Ruby red is the theme in the restaurant with the impeccably folded triangular napkins and majestically printed carpet, this place strives to recreate the Indian feel and succeeds in doing so.

Maharaja gives Milwaukee a little bit more oomph when it comes to restaurants. What do you do when you are sick of going out to Walker’s Point to get some sloppy Mexican or when you feel like if you see another gyro you might just…well, I don’t really know what you would do.

The point is, Milwaukee is overflowing with amazingly traditional ethnic restaurants, yet this one, who is most known among the vegetarian crowds, goes unnoticed.

Upon entering Maharaja, I was instantly greeted by two men who looked as though they were so excited to seat me and my dining companion. Great service from right off the bat has to be noted.

Ruby red is the theme in the restaurant with the impeccably folded triangular napkins and majestically printed carpet, this place strives to recreate the Indian feel and succeeds in doing so.

The overwhelming menu left us sitting at the table for more than a few minutes to really gauge the selections. Sixteen different Indian breads are on the menu, not including the traditional nan bread that comes with every meal to soak up the mouth watering leftovers. Thirty-one meat curry dishes grace the menu and it is hard to just pick one, or even two. So, we decided to go for the combination dinner for two ($30.95). It had a little bit of everything from the menu and could have easily fed a family of five.

The vegetable pakora are the Indian version of egg rolls. Deep fried to a golden perfection, they are described as fritters on the menu. Dip them into the accompanied mango chutney for a hint of heat and sweet combined.

Our first dish was a mixture of boneless chicken pieces and tender mushrooms floating in a velvety mixture of curry. It was good, but the lamb masala was even better.

I happen to think that lamb is one of the best meats there is, so of course I was biased. Drown the lamb chunks in curry and you have yourself an amazing dish served over the basmati rice. The lamb was so tender and seemed to soak up some of the curry mixture so that when you bit down, a large explosion of curry happened inside your mouth. Delicious.

The dal makhni was a really good vegetable stoup. Stoup is somewhere between stew and soup. This entrée worked really well with the nan bread. Soaking up the black and kidney bean mixture was made wonderful with the nan.

Every meal comes with basmati rice. This is regular white rice with cloves cooked in to give a more deep, almost a mixture of spicy and smoky combined, flavor to the rice.

Our meal came with a rich dessert, kheer. It’s the Indian version of rice pudding cooked in a lot of sweetened milk, raisins and almonds. I took one bite, noticed the smooth and rich texture and could not take another.

That dessert is one that no lactose intolerant individual should take part in. I’m paying for it even with my one small taste.

We had a very enjoyable time and Maharaja. The service was wonderful, the bathrooms were very tidy and the food was true authentic cuisine.

B

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