Le Palais de Raja Maharaja

Don’t mind some of the negative reviews… this place is a gem of you are missing some Indian food while in Paris. It is a bit on the pricey side but hey… when in Paris :) The butter chicken and biryani were both excellent… my wife and I sent back 2 clean plates with nothing left on them! The owner also seemed like a nice enough guy…

The food is ok. Nothing special. We had veg options and I would describe them as acceptable. Find it hard to believe the amazing reviews this place gets. At these prices 2 stars is a big ask.
I’d eat there if I was hungry and nearby but wouldn’t go there specially. The food came out so quickly it was clearly all pre made and simply served up
The yogurt/​raita was shop bought as was the paneer.
The ambience is fine, rather run down, but that seems to be a common thing in Paris.
Service was ok. Efficient, but I doubt anyone would call it friendly or interesting. The chef brought out the food and acted like we had disturbed his sleep.
There are better places in Paris.
If it was half the price it would maybe get 3 stars but the food is too average to be rated any higher.

Great food! Really hit the spot. Portions are a little small and it’s a little pricey but the food makes up for that… we had butter chicken, beef vandaloo, naan and rice for main entrees and gulab jamun for desert. The owner was extremely welcoming. All in all we had a great experience and would love to go back.

I just escaped from the hell hole that claims to be the best Indian food in Paris, however this is the absolute furthest thing from the truth. I was going to wait until the end of my vacation to write my 40+ reviews, this being just one of them, but I couldn’t contain my anger enough to restrain myself from writing this review for a restaurant that has quite possibly given me the worst dining experience. A fellow Unilocaler once stated, «you have to try really hard to get a one star review» and this could not be more true when referencing this restaurant. I can’t fathom why a restaurant would want a one star review especially when I had such high hopes for it, but the Palais de Raja Maharaja was a circus with the slithery-​eyed owner as their ring master.
The owner of the restaurant could not have been more rude or unapproachable, starting from the moment we walked into the door. That should have been an indicator that this was a no-​go, but we gave it a chance anyway. The service was disgustingly terrible throughout the course of our visit, starting first with how long we had to wait to even request water. The owner, who was the only one taking orders (???) completely ignored us in favor of a large party that had just come in. Apparently we were too… touristy for him? When he finally did come over to take our order we were met with hostility and opposition when trying to order one dish to split. The owner said, «oh no, no, no you can’t order one for two. The plates are too small». I was extremely turned off by the fact that the owner thought he could tell me what I can and cannot order. I mean, c’mon, how the fuck (excuse my French) are you going to tell me how much my gastrointestinal track is ready to ingest. I couldn’t even isolate the owner’s poor behavior to this one incident because he was continuously rude and mocking throughout the quick dinner.
Speaking of a quick dinner, it took three times as long to have our order taken than it did for the food to come out to us. That’s quite fishy, considering that I’ve had plenty of buttered chickens from Indian restaurants, yet they all took much longer to prepare than 5 minutes. I am not even kidding, our meal came out about 5 minutes after ordering it so unless Jafar is in the back cooking up the buttered chicken like it’s a potion I’m not buying the fact that this meal was fresh. As it was, Jafar wasn’t in the back of the restaurant so I’m going to take a stab at it and say that this so-​called buttered chicken «specialty» is mass-​produced and served in a deceiving way. Although the dish smelled good and looked good it wasn’t good… the sauce was fine, but some of the chicken was disturbingly undercooked. I didn’t come on my vacation to get a case of Salmonella, but apparently no one truly gives a shit about that here at this restaurant. The only food that was good was the garlic naan and the rose lassi… which isn’t even food. You want to know what else is weird about this place? The fact that they don’t put any spice (with heat) in their dishes, as stayed by the owner himself. Wait, did I not come to an Indian restaurant? What type of Indian restaurant doesn’t make dishes with spice? That’s like saying there’s a unicorn without spiral horn… it doesn’t exist people and anyone that tries to convince you otherwise is a liar and a sociopath, another title that accurately describes the owner. I work in mental health so I can make this assessment with accuracy — the owner is a sociopath, there is not a doubt in my mind.
Lastly, the price is outrageous considering the amount, anf quality, of food you get. Being from Chicago, I’ve gotten way better Indian food for substantially better prices than I did here. Neither the money nor the calories are worth eating here. I feel as if I threw my money down the drain after eating at this restaurant, and you will probably feel the same if you go here. I would never eat here again, even if it was my last choice on this planet because not a single thing justified the existence of this restaurant.
Oh, but dearest sociopath — we stole some of your candy on our way out. Toodles.

