It's right in the centre of Holmfirth yet blink and you could miss it.
For the Massala Lounge is a first floor restaurant and the only indication it’s there is its door ... and sign.
As you go up the steps you pass a giant photo of the Last Of The Summer Wine cast – but that’s where you leave the old behind for the Massala Lounge has gone for a bright, modern look.
Vibrant colours adorn the walls – try orange for size – and the lighting is inset into the walls in a somewhat peculiar style that gives a quirky ambience.
Our group was just the four – me, wife Ruth and chums Bev and Richard who are not averse to the odd curry and more than willing to help us out on this one. The more the merrier.
And it was a merry group that had spread over two large tables at one end of the restaurant. I was wondering why there seemed to be enough space to park my car in there but all became clear when the group sang happy birthday, hugged one another, said their fond farewells and after they left all the seats and chairs were put back in their rightful place and the yawning space had gone.
Starters were chana puri (£2.50), chick peas cooked in a rich sauce with mixed herbs and spices, tomato and coriander served with deep leavened bread; king prawn puri (£3.95); lamb tikka (£2.95) lamb pieces marinated in a tandoori sauce, herbs and spices and then cooked in a clay oven; machlee tikka (£3.95) which is chunks of cod fish marinated in a special yoghurt sauce then barbecued in a tandoori clay oven.
Everyone was happy with their starter to the point of being thrilled but for something a bit different the tender taste of the fish mixed with the subtleness of the spice was an absolute winner.
You can’t beat a puri for a starter. Who could possibly turn their nose up at deep-fried leavened bread that has the uncanny knack of melting in the mouth. The prawns were large and juicy, the chick peas hopped around on the tastebuds a fair while to leave their mark and the lamb was tender.
It was a good start ... and for the mains were didn’t need to look much further than the ‘specialities’.
The four chosen ones (£6.95 each) were Sonargaw – tender pieces of chicken cooked with extensive use of garlic, green chillies, herbs and spices in a thick, spicy sauce; Rajbari Taste – a mixture of chicken tikka, lamb tikka and tandoori chicken (on the bone) cooked with bullet chillies, tomatoes, herbs and spices; Rangamati Chorchory – tender pieces of chicken cooked with spinach, garlic and tomatoes; Dhaka Gulabi – a Bangladeshi banquet dish cooked with lamb, potatoes, onions, bullet chillies and garlic in a thick and spicy sauce.
Although each did have its own identity there’s an underlying flavour here that gives every dish its own zesty zing – something that tells the tastebuds ‘this is really good and you must give me more.’ It could be the ginger and a slight ‘crunch’ factor with the onions combined with the chef’s love of bullet chillies that’s doing it.
Who knows, but it works and it works well. Plenty of spinach in the Chorchory and certainly not short of meat – including large pieces of chicken – in the Rajbari Taste.
There’s a reasonable number of starters for vegetarians such as Paneer Tikka (£2.95) – soft chunks of paneer Asian cheese marinated in tandoori massala – and there’s 10 vegetable side dishes on the mains along with five vegetarian specialities such as Katchuri Shabzi (£5.50) – spicy potato, cauliflower and chickpeas cooked with lentils, fenugreek, garlic and tomatoes.
So was there enough once we’d added in our keema rice (£2.10), pilau rice and peshwari naan?
You bet. We even took some away.
Massala Lounge
57 Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth, HD9 3JH
Tel: 01484 681172
Website: www.massalalounge.com
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 5.30pm-10pm; Friday and Saturday 5.30pm-11pm.
Children: Welcome
Disabled access: No – the only access is up steep steps
