Masala Zone - Homely Indian cuisine in the heart of London

After our Friday evening Zumba class and our shopping spree on Oxford Street, we opted to head through Carnaby Street to Masala Zone. Overcome with the urge to have homely Indian dishes, we selected Masala Zone as our dinner venue.

I’ve been a regular to this place, but it was the first time for Prachi. We arrived pretty late (after 10pm), but being Friday night they were well into service, and were quickly escorted to our table upon arrival. Being the foodies that we are, we brushed aside the drinks menu and started scanning through the food menu.

Masala Zone offer a range of starters, spanning contemporary and street food Indian dishes. I’ve tried the Alu Tikki Chaat, Samosas and Sev Puri in previous visits, all have been simple but well presented, and excellent to the taste. We opted to try something different and went for the Gosht Dabalroti.

Gosht Dabalroti

The dish comprised of chunks of seasoned, spiced lamb, chunks of white bread, garden vegetables (tomatoes, cucumber and onions) and a spinkling of sev on top to add that crunch. The lamb was well cooked and seasoned, having a strong flavor which reminded me of a British Indian classic – the ‘Rogan Josh’. The chunks of bread added that contrast in texture alongside the firmer lamb. The bread could have been a littler better though, the sweetness of the bread played a rather significant part in the overall taste combination. The sev and garden vegetables added the perfect crunch to create a wholesome and interesting mouthful when combining the constituents together. For those faithful to the modern adaption of Indian cuisine in the UK, I’d recommend this dish.

Given we were two hungry pups, for the mains we decided to have the Chicken  Grand Thali with Kerelan Malabar Chicken. The thali was a well balanced meal, providing a healthy mix of meat, carbohydrates and those all essential veggies. The Grand Thali comprised of the following:

• 1 x Doodhi mutter sabzi
• 1 x alu sabzi
• 1 x daal
• 1 x Kerelan Malabar Chicken
• 1 x poppadum
• 1 x rice with methi seeds
• 1 x roti
• 1 x raita
• 1 x salad

Chicken Malabar Grand Thali

The vegetarian options were simple, wholesome and honest in preparation. The doodhi and vegetable dish was a refreshing reminder of home style Indian veg food, a start reminder of dishes I ate in India. For those unfamiliar to doodhi, here’s a few quick facts:

Doodhi / Lauki (calabash)

• Lauki, otherwise known as calabash is a vine grown for it’s fruit, and can either used as a vegetable or dried and matured to be used as a bottle, utensil or pipe.
• Lauki was one of the first cultivated plants in the world, grown not for food but as a water container.
• Lauki had been cultivated in Asia, Europe and the Americas for thousands of years before Columbus’ discovery of America.
• Lauki is used frequently in North Indian and South Indian cuisine. A popular dish in Mumbai is Lauki Channa (channa daal and diced lauki)
• Lauki is also popular in chinese cuisine as eitry a stir-fry or in soup.
• Lauki has an alternate use. Lauki has been used in many indian string instruments as a resonator. The sitar, surbahar and tanpura all have a lauki resonator at the end of the strings, called a toomba.

Thought I’d mention some fast facts for you. The dish was really nice, a simple flavor, adequately spiced and soft in texture.. This was a delight to eat and went well the the chappati that came with the thali.

The two other vegetable dishes were one potato and spinach dish and one yellow daal. The potato dish was a little dry and had an artificial flavor about it. It had to be eaten alongside the lauki and peas dish. The yellow daal had a grounded flavor, supplied as an accompaniment to the rice. As much as it forms an essential part of the thali, it was on the simpler side compared to what I’ve eaten in India.

Right, now for the highlight of my review, and what you’ve no doubt been waiting for – the Kerelan Malabar chicken. The chicken had a strong flavor of the curry leaf, very traditional in South Indian cooking, and providing an exotic flavor to the dish. The dish had a hint of coconut, giving it that resounding South Indian touch. This was the clear headline dish in the thali, providing a tangy tomatoey taste, a perfect gravy housing the tender chicken. The chappati went well with the vegetarian dishes, and the Malabar chicken was the perfect dish for the rice.

All in all, a well balanced thali, London’s version of India’s famous offering. A healthy, tasty and filling meal for our post workout evening. I’m split on whether I would recommend this dish again, but I would opt for some of Masala Zone’s Indian street food options, which have been brilliant in previous visits…

Staring down the gauntlet of the Grand Thali...

Masala Zone - Soho

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