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Masala, 51 The Pantiles Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 5JU


51 The Pantiles Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 5JU

01892 616700

(1) This had the makings for an excellent meal, an upmarket location and the expectation of something a little special. The restaurant is impressive, located on the first floor next to the Corn Exchange. It is quite large with smoking and no-smoking areas. It has modern decor, interesting wall pictures and relaxing lighting, but from here on it is all downhill. It was our first visit inspired by their current advesrtisement in the local paper, this clearly states a starter, main course(excluding king prawn), rice and nan for £11.95. We attempted to order the mixed grill, but this was not allowed under the offer as it included a king prawn, so we changed to another dish. tried to order an nan as well as the rice, but the waiter claimed this was not included within the offer, I showed him the wording in the advert, but he claimed it was wrong and would be an extra change. I ordered one anyway, but clearly this establishment is not customer focussed and further adverts in the local paper have not been changed.

On average I eat curry out every fortnight, it is my favourite meal and I can say until now I have never had a meal that disappoints. We choose the first two chicken starters on the menu, hoping for something a little different, but both bore little resemblance to the menu description - my starter consisted of chicken in batter deep fried and served with a little lettuce. The batter was not seasoned and there was no sauce, it was so bland that I left it. My wife faired a little better with her starter consisting of chick peas, chicken and spices. Neither of us though remember the menu making any mention of chick peas. For the main course we had mushroom pilau rice (not bad but rather oily), chicken shaslik and lamb tikka balti, bombay aloo, brinjal bhaji and a keema nan. Can't go wrong with the shaslik as the base ingredients are just cooked in the tandoori oven, but the balti had a sour tomato based sauce that my wife refused to eat after one mouthful and I later abandoned too. It tasted like a failed homemade attempt, I have never left a curry before! The brinjal (aubergine) was very basic, oily and not very appetising. The service was slow and indifferent, it was a quiet Monday night and they were less than half full, there was really no excuse. We did not bother with a dessert or coffee, the experience was so poor we really just wanted to leave as soon as possible. This really is a great shame, the location and ambience are good, but they will not prosper or indeed deserve to until the kitchen staff can cook at least as well as the average indian restuarant and the waiting staff attempt to make you feel welcome. steveofglencoe

(2) Restaurant Spy keeps going on about Tunbridge Wells being a super-duper place to eat so Mrs Stalsis and I decided to give it a whirl. We settled on a new, and swish-looking, Indian restaurant: Masala. Things looked promising as we climbed the classy staircase and entered a large first-floor room, nicely laid out with proper furnishings, a pale deep-pile carpet, frosted glass, and zooming waiters. The place was full with with-it looking diners, and there was not a shred of red flock wallpaper to be seen.

However, the service was very hit and miss. We had five or six different waiters during the evening, and had several times to call for items we had ordered but which hadn't appeared. They were busy, and we hadn't booked, I know, but they need to improve their service. One chap on his own was seated next to us and was ignored so studiously, and for such a long time, that he finally left in dignified disgust. That is a disaster - surely - from a restaurant's point of view. But the usual Indian restaurant indifference was apparent. I don't want to be asked repeatedly, 'Is everything alright?' I want them to do more to ENSURE that it is alright, especially when they've seen me asking more than once for stuff I've ordered but which hasn't come. But worse than this: the food was very ordinary Anglo-Indian curryhouse stuff, and - guess what? - it was NOT HOT ENOUGH, Perry's usual complaint. It's no good having swish carpets and stylish design, you need to think about everthything. I suggest Masala start with improving the quality of their customer service and try to get their food to the table before it starts getting cold. Not terrible just very disappointing. Perry Stalsis 2004

By m at 17/02/2006 - 16:41 | 2006 | England | Indian | Kent | Large Groups | OK | Review | UK | £££/$$$ | add new comment | 223 reads

Nice

I have been to Masala a few times and the place is not bad. The decor is smart and tendy. Food-wise, well it is typical Indian fayre you could get elsewhere, but there are far worst places to eat. The overal quality is not bad and the portions are just right. There was no Jazz night, so thank heavens for that. What would be good, would be Indian musicians and dancers performing live. One gripe is that the location of the bathroom and they should at least make it look good.
By Racing Green at Wed, 20/12/2006 - 17:02 | reply

Masala

I live in Tunbridge Wells with my family and I had some guests on Saturday night. I took them around Pantiles. Their 2 year old daughter was hungry and sleepy by 8.30pm and we saw 'Masala' infront of us. Coming from India, we thought we might feel at home in the curry house. But, the treatment inside the restaurant was shocking. They absolutely have no clue about customer service. Despite requesting them to serve us early because of the child, they took 20 minutes just to give us the menu. And a terrible treatment from waiters as if we had gone there to eat for free. When this was conveyed to the manager, his response was kind of 'I DON'T CARE'. My recommendation, if you want a nice place to eat where you can relax and go home with a smile..this is not the place. VSR

By m at Tue, 09/10/2007 - 11:41 | reply