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Reviews for Masala Indian Restaurant

by Colleen H.
13th April 2013

Recently took 8 family members to Masala Mission Bay for a special birthday dinner, had eaten lunch there previously which was great.

It was not specials night, it was full priced night!

I am a local so was dissapointed in the service.

Requested a balcony, didn’t get it.

Food was cold – told the waiter who seemed not to understand the food should be hot.

There were a few other people in the restraunt who were served before us.

Asked for the manager who had surprisingly disappeared, when I came to pay a 300 odd dollar bill, I felt like I was at fault as 2 of the staff had stood there and done nothing and agrued with me.

Not that happy and shan’t be going back any time soon! Felt like I was doing them a disservice for being there!

by Abhishek R.
24th March 2013

They served chicken mixed in vegetarian food, and then charged the full bill. Shame on the customer service and quality of food prepared in this restaurant. Caution if you are vegen or vegetarian. The guy tried to offer me a discount on my next visit, which of course not going to happen.

by Debbie
24th March 2013

We are a family of 2 adults, 2 children (12 & 16). Went for the Wednesday night deals @ $10 per main meal. We normally go to Masala Titirangi but it is so busy on a Wednesday night we thought we would also try Mission Bay being bigger. We did read the reviews and all the negativity but we still went with an open mind. Obviously when you go out on a specials night you do have to be more patient re service etc but we were very happy with the high standard of both service and food. We attended at 8.30pm so may have missed the bulk of the crowds but it was still busy with people queuing. Cannot fault and would recommend. We will have no hesitation in going to Masala Mission Bay again during a specials night.

by Vivienne L.
17th March 2013

After reading the negative feedback on this restaurant, we decided to experience the faulty towers style debacle…. just for kicks…. But when we arrived:
We didn’t slip over
We were greeted by by three friendly wait staff and given the choice of a balcony or inside table, we chose the inside table with a fantastic view of Rangitoto.
The lunch specials were varied and the $4 beer top-up was great value and a no brainer.
The food was fantastic, in big portions, and very good value
Beers arrived first before the main
Our water was topped up all the time
We highly recommend this restaurant for food view value and service!!!

by Rachelle R.
16th March 2013

I’ve been to this restaurant several times as I live locally. The food is always fantastic and well worth going for that alone.
The service is a bit hit and miss though and can be really bad especially when they are really busy (like on a Tuesday or Wednesday $10 night).
If you go on a quiet night or for lunch during the day though, it’s always really good. They have a $10 lunch meal which is really good value although the portion sizes are quite small.
I would recommend it but just be aware that if you go on a cheap night it can be really busy and even if you do book, there won’t necessarily be a table waiting for you when you get there!

by Len T.
8th March 2013

Staff seemed confused when we arrived eventually lead us to our reserved table. Young waiter did not understand order. Mains were tasty but cold. Beware of highly polished floor as my wife slipped and fell. Advised floors just been polished. Other diners remarked on how slippery floors were. No rush to return.

by Anna N.
20th February 2013

I have been here a couple of times and always found the food quite average. The food took about 30-45 minutes to come out and it didn’t all come out at once so couldn’t understand why it took as long as it did (was with a group of 15+). I suppose it was quite busy especially for a Monday night. The staff were very friendly and accomodating.

I would probably visit again if I was in the area but wouldn’t go out of my way to go to it.

by Atish M.
13th February 2013

Worst ever service I had in any restaurant in Auckland waited for 50 mins for 1 curry (takeaway) when asked the reason for delay the guy told me no one in kitchen is listening to him. I saw staff eating chicken in kitchen which frustrated me will never visit there again…

by Tina L.
12th February 2013

Although this place offers great deals on weeknights….their standard in food quality and customer service is falling by the day. Their curry also arrives warm to cold at your table so you must request them to make it hot. Be vary..they do add extra cost sometimes without you knowing.

