Masala Indian Restaurant

36 St Julians Friars
01743 235900


Tucked away on St Julian's Friars, Masala is another great little Indian restaurant. We went on a Monday night and there were only two other groups dining. There was soft music playing (not Indian) and the open plan dining room was well lit. Most of the activity was centered around the front of the building, where the restaurant's takeaway service was proving popular.

The menu was quite extensive, with some more unusual dishes as well as the madras, rogon josh, korma staples. We started with poppadums with mint yoghurt, onion and coriander, mango chutney and lime pickle. This was followed by lamb sagwalla, chick pea sagwalla, plus sides of bombay potato and tarka daal. The food was served quickly and the waiters were very friendly. The portions were quite big but that didn't matter because the food was excellent. We were also given complimentary onion bhajis mid way through the meal which was a nice touch.

The best asset the restaurant has is its manager, John Mustafa. He is always front of house and is the friendliest person you could hope to meet. He used to run the Eastern Eye takeaway in the village of Bayston Hill on the edge of Shrewsbury, and such was his reputation that 50% of his trade now comes from the same village. In the takeaway he used to shake everyone by the hand as they left and happily he still does the same in his restaurant.