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Buffet Maharaja
Categories: Restaurants Middle Eastern Restaurants Indian Restaurants Buffets Restaurants Pakistani Middle Eastern, Indian, Buffets, Pakistani [Edit]
1481 Rene-Levesque Boul WMontreal, QC H3G 1T8
(514) 934-0655
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
18 reviews for Buffet Maharaja
17 reviews in English
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Review from Johnny H.
Toronto, ON
5/9/2012 2 photos
Never been an advocate for Indian cuisine, but we had no other choice but to dine at Maharaja since everything was closed on Christmas.
Food selection is very diverse, and they taste pretty decent for an AYCE place. It is very clean and well-organized as well. The foods lack the authentic feel and balanced taste. I couldn't really taste the fragrant herbs in the foods. But the foods are cooked nicely. Meats are tender and moist. Veggies are fresh.
There is a parking lot behind the restaurant. -
Review from Farin I.
4/13/2012
Oh Boy. Buffet Maharaja is actually one of the first restaurants I had been into Montreal 6-7 years back so I have some ...err personal attachments to this place. I've had my brothers reception, my own reception, and a couple of other big family events here so I dont know how else can I rate this place. The service here is of average just like most indian restos. I guess its a hit and miss thing on who is serving you on the day of. I have had some good experiences with the staff.. some really mediocre.
With all that I love the decor here, the lady owner of the place was really lovely and it showed how much she cared for the place. This place is one of the few indian restaurants that does a good clutter/crowd free job at decoring with an indian vibe.
The food? Hmm well Honestly, buffets are never really my favorite places to eat out at so I always have zero expectancy out of the food. But the food here? Again a real hit and miss. I personally love their chicken biryani, plain rice and butter chicken. I am also a fan of the pakoras but even sometimes I found them to be really dry and unbearably hard on the mouth. Meh! But they do have a good selection and variety.
My best guess is come on a Friday night or Saturday as apparently they prepare everything special as they expect big groups on those two days.
Here is why I added a 4th star here. The Sweets. I am telling you folks the sweets here are incredible. The new chef here has recently come from Bangladesh and is one of the best sweetmakers from the country. Why is he working his talents at Buffet Maharaja? I dont know, but I all I do is that the whole bengali community has gone insane. They have real milky roshogullahs, chom chom, roshmalais, laddoos and other sweet goodies oh and lets not forget my most favorite mishti doi :) (sorry for not knowing the english names :(...) Anyway I sometimes just come in here for the sweets itself. They even do fresh orders if you're ordering for more.
Heres to some real authentic Bengali sweets! YEAHHH -
Review from Hollie D.
6/16/2011
I'm not the biggest fan of Indian food, but this place was decent. I usually try to avoid Indian food, as it's not my favorite cuisine, but it was my boyfriend's birthday, and he loves Indian food, so this is where we went.
The selection of food was huge, there was so much to choose from. There was some sort of weird cabbage dish that I fell in love with. The butter chicken was also pretty good.
They are not lying when they say the spicy section is spicy. It's refreshing to find that in restaurants now, which I believe feel pressured to cater to more timid palates.
The only downfall here, and its something I always find weird at ethnic buffets, is the food that doesn't belong. Like pizza and french fries. I know that it is done to appeal to kids most likely, but there was honestly so much to choose from, even a picky kid probably could have found something other than pizza and fries. -
Review from Mairo H.
2/14/2012
In contrast to the other reviews I really enjoyed this restaurant. Maybe I just so happened to go there on a night when they were on point. Or maybe because I live in Boston where we are really lacking good, authentic Indian food. But we absolutely loved the food here, which can be very surprising for a buffet. So many choices and everything was delicious. I have been craving it ever since and been so disappointed not to be able to find anything similar locally. Next time we're in Montreal we will definitely go back!
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Review from Pouri B.
1/5/2011
This was absolutely the WORST Indian food I've had in my entire life and trust me I've had Indian food in at least 14 cities in 5 different countries. The waiter was so rude and demanding. he brought the bill without us asking and he was expecting something like a 20% tip!
I'd rather die of starvation and not step foot in this place again! -
Review from Tas A.
Swansea, Toronto, ON
1/18/2011
We planned to have a feast here on our way back to Toronto from Quebec. It was a rainy day and the place was fairly busy, so we had to park on the street.
The food is decent and has a wide range of choices. This place is probably the biggest buffet place in downtown Montreal, and if you are craving to feast on Indian food then it is a good place to be. The interior of the restaurant is nice and we got our seats quite easily.
The price per person is something I do not recall exactly, but it was less than $15 if I remember correctly. -
Review from DAVE I.