by Monica C.
31st January 2013

Went for the lunch special – $10 for curry, rice, naan and drink, really good value for money. Portions sizes were fine and food was pretty tasty. Nice location in Mission Bay and great atmosphere/view when sitting on the outside balcony on a sunny day. Only thing not up to scratch was the service – when I arrived upstairs there were about 3 waiters free however I was only brought to a table after a few minutes of standing when the main waitress was free. Had to ask for ice a couple times before I finally received it and drinks came to our table after food was brought out, with the naan bread also brought out about 5 minutes after the curry/rice. Service could definitely improve, maybe getting the staff competent/efficient but I would return for the good deal at a nice place to eat.

by Terina Y.
12th January 2013

This restaurant was definitely one of the worst I’ve ever been to. Six of us went to celebrate one my friends Birthdays and when we arrived it was really very busy.We were shown to our seats.we spent 20 minutes waiting around for someone to take our orders.we were forgiving for the wait at first since it was very busy until I noticed that people that were arriving well after us were being served.our orders finally taken and then came the very long wait for our food.We spent almost an hour waiting for our food and everyone time that we asked a staff member when the food would be coming out they would say soon and we would receive annoyed glances from them. Finally we received our food and by this time we were starving. We began to dig in only to realise that my butter chicken had only 2 pieces of chicken in it.I was very disappointed by the service, food, and overall experience at Masala. I will not be returning to that restaurant ever again. If I could give this place a zero or lower…I would.

by Pia T.
3rd December 2012

I had my Birthday party at Masala on Sunday. I found service good and all my requests were followed up. There was a little delay receiving the last 2 meals (15 of us) but that didn’t spoil our day and the waiting time wasn’t that long. Food is good and great value, I will go back and would recommend it for a good value lunch / dinner out.

by Max P.
15th November 2012

Decent food and cheap cost. The only thing bringing this restaurant down is the poor service. The waiter got our order wrong and when we finally got our meal, they told us that they ran out of rice and they were cooking more so we had to wait 10 more minutes.
Hopefully they ll sort out the service by the time I visit again

by Adeline M.
9th November 2012

We went there for lunch and the service was bad we had keep calling the waiter to order first of all we had reserved a table which was outside and was a few minutes late yet we were seated inside. And when we ordered our entree they said its 13.50 each so minimum two people we had decided that we wanted to change our mind as paying for one.plate of entree twice was ridicolous. The waiter said no its too late which I thought was annoying because we had decicied within 1min so seemed that we were forced to take take it and as a customer he should.have listened. The vindaloo which we ordered as a meduim hot was hot. When asked for more water. It would have been a nicer experience if the staff were poilte. Just the whole experience was bad. And when we went up to pay it was worse as we got the 10 special well that was another surpsirse we didn’t mind payingextra for the nan bread and juice just the way he spoke.to me was rude and to my surpsirse the entree of 13.50 was per person even though it came out.in.onedish and yet I had pay 27.00 for an entree. To be honest I would.have rather paid that much for a decent main.not one.plate of entree. Just entirely dissapoinet with the service the food was average and you have to watch what they charge you because for what I had which wasn’t much seemed that I spent. Very very disapoinent and wouldnt.go.back.thereaat all wouldn’t recommemend it to anyone either.

by Christine X.
19th October 2012

I wish there was a minus star!
First of all… There are 4 of us.
The staff seat us at the smallest table ever. (I understand that is was very busy so we did not complain).
We have our orders taken and the meat heads bring out the entrees out at the SAME TIME AS THE MAINS!!!
Think about it.. small table, 4 entrees, 4 mains… not a pretty sight! Barely had any space to put any plates and felt very uncomfortable!
The food was not hot (temperature) but was OK. Was concerned as all dishes were with chicken. Thankfully no one got sick.
After we paid, we realized we have been charged full price when they were only supposed to charge us $10 for all the mains.
I argued with the staff member and he tried telling me that it’s only $10 for lunch not for dinner.
I had actually worked at Masala when I was younger and in high school, their deals have stayed the same so they were fooling no one. This guy was not a new staff member, he was working that computer very fast!
I asked to speak to another staff member who ended up admitting that they are $10 and refunded us.. Only half of the refund owed!!! We noticed this and demanded the full refund. He gave this to us.
The restaurant was packed. Imagine how many people were ripped off by their idiocy!!! I have complained to the Commerce Commission to check all their account from 17/10/2012.
If you go there check your receipts and don’t let them rip you off!!

by Jimmy Y.
10th October 2012

This restaurant is beautiful. Good views, great food and reasonable lunch prices. Friendly staff, great service.

