New Management, Old Favorites Fort Worth Star Telegram Beverly Bundy
	A sign reading "under new management" is enough to make a restaurant's regulars wince. Hey, we liked it before, but are we going to like it now?
	We were especially concerned when we saw that notice on Fort Worth's only Indian restaurant. Oh, no. Could this mean that we we're going to have to drive to Arlington the next time a craving for chicken korma hits? Luckily, in the case of Maharaja, the change has not been for the worse. And there's a reason for the continuity of quality in this strip-center restaurant.
	Maharaja was first opened by the Emperor Group, a Dallas-based chain that also owns Arlington's Tandoor restaurant. Harpal Singh, chef at the chain's Kebab-n-Kurry on Walnut Hill Lane in Dallas, recently bought out his bosses and set up shop in the Maharaja kitchen.
	On a recent Saturday night visit, Maharaja was as full as we've always found it. The food, too, was solid, everything from the mild (good for the novice) chicken with almonds and poppy seeds in a cream sauce ($9.95) to the spicier tandoori shrimp in an herb, tomato sauce ($11.95).
	Maharaja has always offered a substantial list of vegetarian dishes and the lineup hasn't changed. One of our faves is still wonderful under new ownership - homemade cheese (paneer) cooked in a creamy curry sauce ($7.75).
	Our only complaint with Maharaja is that the obligatory (but nonetheless terrific) basmati rice that comes with the entrees is skimpy on the portion size. But, I'll add, we're big rice eaters.
	(One welcome change at Maharaja is that the servers seem much warmer than they've been in the past. That's a sure sign that there's an owner on the premises.)
	More Maharaja Magic Fort Worth Star Telegram Beverly Bundy - Friday July 12, 1996
	When I told my editor that Maharaja had changed its menu, warranting a revisit, he sounded a touch dismayed. "They haven't dropped the buffet, have they?"
	No, ye who travel the world through budget ethnic buffets, they haven't stopped the lunch-time serve-yourself line. What they have done is added some different items to the standing menu.
	"After eight, nine years," says manager Paul Singh, "people were getting tired of the same dishes." So the restaurant, once a part of the Emperor Group chain and now independent, simply added some new dishes.
	One area with several additions is the selection of appetizers, appropriate for a country of snackers. The onion bhaji ($2.95) are quite nice - onions coated in chickpea flour and deep-fried. Another new selection is the assorted tandoori ($8.95), a combination of grilled chicken drumsticks, ground lamb patties and chicken pieces.
	I'm a sucker for Indian bread and another addition is right up my alley - one each of onion kulcha, roti and aloo paratha - served together on a bread sampler for $4.25.
	Two new entrees to try are the ghost-do-piaza ($10.95), a lamb curry, and beef pasanda ($10.50), a fiery beef curry with a cream-based sauce. Infamous vindaloos are also on the menu now, ranging from $9.95 to $10.95. Vindaloos, apparently, have always been on the menu but under another name not so well-known Stateside. Tired of inquiring diners, the restaurant now identifies the fire-breathing dishes by their American-recognized tag.
	Maharaja continues to be a pool of calm and coolness in the Texas summer. Although the restaurant sits in a strip center, the pastel colors and darkness of the room manage to keep the horrid heat of July outdoors. It's a soothing change from the sun-blasted parking lots and restaurants that simply overblast the air conditioning to keep customers cool.
	Be sure and tell the restaurant you saw them on Dallas Dines Out
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