I order takeaways on the $10 nights and the food is always fantastic. Probably the best Indian in the area. Dined in recently with a big group and although the service was a bit hap hazard we had a great night!

I went there to have dinner last night ,took my friend over who came from England ……I have to say I have come to this restaurant in the past as well but never before was the service so awful. Firstly they could not find my details, whereas I had made reservations earlier that day at 11am, secondly it took a good 3/4 of an hour for the mains to arrive, thirdly part of the order was not there, fourth they did not give us cutlery after we were finished with the appetizers and the mains had already arrived , we had to sit there raise our hand up and wait for the waiter to respond, finally we got our cutlery and then they forgot all about our drink orders. It was not a good experience at all.

think the waiters and waitresses need to sort the B.O out, its not a nice smell to be served with someone who just reeks! i also noticed they do have plenty staff who just sit behind the cashier and do nothing…

otherwise GREAT filling indian food! i love the tikka masala its just perfect with plentyful amounts! although average service with the waiters when they are very busy and you are sitting outside, you tend to be forgotten!

i also noticed that one waiter does not serve one table, every waiter just serves any old table and tells another waiter to finish tending to us! not professional! they should have limited each waiter to a certain number of tables to make their life easier so that im not asking 3 different waiters for naan bread!

but stil i am a fan of masala in mission bay!

Make sure they don’t charge you twice!

We just had a meal at Masala, my mother went up to pay while the rest of us were seated. Then as we were leaving my sister & I also paid the full bill of $145 (after our mother had left the restaurant) – they were happy to accept payment a second time without hesitation. Luckily our mother returned to find out what was keeping us so we found out what was going on. They have a fairly sophisticated computer system so it’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t record which tables have paid for their meals. When notified they basically threw the cash back at us with no apology!

Also there was flooding and no toilet seat in the mens, the latter was the same when we were there a week earlier.

The food was reasonable, fairly standard westernised versions of indian dishes. When ordering the hot versions of dishes they do come quite spicy, which isn’t always the case in other places.

Masala indian restaurant is a perfectly located place to have lunch at, the service was timely, courteous and seamless. From the beginning to the end of the meal. Great value $10.00 lunches excellent roti and fruit drinks.

Meals as good as any Delhi eatery, and the roti was splendid.

The vegetarian options are excellent will go there again this summer.

The last time I went here, it took 10 minutes to be seated, and we waited for the waiter to take our order, and waited, and waited. I called him over twice and he said he would just me a minute- and yet he did not come. Other people came in after us and got drinks and entrees, and still we waited….
The previous time, my friend complained about always getting served smaller glasses of wine than male companions, and I realised she was right. I hate to be one of those women who accuses poeple of sexism, but was it any cooincidence the tables that got served had a man with them, while my friend and I are women in our 30′s?

We waited nearly two hours before the waiter announced the food was 20 minutes away (no explanation or apology given, they had been saying “five minutes away” for half an hour).

It was nearly 10pm – so we left and got burgers.

Have been going to this place since a few years. The service is getting bad to worse lately. Untrained immigrants on student visas fail the restaurant which otherwise has an acceptable to good quality of food and good location. Last evening we had the worst experience where a rude student (waiter) replied that they are too busy and hence..the cocktail is tasting horrible..the wine bottle is sitting on our table uncorked for ages….starters served but no drinks..curries served but the naan bread comes after they are cold… a different salad turns up but not what was ordered. hope they get some good manager to run the place and trainers to train the staff.

My partner and I were looking for a nice place to eat in Mission Bay. By chance we walked past Masala, and as my partner loves a good curry he convinced me to enter.

We were seated and served almost immediately, given menus and offered drinks. The waitstaff were very helpful, and even though we took a long time deciding on our mains they returned several times to check up on us and make sure we were happy.

We shared an entree, the papadoms and dips which were simply amazing. As soon as we were finished with our entree it was cleared and the mains were bought to us! Impeccable timing! The mains were delicious, my partner was very very happy with his lamb masala.


My big comment of the night has to be regarding the atmosphere – absolutely lovely! Live music was playing in the room adjacent to where we were eating (but not at a loud enough volume that we couldn’t talk). There was a video screen on the wall playing bollywood music videos which were very fun to watch during lulls in the conversation.

