Masala Kitchen Lane Cove — Restaurant in Sydney

Don't be fooled by the great location, the food is extremely bland and a very bad example of Indian cuisine.

Also check your bill as some items are more on the bill than the price advertised.

On the positive the location is accessible for the elderly and young families. It is close to a lift to the Lane Cove car park and close by to a park for families. So the star is for the location.

The dropped stars are for the food, which is possibly some of the blandest food passing for Indian cuisine that I have ever had.

I had high hopes for the food, that were sadly dashed. Having previously been to Masala Kitchen, Lane Cove for cocktails and desert pre COVID, soon after it opened and enjoyed that experience, I was keen to try the savoury food.

The most recent visit for a meal, did not even come close to meeting expectations.

For my birthday in January 2023, I took my family, a party of 7, for a meal at Masala Kitchen.

Six members of our party had the lunch thali, at $20 per thali it was well priced. Of the three dishes, I selected I was very disappointed by two of them. The dal (lentil curry) was missing some crucial spices and lacked the distinctive flavour of Indian food. The chicken curry had possibly two pieces of meat which were well beyond tender. Other reviews comments on the toughness of the chicken and I would agree. The third dish a mattar paneer was passable.

The naan bread accompanying the meal was very doughy and not up to par.

The dessert of one gulab jamun with the thali was quite average. It appeared to be missing rosewater that usually gives the dish a distinctive taste.

Our young children and some of the adults could not finish their food and so I asked for take away boxes. Two were provided and when I asked for more, I was told there would be an extra charge. I guess this is fair enough as it costs businesses to buy the boxes. However, given the meal and drinks was circa $37 per head, I was bemused that guests were charged for boxes.

I will add in some spices to the food that we took home to make it palatable. I think with some care the dal and butter chicken, that my kids had, could be improved.

We had two chaat for starters, one with yoghurt was tasty. The other with avocado, looked really nice (pictured) but apart from the avocado was quite average.

One member of our group had a dosa which was passable but not up to the standards of some other dosa that could be purchased elsewhere in Sydney.

The kids mocktails at $12 each were overpriced and underwhelming. The adults had a bottle of wine, priced at $54, which was tasty. Unfortunately BYO is not available.

The first time the bill came there was a mistake made on the pricing for the dosa, which was corrected on a bill reprint.

The reprinted final bill including drinks came to $262.10 for seven people, this included a $0.50 charge for a paper bag that had been requested and $2.00 for plastic boxes.

I apologised to my family for selecting this venue for my birthday meal. The food was so bland and we could have made something far tastier at home.

My recommendation, avoid this venue if you don't want to have bland food.

Location: 1 star Food: 0 star Notwithstanding...

Well... living in Lane Cove we were keen to tick Marsala off the list. Done and not again. Where to start .. well the curry's were very tasty. what the venue needs to do is provide some care and attention to the customers. We had to keep waiving to get staff attention. Staff that attended the table had no idea or Had any training. Openly admitting they did not know anything about the drinks list or anything about Wine. Staff would randomly come to the table and say are you waiting on anything ?? Really? They should know what is coming .. the crispy breads etc were like they have been pre made and kept in refrigeration only to come out soggy and very chewy . We pointed this out to the staff and she said that's disgusting! Took the dish to the manager who looked at it .. looked at us then nothing! No coming to address the several issues.. just nothing. Took the dish then did not return with another or offer a change or explanation. When we paid for the bill after being pushed out .. packing up all the furniture in stacks all around the customers which is an absolute no no in hospitality.. it tells us you don't care .. get out. Also the last waiter runner asked us how the meal was .. we very polily said arrg well not that good .. hes response was.. ok .. smiled, said ok. And again nothing. Really ?? Train your staff . And train them to know that what people say about the business is how you know you are doing it right .. it really is an easy way to know how the business is going and if your interested in keeping the business open .. then make sure you tell your staff that it really is OK to look and talk to the customer . We won't be back and interms of advertising the business we will be advertising to friends and family that its not a place we recommend they don't care about the customer and very price in comparison to what you get ..

We spent 160 and feel...

So disappointed! This is the fourth time dining there, and while service has always been a little lacking, we have gone back for the food. Last night was a dismal failure. My daughter and I booked a week ago for Valentines Day. Their Facebook posts were promoting a free glass of bubbly each on arrival. We got there and sat and looked at menu and 10 minutes later were asked if we want to order. We asked if we would be able to please have the bubbly. Waiter had no idea what we were talking about and had to go ask manager. Came back and said that would be fine. We ordered entree - lobster tail, Okra fries and the vegan pinwheel. 15 minutes later the entrees started arriving, but still no bubbly. I had to ask again, and then it was finally bought out. We ate the pinwheel and okra, however no lobster arrived. Main started to come and they had the order wrong for my daughter. I asked about the lobster. He said he would go check. 15 minutes passed and he still didn't come back. Meanwhile the mains all arrived. I called the manager over and asked her about the lobster and she said she would check. I told her not to bother as we were already eating mains and to cancel it. Imagine my surprise when after we had finished mains, the waiter comes and places the lobster in front of me. Within 5 seconds the manager was at our table and took the lobster from in front of me and said no, they cancelled it. So off went the lobster, to go in the bin?? They could have just left it for us anyway as a gesture of good will for all the stuff ups!!! Then the bill came....WITH the lobster!! Had to tell them to remove it. Thoroughly disappointed in this whole experience. I had always raved to everyone about the food, but I wont be recommending again, it was a total let down. The wait staff were completely uninterested in their job, were walking around looking bored and had no...