Mirch Masala (Tooting)

After reading rave reviews about this restaurant I thought my brother and I were in for a treat, a treat however is far from what we experienced during our visit.

It did start off well, we were welcomed immediately on entering the establishment and received the salad, cumin poppadom, yoghurt and chill dips. We did feel a bit rushed when a waiter came over to take our order within 60 seconds or being seated. Being unfamiliar with the menu we requested more time, but after the second waiter tried came over take our order after what seemed like less than 2 minutes were felt a little rushed.. Then when asked to make a recommendation for my brother based on his taste preferences, we found the waiter to be unhelpful and dismissive.

The food arrived at our table in a timely fashion and looked both well presented and appetising. We were surprised however to find the food bland and lacking any discernible flavour or taste other than salt, especially the Sag Paneer! When we commented on this, the waiter, who came to check everything was OK, seemed unable to understand and offered to bring over some yoghurt, presumably to decrease the spiciness. When we explained the food was the opposite to spicy the waiter just gave us a confused but polite smile, (You know the type you give to someone when you're overseas and they have just spoken to you in a language you don't understand) and continued to another table. We tried in vain to explain issues we had with the flavour, or at least lack of it, to another waiter who offered to box the food we left, but the same situation played out..... We ended up paying the £23.10 tab for the food , which would have been great value for money, had it been tasty and left feeling confused and dissatisfied.
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Petra
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Saturday, November 20, 2010

This place is superb. Crisp, dry, cumin-seeded popadums turn up with a yoghurt and a chilli sauce - along with a corkscrew and glasses for our BYO bottle. The spicing of tandoori chicken wings and chicken tikki starters is sublime; the meat juicy. It was the same with the main courses: deigi lamb chops and deigi saag gosht. (Deigi appears to indicate being cooked in a large pan in quantity.) The rice with mushrooms and peswari naan were just right. The karahi muttar paneer was great, but tipped us into ordering more than we needed. (The portions are substantial.) We were asked if we'd like to take the remains home. And the bill was less than you'd pay in a run-of-the-mill curry house. We'll be trying a branch closer to home very soon.
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Jon Allen
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 17, 2010

Seekh Kebabs,Chicken Tikka,Jeera Chicken wings,Onion Bhajia and a Naan bread - £11

Tell me thats not the best value tasty lunch you can have.

I never eat Onion Bhajias really apart from here-a big tangled mess of onion in a sweet and spicy batter,today they arrived after everything else because they were freshly cooked,melt in the mouth good.

It was empty this afternoon but gets rammed in the evening and the service can get hectic but have never messed up our order,its all good here.
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8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Saturday, July 31, 2010

This is a real gem of a place. We visited on a Friday evening and managed to get a table straight away but there were soon queues out of the door.

We ordered 2 curries, naan, chapati, popodoms and chilli paneer and the whole thing came to £15 - what a bargain!

Other reviewers have commented on lack of staff attention but we found them to be courteous and quick and for the price you pay - what more could you want?

This is a great place for vegetarians - I would definitely recommend the egg curry which tasted fantastic.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, June 25, 2010

No sooner had we opened the door were we then shown to a table. The service in all respects could not be faulted. The food was delicious. Perfect Naan, stunning butter chicken and a very tasty sag paneer. We will definitely be going back.
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SUFI PATEL
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 25, 2010

Starters - Kebab, chicken tikka, samosa

Mains - dhansak, chicken Karahi, naan, rice, daal. Lassi.

No charge BYO

Tandoor chicken excellent, succulent + natural look. Not day-glo red as in so many other places. Maybe the best I have ever had?

Rest of the dishes above average except the karahi which was ok. Too oily + not particularly distinct flavours

Friendly service although mains did come whilst eating starters

Ventilation does need to be improved - my clothes do smell of curry!

Will definitely be back - much better experience all round than mirch masala up the road
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saad shah - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 16, 2010

the food in this resturant is brilliant .and the service unpredictable .love to go there
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james allen
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Last night I had a dinner in mirch masala tooting and it was the most pleasureable dinner of my life.I had chicken tikka masala and. Ginger chicken .I never had such a delisious food before service was so friendly and fast that I was amazed that this kind of brillian service is available in tooting
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Mark david
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, June 10, 2010

We go there often, it is busy and noisy and cramped, but the food is amazing and its only that busy because it is so good otherwise no one would go there, so anyone gving a bad review must have gone on a particularly bad night! I agree tho, the decor needs upgrading and the loos definately dont pass as acceptable!
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Niki
7 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 7
Saturday, May 15, 2010

I used to go to Mirch Masala quite alot in the earlier days, when it was more like cafe- type eatery that are popular in Tooting and Tooting Bec. These days I think it has become over priced, the staff are less attentive and the food it not as good as it used to be. It's all a bit too fast paced and lacking in quality. It's cramped and very noisy with staff squeezing between customers because there are too many tables. I am sorry to see this happen. The decor/seating needs an upgrade, just look at the the floors/ staricase and bathroom require some special atention- it really isn't very good at all. It's a real shame! I would no longer advise friends to give it a try. I'd say if you do fancy curry give the competition ( some of the newer cafe style indian eateries) a try, there's plenty of better places these days.
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Graham George
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, May 03, 2010