Masala Zone

Islington, United Kingdom

3.2

Closed now

21 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

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Telephone:
+44 20 7359 3399
Website:
www.masalazone.com
Address:
80 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 0NU
Angel, Islington
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
150 ftTheberton Street
370 ftIslington Green
540 ftTheberton Street Gibson Sq
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm
5:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Islington) 2:45 AM Friday, November 29, 2024

Business hours

Monday 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm
5:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Tuesday 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm
5:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Wednesday 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm
5:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Thursday 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm
5:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Friday 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm
5:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Saturday 12:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Sunday 12:30 pm – 10:30 pm

Description

Specialties

Pan-​Indian cuisine

History

Established in 2001.

Since its opening in 2001, Masala Zone Soho has been one of the most popular restaurants in London serving real Indian food. Run by the same team behind highly acclaimed Indian restaurants Chutney Mary, Amaya and Veeraswamy, Masala Zone Soho has now been transformed, following a complete renovation. The new sophisticated and inviting space comprises a glamorous new bar, the Bangle Bar, and preserves the unique tribal art on the walls.

A number of exciting new dishes have also been added whilst retaining the legendary core offerings. The lunch menu sees new light dishes with flavourful all-​in-​one bowls from £8.50.

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21 reviews of Masala Zone

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Place rating: 3
London, United Kingdom
Masala Zone is one of my guilty pleasures and one of very few companies I ever use for Friday night takeaways … they offer particularly good value when really hungry.
However, my most recent visit to an actual branch proved that Masala Zone is not a good option if you just fancy a light meal. The streetfood starters seem like a good choice but I’ve actually tried most of them before and they tend to be on the greasy side.
Having been lucky to get an outdoors table on the patio out front (overlooking traffic, but still …) we decided to leave without ordering. Sushi across the road was the answer on this occasion.
The upmarket chains (Wagamama, Dishoom, Busaba Ethai et al) all seem to employ the same interior designers, this branch of Masala Zone was dimly lit with dark tables — very pleasant but formulaic.
Place rating: 4
London, United Kingdom
Along the majorly trendy Islington main shopping road, are loads of very trendy restaurants and the competition is high. Masala Zone is a chain whose other branches do not fit this description, because although it is quite cool it is not very trendy. However it is clear that they have changed their décor for this location and done a great job of it. The décor is not a achingly trendy, but it is cool fun and nice.
The food is perfectly good and nicely done Indian food. Nothing remarkable, but perfectly nice. If you like Indian food you will not be disappointed, it is nicely done and presented.
The service is lovely, the staff were friendly and attentive.
I have only not giving it the 5th star, because although it was very good, there was nothing that made it top of it’s game, or remarkable. I feel I should reserve the 5th star for those occasions that something really is remarkable, or the best in London for it’s category.
Place rating: 4
London, United Kingdom
I think all the restaurants on Upper Street up their game because there’s so many restaurants in the area, they have to be the best they can be. Masala Zone tends to be an averagely decent place to eat Indian food — but this particular branch has a little extra something! Service is always great, we hardly wait long for our mains to arrive — the Thali is the one to go for as it gives you a bit of everything! Depending on how hungry you are, close the regular or grand (the grand has more carbs so is especially filling!)
I’ve come here a few times now, and I’ll probably come again!
Place rating: 3
London, United Kingdom
Yes, it hit the spot! Average Indian food.
Highlights: Food was cooked well and tasty, Location was easy to find near the tube station, Staff was friendly with good décor and a good size sitting area.
Can improve: Increase the quantity a little.
Benchmark: My best Indian restaurants are Delhi Spice, Namaste Lounge and Everest Lounge.
Dined in June 2015 and might consider again if in the area.
Place rating: 5
Londres, Royaume-Uni
Les cocktails sont sympas, le service excellent, les plats délicieux, les portions très bien servies. On sent aussi que les produits sont frais. Les prix sont élevés, mais pas exorbitants.
Petits plus appréciables :
— la cuisine est ouverte (hygièné garantie),
