Time Out describes Masala Zone as “Soho’s best Indian, no contest” and therein lies the curry lover’s problem: NO CONTEST!
chicken mangalore and garlic spinach
There’s a real dearth of good ol’ Indian curry houses in the West End with a few sporadically dotted here and there, but most notably a small cluster of dingy restaurants on Denman Street in the Soho area. If you’re ever unfortunate to walk into one of these places, might I suggest negotiating 10% off the menu price first. They usually oblige and you might feel a bit better knowing you salvaged something to go with that slab of ghee swimming in your belly.
Masala Zone have thrived in part due to any lack of alternative choices but also through innovation (or modernisation), if I can call it that: Big, illustrated and descriptive menus; a bright interior; spacious seating; and well trained waiting staff that don’t wear waistcoats. Most importantly of course is the food which I found to be a commendable effort. Previous visits with friends have taken in their renowned Thalis – a complete meal on a tray made up of several small dishes – and they’ve kinda dissapointed. The meat curry dishes aren’t swimming in oil but at the detriment of any real flavours. Same with the vegetable dishes which were slightly on the cold side. At £11 for a thali, I’d also question the value – sure the variety seems impressive but an espresso cupful of rice, some shredded onions with green bits and a pot of minty yoghurt does not fool the tummy.
masala zone
This recent visit with my buddy Nige saw us share: he, his lamb madras and I, my chicken mangalore. Supplemented with rice, chapatis and garlic spinach. For little more than a couple of thalis I’d say that it was a more fulfilling eating experience.
The madras was delicious – heavy on the chilli and tempered by tamarind. Lamb seemed a tad overcooked but it could’ve been a bit too lean. The Mangalore chicken was just right in it’s combination of spice and coconut, with ginger being most prominent. The chicken was a bit dry though and I’m finding this to be a common occurence in all their meat dishes.
We decided on the Rasmalai for a sweet thing but other choices are standards – Golub Jamun, falouda (a sweet drink with colourful noodles) and kulfi almond ice cream. Rasmalai was a great choice – light, spongey, milky patties soaked in a saffron flavoured milk sauce and topped with pistachios went down a treat with the chai teas.
chapatis
Masala Zone is a pretty good Indian that provides a more contempory experience to the traditional restaurant and if they figured out a way of serving meat that isn’t overcooked to a high turnover of customers then I’d say it’d be excellent.
This was my second visit and it was a more positive experience than the first one.
£40 for the two of us which includes 2 mains, rice, chapatis, sides, drinks, desserts and chais.
Infinitely better than the competition. Recommended.
In Soho – 9 Marshall street, London, W1F 7ER
Phone 020 7287 9966
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