Masala Zone - London, W1

Celebration day in London. The Queens 81st (marked by a World War 2 fly over and a right royal cloudburst), the Chelsea festival (where I bought some Turkish delight) and the O2 popfest in Hyde Park.

Following a visit to excellent annual BP Portait Award up to Soho for Masala Zones ‘real indian food’ at realistic PRICES. Lunch £7.95 for 2 courses good value, great value when you consider the enthusiastic SERVICE and FOOD on offer.

Street snacks to start. A dish of creamy chic peas in sweet, sour tomato based sauce with tofu sized chunks of beautifully textured white bread and a garnish of cracked wheat noodles delighted. Next up, sisters Vegetable curry. Garden green and yellow, mellow, refreshing. Honeyed overtones of green banana balanced with nutty lentils, starchy potato and sprinkled with yam shavings. A Mangalore curry, succulent slices of chicken off the bone simmered in a slinky tomato-coconut infusion left taste buds quivering. Light and aromatic, fresh and fun - I was ready to dance out into the rain and sing like Gene Wilder, except I had to pause first and admire the decor. Rich browns and dark oranges, walls engraved with Indian cave paintings, by artists, who until their commission, hadn’t occasioned outside their village (!) What they made of London shown by a frieze which features a few recognisable landmarks and a number of inebriated Brits stumbling around, falling over. Who considers Western Europeans ‘civilized’? Not these tribal artistes from the back and beyond I venture. In SUMMARY a must for a casual lunch in the capital.

Willp2328 Score: 9/10