Horrible staff. Telling that everyone has to order one plate. Portions were very small, but good. The owner/​waiter was rude about the minimum we need to order to eat that establishment. Food was good but not worth the price and the rudeness. He told us where to sit in empty restaurant. If sat in the wrong chair he would have a fit. Really strange. No courtesy.

Went for dinner and the food was very tasty. We ordered butter chicken, bindi masala and dhal tadka and all 3 were done well.

Basically it’s. Little pricey but amazing food our DELHI Punjabi style
Quality is good but quantity was little
Less for 1 person so I end up ordering more but prantha was truly out of this world :) pS I was hungry too lol

First of all Do Nt Eat Here. The owner/​manager is super rude. They will spit in your food. There is no customer service to even review. On vacation and they will ruin your evening. Dark dingy dirty back ally restaurant.

First of all you’re probably wondering why anyone would come to Paris and eat Indian food. Well don’t think and just go. Don’t tell the Parisians, but this was by far the best meal you can have in Paris. The grilled chicken appetizer i had was easily the best chicken I’ve tried in my life! So tender, juicy, and an explosion of flavor. Try it with the sweet dipping sauce! My main course I had the lamb chef special. Just as I expected, it was on another level. The ambience is perfect. Nice and quiet, away from the Main Street. Please if you come to Paris make this your first stop and you will not regret it! Service is amazing too by the way! Even if they didn’t this place would still get 5 stars on the food alone! I tip my hat off to the chef. Best meal in Paris and I’m not even exaggerating.
Came here again the following day and as expected, I was blown away again. I started off with the minced lamb, then had tikka masala for my entrée with the garlic rice. This was my last night in Paris so I had to come here for my final meal! The owner is such a nice guy as well. Thanks again!!!

Family of five truly enjoyed everything about this restaurant. Great food, easy to get to from the metro, and the owner is as interesting as the flavors he serves. Highly recommend.

L’un des meilleurs indiens que j’ai testé sur Paris, leur chicken biryani, cheese nan et lassi a la rose sont mes coups de cœur

We found this place via Unilocal and decided to satisfy our Indian cravings here based upon the ratings. Very glad we did. We wanted to get some takeaway and I love chicken tikka but I’m not a fan of dark meat, which is what they use here. Krishna, the owner said, «trust me, you’ll love it» and without skipping a beat he called for the cook to prepare a few sample pieces for us to try. 5 – 7 minutes later, out comes a plate with 3 pieces and he was right. Absolutely delicious.
He told us he makes all of his masalas/​spice mixes himself fresh and you can tell. We ended up getting 7 – 8 different entrees including lamb and chicken dishes as well as dal, channa masala, paneer masala (shahi paneer) and some pakoras/​roti/​naan. It took a little bit of time to get but it was obvious that it was being prepared fresh so it was totally fine by me. While we waited, we chatted with the owner who was very pleasant and he told us about his background and then he grabbed a bottle of Chivas and said «we have to share a drink!» No argument from me! Never had an owner pour me a complimentary whiskey before, and i think more owners should get behind this!
Got back to the hotel and everything was delicious. Serving size is a little smaller than what I’m used to here in the US but i guess that’s partly why we’re tubbier than our French friends?
Also, we didnt realize that it was just before closing time and yet he still welcomed us in. 10 minutes after we came in and before we had even decided what we wanted to order (waiting for the sample chicken tikka), he closed the door to other guests. He easily could have told us that he was shutting down and turned us away but he didn’t say a thing. He made us feel comfortable and brought us water as we waited.
Overall, fantastic food and fantastic service!

J’ai testé le plat à emporter, un agneau vindaloo et un naan fromage. Résultat… moyen. Je découvre en arrivant dans le restaurant que le plat que j’avais commandé n’était pas accompagné, donc obligé de commander du riz supplémentaire. Ensuite, le Vindaloo était bon, sans être excellant, il manquait un peu de piquant et de quantité ! Le naan fromage n’était pas extra, sans être mauvais non plus. Je suis un peu déçu par ce restaurant.

Guys beware of the owner .he will serve you the food but he will torture you with all taunts, not a kids friendly restaurant! I don’t know why he was so biased with Indians, anyhow we are paying for the food it was not the free food served by owner though… Not recommend at all .If u want to eat with respect don’t go there… again definitely owner will spoil all your mood !!!

