Orange walls and bright decor match the colorful cuisine at Maharaja Palace in Amberg, Germany, an Indian restaurant near the Army garrison in Grafenwöhr. (Steven Beardsley/Stars and Stripes)
There’s a popular shade of orange paint in the Grafenwöhr, Germany, area that, despite being the color of canned nacho cheese, coats more than a few business and apartment walls, including my home entryway.
It’s also the interior color at Maharaja Palace, an Indian restaurant in Amberg, just south of the Rose Barracks side of the Grafenwöhr Army garrison. But here, among the suspended tapestries, beaded curtains and bright curries, it works. In fact, there’s a lot that works at Maharaja Palace, a restaurant where color and cuisine mix beautifully.
The year-old restaurant offers the authentic Indian dining experience many of us miss from back home, and it may rank a few notches higher. The food more than delivers, the prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is suitable for children. The staff also embraces American customers.
Opened in December 2010 by 23-year-old Delhi native Gaurav Chaudhary, the Maharaja Palace is one of few Indian restaurants in a rural region where cheap Chinese and Turkish food are the dominant Asian alternatives to heavy Bavarian fare.
For those who haven’t tried it — or haven’t had it in some time — Indian cuisine offers rich, flavorful curries that cover chunks of spiced lamb, chicken or fish and are often paired with perfumed rice and yogurt sauces.
On a recent visit, my wife and I shared two entrees, the mutton vindaloo (11.90 euros) and the murgh nilgiri (10.50). We split a side of naan (2.50), an airy pan bread ideal for mopping up heavy sauces. A dish of basmati rice came with the meal.
The entrees and rice arrived in hammered copper bowls, each placed on a metal heating tray at the center of our table. The murgh nilgiri combined tender chicken pieces in a smooth sauce of coconut milk blended with cilantro, spinach and green chiles. It had a touch of spice but was creamy rather than hot.
I preferred the vindaloo. I’m a sucker for mutton when I can get it, and the vindaloo gave me chunks of the meat with potatoes in a thick red curry sauce that offered a bit more spice than the murgh nilgiri.
Placed over or beside the rice and mopped up with the naan, both dishes satisfied our appetites and taste buds. They were book ended by a pre-dinner snack called papadum — wafer-thin crispy breads that came with a tray of sauces — and a complimentary mango liqueur for dessert.
With two beers on the side, our bill came to 30.70 euros, or about $40. That’s well within reason for a sit-down meal in Bavaria.
Atmosphere and presentation at Maharaja Palace are worth noting. The restaurant is clean and bright, the tables covered with linen tablecloths. The colors are vibrant, with entrees presented in deep reds, yellows and oranges.
Waiters  are friendly and speak English. The menu also comes with English translations under each item, and it can be found online. Our waiter said the restaurant sees customers from a wide area, including Weiden, where we live, a good 35 minutes to the northeast. One thing’s certain — Maharaja Palace will see us again.
MAHARAJA PALACELocation: Regensburger Strasse 37, Amberg, Germany.
Directions: From downtown Vilseck, head west on Amberger Strasse, past the Esso station, and follow the road south for roughly 15 kilometers (about nine miles). Turn right onto B299, continue south for more than three kilometers, then turn left to enter the city center. Take a left on the ring road, pass the train station and enter a traffic circle. Take the third exit to the right, Regensburger Strasse, climb a hill and find Maharaja Palace on your left. Park on a nearby side street.
From the main post in Grafenwöhr, take B299 south from the start and then follow the same directions.
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5-11 p.m. daily. Takeout and delivery offered. Reservations recommended on weekends.
Prices: Typical of casual dining in the area, with meat entrees beginning at 9 euros and averaging between 10 and 11 euros. Sodas range from 2 euros to 3 euros, while most beer and wine cost 2.50 euros to 3.50 euros. Visa card accepted.
Phone: 0962-1970-9756
Menu: German and English.
Dress: Casual.