If you are looking to eat Indian food, look no further.  Cafe Maharani on South King St is definitely the place to go.  Located right across Star Market and wedged in between Down to Earth and Subway, this Indian eatery might possibly be the best Indian food I’ve ever had.

Since we were pressed for time, we decided to purchase take out.  Little did we know, the place was already packed, and had a group of people waiting to be seated in this small but cozy restaurant.  Parking was found in the back, but very limited.  I’d say there no more than 10 parking spaces.

After walking into the crowded restaurant, we placed our takeout order.  Seeing how busy it was, they said it would take 20 minutes.  40 minutes later, our food arrived.  This was the same with everyone else who was waiting to get takeout, as I talked to a few one them, even running into a friend who was trying out their food for the first time as well.  The people waiting to be seated also said they were standing for about 30 minutes.  This gave me a good sense that this restaurant must be good, since everyone was willing to wait!

By the time we received our food, it came in two bags.  Yes, TWO bags.  Cafe Maharani is known for giving lots of food, and let me tell you, I eat a lot.  This was a lot of food folks.

So what did we order?  We got the dinner for two.  For $38.95, you get to choose two chicken, beef, or vegetable entrees, and it comes with an order of samosa, rice, and naan.  I went with the chicken masala since the worker told me I would not be disappointed, and my girlfriend got a vegetable curry.  Samosas are cooked curried vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions) that are filled in a very delicious fried pastry crust.  They were ENORMOUS…about the size of my fist.  They were very delicious, hot, and the crust was phenomenol.  The samosas also included two dipping sauces, one very simliar to tsatsiki sauce (tasted like yogurt with cucumber and mint) and a spicy reddish sauce.  I liked both, but the spicier sauce was more my cup of tea.

The chicken masala was phenomenol!  The curry had some coconut milk along with tomato and onions, and was reddish in nature.  They didn’t skimp on the chicken as well…there were huge chunks that were extremely tender to the bite.  I had probably 10 chunks of chicken in there.  The curry was very tasty and was decently spicy.  Of course you could ask for any strength of spice, but mine was perfect.  My girlfriend’s vegetable
curry was also very good, and had lots of vegetables including potato, peas, carrots, and onions.  It was very chunky and tasted very good.  All of our curry were poured on an enormous amount of rice.  And I really mean enormous.  It was basmati rice which had a nice rich flavor with some saffron mixed into it.  Perfect.

Of course, an Indian dinner would not be complete without naan, the Indian version of bread.  This was definitely a winner in my book.  It was basically a HUGE soft and slightly chewy (and at times crispy) flat pita-ish bread.  I say it’s almost as big as a medium sized pizza from Pizza Hut.  Yeah, that’s big.  It was very delicious, and was even good the next day when we threw it in the oven.  Nothing better than fresh hot naan.

Overall, the food was great.  Waiting 40 minutes for takeout food was a bit overboard, and I can only imagine how long people had to wait when they dined in, as they had to wait to get seated and wait again for the food to arrive.  I suggest going earlier to miss the prime time dinner crowd so you don’t have to wait.  Otherwise, call in and order takeout, and arrive 30 minutes later.  By then, you should only wait a few minutes before your food arrives.

Want Indian food, try Cafe Maharani!  The food in great…now if you can just wait long enough…

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Tags: Restaurant Review

               
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