Overall it was a great experience, the waitress was friendly and made sure we were enjoying our meals. The food was amazing as was the price. The bathrooms were stunning and very well cleaned. I would definately reccomend this place to others and will be going back there myself.

Oh yeah! Father’s Day!

The restaurant was carefully selected because:
1. a subset of ‘we’ had lunched here three times previously,
2. we wanted to try the Banquet menu,
3. I was keen on the poppadums.

We turned up at our appointed time and as advised, carrying baby.

The waitress seated us shortly at a table for 7 people. Person Seven sat at the ‘head’ of the table, which was in the direct path of the service to the balcony. Literally. There was barely sufficient gap between the seat and the table behind it to accommodate a plated wait-person.

Aside: there were several wait-persons on the floor. The restaurant was busy emptying of paid diners after the main lunch crowd.

As experienced diners we didn’t want to make a fuss. Taking an executive decision, we moved the table slightly away from the balcony service path so that Person Seven was less apprehensive about food dropping onto him from behind.

The menus were delivered: several lunch menus, one normal menu, one drinks menu.

We had to share the normal menu so all could discuss the Banquet option.

A prolonged discussion was held, whereupon agreed – one Vegetarian Banquet, one Masala Banquet, peshwari naan, two lunch specials. We congratulated ourselves on arriving at this decision.

And we waited for our order to be taken. And we waited.

Person Seven eventually flagged down a waitress. She took our drinks order easily enough (beers and mango lassis) but we stumped her with the food order.

Twice stumped. Something about the banquet menu being for two people. Or possibly “one banquet per table”. She asked us to wait while she referred to a higher authority.

And we waited.

The higher authority smoothly approached and discussed our order. I was at the other end of the table and heard faint traces. Something about “not sharing banquet”. Or “not sharing entrees”.

Talk about a mood spoiler.

After much communication we got what we wanted – one vege banquet for two people, one masala banquet for two people, peshwari naan, two lunch specials.

And we sat and waited to get what we wanted. Beer was served, fruit juices were served, mango lassis was served…

oops. One mango lassi downed the back of Person Four. Mango yoghurt sloshed down the back of her top and trousers and on her chair.

Kerfuffle ensued! Clean up attempted!

Person Four exited to a private area to clean up. Distraught glass taken away. Chair cleaned up and swapped with one from an adjacent empty table.

Banquet entrees served!

Can I taste the Masala Banquet as well as the Vegetarian? I am still unclear.

Person Four returned with a make-nice smile on her face. What a good sport.

But where is my mango lassi? My mood is deteriorating. I flag the first wait-person I see and demand my mango lassi.

And it was served. It was a nice mango lassi, taking the edge off my irritability.

Taking my time, I half-finish my lassi. My water glass was still dry and emptied. I asked Person Five to flag a wait-person to get water for the table.

Yay! we got water.

Empty entree plates were removed, as were our utensils and paper napkins. Fresh utensils and paper napkins were put in place. Nice.

And we waited. And watched other tables with lunch specials being served.

Aside: there were maybe three other occupied tables in our area.

And we waited.

Person Seven flagged the wait-person wandering past to enquire the status of our mains.

Without consulting the kitchen, she automatically said, “It will be ready in five minutes.”

I advised Person Seven to start the countdown. This was rejected.

After uncounted minutes, mains arrived – lunch specials (poppadums inclusive), vegetarian banquet, masala banquet, peshwari naan.

The more pricey peshwari naan was quite burnt on the base. Staying with my precept of not eating burned food, I removed the badly burnt areas. Person One and Four were also doing the same. We ended up with a good collection in one of the naan baskets. Another side result was that the peshwari stuffing scattered everywhere. Ah well – the peshwari naan was religious anyway. As in, the stuffing fell out of the burned holes. The bits I ate of the naan was nothing to rave about. Such a disappointment to my palate which had been educated by pashwari naan from Oh Calcutta.

I tasted the curries. Uhm. Given that the curries overlapped on the seasoning (variously: korma, paneer, butter, etc) it doesn’t disguise the fact the lumps of mains (variously: vegetable, cottage cheese, prawn, chicken, beef) had not absorbed the flavours of their respective curries.

