Food and drink
Masala restaurant facade (2019). Credit: Andrew Walker, Periscope
88 Brick Lane (1985). Credit: Raju Vaidyanathan

Masala

In September 2018, Masala won the ‘Best in Brick Lane’ award at the inaugural Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards (ARTA) held at London’s O2 Arena.

The co-owner at Masala has worked in the Bangladeshi 'Indian' restaurant business for 22 years. He was born in Sylhet and arrived in Tower Hamlets in 1983 as a child, along with his siblings, for the purposes of family reunification. His father, already in Britain, worked in a factory in Bradford. When he was made redundant, he relocated to Tower Hamlets, where his family joined him.

Masala is open seven days a week and brands itself as ‘Indian-Bangladeshi’. The restaurant’s most popular dishes are chicken tikka masala and chicken korma. Most customers are walk-in and they tend to be in the 25 - 45 age range. The restaurant attracts office workers, tourists and local students alike. Around 80% of the restaurant’s customers are white. Masala offers both home delivery and takeaway services.

 

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