Restaurant
Name: | Masala | |
Area: | Brick Lane | |
Address: | 88 Brick Lane | |
London E1 6RL | ||
Phone: | 020 7539 9448 | |
Website: | www.masalabricklane.net |
Visits to this restaurant ...
1. 28 Jun 2012 | | | 2. 25 Jul 2013 | | | 3. 25 Sep 2014 | | | 4. 26 Mar 2015 | | | 5. 28 Jul 2016 |
6. 30 Nov 2017 | | | 7. 21 Dec 2022 |
Visit Report
Visit Number: | 160 (visit 2 of 7 for this restaurant) | |
Date of visit: | 25 Jul 2013 | |
Cost per head: | £20.00 (2 beers) |
Serv | Amb | Beer | Start | Nan | Rice | Main | Veg | VFM | Score | Comments | |
Overall | 6.7 | 7.2 | 5.5 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 9.1 | 7.24 | |
John | 4 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6.0 | See John's comments |
Jon | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7.4 | See Jon's comments |
Jeff | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 7.2 | See Jeff's comments | |
Dave | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8.2 | See Dave's comments |
Neil | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6.8 | See Neil's comments |
Graeme | 8 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 7.7 | See Graeme's comments |
Mark | 5 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7.1 | See Mark's comments | |
Dominic | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6.6 | See Dominic's comments | |
Tim | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7.5 | See Tim's comments |
Alex | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8.0 | See Alex's comments | |
All Comments
John - Not bad apart from the con trick of passing off cheap lager as Cobra. I had sheek kebab to start – very tasty although small. Main was some sort of prawn chilli thing in a coconut sauce. Again, a small portion (4 prawns!) but that did at least mean I had space to hoover up the veg. Well done to Gloria for hitting his century!
Jon - My only real complaint with Masala was that they tried to save on the beers by giving us all a pint rather than a bottle (which obviously holds more than a pint) which left us rather suspicious of what we had been served. The second round was served in the bottle after we complained. I was a little disappointed in the mixed starter, but my main course of Chicken Joipuri was very nice indeed. The special rice was pretty good and the veg and nans were all up to scratch. I like the decor and the atmosphere in that place, and the quality of the food makes it one of Brick Lane's best venues. The toptable discount made the VFM excellent and it was, all in all, a great night. Still can't believe Dom didn't think I was a cricket fan.
Jeff - My first visit to this place, and I was very impressed with: the friendliness of the waiters; the stylishness of the restaurant, although I would have preferred to sit further inside; the quality of the food which was all above average; and the VFM, helped by our 50% discount off food, delivering an excellent evening's food and entertainment for £20!! The only gripe was the beer, which was not cold enough (I note the same happened last year), but they were suitably apologetic regarding this. I would not hesitate to return here. Congratulations to Griff for racing to his 100th curry marks outing in only(?) 13 years. His strike rate matches Torres for Chelsea!
Dave - Fantastic celebration of my 100th appearance at the Masala. After a spectacular entrance, where I managed to knock the painting off the wall, I ordered the "Griffo set meal" of prawn puri and chicken curry. All the food was of a very good standard and when the price of £20 was announced I thought I had travelled back 13.5 years in a curry house tardis. (Incidentally, the inaugural curry club outing visit on 27 Jan 2000 cost £21 a head!). Overall an excellent evening and hope to see the Masala maintain its top 6 status.
Neil - A very relaxed evening, some might say the waiters were a bit too relaxed and we left a bit later than usual! Food was average all round and the starter (Lamb Keebab) a tad small. That said there was nothing too annoying and the 'old school' final price of twenty quid fantastic. Be warned, there is only one toilet which would be a problem on a busier evening. I expect this to drop out of the top six as price isn't everything. Well done to Griff on his hundredth appearance. He even went viral on the web, although probably more in a literal sense than the 21st century meaning.
Graeme - This was a welcome return to Brick Lane (and a welcome return to Brick Lane prices from about 10 years ago). The food was excellent, although my starter (Tandoori Platter) and main (Garlic Chilli Chicken) were maybe not quite as special as last time. They were still very good though. The service was good - the waiter even cottoned on to counting the 'fingers' himself (once we had explained about the bent fingers!) - but there was quite a delay before the starters arrived. I've marked the Veg as 9 - I'm pretty sure I haven't done that before - the Sag Aloo especially was exceptional. Unfortunately, I have to mention "beer-gate" - there was a strong suspicion that the first round of so-called Cobra and Tiger beers were, in fact, something cheaper. Jon discussed this with the management and we received the proper unopened bottles for the next round but I still think it was dodgy practice initially. We paid £20 p/h (net of El Presidente's pre-arranged discount) - unbelievable! Excellent conversation covering old Football League grounds trivia and amusing cricket abuse / sledging - marvellous!
Mark - Apart from the 'confusion' over the beer this was a very good evening for Dave to celebrate his century. Meeting in the Gun allowed us to stand in the street which meant that Jon could get his monthly argument out of the way early and Alex could tan his feet. Booking with TT in advance meant no touts to haggle with and our table was ready and waiting (+1). Magic trick of pouring 660ml into a pint glass (-2) with a drink to finish (+1) meant service was a bit haphazard but the food was fine, very low priced and overall very enjoyable despite the 'Founding Fathers' quote being overused. My main of mixed grill was a meat feast that I would have been happy to share. Glad to see we nearly reached viral staus on Facebook following my Check-in. I can see this becoming a regular occurence! Griff's re-arrangement of the art was wonderful to watch.
Dominic - This was my first trip to the Masala with the club but I have been here twice before when I organised two work dinners - so I knew what I was getting. The venue has a modern feel but we were placed on a table near the narrow entrance which wasn't the best. The service appeared quite slow which I have marked down but offset with the free round of drinks upon asking. My starter of the Tandoori Platter was very good indeed: 5 items which were tender and very tasty. I then went for "The Graeme Special" (the Garlic Chilli Chicken) but while I found it interesting it wasn't overly extraordinary ... well certainly not for my tastes. The rest was just OK. The wine, however, was fine but has been marked down as it wasn't chilled enough and was sent back twice. But overall I could not fault the VFM which is very good even for Brick Lane (aided and abetted by the toptable discount). A very big round of applause goes to Griff who (finally!!) made it to the 100 club. Not sure if it was age or the fact that he "head-butted" the painting off the wall upon arrival but he didn't realise he was drinking out of his engraved centenary glass (notwithstanding the MANY hints!!!) nor does he comprehend the definition of a "money shot" ... I wonder what sort of porn he has been watching all these years!!!
Tim - Choice of beer, including Tiger; some good value wine on the wine list. Spicy popadoms were a bit burnt in places, but mixed tandoori platter starter was very good. A bit of a wait for the main of Satkati Gosht, which was tasty with a good quantity of tender lamb. Free round of liqueurs and TopTable discount of 50% off food meant that overall this was excellent value for money.
Alex - Very good price for what we had. Food was consistently good and main was a chunky portion.