— de nombreuses tables sont occupées par de vrais Indiens venus dîner en famille.
Place rating: 1
London, United Kingdom
Delivery order made from the website. The food was disappointing to say the least and the portions were shameful. The Honey and Dill Prawns Main — £ 15.20 — was just plain offensive: 4 prawns and a rather pathetic garden salad with a vinaigrette on the side. Unbelievable! The Goan Crispy Fried Prawns were soggy and the Delihi Vegetable Korma was runny and mainly liquid — not much by way of substance at all. The ‘Dal of the Day’ was ridiculously oily and garlicky. This was an epic failure of a meal whose only upside was prompt delivery. Absolutely will not order again and will most certainly share this horrid experience to spare other potential diners this nasty fate.
Also, the site’s captcha code is ridiculous indecipherable as is the audio option so they have ‘gamed’ their own feedback mechanism. Pretty shady stuff.
Place rating: 4
London, United Kingdom
I will definitely give a 5* for the taste of the food. I love south Indian food and I know how it should taste being a fan of home cooked Indian food. So given that I can tell the place lives up to my taste buds. I knocked one star as the portions are little less to my liking and prices are higher for the portions they serve. But hey we are planning to visit again very soon as taste matters in the end. I had the masal chai and chicken biryani which came with a dal (we don’t eat dal with biryani) but it still tasted good and yoghurt both are yum.
Place rating: 4
London, United Kingdom
Their takeout delivery service is brilliant. The people who take your order are always friendly, helpful and make everything so easy. The thalis come in fantastic delivery trays and the food is always wonderful, especially as a vegetarian. Occasionally the lentil dishes can be a little too watery, and the side dishes in the thalis can be very spicy or overly oily sometimes too but these are very small complaints. Most of the time the food is as good as when you eat in and is fantastic value with great service.
Place rating: 4
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Quick and dirty Indian food. They have dishes where you get small servings of different curry so you get a nice variety. Staff is friendly too.
Place rating: 3
Los Angeles, CA
I give 3.5 stars.
I came here with three friends before going to a late Proms concert. The name made me skeptical but I was really pleased with the food. It was very tasty and satisfying — I got a thali with a chicken dish I can’t remember the name of — it had cilantro and was spicy. OMG it was SOOOO GOOD and the naan was excellent. I’d definitely go back for the food.
The one thing that worried me was the service. We said we were in a hurry because we had a concert to catch, and it still took a very long time to get our food. When we asked the server about it, she said it was because one person in our party had ordered skewers, and it states in the menu that it takes 15 minutes for those, but this was after at least 30 minutes of ordering so I didn’t buy it.
Other than that, everything was great! They seem to take pride in their menu and take the time to explain everything, and I liked that a lot.
Place rating: 3
Burlingame, CA
Masala zone is an easy saturday lunch spot. I had the chicken (butter chicken, yum!) thali with the dahi puri app.
Will definitely be stopping back in when a craving for quick easy Indian faire hits…
Place rating: 3
London, United Kingdom
Visited here in April but didn’t feel it lived up to the reviews.
Service was fine and the ambience and décor was refreshingly modern.
However I really didn’t like the food that much. I’ve no idea if the food was authentic or not, but to be honest «authenticity» is not a quality I really value highly in foreign food. I just value good quality ingredients and want it to taste good to my somewhat unadventurous palate.
I had a kurma but it was a lot less sweet than I was expecting and I’d have preferred the meat to be marinated in the sauce rather than served separately. I think this place just wasn’t for me.
Place rating: 3
London, United Kingdom
We had dinner here last night. There was 7 of us and we all had Thalis we were all still suffering a bit from new year’s eve so Thalis were the safe and easy choice as you get a bit of everything. I chose Goan prawn as the main curry with the Thali, and got two vegetable dishes, a poppadom, a chapati, some salad and sauces. One of the vegetable dishes was lentil and was good, the other had potatoes in and was red (I’m guessing tomatoes?) and was not very tasty. The prawn curry was average at best. It feels to me like this place is more focused on marketing and interior design than having great tasting food. If you want a good curry in Islington Roots @ N1 is a million times better
Place rating: 3
London, United Kingdom
We headed to Masala zone last night and really enjoyed our meal. I was a bit cautious when I saw the décor as it looked a little «fast food/​mass market»…nothing special about it but the food is tastey. It is not too pricey and the service is very friendly. If you are looking for authentic indian food with a nice ambience, this might not be the place. It is GOOD… but not the best indian I have ever had and it has the mass chain vibe which throws it a bit. Overall, however, I would go back :)!
