9 Marshall St, London W1F 7ER www.masalazone.com
A now venerable Soho Indian restaurant has had a brush and polish and Nick finds the food and the prices are as good, if not better, than ever.
I’d heard the140 seat place had had a revamp, I remember it as being a bit simple and rustic when I last looked inside, but now it’s looking rather chic and sophisticated, especially with the newly installed Bangle bar near the door.
P likes her Suntra Reeta, a kind of’Indian sangria’ she said and we all ate the snacks of Goan Crispy Fried Prawns with vindaloo mayo dip and Spicy Squid Bhajias with achari chutney. The bhajias were a bit soft, but nothing objectionable.
First some starter; I always like Pani Puri because of the little ritual of filling the hollow shell with the liquid mix then popping it in your mouth whole. The fun is seeing ingénues try and bite into one instead; the mess is always immediate and destructive. Nicely tangy and crispy, these hit the spot. As do P’s chicken samosas, clearly not from a catering pack and properly made of pastry and full of chicken.
My thali, like all thalis, looks over generous at first but I like the initial greedy thrill of all that choice. The dal is richly textured and the vegetables tender but with some retained bite. I’d gone for chapattis over rice as I like eating thalis with my bare hands one of the few foods I don’t want cutlery for.
V powers through a Grand Thali and J goes medieval on a slow-cooked lamb shank that’s been marinated in Maharashtrian spices and then grilled. Both report happiness with their choices and we all get on with carafes of house wine. No matter what I am told, usually by people with a vested financial interest, I see no point in spending money on wine when it’s Asian food on the table.
Two of us have Kulfi (homemade) to end and it’s very good but then I do love kulfi. And I’m impressed by Masala Zone. The prices are still remarkably good for central London and the food easily a cut and a half above the average.
It’s all done to a higher standard both in taste and presentation wise than you’d reasonably expect for the money and despite the size of the place the food comes out at just the right pace neither dawdling so or with sense of your being hurried or harried.
Another fourteen years seems on the cards.