Curry Masala - on Louetta — Restaurant in Tomball

Based on my experience and IMO... June 8, 2024 update/experience. A thoroughly disappointing meal tonight. Ordered Cauliflower Manchurian, Paneer Hara Masala and Chicken Vindaloo. Spent almost $55 on the meal. The Manchurian was sweet and full of food coloring - not at all like a typical Indian Gobi Manchurian, the Paneer was out of balance in its spicing and tasted sour, while the Vindaloo was just tangy. Not at all how these dishes should really look/taste - will not return.

Went to this restaurant last night for picking up some dinner. This place has to take the top spot for the longest anticipated opening ever! 😊 Good that it finally opened! Happy to update review following additional visits.

Place was busy, which bodes well...decor was pleasant with Pakistani accoutrements...quite a bit of razzle-dazzle. Long bench-type seating along the walls, with regular tables and chairs in the middle portions. Service was prompt and courteous/helpful. Food arrived relatively quickly, though the packaging left much to be desired - oil and gravy had leaked into the plastic carrying bag, fortunately, did not see any bleeding on to the car seat/mat.

Would have given this place an extra 1/2-star (if option available) but for the extreme amounts of oil used in cooking the dishes! Cannot be healthy over the long run. Ordered Chicken Vindaloo (potatoes in it were a bit raw), Chicken Tikka Masala (too few chicken pieces in the dish) and Punjabi Pakora Curry (vegetarian; not fully certain of the name). Order came with 3 pieces of garlic naan and a small Styrofoam box of rice. While the first two dishes were quite flavorful - meats were very well cooked and the gravy had the appropriate spiciness, the third did not impress - the Pakora was chewy and tasteless and did not connect well with the gravy. In any case, amount of oil floating on each was overwhelming ...had to first wipe off the exterior of the plastic containers to rid them of dripping oil and then pour out a layer of floating oil in each dish. Definitely recommend reducing the oil-loading!

Price overall was on the high side - no excuse for charging $54 for three curry dishes! We cook such food and are completely aware of the cost of ingredients/labor etc that go into making them. Plus the place is not in an A-grade location, so humbly suggest that prices be ramped down for a-la carte menu...for example, charging $12.95 for the most basic of vegetarian dishes, Bhindi Masala (Okra curry) and Tarka Dal ( Lentils), is a bit much IMO. While the tastes are the best in the area and ambience and service match, pricing is out of kilter...

Overall, looking forward to returning to try the more affordable and on-par priced lunch buffet ($12.95), and once I secure a loan from a bank, trying out the a-la carte Pasandas, Hareem, Niharis, Payas and Biryanis...timeless and scrumptious classics of Pakistani cuisine! 😊

For the sake of diversity in our area, may this...

Still really disappointed after visiting for the second time. First time we visited with some friends in enthusiasm since we know the owner from her restaurant in Woodlands. Food was not authentic Indian - Pakistani taste. We still opted to visit second time again due to the fact that the owner Saboohi had been very nice and welcoming to us since we had been visiting at her woodlands restaurant. Today the only waiter serving the guest, Ismael was not able to handle only few guests at the restaurant. The food arrived in piece meal and very late after ordering. Our kid wanted to have water since food was very spicy, but only waiter Ismael was not around and disappeared somewhere. My wife had a water bottle in her bag and that we gave to our kid who was by this time sweating because of chicken tandoori which was too spicy. The ordered chicken lollipops were stuffed with ketchup which one of my kid just tasted and left alone since it was too bad taste. The kachore which we ordered came only when we had finished eating. When we asked Ismael to get us Sabohi so that we can provide our feedback to her, Ismael may be being tired of working whole day outrightly rejected by saying that she is busy (it was 9.20 PM by the way with only one more guest sitting in the restaurant). When we insisted, he went inside and came out with the same statement that she is busy. When we provided him the feedback on chicken lollipop and that its there as is and we are even not taking the whole untouched order, he didn’t like it and got rude. We stopped him and asked him to charge our card so that we leave. While we were leaving he kept staring at us in ager as if he will hit us. Our family was really depressed after leaving and kids were frightened. We went to the restaurant to have good time with the family but family got frightened because of the attitude of Ismael and how badly the waiter dealt with us as well as not having food served together. If the restaurant ppl are going to act like this when feedback is not in their favor, then ppl will just leave without giving feedback and that will be their last time as it is ours! Having good comments and thanking those customers is easy but having critical comments and accepting them with open mind for improvement...

My wife and I, wanting to try something new, thought we would give this restaurant a go. Unfortunately, our fist visit also will be our last. The problems were part service and part food.

Regarding service, we found a table and our drink and appetizer orders were taken quickly. After the appetizers were one, it would be a bit before we again would be visited by wait staff, and then only because we called out to one of them several times. After we were through eating and I was certain I was not going to be offered a second glass of coke, I walked over and asked one of the staff what we had to do to get someone to check on us. He replied that we should wave and "if we notice you, we'll stop by." I could only say, "Really? If you notice us?" I was offered excuses, such as how busy the restaurant was, but I couldn't help pointing out that the restaurant had several empty tables. It was just pretty disorganized.

The food: "where every bite is a delight." We tried both the vegetable and meat samosas, and found both had good crunch and little flavor. The four goat chops ($17.95) were small, with little meat on each, and were heavily spiced. As for the Gosht Khor Platter ($29.95), the chicken and beef kabobs were seasoned such that the taste between the two was indistinguishable. The garlic naan was okay, but the chunks of garlic were large and noticeeable. We didn't finish the food and we chose not to box up what we didn't eat. Since we were still hungry when we left, we went to Baskin-Robbins, which both satisfied and rid us of the taste of the restaurant food.

Curry Masala may be right for others, but the reviews suggest that at least some have had a similar experience and we do not intend to visit again. It just...