Indian chain, Food 3/5, Price ~£10.00 for a main, Waiting time about 5 mins, Atmosphere 4/5, website
A safe choice for a quick Indian meal. The service was very good on this visit. We were seated and served very quickly, despite showing up in a group of 7 on a Friday evening at 9pm. It was impressive how the waitress was completely unphased by the arrival of an eigth diner halfway through the meal and swiftly moved across an extra table for us.
Grand thali platter with Goan prawn curry and saffron chicken korma.
You might be familiar with the “Thali” platter from Masala Zone’s advertising posters in tube stations. The grand Thali consists of an onion bhaji, poppadom with chutney, rice, chapati, raita, a few curried vegetable dishes and one or two curries of your choice. It’s good fun to have so many different flavours on your plate, albeit mediocre ones. The chicken korma was pleasantly redolent of saffron, but all dishes lack that extra richness and depth you’d expect from a professional.
The branding and advertising campaigns point to a high marketing budget.
Each branch is decorated with bright colours and distinctly Asian motifs. The Earls Court branch is characterized by bamboo branches hung from the ceiling. As with a lot of other London chains, they have printed material with vacuous, partronizing statements- but I seem to have an irrational fear of bold health and authenticity claims in restaurant chains.
If you sign up to their mailing list, you can receive some good offers. On my visit, I used a 2 for 1 main course voucher that was emailed to me. I’ll probably pop back if the send me another voucher.
Joe S
September 25, 2010
I don’t like Masala Zone – you can’t get a basic standard curry. You have to get one of their fancy ones which are not the same.
Aki
September 25, 2010
True! Let me know when you find a good curry house in Kensington.
Mischa
September 26, 2010
Hey! I love your website Aki!!:)
Hope to see many more posts soon xx