As of late, there have been a few new establishments that have opened in Rourkela. I took this as my cue to dust off the old blog and start writing! One of these establishments happens to be Maaya, an eatery located inside Mokshaa - right next to the main restaurant. 

Right off the bat, I have to say it. I love their ambience. The soft lighting, the glasses hanging down from the ceiling, there’s just a certain charm to it that you don’t get in most of the eateries in Rourkela. There’s both indoor and outdoor seating available, but if you ask me inside is the place to be. There are comfortable leather seats that run the circumference of the interior with wooden seats facing inwards. 

Indoor seating. Picture from google. 

The menu here is quite varied - they have quesadillas, kebabs and everything in between! In the three times we’ve been, we’ve tried a fair number of items including their pizzas, sandwiches, meal combos, quesadillas, their poutine, pasta and even a few mocktails. 

I’ll start with the pizza because it was easily the most disappointing dish we’ve had at Maaya. It was absolutely tiny and was more of a side dish than anything else but the prices would indicate that you’re getting a decent sized pie! Brushing aside the pizza, the rest of the food was brilliant.

As for the mocktails, I’m a simple guy. I see a Mojito, I order a Mojito. I’ve had my fair share of them and the one at Maaya was one of the best I’ve had in Rourkela. The others we tried were pink lemonade and a chocolate milkshake whose actual name eludes me, but like I said. I see a Mojito, I order a Mojito and I liked this one. 

I haven’t tried actual poutine so I can’t comment on it’s authenticity but the poutine here is delightful. In fact, all three times we visited, poutine was the first dish we ordered! While the pasta we tried was called Carbonara, it was more of a generic white sauce with chunks of chicken. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not Carbonara. Nor is the pesto. It was extremely creamy with chunks of broccoli in it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not pesto

Outdoor seating. Picture from google. 

Unfortunately, here’s where the glowing review gets a little critical. Maaya is a bar. Their main money maker is alcohol. You get the feeling that if you don’t order drinks, you’re a second class citizen here. On one occasion, our waiter blatantly ignored us on several occasions, only to wait patiently near the table next to us as they were getting copiously drunk. On another, it felt like the waiter was pushing us to order some booze and when the bill arrived, he lamented that it was only ₹750. Excuse me? I’ve just spent a fair bit of money at your restaurant - that's not an appropriate response at all. It’s a shame, because otherwise, Maaya has the best ambience of any restaurant or eatery in Rourkela. 

Financially, Maaya will leave a hole in your pocket. Probably not as big as mayfair, but you’ll feel it alright. A full meal for 4 including starters, soup, mocktails and a main course came out to ₹2200 after the student discount. Yikes. However, if you’re willing to forgo some of the smaller items we had, you can bring that down to a much more palatable amount, like the ₹750 I mentioned earlier in my review. 

I’m quite conflicted as I write this conclusion. I love (most of) their food. I adore their ambience. I like not having to shell out ₹400+ on transportation. However, it is unacceptable to pay that much for food and have the staff pass a comment like that or for the staff to be that blatant in waiting serving some tables while ignoring others. That’s not to say I don’t like Maaya. I do, it’s just that I believe that tables should have equal preference, regardless of what they order.