MasalaCraft- Super Quality Indian Tapas, Curry & cocktails Bar — Restaurant in England

As a British Indian I certainly don’t expect 100 percent authenticity in Indian food in this country- certainly not. However, my experience at MasalaCraft was simply unacceptable, with arrogance, raw food and what I brand as mere theft

We ordered drinks including Lassis and lemonade (fine), proceeded by starters of Achari Paneer Tikka and Onion Bhaji- of which the Paneer was doused in some sort of cheap lemon syrup (a common theme of this restaurant!), and the onion bhaji filled with raw gram flour- what we all know if consumed will give you a stomach ache for days. The table next to us, with locals, agreed that the onion bhajis that they ordered too were uncooked. The arrogant response from the staff was simply “that’s how we make it here”! I am sorry to say- if that is how you make it here, then you have zero right to serve your customers uncooked food and name yourself a “super quality Indian Tapas”. I guess that shows that it doesn’t take an Indian taste to find that something was wrong with the food!

If you think that was enough, wait until the mains! Our mains of Chole Batura, and Pav Bhaji were merely unacceptable- the chole batura more than the pav bhaji. Naturally I get that you can’t nail the curries every time at an Indian restaurant- but the solution DEFINITELY isn’t to pour lemon syrup into your curries- as other customers have noted in their reviews too- overpoweringly sweet curries.

The batura accompanying the chole was UNCOOKED. Yep, the inside was literally dough that I could press down with my fingers. I couldn’t finish my meal, nor could those accompanying me- merely due to the inedibility of the food. My feedback during the billing process, where I kindly pointed out negatives with the meal, was met with arrogance- the staff desperate to ignore any accountability. The waiter again insisted that this is how they make their food, but if uncooked food is their style, I am not entirely sure about why they are serving these dishes! My request to see the chef and inform him about this was met with an angry, annoyed time, where the chef did not seem to care in the slightest about these substandard food standards.

Oh, that’s not all. The restaurant expects you to pay 18 pounds per head as a minimum for their substandard food- which with the awful food I had just had, left an awful taste in my mouth. You would expect typically, that you may get a sorry, or some sort of apology in sort- but not at all! The staff seemed so defensive and angry when confronted- that this is simply false advertising- you cannot call yourself “super quality”.

As is a common theme with some of the review replies from the owner of the establishment- merely rude and confrontational, with zero accountability, I doubt this will get a reply. But I do write in absolute earnest, with the intention of ensuring you don’t fall into the same mistake as I did, seeing the name and a quick impression. Absolutely...

Hello fellow food-lovers, I recently dined at this place in Walmgate where I was served a good meal with a heavy dose of insult for dessert.

If you are looking for a food review, I would say really good samosa chat and even better paav bhaji (the chef was right that his pav bhaji is one of the best in York). But, there was a small problem with the meal. There was a hair in the food, stuck from the edge of the plate.

After I finished my meal (the old one with the hair was replaced with a fresh plate), I ordered a nimbu soda (again nicely balanced flavours for which I complimented the chef immediately). I had just had my first couple sips of the drink when the chef stepped into the dining area and asked how I liked the food. I gave him an honest response that it was all very good "except the small hiccup" with the hair. This clearly didn't go down well with him as he quoted this in the insult heaped on me afterwards.

For want of space in this review column, I must summarise very briefly the events that followed thereafter. Basically, I was humiliated in every possible way--from being called out for being one such customer who would create a fuss and do anything to get a complimentary meal, to being suspected that it could have been my hair (as he maintained that it wasn't one of the staffs' as it was an all male-team and the hair in question was a long, grey one), to later being accused that it was my hair indeed and that I had deliberately planted it there (it was properly stuck to the edge of the plate which I had only touched from another corner to adjust the angle for taking the picture)! I was repeatedly asked to leave his restaurant amid a downpour of insults and wasn't even allowed to finish my drink when I requested if I could (the chef instead deducted it from the bill and asked me to leave immediately or he would call the police).

My response? I had begun with suggesting him to take responsibility as whether or not it was some customer's, I was having a meal served by him. That was my biggest mistake as he didn't like to hear that. Upon being accused that it was my hair, I suggested looking up the CCTV recordings which he completely ignored. And the worse thing I did was to try and reason with him, asking him to please calm down, adding that I wanted to support small businesses like his! My arguments were 90% shock of what was happening with me and 10% requesting him to be mindful of his hurtful words and behaviour.

I would still like to give him the benefit of doubt and consider it an odd event. I must clarify that this review is not at all intended to impact either his business or challenge the general consensus that his food is tasty. The only reason it was necessary for me to speak up is for the sake of it!

P. S. I just read other reviews about the chef's behaviour after posting my review. I got some consolation that I am not the...

We visited on NYE and were excited to try as I'd seen so many good reviews. On arrival we were seated and then had our order taken fairly swiftly, sadly that was the quickest service of the evening. We could see some sort of confusion at the electronic till where our server had 3 other members of staff helping her to sort something out.

We ended up waiting at least 40 mins before our drinks arrived (our popadoms arrived just 10 mins before) we eventually got our starters after an hour of being there but no cutlery or plates. I then wanted another cocktail and when that arrived was told categorically that I was not allowed another cocktail because they'd run out of cocktail mix. I then saw a few mins later that another table ordered cocktails and they got theirs - ok then.

The fun began when our mains arrived, mine and my partners came but my parents arrived without rice. They quickly asked the server for rice and she then told us there had beena mix up but they would order some rice. I get that it was a busy evening and I'm not a chef but surely rice is usually on the go in a sort of rice cooker? Needless to say my parents didn't want their dishes to get cold and so they just shared my bowl of rice and 15 mins later the rice turned up and we just turned it away. At this point we wanted out and just asked for the bill. They didn't offer us any goodwill for all the mix ups which was sad because I think we would have been a bit more forgiving.

The food was actually really nice and I will say that yes I appreciate that there may have been staff shortages but it just seemed like the servers were a bit disconnected. I noticed other tables having similar mix ups so it may have just been a bad night. Also, if someone takes your order and then isn't sure if they've forgotten something then just go and ask the customer, most reasonble people...