Masala House — Restaurant in Raleigh

My wife and I ate here on a Friday evening. It was our first trip to Masala House. We were regulars at Taj Mahal, which sadly is in the process of moving to Wake Forest.

First, the negatives -- We would have appreciated it if our waiter could have checked in with us more frequently. I would have ordered a second drink earlier, and we would have requested more rice. But please keep in mind, it was a Friday evening. They were busy. Also, it would have been nice to have some cardboard coasters to soak up some of the condensation from our cold drinks. That's a minor issue, which can be easily corrected.

Now, the positives -- The atmosphere is lovely. Somewhat understated decorations. A CC TV showing aerial scenes of India is mounted at one end of the dining room. The dining room is abuzz with activity, including a robust carry-out business. Everyone seemed happy. Further, our waiter got our orders correct, which shouldn't be a surprise, but for us lately, that's a nice change.

And the star of the show is the food. The waiter brought us papadams as an appetizer, without us asking. The papadams came with three different sauces. We enjoyed them all. For dinner I had Malai Kofta, while my wife had mango jalfrezie with Lamb. Everything was excellent. I appreciated that they have a nice selection of draft beers. My wife loved the masala tea, and commented that it wasn't overpowered with cream or whole milk.

I think we've found a new go-to spot for Indian...

My first time in Raleigh and decided to give Masala House a try. Ordered garlic naan, chicken tikka masala and Shahi paneer. Right off the bat both dishes look the same (specifically asked the guy if they were the same) but they tasted slight diff., they could have recommended a different paneer dish. Anyways, I dived right in, naan was perfect, not too soft not too crispy, it was def thinner than usual 4/5. Paneer was good, very flavorful. As for spiciness, I asked for medium hot, the guy said it was spicy and hot would be unbearable but it turns out that medium is completely bland. But taste was still good. 4/5. Coming to chicken, it was awful. The chicken pieces were perfect squares and chicken was very rubbery. Never have I eaten Chicken tikka masala and found chicken pieces to be small square cubes. Usually they r cooked in tandoor and then cooked in gravy. Some chicken pieces were soft, some were hard, it def didn’t feel fresh. Very disappointed with a dish that no Indian restaurant should mess up, 1/5.

Finally, I had specifically asked for plates n disposable cutley sets but they forgot to give either. So here I am in my hotel room, struggling to eat it.

I may be new to Raleigh but I am not new to Indian food. Very disappointed with this place. If someone is ordering some dishes, maybe recommend if they maybe alike. Every restaurant cooks these dishes differently.

Will I come back here...

The experience is just amazing. This is coming from an indian who is visiting Raleigh on a business trip and had a horrible dining experience at royal india just two days ago. This restaurant is sooo good starting from the service i received from the minute i sat down. The staff is just as sweet and welcoming and food quality is marvelous. I ordered the hazy draft IPA beer and they just went down so easy in the chilled glass that i had to order another one right away:-). The food was downright delicious and they even custom made a vegetable butter makhani for me that was not even on the menu. I am so mad at going to Royal india the other day based on this place having less yelp reviews. Boy did i mess up. At royal india i got bit by nets and had nets around my food and one even fell in my beer. I could not even complain since the restaurant had one other table besides me and it looked like it was going to shut down any day so i felt bad and sorry so just paid my bill and got out of there as fast as i could. So needless to say coming to Masala house instantly became a treat from the minute i entered this clean and nicely decorated and huge place with so many tables. I give it full 10 stars. The complementary desert of the gulab jamun was just the icing on top of my night which forced me to write...