No complains and will be back without hesitation

by Aneek
23rd August 2012

Had the worst experience at Masala, Mission Bay couple of nights ago. Thought I’d keep this too myself but talking to OSH I’m surprised they haven’t made the news yet.

Their Mon – Wed cheap mains attract bucket loads of people and I admit I’ve been there several times. I find their toilets are ever flooding, out of rolls and filthy. Waiters have terrible body odor. The last couple of times is when I’ve had problems.

The last dining experience concerned me the most. We were seated promptly on arrival. It took them 15 mins to get menus out to us and another 30 mins to take orders. So 45-50 minutes after arrival our food orders were taken the same time as drink orders. It took a further 30 minutes for food to arrive. already an hour and half into the dining experience which is a very very long wait.

We had out first lot of Naans and ordered a second, while eating the second lot my father pulls out a very long peice of hair off his Naan bread which was already in his mouth, we were shocked!!!!! We complained to the staff straight away and asked to call the manager, everyone got completely put off their meals. He immediately whisked the plate off the table and ran off. 10 mins later one of the other waiters came and started apologizing, we had never seen him nor served by him. He kept saying sorry sir sorry sir it’s not our fault. We asked him to call the manager, another 10 mins later someone comes to the table to offer us 1 main off the bill which is $10 off a $170 bill – we still had more then half the food left to eat and no one at this stage wanted to eat anymore cause of what we saw. He proceeded to say that’s all we will discount and you have to pay for everything else and that the hair didn’t come from anyone of their staff because no one had long hair. I pointed out couple of different female staff with the same type of long black hair we found.

So we decided to leave and pay for the whole bill – still they didn’t charge us for 1 main. At the bar was a middle age woman dressed casually with Mercedes keys in her hands that just walked in instructing the bar manager how much to discount. After paying the bill we asked for the owners contact as we wanted to make a complaint to him, the lady kept telling the bar manager we can’t do that and to leave our details with them. I asked the lady directly if she was the owner of the wife she profusely refused and said I just work behind the bar. The whole group and other patrons lined up to pay their bill burst in laughter. We told her the bar manager had to ask someone who casually works behind a bar for instructions doesn’t sound right. She was absolutely embarrassed. We knew cause of the fuss we made she was called in to sort out what was happening.

I have just spoken to the council today and they have received over a dozen complaints about this restaurant in the past few months they are seriously investigating. Hope something good turns out of this!

Beware guys!

by Karen R.
22nd August 2012

I came down on a beautiful sunny weekday, and found a seat on the veranda overlooking Mission Bay. For $10, my lunch included curry, rice, naan, coke. Good value. In fact as I was sitting there enjoying the views and the sunshine… I thought this place has four big V’s going for it: Value, Verandah, Views, Vitamin D (from the sunshine!).

One improvement I would suggest, would be to ensure a hot, hot temperature of the curry when it arrives at the table. It might have made an average-tasting curry tastier? I guess it’s easy to see why it had started to cool though, as the place was absolutely packed, and the waiters were run off their feet… and really, $10 for this much food – it’s hard to justify complaining.

by Dannil.Grey
12th August 2012

The food is average, but the price is cheap, especially in that area. I will come back next time.

by Steve W.
8th August 2012

Went with a group of about 18-20 of us twice in the last couple of months, and was very impressed both times. The food was excellent, I had Malai Kofta and Chicken Jaipuri both of which were great. Service was good, especially for such a large table.

Only issue I would have was the heat, we had to open extra windows and stand outside occasionaly as they were reluctant to turn any of the heating off or down. However, it could have just been because there were so many of us in that area there was nothing they could do regarding air con.