Crustal carmelized Garlic onion pilaf glistening with ghee and toasted cumin seeds. Check and two thumbs up.
Fresh thick rich raita with tomatoes that was a cooling compliment to the mildly spicy lamb tikka masala.
I don’t usually rave about lamb tikka masala although its an obsession to find a really great dish. I’ve only raved about two restaurants: one in Belmont Shores, Long Beach and now this one in Paris. Dense rich curry and balances spicy with a touch of sweet at the end of the palette married with tender pieces of lamb. I ordered this mild and i was pleased it had a little kick.

I was in Paris for a week in May of 2015, which gave me just enough time to get off the main tourist drag and explore the more obscure parts of the 15^th arrondissement.
Le Palais de Raja Maharaja was strangely quiet when I got there at around 8PM on a Saturday evening. The only sounds I heard when I walked in were the sound of the proprietor watching the local news and slurping/​chewing/​growing from the customers at the table. It was an odd setup, particularly given that I’d just spent the past few days either eating crepes on the go or breaking bread at raucous brasseries near city landmarks, but after I’d tasted the excellent channa masala I certainly couldn’t find room to complain.
I’ve eaten Indian in New York and San Francisco and on Devon Street in Chicago and in London, but this is one of the best Indian restaurants I’ve ever visited. Parisians take their sauces seriously, and the chef at Raja Maharaja does a great job of elevating the usual Indian fare. I can’t recommend this place highly enough, really. I wish it had been cheaper and I wish they’d had better beer and I wish rice came with the entrees, but the food was so good I’m willing to forgive these sins.

This was a very strange encounter. We walk in and happened to be the only 2 people in the restaurant for dinner. The man in the sports coat, who I assume is the owner, was not friendly or welcoming at all. I asked him what their popular dishes are and his word for word response was «we have one chef who makes everything, so if one thing is good, everything is good.» That’s great, but doesn’t answer my question on what the popular dishes are!
We ordered 2 entrees, 2 naans, and rice for the two of us. Little did we know that the portions were so small that we ended up ordering a third entrée between us. For one of our entrees we ordered chicken tikka masala. We asked if it was chicken breast and were told it was thigh meat. How do you justify thigh meat and 3 tiny entrees and small naans for 49 Euros? The food is mediocre at best and I have paid much less for much better Indian food.
I think the worst part of our experience was the owner. He didn’t ask us how we are, if he could get us anything else, or how dinner was. Instead he just stood behind his bar and peeked over once or twice until we asked him to come help us.
I know customer service isn’t big around here but this was a horrible experience. As a tourist, I will not be recommending this place to any friends that visit Paris.

My husband and I got married on November 6^th, 2014. Our honeymoon consisted of a tour of Europe. We went to Rome, Venice and Paris. While in Paris we discovered this restaurant and never regretted it.
Out of the 5 days we stayed in Paris, we ate here 3 different time. The butter chicken was out– of-​this-​world good, It was the best I’ve ever had. We also tried some of the other dishes, but always ordered two butter chickens, because we couldn’t share. =)
It’s very near the Eiffel Tower. So, it is very convenient for the touristy types and also very near a subway stop.
We have both been craving the butter chicken every since we’ve left Paris. So very good.

Good food. fresh and the guy was helpful. very good main and desserts
Great lamb and saag.. they also have butter lamb and the sauce is great..

This place rocked! I have had Indian Food all over the world and this is one of the best. Butter chicken was great. My 6 year old highly recommends it!

Très bon restaurant, nous sommes très bien accueillis et même conseillés sur la bonne façon d’apprécier notre nourriture (samosa).
À tester !

Wow, excellent food. A small little Indian restaurant. Do not care about perfect communication. All straight forward and pragmatic, but then you will have really excellent food. I know lots of Indian restaurants, this was benchmark in taste. I had papadam with dips, lentil soup and Chicken Korma.

Palais du Raja Maharaja is located close to the Eiffel tower. We were super hungry after going to the top of the Tower. By the time we came down, it was 10.50 pm, and the restaurant closes at 11pm. We rushed to the restaurant. The owner was kind enough to let us in, even though it seemed they were closing up shop. There was no one else as it was Tuesday night. We ordered take away. It was fun talking to the owner, who mentioned he doesn’t entertain large groups and believes in quality over quantity. They did take some time to make our order, so it didn’t seem like they were serving readymade curries. We tried the samosa, Kadai paneer and baingan bharta with some naan. We enjoyed a lovely meal on the lawns of Eiffel tower — I’d recommend that than sitting in the boring ambiance of the Raja Maharaja restaurant. The food was fresh and tasty, my only complaint is that the samosas were too small and the dishes were too hot (even for an Indian palette). Prices were around € 11 – 12 per dish (no rice or naan included), which was fairly typical in Paris.

