Masala Zone

Food is always a major attraction when we go to London. We tried a new place for lunch, around the Covent Garden area, Masala Zone. As you may have guessed from the name, it's an Indian restaurant. It wasn't very busy when we were there, on a Thursday lunchtime.

I have to say it's the meal that stands out from our three days in London. Amazing value, first of all, it cost us around €26 for the two of us. I had a starter and a thali, and Brendan had a supersize thali + a fish dish.

We got a nice table in the window - the view isn't much, but we were treated to a procession of ballet dancers emerging from the lane at the back, carrying their pink tutus with them, quite a sight. Service was good. And the food was really excellent. It was different from other Indian restaurants I've tried - ok, it was rice and naan bread and lentils and things like that, but the flavours of the dishes were really unusual. I think my starter was a "aloo tikki chaat", surprisingly cold but full of flavour. The main dish in my thali was "undhiyo & lentil khichdi, a mix of vegetables – sweet potato, raw banana, baby aubergine, snow peas, purple yam, val dal cooked with greens, a celebratory gujarati dish". A combination of flavours I had never tasted before. Gorgeous.

I highly recommend it. But beware, the portions are large, even for lunch, so don't plan on a big meal the same evening (and the poppadum is hiding an extra dish!).