We will be booking for another dinner again soon and look forward to it.

by Jaspreet S.
8th August 2012

exelent food, great service i ever had in indian restaurant.
everything was amazing. staff is very frankly. nice view to beach. we went there last month with our friends . we are 8 of us. we dindnt have booking but still they give us nice table. it was wednesday night. even it was $10 special but quality of foods is great. and service to. will be back with more friends.

by Louisa
24th July 2012

Horrible. Food was below average. Staff was overbearing. They are always hovering over you when you are trying to have a conversation and worst when you are trying to eat. I understand you are trying to provide good service but give your patrons their privacy. Very uncomfortable night.

by Harps
18th July 2012

I have been repetitively attending this restaurant for about 4 months on average about once a week and I have been very impressed. I have broken down my thoughts below:

Food:
Excellent. Freshest, best tasting and quickest cooked Indian food I have come across in NZ. The flavors are unique and authentic to a tee.

Service:
Great service, fast, consistent and pleasant.

Ambiance and atmosphere:
Being located at Mission Bay is always great but it has excellent seating, a balcony option overlooking the beach. The seats are comfortable and lighting good. I enjoy it.

Pricing is fantastic for location and food quality. Don’t be fooled by cheapness of $10 menu it is exactly the same as paying full price. Absolutely no drop in quality. Its consistency is 100% unlike many other places.

I am Indian and I highly recommend this restaurant, it is one of the best, if not the best in Auckland.

P.S. (I’m not affiliated with the restaurant in anyway shape or form, I just LOVE good food.)

by Allison C.
2nd July 2012

Disgusted!!!!!!!!!! where do I start…..

Entrees came out before drinks.

After an hour of waiting for our mains…we weren’t asked but told to move as we were placed at a 6 seater table when there was only four of us and they needed it for another booking. When we booked the table!!!!! in the first place.

No apologies or free drinks etc…. to say sorry

Talked to the manager and he seemed annoyed with us for telling him why we were not happy. I asked for 20% off our meal and he agreed. But this does not make up for the poor service as we had to ask for the discount! He should have offered the moment he decided to move us!.

Would give this a negative 5 and will not ever be going back there!

by Michelle B.
16th June 2012

Stay away! As drinks approached our table, the waiter spilled a tall glass of Mango Lassi all over me from head to toe–and worse of all, on my $500+ USD Canon digital camera. No apologies. Waiter disappeared COMPLETELY. Took 20 minutes to get any attention–only because I got up dripping everywhere, demanding assistance. Finally moved to another table. As I left the table, dripping everywhere, saw the broken shards of glass all over my feet, all over the floor. Nothing was cleaned up. I had to pick it up so no one would get hurt leaving our table or those adjacent. After 30 minutes, a psuedo-manager (this restaurants has many such) finally gives us a bunch of chux cloths to clean our bodies. I wasn’t the only person sprayed by the mango lassi. I just got it worst. The damage to the Camera will cost 101.50 for Canon to disassemble and diagnose. They said $300-400. Coat dry cleaning $28. Boot cleaning $12. I have receipts. So far, I get one manager saying they do not have the authority to pay me, another manager (who referred me to the aforementioned manager) who says they’ll call me back (no call back), and now I’m referred to the owner. No ethics. No decency. No apology. It’s been 10 days and all we get is the run-around. Stay away. Do not promote their dismal business lacking in any professionalism or customer service.

by Linda T.
17th May 2012

I order takeaways on the $10 nights and the food is always fantastic. Probably the best Indian in the area. Dined in recently with a big group and although the service was a bit hap hazard we had a great night!

by Gitashni
18th January 2012

I went there to have dinner last night ,took my friend over who came from England ……I have to say I have come to this restaurant in the past as well but never before was the service so awful. Firstly they could not find my details, whereas I had made reservations earlier that day at 11am, secondly it took a good 3/4 of an hour for the mains to arrive, thirdly part of the order was not there, fourth they did not give us cutlery after we were finished with the appetizers and the mains had already arrived , we had to sit there raise our hand up and wait for the waiter to respond, finally we got our cutlery and then they forgot all about our drink orders. It was not a good experience at all.

by Summer F.
17th January 2012

Think the waiters and waitresses need to sort the B.O out, it’s not a nice smell to be served with someone who just reeks! I also noticed they do have plenty staff who just sit behind the cashier and do nothing…

Otherwise GREAT filling Indian food! I love the tikka masala its just perfect with plentiful amounts! although average service with the waiters when they are very busy and you are sitting outside, you tend to be forgotten!