La meilleure cuisine indienne que j’ai jamais mangée !
Dès que vous entrez, vous êtes rassurés par la présence d’indiens de souche comme client, même le personnel de l’ambassade indienne fréquente ce lieu. Tout était excellent, même les desserts qui né sont normalement pas le point fort de la cuisine indienne. Les produits sont frais et les plats n’arrivent pas 2 min après la commande. Le patron vous conseillera très bien, notamment pour les vins (pas indiens) car sa cave est très fournie. Nous y retournerons à coup sûr. J’ai adoré.

Bön, bah, la lune de miel fut de courte durée… Même groupe de convives, même restaurant, pas du tout le même accueil…
Plus de 45mn d’attente entre l’entrée et le plat (le midi, pour ceux et celles qui bossent, c’est un tantinet long…), certains avaient fini leur assiette que les autres n’étaient pas encore servis, quelqu’un a osé dire qu’il né trouvait pas la viande dans son curry d’agneau, la réponse fut sans appel: pour 15 €, c’est normal!
OK, bon bah, on ira dépenser 15 € ailleurs alors.

Wir hatten das Menü für 19 Euro und wurden nicht enttäuscht. Drei Gänge inklusive Nan Brot und Dips. Etwas ungewöhnlich für mich dass es als Vorspeise u.a. das Tandori Huhn zur Auswahl gab, hätte es sonst als Hauptspeise genommen. Eine gute Keule die wie zu erwarten lecker würzig schmeckte. Habe das in Deutschland schon mal in ähnlicher Ausführung als Hauptgericht zum doppelten Preis der Vorspeise bekommen. Die Hauptspeise war zum Glück nicht so üppig aber lecker (würzige Lammhackklöse mit Koreander und Minze die Minze hab ich nicht so richtig finden können). Als Nachtisch gab hausgemachte süße Bällchen mit Kokusraspeln und Pistazienkrümmeln (glaub ich). Die haben selbst mir geschmeckt, bin eigentlich nicht so für Süßes zu haben. Meine Begleitung hatte ein sehr leckeres Vanille Eis ich denke es war hier mit echter Vanille. Zwar nur eine Kugel, aber für uns völlig ausreichend. Lähmungserscheinung durch überfressen wurden somit erfolgreich vermieden :) In der Kombination fand ich das Essen für Pariser Verhältnisse recht preisgünstig und lecker. Der offensichtliche Herr des Hauses hat uns freundlich, unkompliziert und lustig bedient. Unproblematisch kann man hier von Französisch auf Englisch und zurück kommunizieren.

Délicieux + service agréable… que demander de mieux… A recommander
Des plats succulents… 1 patron agréable et qui nous conseille des plats, qui nous expliquent, qui prend du temps avec le client… toujours avec le sourire. Ça fait 2 fois que j’y vais avec des amis et on y retournera c’est certain !

A deux pas du Métro La Motte Piquet Grenelle dans la tranquille rue d’Ouessant se cache presque ce discret resto indo-​pakistanais.
(Voir photo ci-​dessous)
De grands sièges en bois sculpté et aux coussins rouges importés de Delhi vous attendent dans une longue salle.
Le garçon au large sourire vous serre la main et vous installe sous des tableaux également importés de là-​bas.
L’odeur d’encens participe au dépaysement, l’épaisse moquette et les tapisseries murales amortissent les conversations.
On se sent tout de suite bien dans ce Palais.
La surprise vient des prix qui viennent de baisser de presque 20%.
Le premier menu est à 10 EUR, le second à 15.
Un tel confort pour un prix si modique ! «Etonnant, non? «aurait dit Pierre Desproges
Nous passons commande :
nan, pommes de terre en beignets, épinards, lentilles, riz basmati et glacé vanille pour mon ami végétarien qui a apprécié tout en râlant contre les petites portions.
Samossas aux légumes, pain paratha, curry d’agneau et sorbet mangue pour moi.
(Voir photo ci-​dessous) Accompagnez votre nan ou votre paratha de ces sauces ! Attention à celle de gauche ! Elle arrache les palais délicats
(Voir photo ci-​dessous) Le paratha est ici excellent
Bilan: les plats sont parfumés et bien préparés mais vous n’êtes pas ici dans un temple de la gastronomie indienne et le service pourrait être plus rapide.
Nous avons quand même passé 1H30 à table, c’est trop !
Enfin, pour un billet de 10 euros, vous mangerez presque à votre faim dans un cadre confortable, reposant et dépaysant.
Je vous recommande donc l’adresse si vous êtes de passage dans le quartier.