Montréal, QC
12/23/2010 1 Check-in Here
An Indian buffet, what is there to say? Lukewarm food, half of which caters to the chicken-sh!t losers afraid to eat ethnic food. I'm not a huge fan of Indian food and this has to do with the spices and seasoning used, also the "slop" look of most dishes throw me off a bit, but I like it well enough but I can't go on a tangent of authenticity since I know little of its history. However the food here is passable. The service is HORRIBLE and smelly. I know, I know sounds like I'm stereotyping Indians here, but seriously 2 of the server smelled like they hadn't taken a shower in a few days and were unaware of this nifty new-fangled invention called antiperspirants or deodorants. It was disturbing. If the wait staff's hygiene is not monitored, I fear for what's going on in the back of the house.
One good thing... fresh made Naan bread. -
Review from Maria D.
Montréal, QC
4/17/2011
Unlimited GULAB JAMUN!
I don't find it as bland as some other reviewers do, but maybe I'm just a sucker for buffets. -
Review from Pierre Trudeau I.
8/16/2008
My Indian parents, who between them have been to Indian restaurants in dozens of countries on 5 continents, declared to me that this was the best one they'd ever been to in their life. So, during my next trip to Montreal, I tried it and agreed with their expert opinion. Kind of an odd thing to say about a "buffet" style Indian restaurant, but Maharaja is kind of like a high-end buffet if you can picture that.
Anyway, I've been to Maharaja a million times and make sure to come on every trip I make to Montreal. I saw the infamous US judge Robert Bork there once. -
Review from Andrew C.
Toronto, ON
5/1/2011
Quality, value, selection. All of the Indian cuisine staples. The dessert, particularly the ice cream (which was old) was not impressive.
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Review from Janelle W.
8/19/2008
I visited Montreal with two of my Indian friends, so when they saw Maharaja near our hotel, they insisted we try it. They too were skeptical of the "buffet", but we all agreed it would be a good way to introduce the Indian food newbies in our group to the cuisine.
The good:
+ HUGE buffet spread, larger selection than I've seen elsewhere
+ very clean atmosphere, almost upscale
+ open late
+ cheap for AYCE
The bad:
- bland, bland, bland!
- buffet not replenished regularly (food gets stale)
- everything tasted the same and full of ghee
Where was that spiciness and intensity of flavor characteristic of Indian food?!?! Sure, you can eat all you want for a relatively low price. But I'd rather pay more for better food... and actually, the best Indian food is yet cheaper than Maharaja, at the little dives in the ethnic neighborhoods.
This is Indian food for people who think samosas are the end-all-be-all of Indian food... basically, for people who'll only eat ethnic food that's deep-fried. -
Review from Stéphane S.
Montréal, QC
8/10/2010
The place is huge, it's downtown Montreal, it has free parking at the back (a big plus downtown) and you get good value for your money.
The best Indian in town it's not.
The biggest indian buffet it is.
Great for a group and with kids. -
Review from Robert T.
6/16/2011
Don't slip on the floor!! The steam from all the food makes the floor soaking wet. Pretty gross if you ask me. For some reason i just felt that the place was dirty. The food was average and you could tell it had been sitting there for a while. Save your money and go get something good down the road.
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Review from George G.
5/6/2010
Ate here for lunch while in Montreal for vacation. The following should be a good summary of our experience:
Selection: Lots of different items to select from. Plenty to make a vegetarian or meat eater quite pleased.
Quality: Meat items do not get resupplied too often and some dishes you need to go through the tray with a fine toothed comb to find meat. Also, lots of the meat dishes have more bone than meat.
Flavour: Did not find the food to be bland and spicy when it was supposed to be. However, the complexity found in most true indian dishes was missing from those dishes which were not dominated by spice.
Atmosphere: Very nice location and the walk downstairs to the bathroom past the waterfall and fish should not be missed. However, ventilation was bad and it was quite hot inside.
Price: Very fair given the prices for other items in town. Students even get 10% discout.
In summary, if we are in Montreal and are in need of some Indian, this location is a sure bet, however, we would try a different place if within vicinity. -
Review from S. A.
Halifax, NS
8/3/2009
Don't bother. Service was slow and indifferent. The food was bland.
Bland curry, what's that? Not much.
The food is plentiful, there's variety (at least there's a number of name cards over the items) but then again it's a buffet. It's inexpensive but so what? I've had much better Indian food at a local food court in a shopping mall.
So - pros: it's cheap and it's a buffet.
- cons: it's not great. Not even close. -
Review from a t.
3/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
We had a group of nine for lunch on Saturday. The server was very attentive and provided us with 3 full sized naan breads to share at the table. That was the highlight..the naan arrived hot and still crispy.
The rest of the buffet fare was so-so. The lamb should have been stewed for longer, the meat was still tough to cut from the bone. The butter chicken was watery and favorless. The Tandoori chicken was dry. Not the best Indian buffet I have tasted for $15.
The washrooms in the basement needed cleaning and was out of paper towels. -
Review from Al A.
3/16/2010
Great for large groups. Okay service. Okay food. Somewhat expensive for their buffet when compared to other Indian restaurants nearby.
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