Masala Zone (Earls Court)

I have fortunately experienced quite a number of good Indian restaurants in London - Amaya, (the Michelin starred) Benares, Painted Heron, Bombay Brasserie etc. so I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about when I say that those few "..."'s who have negatively quibbled about this restaurant here, need their heads examined.

Food at Masala Zone is exquisitely superb and expertly crafted, That;s not opinion. That's fact. And that's fact which is proven by just how busy they are every evening of the week! The complainers are most definitely few and far between. But I'll waste no more words on them.

Tastes are wonderfully varied and presentation is first rate, I'd recommend the great value Thalis - whereby you are given a selection of dishes and must choose your main dish. These are keenly priced at well under £15 and very fulfilling. Service is absolutely charming and first rate. It's obvious that the proprietors have gone to great lengths only to employ persons who are well suited to the service industry. This is not a stuffy restaurant and the atmosphere is informal, modern, but almost colourfully comfortable. When it's busy there can be quite a din of chitter chatter, but nothing too intrusive to the ears, all the same.

For dessert I always try to leave room for their home made pistachio kulfi or Ras Malai. They do not take bookings and owing to the great value and delicious real Indian food, note that they tend to get very busy from about 7.30pm to 8.30pm. So if you come at those times, you may well have to wait a few minutes: a small price to pay for the exceptionally good food which will follow. My only negative is that when it's very busy, you may find yourself sitting quite close to another table, and if like me you hate to hear the inanities that others speak this can be a little annoying. But by no means should this detract you from visiting and experiencing the best value, real Indian food in London. IN fact, despite their being owned by Chutney Mary, the food is far superior at Masala Zone. Top marks for sure.
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TW
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, May 26, 2011

Went with my girlfriend on a Friday night and, although there was a queue in order to get a table, the person at the door was very kind, gave as menus and told us to wait about 10 minutes (it actually took them about 5 minutes).

Our waitress was very kind, helpful and the service was very good and fast. The food was tasty and spicy and arrived at a right time. We would definitely come back.
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9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Hello everyone, after hearing that masala zone is part of well known amaya, chutney mary and first indian rest veeraswamy i been there with my friends, we were given table next to food pick up point even half of the restaurant was empty, waitress took our order we ordered for thalis. The food was ok not at all spicy or any kind of wow factor sorry to say.

After finishing the food by mistake my friend broke glass on the table, even though it wasnt looking so busy still none of the waiters on the floor noticed, one blonde even passed thorugh our table thrice still she didnt replied anything, she was preffering to ask other tables is everything is ok rather than letting us know someone will come to clean the table. being a indian in indian restaurant i was being ignored; after some time my friend started to collect the glasses by himself as no one was taking care and that hurted me so i called the blonde to let her know the mistake even when i was telling her she was being so rude and was not ready to listen. as we were not in mood to create a scene so we ordered for a desserts on a table with small pieces of glasses lying around.

we finish with our desserts still no one noticed about the glasses and one more thing i forgot the desserts came after 20 minutes when we requested them to get i thought that the blonde is taking revenge.

at the end we got our bill i politely asked the waiter to take out service charge and i was being asked reason, so being harrased guest i explained the waiter apparently he was a manager wearing t-shirt and trouser sorry again the first one i saw, after having long arguement we were given 15% discount and we finally got off the rude dining place, cant call restaurant.
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Amit
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, July 29, 2009