I also noticed that one waiter does not serve one table, every waiter just serves any old table and tells another waiter to finish tending to us! not professional! They should have limited each waiter to a certain number of tables to make their life easier so that I’m not asking 3 different waiters for naan bread!

but stil i am a fan of masala in mission bay!

by Brian W.
11th January 2012

Make sure they don’t charge you twice!

We just had a meal at Masala, my mother went up to pay while the rest of us were seated. Then as we were leaving my sister & I also paid the full bill of $145 (after our mother had left the restaurant) – they were happy to accept payment a second time without hesitation. Luckily our mother returned to find out what was keeping us so we found out what was going on. They have a fairly sophisticated computer system so it’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t record which tables have paid for their meals. When notified they basically threw the cash back at us with no apology!

Also there was flooding and no toilet seat in the mens, the latter was the same when we were there a week earlier.

The food was reasonable, fairly standard westernised versions of indian dishes. When ordering the hot versions of dishes they do come quite spicy, which isn’t always the case in other places.

by Richard
12th December 2011

Masala Indian restaurant is a perfectly located place to have lunch at, the service was timely, courteous and seamless. From the beginning to the end of the meal. Great value $10.00 lunches excellent roti and fruit drinks.

Meals as good as any Delhi eatery, and the roti was splendid.

The vegetarian options are excellent will go there again this summer.

by Kerensa R.
7th December 2011

The last time I went here, it took 10 minutes to be seated, and we waited for the waiter to take our order, and waited, and waited. I called him over twice and he said he would just me a minute- and yet he did not come. Other people came in after us and got drinks and entrees, and still we waited….
The previous time, my friend complained about always getting served smaller glasses of wine than male companions, and I realised she was right. I hate to be one of those women who accuses poeple of sexism, but was it any cooincidence the tables that got served had a man with them, while my friend and I are women in our 30′s?

by Celeste G.
1st December 2011

We waited nearly two hours before the waiter announced the food was 20 minutes away (no explanation or apology given, they had been saying “five minutes away” for half an hour).

It was nearly 10pm – so we left and got burgers.

by Sunny
30th November 2011

Have been going to this place since a few years. The service is getting bad to worse lately. Untrained immigrants on student visas fail the restaurant which otherwise has an acceptable to good quality of food and good location. Last evening we had the worst experience where a rude student (waiter) replied that they are too busy and hence..the cocktail is tasting horrible..the wine bottle is sitting on our table uncorked for ages….starters served but no drinks..curries served but the naan bread comes after they are cold… a different salad turns up but not what was ordered. hope they get some good manager to run the place and trainers to train the staff.

by Sarah
15th November 2011

My partner and I were looking for a nice place to eat in Mission Bay. By chance we walked past Masala, and as my partner loves a good curry he convinced me to enter.

We were seated and served almost immediately, given menus and offered drinks. The waitstaff were very helpful, and even though we took a long time deciding on our mains they returned several times to check up on us and make sure we were happy.

We shared an entree, the papadoms and dips which were simply amazing. As soon as we were finished with our entree it was cleared and the mains were bought to us! Impeccable timing! The mains were delicious, my partner was very very happy with his lamb masala.


My big comment of the night has to be regarding the atmosphere – absolutely lovely! Live music was playing in the room adjacent to where we were eating (but not at a loud enough volume that we couldn’t talk). There was a video screen on the wall playing bollywood music videos which were very fun to watch during lulls in the conversation.

Overall it was a great experience, the waitress was friendly and made sure we were enjoying our meals. The food was amazing as was the price. The bathrooms were stunning and very well cleaned. I would definately reccomend this place to others and will be going back there myself.

by ST
5th September 2011

Oh yeah! Father’s Day!

The restaurant was carefully selected because:
1. a subset of ‘we’ had lunched here three times previously,
2. we wanted to try the Banquet menu,
3. I was keen on the poppadums.

We turned up at our appointed time and as advised, carrying baby.

