Masala Craft Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Big Bear Lake

If you have been to Big Bear, you would not have missed Big Bear village. This spot is filled with great restaurants, which is not very usual. After a long day at the slopes, this is great place to unwind.

We were in debate where to have our lunch and very glad we selected this place. This place is located in the center of the Big Bear Lake Village right next to Royal Thai Cafe. We went around 2pm and it was very empty, so we were very suspicious, but wow, mind blown. I am very conservative when I rate Indian restaurants, rarely I give 5 star and this place totally deserved it. We were 4 adults and 2 kids and everyone came out very happy. We started with Appetizer, Veggie Momo and Chicken Momo, it was steamed to perfection. It came with dipping sauce, it was very aromatic. Especially Kids loved this and we were very tempted to order more. For main Entre, we ordered Bhindi Masala, Paneer Hara Masala and Lamb Pasanda along with Rice and Naan. Bhindi Masala: I am usually very picky when it comes to Bhindi and I do no like when it is over cooked. This Bhindi masala, was perfectly cooked and loved the masala. Kept it very simple, just chilly powder and okra sautéed with cumin, ginger, onions and garlic Paneer Hara Masala: Thanks to our friends who ordered this item. My first time having this blend of Paneer. The Hara masala was tasty, especially I loved the Tandy kick, wow. Lamb Pasanda: Lamb cooked to perfection, not too chewy but very soft. It was cooked in in a mild sesame, almond and cashew sauce. So it is obvious, it was very creamy. Not too spicy and this is best Lamb dish I had in recent times. Try this and you will thank me 😊 With Mango Lassi evderything tasted even better. We did not want to leave without desserts, we ordered Gulab Jamun It has just two pieces ☹ and Ras Malai was ok.

Usually I take atleast 2 days to rate Indian restaurants. How do I rate a good Indian restaurant, is by its "After Effect" / "After Shocks". Usually when you have Indian food especially Buffet even though you eat little, you feel full too quick. It seems after eating at Indian restaurants it is a painful, bloated full feeling after the meal. But here at Masala Craft, my heart felt full. This seems to be a different kind of "full" than most other types of food. I ate quite a lot but I did not feel anything upset in my stomach. I felt the freshness in food and healthiness too. The Curries are not too creamy or cheesy. And felt good after my Lunch. Now, this place is going to be on my regular whenever I go to Big Bear. Try it and you...

I had a really good experience here. The service was on point and the food was pretty damn good!! 1 love indian food, and there is a big difference between good Indian food and bad Indian food...it isn't the easiest food to perfect, but this place has the flavors down really well. Indian food can take heat to a new level, so if you want that, ask your server...they will spice it up for you...l'm talking beyond Vindaloo. /e had a lot of dishes when we went here. The Naan was nice and fresh, the rice...always good, if you don't like rice idk what's wrong with you...but basmati is always good. Samosas: really nice mix of flavors, i know that potato and peas is more traditional, i would've liked a chicken samosa. But they were fried very nicely and a good start. Paneer..I didn't order it.. hate paneer, it shouldn't count as cheese. Just take it out of the cuisine altogether. Saag paneer...they may have the best in the world it's still going to taste like jellied tap water. I'm sorry, totally unrelated to the restaurant...paneer is the worst cheese in the food world. It makes no sense, and it doesn't help to get the heat down...it just makes you angry because u ate something too hot and now you've also eaten bland cheese!! What animal does it come from? It must be the most boring animal on earth. Sorry, anyway we also ordered the chicken vindaloo (a favorite of mine, a super spicy dish), the butter chicken, and the tikka masala . All of which were incredibly good!! If you like spice, you need to give vindaloo a chance, they can test youl! But it's more than heat. The flavors in it were down pat and incredibly good. The same with the butter chicken and tikka masala. Classic Indian dishes that are easy to screw up, but so good when they're done well. And MasalaCraft did them very very well! Excuse my rant on paneer. This is an Indian Restaurant you should try out. They have good portions but smaller options as well,...

So I'm Indian and this place was just ok. My litmus test for any Indian restaurant is their goat biriyani. I should have known when they asked what my choice in spice level would be between 1 and 10 that the flavor would be compromised. Nonetheless, this tasted rather good!

What got me unimpressed was the Malabar fish curry. It was better Malabar or authentic as the fish they use is typically not the first they use in Kerala to make fish curry. Fish aside, the curry was more tomato based and not what you'd expect from Malabar fish curry. Also, I found it odd that you have to order rice separately when you got the curry. Rice should come with curry. Or curry should come with rice. That's like ordering an omelet without egg. It's silly.

The service was so impersonal and just felt odd. Almost felt like none of them wanted to be there. It felt like boredom central. It felt...