurants in Madison post pandemic have cashed in on take out carryout orders, that they make up lame excuses as to why they will not open up their buffets, such as "No one in Madison is interested in having an Indian buffet." Good-Bye Indian Restaurants in Madison, hello Maharaja in Milwaukee. I will drive on hour to eat at your restaurant. You're that good. You can have my business anytime. I apologize for the quality of the photos, I'll be sure to take better pics next time. The food was so good, I forgot to take a lot of pics. Keep up the great work. Love,...

Worst food ever…. I would have given ZERO rating. I have gone to many Indian restaurant in USA but this is the first place I did not like anything. The behavior of owner is pathetic. Anytime you go for food, the buffet tray is empty, hardly you will find food in the buffet tables. I won’t recommend this place to anyone. Please avoid this place.

I did see your response; it is totally opposite. Just responding to negative review will not look you good, rather work on the shortcoming. People go to restaurant, to eat good food and enjoy with family. Ofcourse they are ready to pay for the food, not coming back with empty stomach. In the busy world, who has time to argue with the owner; hope you understand this. But seeing many people, one should not think, just delay the food, people will go away on their own. Charge for food and services, if you are providing it as expected. correct... General tendency, not many people give review, they simply think it is a waste of time. Even I do feel the same. After 8/10 days I thought of giving this review. The bottom line, if you don' feel good about the restaurant and its owner, better avoid going there, rather than wasting time even for 5 minutes to provide review further. In your comments, you stated we were with few families, You are correct, you charged gratuity. Even if we are separate families and everyone paid for their own. I did not find any reason for you to charge gratuity and could not provide enough food for us to eat. we were waiting for long time to fill the tray; finally your team asked us to leave and we left without having enough food. You may defend for your restaurant/anything but think for a minute, why someone will waste his/her own time to provide a review. I am so upset you can't imagine simply....I could have gone to a different restaurant or in the worst case Subway store, I feel cheated after making a payment of $116 for 3 adult and 2 kids. It is not about the money, rather the kind of service you get. You think, it is really worth spending that money????? Not at all...completely waste. Trust me, not a single member in my group felt good about the restaurant....they might take their own time to share review or they may not even; that does not mean they liked your service. Once again neither I will go to this place again nor I would recommend this restaurant to anyone. The owner knows how to respond to the review, not to work on the issues. Stay...

Went with a friend not too long ago. Very underwhelming. The ice-cream is freeser burnt and the owners insist it's not. (I know what freezer burnt is...) I suspect that the ice-cream is melted from the buffet and refrozen. Servers are blamed for mishaps when the owners are sitting around, eating and barking orders. The food itself is alright, but the behavior left a a very poor impression on me. Alcohol is very overpriced--nearly $11 for a mixed drink (alcohol + Coke). The lassi is nearly $2 extra than anywhere else in town and comes in a small glass. That's just...lol. Wow. I could have bought my own bottle for that. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else for Indian.

Edit: "The statements [I] have shared (at 4:14AM) are not based on factual information"

Reviews are based upon personal experience. What part of my experience is not based on fact? Are the lassis really not at least $2 more than other places charge. Menus are almost always available online and can easily be fact-checked. Re: what time I posted the review. I am sorry that you are so preoccupied with what I am doing at a specific time. I could easily work third shift, be in a different time zone, or jet-lagged from traveling. Ultimately, it is none of your business. Your initial reply was pointing out the time of the review and edited. Yet still included that petty dig.

Since we ARE on the topic of when people decide to use the Internet, I will like to note that this review was replied to on Christmas. Sounds like your Christmas...