The waitress seated us shortly at a table for 7 people. Person Seven sat at the ‘head’ of the table, which was in the direct path of the service to the balcony. Literally. There was barely sufficient gap between the seat and the table behind it to accommodate a plated wait-person.

Aside: there were several wait-persons on the floor. The restaurant was busy emptying of paid diners after the main lunch crowd.

As experienced diners we didn’t want to make a fuss. Taking an executive decision, we moved the table slightly away from the balcony service path so that Person Seven was less apprehensive about food dropping onto him from behind.

The menus were delivered: several lunch menus, one normal menu, one drinks menu.

We had to share the normal menu so all could discuss the Banquet option.

A prolonged discussion was held, whereupon agreed – one Vegetarian Banquet, one Masala Banquet, peshwari naan, two lunch specials. We congratulated ourselves on arriving at this decision.

And we waited for our order to be taken. And we waited.

Person Seven eventually flagged down a waitress. She took our drinks order easily enough (beers and mango lassis) but we stumped her with the food order.

Twice stumped. Something about the banquet menu being for two people. Or possibly “one banquet per table”. She asked us to wait while she referred to a higher authority.

And we waited.

The higher authority smoothly approached and discussed our order. I was at the other end of the table and heard faint traces. Something about “not sharing banquet”. Or “not sharing entrees”.

Talk about a mood spoiler.

After much communication we got what we wanted – one vege banquet for two people, one masala banquet for two people, peshwari naan, two lunch specials.

And we sat and waited to get what we wanted. Beer was served, fruit juices were served, mango lassis was served…

oops. One mango lassi downed the back of Person Four. Mango yoghurt sloshed down the back of her top and trousers and on her chair.

Kerfuffle ensued! Clean up attempted!

Person Four exited to a private area to clean up. Distraught glass taken away. Chair cleaned up and swapped with one from an adjacent empty table.

Banquet entrees served!

Can I taste the Masala Banquet as well as the Vegetarian? I am still unclear.

Person Four returned with a make-nice smile on her face. What a good sport.

But where is my mango lassi? My mood is deteriorating. I flag the first wait-person I see and demand my mango lassi.

And it was served. It was a nice mango lassi, taking the edge off my irritability.

Taking my time, I half-finish my lassi. My water glass was still dry and emptied. I asked Person Five to flag a wait-person to get water for the table.

Yay! we got water.

Empty entree plates were removed, as were our utensils and paper napkins. Fresh utensils and paper napkins were put in place. Nice.

And we waited. And watched other tables with lunch specials being served.

Aside: there were maybe three other occupied tables in our area.

And we waited.

Person Seven flagged the wait-person wandering past to enquire the status of our mains.

Without consulting the kitchen, she automatically said, “It will be ready in five minutes.”

I advised Person Seven to start the countdown. This was rejected.

After uncounted minutes, mains arrived – lunch specials (poppadums inclusive), vegetarian banquet, masala banquet, peshwari naan.

The more pricey peshwari naan was quite burnt on the base. Staying with my precept of not eating burned food, I removed the badly burnt areas. Person One and Four were also doing the same. We ended up with a good collection in one of the naan baskets. Another side result was that the peshwari stuffing scattered everywhere. Ah well – the peshwari naan was religious anyway. As in, the stuffing fell out of the burned holes. The bits I ate of the naan was nothing to rave about. Such a disappointment to my palate which had been educated by pashwari naan from Oh Calcutta.

I tasted the curries. Uhm. Given that the curries overlapped on the seasoning (variously: korma, paneer, butter, etc) it doesn’t disguise the fact the lumps of mains (variously: vegetable, cottage cheese, prawn, chicken, beef) had not absorbed the flavours of their respective curries.

I ate seconds anyway because I was very hungry. I confirmed my first impression. I didn’t have thirds.

The plain standard naan bread was very nice. Burned flakes on the base, but at least I didn’t need to deal with scattering dessicated coconut, and random red and green preserved fruit.

By this time baby had had enough.
Aside: no high chair had been offered to seat baby. (Note: we did bring a capsule. However in other eateries, e.g. Cafe Melba in Ellerslie, we were still offered the option of a high chair.)

I reminded the bill-payers to check we were only charged for two mango lassis. The reminder was opportune as a third had been added to the bill.

