The Masala — Restaurant in England

There's a reason this place scores so highly: the food. Utterly wonderful.

A friend pre-booked this for a group meal out in the town, and when the alloted time came they were ready for us - service was swift and engaging, friendly and conversational.

I opted for the Mixed Jalfrezi (which the waiter wisely warned was hot) and my colleagues a Chicken Biryani. Theirs arrived as a rice piled richly with chicken and other spices, accompanied by a bowl of tasty potato curry to the side, and a tasting fork had me possibly pondering if I'd chosen the wrong one... until mine arrived as lumps of chicken and lamb accompanying prawns and onions immersed in a dark angry red sauce.

The waiter was correct: the sauce was rich and strong in flavour and not too spicy but the addition of two sliced green chillies gave a punchy heat in savage random peaks, creating that lovely inconsistent bounce between rich flavour and occasional hot bite. This is an aspect I love with Jalfrezies and dislike chefs that keep it all the same burn throughout, and this heat was perfectly placed.

There was a slight cockup with a beer order that had gone awry (else we'd have stayed longer) but gotta say... that curry was one of the best I'd had for some time with the heat expertly positioned.

Definitely...

Now to be clear, I am not giving a review based on the food despite the Peshwari drowning in oil. I asked what time I could eat inside, they stated before 22h00. I arrive 15 mins early, young lad asked the manager because I was eating alone and I was told yes and I was seated by the kitchen, as I sat shouting took place from the kitchen clearly about my solo arrival. I ordered poppadoms, starter and a main of which I was told I had to have all together. I responded by saying that if they had said no it would probably be better than poor service. I ate my onion bhaji which was delicious but felt so uncomfortable I didn't touch my drink, ate a couple of pieces of chicken and decided to pay and leave. The worst customer service I have ever received in an Indian Restaurant, I was also staying in the hotel opposite - not the greatest advert. A bit of logic/common sense needs to prevail in these situations. I normally only give 5 star reviews or not at all but...

I went to The Masala for the first time this evening and I can definitely say I will not be returning.

Although the staff were helpful and polite the food was absolutely disgusting, I have never tasted food like it. The starters and mains weren’t edible.

The lamb tasted off and the curries were some of the oddest most disgusting curries I have ever eaten.

The only things that were nice were the naan breads.

I was also concerned at how unclean the restaurant was, the ceilings were covered in damp and mould, especially on the toilets, the toilets were that vile, I would not change my toddler in there and waited until I got to the car. This made me wonder, if the owners are happy for you to see the restaurant and toilets in such a condition, I dread to think what the kitchen that the public don’t see is like.

There are many different curry restaurants in Shrewsbury that are lovely but this most definitely isn’t...