Maharaja Indian Restaurant

Maharaja Revisited

In Yoga Woman’s earnest way, she told me she didn’t pay much attention to our older restaurant posts. Meh.

Hobart’s food scene has been going so gangbusters that revisits seemed inefficient. No new restaurant has opened in the last three days we're aware of and in the interests of currency, here’s an update on This Girl’s favourite Indian restaurant.

Style Princess, her new BF and I stopped by last Tuesday after a skin full of Derwent Valley Pinot Gris at the Alabama Hotel. I chose it because I was keen to eat the chef’s special Kofta Shamsavera, about which it is fair to say that I am obsessed. I also had 25 per cent off with my Entertainment card.

What we shared:

Jhal lamb, a specialty dish cooked with green chilli and jhal sauce, $18.90
Kofta Shamsavera, a signature dish of the Chef, spinach balls stuffed with cheese in an orange and cashew sauce, $16.90
Palak Paneer, cottage cheese paneer cooked in spinach, $16.90 and
Three naan bread – cheese, garlic and Kashmiri, $3.90 each.

I loved the food. It’s simple really, and the three choices were awesome together. I can only imagine how time consuming the kofta is to make but it is without a doubt, the most delicious and different Indian meal I’ve eaten in Australia. It goes really well with the sweet fruity flavours of the Kashmiri naan. If you dine with me at the Maharaja Indian restaurant, that is what I will order. Period. They do have one of the most extensive menus in Hobart however. So if you do eat with me, you'll have plenty of other options.

Serving sizes are comparable with other Indian restaurants. The décor is as it has been for a long as I remember. On a Tuesday night, the restaurant was a third to half full, as many people as I have witnessed there, even when it used to be a Thai restaurant.

The service was mixed. The attendant that seated us was accommodating and the attendant that served us was disinterested at best. The killer was the time between taking the drinks order (which for a reason unbeknown to us, couldn’t be taken before the food order) and the drinks actually arriving. Except, they didn’t have what we wanted (Chardonnay) so we needed to choose again (Pinot Gris). That happens. Then they didn’t have that either so they just brought a Sauvignon Blanc (#fail). We chose a Riesling.

This generated a discussion about whether we accept poorer service if we really like the food in a restaurant and what sort of service we expect in an Asian restaurant. One of the views mooted was that good service was not something you should expect in Asian restaurants because the focus is on the food. This led to an interesting conversation about how value-ladden our expectations can be.

In the end This Girl decided that there are three things that matter wherever you are and whatever you’re eating and these are:

Enjoyable food that's good value.
How you treat the staff and how they treat you.
Is there a decent dessert menu?

I’ve always enjoyed good service at Maharaja and I’ve been there numerous times since the Two Girls first blogged about the restaurant. So our service experience on this occasion should be seen in context.

I’m trying to eat less right now so I don’t need dessert.

And yes the food was completely enjoyable and affordable.

Maharaja is my go-to Indian in the city/northern suburbs.

BF paid and I forgot to use the Entertainment card.

You can find the Maharajah at 81A Bathurst Street, Hobart or call them on (03) 6234 4327.

Here’s a link to their webpage - Maharajah Indian Restaurant.

Here’s our really old post on the Alabama Hotel (2015).

Here’s another really old post when we first blogged about Maharajah (2014).

Last time I was out with Yoga Woman –Straight Up (2016).