The diners went our separate ways.

At this end of day, I realise we hadn’t even had the end of the meal: Tea/Coffee.

Neither do I know whether the restaurant offered a discount for the meal as a sop for parts of our unpleasant experience:
* prolonged wait to place an order,
* mango lassi downer,
* need to clean Person Four’s clothing,
* prolonged wait for arrival of mains,
* burnt naans that equated to half of what Person One, Two, Four were served. (Persons Five, Six and Seven are less food-anxious.)

Verdict: poppadums delicious. I recommend this restaurant for it’s $10 lunch special. Nothing else. I wouldn’t choose to dine here again.


10 Sep 2011 Update:
1. yes, we were not supposed to share the banquets;
2. after some discussion with the cashier, we received the 3rd mango lassi for free (note: the mango downer happened in full view of the bar/cashier area);
3. no sops were proffered to compensate for the poor service, 1/2 basket of burnt naans.

by Fraggle R.
22nd August 2011

Yummy food, great service. Loving the mon/tues/wed $10 mains and BYO. Always please with the masala experience

by sandy g.
14th July 2011

Would not recommend this resturant at all. We booked for a talbe of 6 which was small and cramped my friend asked on booking that I was allergic to nuts and assured it was fine. On arrival we reminded the manager AND the waiting staff again it was ok. On ordering again assured no nuts. Our order arrived which was very small ( good job as the table was so little anyway ) I took a bite of one of the meals and realised straight away that something was wrong. The waiter was called to the table and said NO definatley no nuts. We pointed to one of the meals and he said yes Almonds in that one WHAT .. then when I told him that I had tasted the VEGETARIAN curry and there was definaly something wrong he said oh no nuts just CASHEW.. WHAT THE HELL.. it was only a slight reaction as i only had a small bite – as i was throwing up in the bathroom for 30 minutes my friend called over to the manager to then stated that I would not be charged for my meal – very good of him NOT seeing as I had not touched it and was still at that time throwing up. So thanks to this resturant I spend the night being sick , rash and swelling of my face and throat.
Couldnt even begin to tell you what the food was like but the service was rubbish and obviously they dont LISTEN to what people have to say. THey are just lucky that I didnt have to call an ambulance to the resturant. Not recommended at all

by Ayah
26th April 2011

Went to Masala Mission Bay for a friends birthday. The place itself is nice but that was about it. Having been cramped together as we were a very large party was the start of it. I ordered the plain Lassie which was disgusting, I had to send it back as it was ridiculously salty. The curry itself was nice but after 20 minutes waiting around for rice it was cold and just plain bad. I understand $10 nights are busy but you’d think rice would be one things that is accounted for. Only when guests complained did the rice come along – undercooked. eeeek!

by Claire W.
9th March 2011

Despite others comments, I found it to be a very nice restaurant!
It’s beautiful and the food is amazing!
We didn’t end up having to wait too long for our mains (40 minutes tops) as we got there at around 7:30pm and it wasn’t too busy yet.
I had the Malai Kofta and it was very nice.

The only improvement that could be made is the staff. They were very busy and they got our bill wrong in the end. But since I noticed, they were happy and quick to correct it.

Overall, satisfying night out with the partner, give the place a 4/5!

by Leah
1st February 2011

We are regular customers of Masala in Titirangi and by some misfortune, we ended up in Mission Bay on a Monday. The place was tidy, we got a beautiful table over looking the bay, the food was quick and really delicious, as it is in Titirangi. The Malai Kofta was creamy and crunchy, and the Lamb Vindaloo was tender and spicy. So yum.

