MASALA RESTAURANT — Restaurant in Patong

So I wasn't expecting to review an Indian restaurant on this trip to Thailand, but the older guy greeting potential diners outside has been friendly and polite several times as we'd walked along to the food stalls and shops at Malin Plaza market So the missus decided we'd try it, for a change from Thai or UK/American style food.

There was a nice family restaurant vibe when we visited with a couple of Indian families already seated and dining. We got a seat next to a fan which I appreciated on a warm evening.

There is a varied Menu covering multiple cuisines as is common here but we stuck with Indian Food.

My wife's ChickeñTikka Masala was tasty and creamy, my chicken Masala didn't look as nice but was also tasty.

Personally, I prefer a mix of veg and meat in my curry, but there was no veg at all, although separate raw onion and cucumber slices were provided with my wife's dish. Along with a raita and a very thin naan bread she ordered.

The dishes were recommended by our server as lightly spiced for our western taste and approximated a UK medium curry. Spicy but not searing. My white rice was cooked to perfection, with a slight saltiness that worked well. My wife's Biriani yellow rice was fine too.

Our server was very friendly, and from Afghanistan, and we had a long chat about Indian food in the UK and elsewhere. His English was excellent. We didn't get into how or why he ended up in Thailand as he had to work, maybe next time.

The restaurant could do with a few more finishing touches, like the area below one sign, even for a street food vibe venue, but I enjoyed the Indian music video playlist on YouTube, there were some good tunes and lively videos which did suit the ambience. They weren't overpowering. Sorry I didn't take food photos, my wife's was just like the photo on the menu, mine wasn't at all.

Overall, I can...

WARNING: AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS.

I don’t usually write reviews, but this experience was so outrageously bad, I feel obligated to warn others.

Let’s start with the basics: The cutlery was filthy. Not just stained—actual food residue stuck on like it hadn’t even seen water, let alone soap. We had to ask for replacements, which is pathetic for any place pretending to serve food.

Drinks? Bottled water took over 10 minutes to arrive. Yes, bottled. water. As for the Thai iced tea, I asked for it twice, and it finally arrived at the end of the meal—watery, flavorless, and sloppily thrown together. “Made fresh”? Don’t insult your customers.

Now onto the so-called “food”: Thai Green Curry: Came with a side of plastic. That’s not a joke. Spicy Pineapple Fried Rice: Not remotely spicy. Just plain fried rice with pineapple chunks tossed on top like a bad afterthought. Squid Basil Stir Fried Rice: Apparently they ran out of squid and decided shrimp was close enough. Spoiler: it’s not. Rice overall: Mushy, bland, and completely off.

Yes, they offered 50% off the green curry as an apology—but when everything else is a disaster, that’s hardly compensation. Here’s a thought: maybe stop offering a full menu if you can’t even get one dish right. I guess the service staff was relatively...

I opted for the 150 baht combo. Dahl Chawal and Salad Raita comes with rice. I have eaten Indian food in India, Thailand, and many other countries and Raita Salad is one of my favorites and I know it well. Food arrived and I do not see Salad Raita, just a small round container with a watery green sauce akin to a dipping sauce you might get with a thali set or a dosa. Nothing close to even a Bathua Ka Raita. I asked waiter where the Salad Raita is and he pointed to this watery green sauce telling me it is a raita salad. I pulled up images of many raita salada to show him. He said if I want that it is an additional 90 baht. In my opinion they thought a western customer would not know what a Raita salad is thus they tried to scam me but I am very familiar with Indian food. I doubt they would have given this watery green sauce to Indian customers. They ended up apologising and brought me a quite small amount of real Raita salad. The Dahl was good as it had ginger and nice spices (3 stars). It is very sad the restaurant ruined the experience by trying to scam the customer. Had they brought a Raita Salad it would have been quite a decent meal/ experience. See self...