An uninspiring end to a search for a bargain

Just in case you were thinking that I rave about every restaurant I go to, here is a place that was distinctly average.

It wasn't a bad meal (with the exception of one dish), but certainly uninspiring, and I left feeling a bit disappointed that I had not been to one of London's many more exciting dining options.

Massala Hut is one of many Indian restaurants on Drummond Street, not far from Euston. The street is pretty much your best bet in the Euston area for finding somewhere to eat that's not a chain restaurant or a characterless hotel bar. I admit my choice was partly guided by the fact that Massala Hut does a discount with Tastecard (that and the fact that I didn't want to go too far from the excellent Bree Louise where we had been having a drink). Nearby Zeen, which looks a bit better, claims to take Tastecard too - but not at the moment, they told us over the phone.

Starters were quite good - lentil soup, suitably spicy and with a wedge of lemon, and peppers stuffed with a spicy chilli and potato mixture. I hadn't had the latter before so can't say how authentic it is, but it was quite pleasant. The food took a while to arrive, but then we had turned down the offer of poppadoms and I have an only semi-serious theory of Indian restaurants that the punishment for refusing poppadoms is that your food takes longer to arrive!

For mains we tried two of the chef's specials - kareli ki nihari, a north Indian dish of slow-cooked lamb, and tandoor cooked paneer in chilli and onions. The lamb was a bit oily. It was fairly complex in flavour but could have been a bit more spiced. The paneer would have benefited from being in chunkier pieces, I thought.
We also had a Bengal aubergine side dish which I thought tasted overpoweringly of oil. I couldn't eat it but
the Real Ale Drinker did. We also had rice and chapatis which were on the small side but otherwise pleasant enough.

We drank mango lassi, which was not as sweet as some with a pronounced yoghurt taste. It was a fairly small glass for £3.30, I thought.

Decor is of the modern, shiny variety, with chairs that look like they are made from bits of industrial metal. A screen shows Bollywood music videos on silent. They kept seating people at the table right next to this screen, and invariably they would complain about the glare/flicker and ask to be moved.

To be fair, with the Tastecard the food was pretty cheap, with a bill just under £30 including one lassi each. (All diners have 12.5pc service added to the bill. The service was ok but no more). But I think we could have done better elsewhere on the street. Maybe that's what you get when you look too hard for a bargain!

Massala Hut
161-163 Drummond Street, Euston, London, NW1 2PB - Tel: 020 73876699
www.massalahut.co.uk