The wait staff were amazing. We had a great time and we hope to come back soon.

by Ilse B.
9th January 2011

Went there for dinner last night with a party of five. Clean, bright venue with attentive staff. They made a mistake with our order and when pushed, it was rectified. The food was well seasoned and attractively presented. Unobtrusive, but good service. Well priced. We left feeling satisfied and not ripped off, which so often happens in Auckland.

by Karan K.
23rd December 2010

Where can I start………I went yesterday with my friends to Masala Mission Bay, and had worst experience as I am regular customer of Masala (Titirangi) and quite satisfied with their service and food but i experience opposite in Mission bay, Food was awful, most of the food was prepared long time back and it was just heated up in microwave and served. Drinks was not even chilled and Service staff was shocking, they don’t even know how to greet customers………

Their Menu Cards are rotten and I must say now after shocking experience i will never ever visit any of Masala restaurants and will be spreading my experience to most of friends and families….. Please do not visit Masala in future…

by Priya
13th December 2010

Much talked about restaurant. So had to try out. Food was excellent, but the service was disgusting, waited 45 mins for meal had to call someone to be waited on took 15 mins to get drinks ordered pathetic

by andy c.
7th May 2010

What started slowly, then became a local favourite has unfortunately gone down hill over the last 6 months. Packing too many diners in at the same time and the kitchen unable to cope. Rude Head Waitress and badly trained staff along with long wait for food. A group of us were very regular customers but one too many bad experiences has stopped us from returning. Vegetarian with chicken bone & grissle along with three different dishes all with distinctly butter chicken sauce and that included the vego one! Whether you ask for mild/med/hot – you get what they give you! $10 Mon-Wed perhaps good value but the quality of the food – you get what you pay for!

by Richard j.
31st May 2009

It was definitely a wonderful experience to dine at Masala restaurant, exclusive Indian Restaurant. The food is tremendous, the ambiance is excellent and the people are extremely friendly and helpful. I would definitely advise every one to go to Masala.

by Victoria B.
25th April 2009

Just got home after a very disappointing experience at this new restaurant with friends.
Apart from the lovely girl that welcomed us inside, the first thing we noticed were the poor wait staff lacking in charisma. The only thing they seemed interested in was continually trying to up-sell. Seated in an empty and uninspiring room to the side of their main eating area, our tiny table made for very awkward eating – I ended up having to put my drink on the floor! When I requested to move to another table, I was told that all the other tables were booked. Only a few other groups were seated during the period we were there!
I asked for a pinot noir – the waiter came out with a pinot gris. After very politely pointing this out, all I got was a blank look and “er, well do you just want to have that one now that I’ve poured it?” um no thanks, I wanted red, not white wine – that’s what I asked for, thankyou.
My friend specifically asked for her dish, beef rara, to be “kiwi mild” please – explaining that she can’t eat too-spicy food. Our dishes come out, the waiter confirms she ordered the rara and places it in front of her. Next minute, she’s bright red and spluttering everywhere, while my other friend notices his vindaloo (which he ordered “super-hot” ) is not spicy in the slightest. Considering all the effort they’ve put into trying to get us to get more expensive items, you’d think they’d at least know their different dishes. After sorting out whose dish was which, we begin our meal. Alas, suddenly, a cold gust of wind sweeps into the room from a large door which has just been opened, right next to our table…one of the waiters inserts a door stop, and soon it is all hands on deck as about 6 staff start moving all the outdoor furniture inside, banging in to our table and chairs as they push past us. This honestly went on for about 20 minutes, we were freezing and couldn’t even talk for all the banging and squeaking of furniture being shoved around. Although you’d expect a restaurant to sort out its seating for the Friday rush in the late afternoon, perhaps this would have been tolerable…it was just the unforgiving way in which they did it that was not on. The last straw was when my friend took a sip of his drink and felt a sharp thing on his tongue – a piece of broken glass. When we went up to pay we showed this to the maitre d’ and expressed our concern – what if he had swallowed this! Not usually ones to complain, we were very nice about it – so the least we expected was a “sorry”. But no. The only words I can use to describe this lady is downright rude. All she could say was “humph, I don’t know how that got there.” !!??!!!!!! They are lucky their restaurant is in New Zealand and not the US, where they would be faced with a 6-figure lawsuit had my friend swallowed the glass! As we walked out she smugly called out, “see you again!” Yeah right!!! Admittedly, the food was lovely and well-priced, but it was completely spoiled by the rest of the experience. Definitely do not waste a night dining here – the other Indian restaurants in Mission Bay (i.e. Shahi and the Jewel of India) are FAR nicer, with excellent food, staff, service and ambiance!

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