Maharaja, St. Pauli, Hamburg

This is an excellent Indian restaurant. I have never eaten such authentic Indian food anywhere else in Germany. The staff is really cool, you can ask them everything about the food and discuss preferences. The taste ist really great, the products are superfresh and they have Indian vegetables you do not get anywhere else. For all lovers of Indian food: This is the place in Hamburg.

The lamb rogan josh was definitely nicer than the chicken tikka masala, but I have to concur with what Andrew has written below - this isn’t anything like somewhere on the curry mile. It is however, a lot closer to a British Indian restaurant than anywhere else I’ve been in Hamburg, so plus points for that. The rice was lovely, and came with pomegranate seeds in it, and I had literally the nicest mango lassi I’ve ever had too. Fantastic service to boot, so, worth 4 stars compared to its peers.

Let me give you a bit of background here. I have been looking for a good Indian restaurant in Hamburg for about 6 months now. Germany seems to really be lacking quality Indian restaurants with good food, good service and decent prices. When i walked into Maharaja i was very excited indeed. No English reviews, but every German had given this place a glowing review. 5*s across the board. We were immediately served by a very friendly waiter and the Kingfishers arrived fairly quickly. My standard test of an Indian restaurant is Chicken Tikka Masala, rice and Garlic Naan and this is exactly what i ordered. The food came quickly and was BEAUTIFULLY presented. Unfortunately, it all really lacked the flavours i have grown used to in the UK. Portions were small (a particularly sorry look naan bread) and the curry really lacked any punch. Oh well, I guess my quest continues to find the ultimate indian in Hamburg. Maharaja wins on service, drinks, atmosphere but is let down by the food. Damn.