I ate seconds anyway because I was very hungry. I confirmed my first impression. I didn’t have thirds.

The plain standard naan bread was very nice. Burned flakes on the base, but at least I didn’t need to deal with scattering dessicated coconut, and random red and green preserved fruit.

By this time baby had had enough.
Aside: no high chair had been offered to seat baby. (Note: we did bring a capsule. However in other eateries, e.g. Cafe Melba in Ellerslie, we were still offered the option of a high chair.)

I reminded the bill-payers to check we were only charged for two mango lassis. The reminder was opportune as a third had been added to the bill.

The diners went our separate ways.

At this end of day, I realise we hadn’t even had the end of the meal: Tea/Coffee.

Neither do I know whether the restaurant offered a discount for the meal as a sop for parts of our unpleasant experience:
* prolonged wait to place an order,
* mango lassi downer,
* need to clean Person Four’s clothing,
* prolonged wait for arrival of mains,
* burnt naans that equated to half of what Person One, Two, Four were served. (Persons Five, Six and Seven are less food-anxious.)

Verdict: poppadums delicious. I recommend this restaurant for it’s $10 lunch special. Nothing else. I wouldn’t choose to dine here again.


10 Sep 2011 Update:
1. yes, we were not supposed to share the banquets;
2. after some discussion with the cashier, we received the 3rd mango lassi for free (note: the mango downer happened in full view of the bar/cashier area);
3. no sops were proffered to compensate for the poor service, 1/2 basket of burnt naans.

Yummy food, great service. Loving the mon/tues/wed $10 mains and BYO. Always please with the masala experience

Would not recommend this resturant at all. We booked for a talbe of 6 which was small and cramped my friend asked on booking that I was allergic to nuts and assured it was fine. On arrival we reminded the manager AND the waiting staff again it was ok. On ordering again assured no nuts. Our order arrived which was very small ( good job as the table was so little anyway ) I took a bite of one of the meals and realised straight away that something was wrong. The waiter was called to the table and said NO definatley no nuts. We pointed to one of the meals and he said yes Almonds in that one WHAT .. then when I told him that I had tasted the VEGETARIAN curry and there was definaly something wrong he said oh no nuts just CASHEW.. WHAT THE HELL.. it was only a slight reaction as i only had a small bite – as i was throwing up in the bathroom for 30 minutes my friend called over to the manager to then stated that I would not be charged for my meal – very good of him NOT seeing as I had not touched it and was still at that time throwing up. So thanks to this resturant I spend the night being sick , rash and swelling of my face and throat.
Couldnt even begin to tell you what the food was like but the service was rubbish and obviously they dont LISTEN to what people have to say. THey are just lucky that I didnt have to call an ambulance to the resturant. Not recommended at all

Went to Masala Mission Bay for a friends birthday. The place itself is nice but that was about it. Having been cramped together as we were a very large party was the start of it. I ordered the plain Lassie which was disgusting, I had to send it back as it was ridiculously salty. The curry itself was nice but after 20 minutes waiting around for rice it was cold and just plain bad. I understand $10 nights are busy but you’d think rice would be one things that is accounted for. Only when guests complained did the rice come along – undercooked. eeeek!

Despite others comments, I found it to be a very nice restaurant!
It’s beautiful and the food is amazing!
We didn’t end up having to wait too long for our mains (40 minutes tops) as we got there at around 7:30pm and it wasn’t too busy yet.
I had the Malai Kofta and it was very nice.

The only improvement that could be made is the staff. They were very busy and they got our bill wrong in the end. But since I noticed, they were happy and quick to correct it.

Overall, satisfying night out with the partner, give the place a 4/5!

We are regular customers of Masala in Titirangi and by some misfortune, we ended up in Mission Bay on a Monday. The place was tidy, we got a beautiful table over looking the bay, the food was quick and really delicious, as it is in Titirangi. The Malai Kofta was creamy and crunchy, and the Lamb Vindaloo was tender and spicy. So yum.

The wait staff were amazing. We had a great time and we hope to come back soon.

Went there for dinner last night with a party of five. Clean, bright venue with attentive staff. They made a mistake with our order and when pushed, it was rectified. The food was well seasoned and attractively presented. Unobtrusive, but good service. Well priced. We left feeling satisfied and not ripped off, which so often happens in Auckland.

