Maharaja East by Vineet

Maharaja, translated in to english, means the Great King. And so when Maharaja by Vineet opened its doors in Saudi a long time back, I was really looking forward to a feast. Well, it was operational in Khobar and Riyadh, both significantly far from Jeddah, so it had to wait.

The restaurant is the brainchild of Vineet Bhatia, a Michelin star chef. It is making waves in every location it has opened. So I had to try it out.

On my last visit to Riyadh, this dream was fulfilled. A few colleagues from work ( 7 to be precise) headed to this place for dinner on a working weekday. Nestled in a fairly quite location just across the main Tahlia street in Riyadh, this place was failry easy to locate on the map. We called ahead and made a booking, but upon arrival noticed that although the place was occupied, it was not necessarily overflowing with patrons.

The decor was minimalist yet chic, in line with the many fine dining options now available in homeland India.

The menu looked very comprehensive and it was pleasure to see so many vegetarian options in the menu. I think the Kingdom is slowly adapting to the vegetarian palate. We had 2 vegetarians in the group and I could see their light up on the menu.

Since we were a large group we ordered a lot (special emphasis on the “lot”). We started off with assorted veg platters and assorted non-veg platters.

Maharaja Assorted Non-veg platter

The starters, both veg and non-veg, were fresh and sublime. It was polished off within a few seconds. The veg platter was more creative with some broccoli kebab, some rice kebab and the likes. The non-veg platter was a piece each of a lamb kebab, a chicken kebab, a melt-in-your mouth jumbo prawn marinated in mint and coriander and a fourth kebab ( i can’t remember what was it).

Then came the main course. We ordered assuming regular sizes of main course. We were wrong, very wrong. The portion sizes were huge.

Butter Chicken

Paneer Butter masala

Dal Tadka

Prawns Moilee

The main course was very average if i were to be honest, nothing to brag about here. Although it was amongst the best Indian food I have had in the kingdom, the presentation, the flavor, the taste lacked that extra oomph factor i was hoping for. The main course did not keep up with the wow factor of the appetizers.

The butter chicken, the paneer butter masala, the prawns moilee were all good. Nothing great.

Then came the star of the evening. Raan musalam. Mutton and chicken marinated in a variety of spices, cooked on slow fire and topped with a gravy made of fried onions, dry fruits and spices. Apparently this dish was a favorite of the Mughal Kings of yore.

Raan Musalam: A meal fit for a "Maharaja"

The menu said it served 2. We ordered 2 portions. Among 5 people, we could not even finish one. But that was because of the fact that we had overdone the main course dishes.

The musalam in itself was divine. The meat melted in the mouth, the gravy, the preparation was all fit for a king. Just a piece of advise, if you want to try this dish, do not order anything else alongside. We learnt this the hard way.

With so much food inside us we did not want to try any deserts. But there were a couple of brave warriors who wanted to try the ice cream. Again, nothing to write home about, standard ice cream that is available at any store across town.

Honestly, I had mixed feelings as I left this place. Many things were exceptional, although many things left me wanting more ( and somewhat disappointed). But it was great company and the place had a kind of a soothing effect on us, that made this evening memorable. Also, service was impeccable, which is always a plus.

So, if you always wanted to be treated ( and eat) like a Maharaja, you know where to head.

More details on http://www.maharajaeast.com