Place rating: 1
London, United Kingdom
So, I went here for my 21th birthday with my friends and I must say everything is crap. The food doesn’t look or taste like the way Indian food should be. You don’t get enough food on your plate like most Indian restaurant does. Overall I believe its expensive and tasteless.
If you really want some Indian food head down to Southall.
Jollyton
(=
Place rating: 1
London, United Kingdom
I never ever find a hair in my food and nor would I make a big fuss if I did.
But when I found one in my food last week at Masala Zone I quietly told the waiter and said that I was informing him just to let the kitchen know to be careful. I didn’t ask for a discount or make a big stink, I just put my plate aside and waited for my partner to finish his meal.
The waiter was thankful at first but then after speaking to the staff in the kitchen he basically came back to the table and accused me of dreaming it up as there would never be a hair in the food. I didn’t want to pick at my plate to show him as I had buried it under some food but I told him to do so in the kitchen if he wished, I felt a bit sick at this point.
I was shocked but was so tired that day that I didn’t cause a fuss, I was just floored at the poor service and how they handled that; if I wasn’t with a terrible cold I probably would’ve had words with the manger but I didn’t.
They gave us 10% off our bill — which was also absurd! I was a fan of Masala Zone but shall not be returning ever again –not because the food isn’t great, I still think it is but how they treated a customer who was quietly informing them of something amiss with their meal was done all wrong.
Customer service training should be given to the staff there.
Place rating: 3
London, United Kingdom
The food here is kinda meh & I always wondered why it got such rave reviews.
It’s not really authentic & is just another joint trying to pass off as ‘real’ Indian food.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Masala Zoooonne!!! I love you! When I was a poor American, living in London, you gave me the calories I needed to survive, and the spices I craved. You were an oasis of cleanliness, calm, and enticing aromas!
Your thali plates are so bountiful! Your dhal so smooth. Your lassi so tangy. Your vindaloo so tender. And your papadam so delicate!
How can I thank you? This is the only way. Until we meet again!
PS. I don’t think Masala Zone is even trying to be the best, most authentic and high end Indian in the London market. So love it for what it is (and stop with the critical ratings)– an easy way to get an amazing variety. And a perfect spot to try Indian for the first time. It’s like the tapas of Indian foods.
Place rating: 2
London, United Kingdom
If you really love authentic Indian food Masala Zone may not be the place for you. I love Indian food and my favourite dish is chicken tikka masala. The dish at Masala Zone is okay. Other dishes I have tried, butter chicken and chicken madras have always been just okay, none of the dishes have offered anything spectacular. The dishes that I have found that are really good are the starters, particularly the chicken samosa. The chicken samosa has a dark flaky crust filled with spicy bits of chicken and is very good. The dish comes with two samosa and just the right amount of kick.
Masala Zone is a good stop if you want something Indian tasting, in a friendly environment but are not expecting authentic Indian fare.
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
Stepping into Masala Zone is like entering the taste buds of India. The cuisine here is proper Indian, not that trendy stuff that Westerners usually buy into. I came to this place with two of my friends from Delhi and they were explaining the origin of the food before me: what region it came from, the cultural reasons behind the use of those particular ingredients. It was like an Indian food seminar. The waiters and waitresses were just as knowledgeable as my Indian dining companions. The whole experience was a festival of learning.
Their food is delicious. They serve platters with all kinds of yoghurts, nans and house specialties. I got the smallest platter thinking that I could devour it whole in a matter of milliseconds, but surprisingly it was very filling. My other friends who got the larger platter couldn’t finish their meal. The place is cheap as well (I spent £11 for my platter and a cold beer), so I would definitely suggest going if you have severe Indian food hankerings.
Place rating: 2
London, United Kingdom
This is not the best Indian food to be had in London, and is best avoided for lunch. I’ve eaten before at the Soho Masala Zone, and loved the food, which is why I was so disappointed with the quality of the same chain in Islington. I went with a friend to have a Sunday lunch, and the service was rather slow — she had to go to the counter to ask someone to take our order.
We ordered a starter and two dishes — the mains were uninspiring in their combination of different flavors — the essential component of Indian food. In fact, everything seemed to have been made with the same mix of spices. But the starter made with chickpeas was quite good, sweet and tangy with a yogurt dip. I hope they bring this place up to the centrally based Masala Zone standard soon.