Masala Zone

 

Curry has been at the bottom of the food chain for many years now, the cheapest and most basic cuisine of all, one step up from a Big Mac meal. This stylish Soho restaurant attempts to go against that image, with a trendy exterior, a fashionable, chintz-free dining room and a menu that puts authenticity first.

And by and large, it is successful. Functional furnishings are offset by a fun, multi-levelled floorplan and a fantastic mural going right round the walls, depicting the links between India and England. The food is at its best when it is simplest. The really memorable dish from our meal was the Butter Chicken (Chicken Tikka Masala by any other name), which was absolutely the best I have tasted outside India. Daha puri (crunchy biscuits piled high with spiced chickpea mash and tangy chutney) were also superb. There were some blander dishes – a mushroom kofte curry was very bog-standard curryhouse fare – but the emphasis is on 'thali' platters, with lots of little things to taste, so these shouldn't spoil your meal too much.

Prices are above average for Indian food, but more than reasonable considering the location, choice and quality on offer. This is a fun, fashionable Soho restaurant: Indian for the in crowd.