Masala house Indian Restaurant & Catering — Restaurant in San Diego

The people who know Indian food who I go to restaurants with say this is the best Indian food in San Diego and also excellent in absolute terms. I hope they stay in business, for that reason alone. We have been going about twice a month since the opening. However, the service is SO BAD!!!! Other reviews have already chronicled this and I agree with all of it. We like the food so much that we still go. But we always know it will be an adventure. The people are very nice and friendly, but I would trade many many levels of friendliness for the place to just run better.

Men's bathroom review: Bare bones and gets the job done. One urinal (I have used many times), one stall (I have never used), one sink with cold water only. Soap and paper towels filled. No way to discard the paper towel without touching the spring-loaded door of a garbage can.

Some suggestions (don't feel obligated to read this part; I'm surprised you made it this far, even):

Someone who understands restaurant management needs to come in and implement some checklists and discipline or whatever it is they do (I have no idea). Maybe watch the movie 'The Founder' at the very least. Last night, there were no utensils at the table by the time our food arrived. I just went to buffet area and got them myself (the buffet was not open at the time). Maybe a self-service model like Rasraj, down the road, would be better, so that customers just bring things to their own table. Maybe even try to poach a Rasraj employee. That place seems to run like the Japanese train system. Chop the restaurant up for parts (I have no idea how that works but it feels applicable nonetheless) and/or start a tiffin service where you deliver to a few high-traffic locations...

Update: Everyday Lunch and Dinner Buffet increased from $10.99 to $11.99.

This restaurant seems to be in a soft-opening phase, since part of the restaurant is still under construction (looks like they're putting in some cozy booths) and there were definitely a lot of kinks we encountered while having lunch here on a Thursday afternoon.

We arrived about 1:30pm on Thursday, and although there was no wait for a table, the service was a little backed up. The owner invited us to have a seat and get started as he ran to try and clean up or bring more food.

When we went to the buffet to get food, but there was nothing available. Chai dispenser was empty. We also noticed there were many other groups of diners there, all sitting around waiting for more food to be brought out.

There were no clean plates to use (only small bowls), and no forks either (just spoons). Waiting for forks, plates, and food took at least 20 minutes. When they brought out more chicken or paneer, it was gone really fast since it was only about 10-15 pcs at a time. The pace of the food made my appetite disappear fast.

The plain naan was nice and crispy when brought out fresh and available more frequently than the other dishes. My favorite item was the butter chicken curry. The paneer butter curry was also good.

Service: They were too busy to clean the tables until diners left, so each table needed to stack up their own plates to have enough dining space.

Parking: The parking lot is extremely tight. We parked on the...

I was really excited to try this restaurant after seeing it all over social media, but my experience was a huge letdown. We made reservations and arrived on time, only to be met with confusion about our party size and order—even though we had to place our order when booking the reservation. Once seated, we waited 15-20 minutes for our appetizer, which arrived cold and without any utensils, plates, or napkins. We had to ask for those.

To make matters worse, we had multiple servers, and every time we ordered something extra, it never made it to the table. After waiting another 30 minutes, our main entree finally came out, but the staff questioned us again about our order. We had to remind them there was still another protein that was missing. By this point, we were over the experience and asked for boxes to take our food to go. It took another 20 minutes for the rest of our meal to arrive.

When we spoke with someone who seemed to be the manager or owner about our concerns, nothing was resolved. All they offered was to remake the appetizer—if we were still "in the mood." The overall service was terrible, with constant miscommunication, and to top it off, we had to wait an extra 30 minutes just to get an itemized receipt, after they tried to double charge us. I definitely do not recommend this place. The hype...