Where can i start………i went yesterday with my friends to MASALA MISSION BAY, and had worst experience as i am regular customer of MASALA (Titirangi) and quite satisfied with their service and food but i experience opposite in Mission bay, Food was awful, most of the food was prepared long time back and it was just heated up in microwave and served. Drinks was not even chilled and Service staff was shocking, they don’t even know how to greet customers………

Their Menu Cards are rotten and I must say now after shocking experience i will never ever visit any of Masala restaurants and will be spreading my experience to most of friends and families….. PLEASE DO NOT VISIT MASALA IN FUTURE…

Much talked about restaurant. So had to try out. Food was excellent, but the service was disgusting, waited 45 mins for meal had to call someone to be waited on took 15 mins to get drinks ordered pathetic

What started slowly, then became a local favourite has unfortunately gone down hill over the last 6 months. Packing too many diners in at the same time and the kitchen unable to cope. Rude Head Waitress and badly trained staff along with long wait for food. A group of us were very regular customers but one too many bad experiences has stopped us from returning. Vegetarian with chicken bone & grissle along with three different dishes all with distinctly butter chicken sauce and that included the vego one! Whether you ask for mild/med/hot – you get what they give you! $10 Mon-Wed perhaps good value but the quality of the food – you get what you pay for!

It was definitely a wonderful experience to dine at Masala restaurant, exclusive Indian Restaurant. The food is tremendous, the ambiance is excellent and the people are extremely friendly and helpful. I would definitely advise every one to go to Masala.

Just got home after a very disappointing experience at this new restaurant with friends.
Apart from the lovely girl that welcomed us inside, the first thing we noticed were the poor wait staff lacking in charisma. The only thing they seemed interested in was continually trying to up-sell. Seated in an empty and uninspiring room to the side of their main eating area, our tiny table made for very awkward eating – I ended up having to put my drink on the floor! When I requested to move to another table, I was told that all the other tables were booked. Only a few other groups were seated during the period we were there!
I asked for a pinot noir – the waiter came out with a pinot gris. After very politely pointing this out, all I got was a blank look and “er, well do you just want to have that one now that I’ve poured it?” um no thanks, I wanted red, not white wine – that’s what I asked for, thankyou.
My friend specifically asked for her dish, beef rara, to be “kiwi mild” please – explaining that she can’t eat too-spicy food. Our dishes come out, the waiter confirms she ordered the rara and places it in front of her. Next minute, she’s bright red and spluttering everywhere, while my other friend notices his vindaloo (which he ordered “super-hot” ) is not spicy in the slightest. Considering all the effort they’ve put into trying to get us to get more expensive items, you’d think they’d at least know their different dishes. After sorting out whose dish was which, we begin our meal. Alas, suddenly, a cold gust of wind sweeps into the room from a large door which has just been opened, right next to our table…one of the waiters inserts a door stop, and soon it is all hands on deck as about 6 staff start moving all the outdoor furniture inside, banging in to our table and chairs as they push past us. This honestly went on for about 20 minutes, we were freezing and couldn’t even talk for all the banging and squeaking of furniture being shoved around. Although you’d expect a restaurant to sort out its seating for the Friday rush in the late afternoon, perhaps this would have been tolerable…it was just the unforgiving way in which they did it that was not on. The last straw was when my friend took a sip of his drink and felt a sharp thing on his tongue – a piece of broken glass. When we went up to pay we showed this to the maitre d’ and expressed our concern – what if he had swallowed this! Not usually ones to complain, we were very nice about it – so the least we expected was a “sorry”. But no. The only words I can use to describe this lady is downright rude. All she could say was “humph, I don’t know how that got there.” !!??!!!!!! They are lucky their restaurant is in New Zealand and not the US, where they would be faced with a 6-figure lawsuit had my friend swallowed the glass! As we walked out she smugly called out, “see you again!” Yeah right!!! Admittedly, the food was lovely and well-priced, but it was completely spoiled by the rest of the experience. Definitely do not waste a night dining here – the other Indian restaurants in Mission Bay (i.e. Shahi and the Jewel of India) are FAR nicer, with excellent food, staff, service and ambiance!