Masala Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Iowa City

I'm an Indian vegetarian (no meat or egg) and follow my dietary restrictions religiously. I visited this place since I know the contents of Indian cuisine by heart. The general ambience of the restaurant is kinda gloomy. Limited lighting and damp looking walls made the place look dull. However I had high hopes from the food. I started with tomato soup and had my first sip when I realized that there's something different about it. When I asked the waiter what are those white pieces floating around, he said it was chicken soup labeled as tomato soup!!! He changed the label, gave a idiotic smile and turned around and left. No apologies nothing!! That was highly unprofessional and rude. However, now that the damage was done, and I was very hungry, I thought to eat the main course. The palak paneer (spinach+cottage cheese) had no trace of the cheese. The vegetable korma was highly disappointing made of boiled vegetables with indian spices and whipped cream. The chole (chickpea dish) was however good. Overall there was more variety than quality. Despite my experiences I give them 2 stars because the aamras (mango juice) and kheer (rice pudding) were really...

I want to say that a lot of the Indian people on here are being a bit too harsh on this place. They really do a great job bringing Indian flavor to Iowa, and it is difficult to find fresh ingredients to do that with, especially in winter. I ordered the Rogan Josh, which is basically a curry, and it was pretty good. It had the right level of spice. One thing I enjoyed was the proportion of meat in the curry. The meat in a curry is meant to just be one part of the whole curry, not the predominant thing. These guys did it correctly, and in a short frame of time. I will be visiting again.

A note to other reviewers: You can't expect homemade Indian cooking from a restaurant unless you are paying 50$ a plate. This is a place to experience the flavors in a pinch, or a place to bring a date/acquaintance for lunch. If you want laalmaas that some lady has slaved for 12 hours to make, go to India. Remember that they have to accommodate a broad range of palates, and they are doing just fine without your...

Food is good, but that's probably the only reason the score isn't lower. We've never had a good pick up order experience but usually nothing too crazy, about 10/15 minutes late because they're busy or something understandable. This time was rough. Made the online pick up order while we were grocery shopping. Used their website and did everything like we've done in the past. Got my receipt, my account was charged, all good. Got there roughly a half an hour after ordering because its usually late, so didn't wanna get there early. No big deal. They apparently never got my order that was paid for. After about 20 minutes, they agreed to make the paid for order. Got our food after another 30 minutes. Didn't get our lassis though and the children were done with sitting in the car since they were already ready to get home.

All in all, food is ok just plan to do a sit down and don't deal with...