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| - I had never ever tried Indian cuisine before coming to Maharani a year ago. I don't know exactly how that happened given that in high school (and to this day) I was obsessed with Red Dwarf, and if chicken vindaloo was good enough for Dave Lister it sure as hell was good enough for me. Yet throughout all of my years in college I never had the chance to have a proper curry. Part of the reason had to be at that time there were no Indian restaurants downtown to my knowledge. I knew about the ones on Odana but I never drove out that way, so they just remained on the long list of places to go someday. I also spent a good deal of my later college years frequenting mostly Thai restaurants whenever I had enough scratch to get a proper meal. So it somehow came to be that I entered my late twenties knowing only that I loved Thai curry, with a huge question mark relating to Indian food.
Fortunately I've got a good group of friends that would not let this aberration stand. One rainy spring night last year we were all arguing about our respective favorites in town, and I let it be known that I'd never tried anything Indian save a curry-flavored ramen one unfortunate time. We went to Maharani because it was their agreed upon favorite. I can now say that it is also mine. It was one of those times when you experience something that in retrospect you don't know how you ever got by without. I liked everything about Maharani. My chicken shahikorma, medium spice, was the perfect starting point. On return trips, and there have been many, I've fallen in love with the chicken shahjahani, the lamb jalfrazie, and the paneer - Oh boy do I like the paneer. Yet writing this review I realize the one thing that I've not done is the chicken vindaloo. Next time, for sure.
I'm not usually downtown around lunch, so I've never tried the buffet. It sounds interesting, but I've been told that the Odana restaurants are superior in this regard. I can't say one way or another. I would easily give Maharani five stars except for one drawback: the service can be frustratingly slow. Sometimes it's exceptional, but more than a few times I've sat at the table, papadams long gone, spooning nibbles of the onion relish, with an empty bottle of Kingfisher, just waiting to order. I like the place too much to ever stop going, but that kind of thing drives me crazy. Still, even with the occassional wait I put Maharani at the top of my list of Madison favorites.
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