Masalaa Restaurant
| Address: | 3140 S Parker Rd #7, Aurora, CO 80014, USA |
| Phone: | +1 303-755-6272 |
| Site: | masalaausa.com |
| Rating: | 3.9 |
| Working: | 11AM–2PM 11AM–2PM 11AM–2PM 11AM–2PM 11AM–2PM 12–3PM 12–3PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
A
A Private User
For years Denver has had excellent north Indian restaurants (eg., Indias Restaurant, India House, Little India, etc.), but lacked an authentic South Indian restaurant. Thats where Masalaa fits in, bringing a huge variety of authentic South Indian food (all vegetarian!) to Denver. As you enter youre greeted by the rich smell of dosas and other Indian spices and the friendly staff is prompt to seat you. From there youre taking into a beautiful looking dinning room with rich wood accents and beautiful Indian paintings on the wall. Unfortunately, thats where the awe ends. The service at Masalaa ranges from average to horribly atrocious. On several occassions, the waiter/waitress didnt bother about a proper greeting and just simply left a silver & brass water jug on the table, I guess you have to fill your own water. :-) After about 5 minutes, the waiter came back and asked "what to drink." We ordered a couple of beers and sodas and Paneer Pakoras as appetizers. The drinks took a good 15-20 minutes to arrive and our waiter appear extremely frazzled on this busy evening. Eventually, our appetizers came out soon afterward. The paneer pakoras (Indian style cheese fritters) were excellent. Our masalaa dosas and vegetarian uttapams took another 20 minutes to arrive (nearly 50 minutes after we placed the order) and were pretty good, however, the Sambar was weak with few spices and relatively mild tomato flavor. Dont know why so many American South Indian restaurants dumb down the flavor of Sambar, ideally sambar should have a rich, spicy, and mildly tangy taste. Service was merely average with our waiter not bothering to check on us even once during our meal and only returned at the very end to collect our plates. In addition, our waiter appeared to be extremely harried (probably because it was busy), but thats no reason to throw our pakora basket on the table and to serve our main entrees by slamming down a steel plate in front of us. PS. To all of the Indians complaining about Masalaa charging a 15% tip on larger parties, this is a standard practice in the US. Remember the US tipping rules 15% for average/good service, 20% for excellent service, you only leave < or = 10% when you receive poor service.
A
A Private User
This is the only South Indian place Ive found in the Denver area, and, being South Indian myself, I love it. I think its very authentic, and especially love their buffet. Most of their items are a great deal, although a few things are a bit overpriced (the modest serving of Gobi Manchurian, for example, for $8, or Maggi noodles --basically like Ramen--- also for $8). Their vadas are great though, as are their idlis, and theres simply no other place I can go, besides my moms kitchen, to get chaat or bhel puri or any of those typical southern dishes. That said, my only gripe is with the service. Even though my familys been going there for several years, the management isnt terribly friendly, and sometimes downright rude-- like were imposing on their time. Last time we went I had a question about the check, and the waiter got defensive instead of just explaining what I was confused about. I wont even get into how long we had to wait before a waiter came to our table (there were three families total in the restaurant). Things like this leave us annoyed and tipping less than we would otherwise. Its a shame, because if it werent for the careless waitstaff, Id give them 5 stars in a heartbeat.
A
A Private User
I have been to Denver for Thanksgiving holidays and visited this place for dinner buffet. Firstly, the reception was horrible and the staff did not know what customer service was. The only person who was a bit polite was the owner. All the items were so cold including idly, vada and the chutneys for these items were placed in a jar of ice which made the combination even worse to eat. Dosas were served but we had to leave them because there was no proper chutney served. The rice and other items were ok but not that great. Dal and Sambar was not tasty and I can cook better than those. Paneer was better than all the recepies. Coming to the deserts section, Gulab Jamun was hot and the syrup was just boiling sweet water. Thus, we had a horrible dinner that night. In my opinion this is not the place you want to visit if you are a foodie or want to taste something really good. Also I gave a 1 star as I could not give something lower than that.
MA
Mariah Drogitis
Hello fellow Indian Food Lovers... I unfortunately have to write this review... but after a few unsavory experiences with this restaurant, I had to let you all know. First of all, the food is actually ok, but the customer service sucks! I am not usually one to write bad reviews, but I called in a to-go order and they refused to take my order even though their website says they are open from 530-10pm. Then they said that they are not even making to-go orders tonight... I have had one good customer service experience and some decent food here(hence the 2 stars) but mostly negative experiences where they mess up your order then over charge for their mistakes. If you want superb customer service and even better food, I would venture across the street to Taj Indian Cuisine. Im sorry I didnt call them first. They are gracious and kind and often the owner will come out to the table and offer you different samples from their kitchen.
A
A Private User
Masalaa has slipped and continues to slip. We have chosen to never go back. Our children who LOVE Indian food and has exceptional taste, when we mention plans to eat out, first say unanimously, "anywhere but to Masalaa". We know that we would LOVE to go to a place which only has a vegetarian menu and there are not many such restaurants in town, are so put off by the TOTAL LACK OF SERVICE AT THIS PLACE, we would rather settle for a simple one course meal at home. The quality of food and the size of the portions have also declined significantly in the past year and continue to decline. True it is that there is some South Indian fare that is available here which is not available elsewhere in town, I just do not feel good to go to a restaurant where there is virtually no service. I have voiced my dissatisfaction with the management several times but apparently this has gone unheeded.
A
A Private User
Wow! this place is far from most of the metro area, but boy is it worth the trip. My family has been going to this restaurant for a few years now. South Indian food is pretty different from the North Indian fare you get at most Indian restaurants. The menu can be a little daunting until you have some idea of what is what. However, you cannot go wrong with any of the appetizers. These are mostly spiced, fried items, served with several kinds of chutney that are all sublime. My favorite entree is dosa which is a crisp, thin flatbread filled with potato masala. My young daughter loves this place as well and is a huge fan of dosa with ghee. If this place is far from your home, combine the trip with an outing to the Indian grocery in the same strip or a trip to H Mart, the Asian/international grocery on Parker road nearby.
HE
hemank lowe
Although there are some good reviews about it, but my experience is bad due to the RUDE staff. They have a Thursday Dinner Buffet and it is bit crowdy. Once we opened the door, a staff member rudely behaved and asked us to go out and wait. After waiting for 15 minutes outside we entered in the restaurant. While sitting and getting ready for buffet, same staff member came again and told us rudely that he will charge for my younger son (under 2 years). After asking, what is the child Policy, he mentioned they will charge half of the price for a child up to 7 years. When I mentioned him that my son is under 2 years, he told us it is fine then. They are running good business but they should not forget the etiquettes with their clients
