We have been to Cafe Masala several times. What I like about this place is the value for money. Cafe Masala is all about buffet meals and the spreads are quite lavish. At roughly Rs 350 per head (the rates are a little more over the weekends), there is rarely a time you can say that you came away less than satisfied at this place. If you are heading there over the weekends, make a reservation.

Cafe Masala has a semi-open air and an air-conditioned inner seating area. Since we strive to give junior all of the comforts possible, indoor it was for us. We hadn't a reservation and it was a weekend, but we were seated in five minutes. Tents on the table told us the specials in terms of drinks were Ganne ka ras and lime juices. So a pitcher of ganne ka ras for mom and husband and lemon juice it was more me. Nice, fresh and refreshingly cold.

Cafe Masala has a wide range of starters in vegetarian and non-vegetarian which they bring on copper tandoors with a few coal embers. The rest of the review will be more a photo based one.

Prawn (above) and chicken (below) starters that were brought to the table. Loved the prawns. The masala was not too spicy and the prawns fried just enough. The chicken was good.

Chicken starters

The copper Tandoors with a fish starter. This was a green masala based coating which was largely mint, coriander and bit of curd and spices mixed in. Despite being Mangalorean, I am picky about fish in restaurants, but this one was pleasant and nice.

Paneer on this tandoor. This was with slices of capsicum and tomato. The paneer was nicely singed on the outside and soft on the inside. Pop them into your mouth with a bit of capsicum and tomato and its a bite worth the effort.

Aloo and sesame tikkis. These were as tasty as they were pretty to look at. Aloo tikkis, prawns and a breezer and I could be digging in for a long long time. All of these starters are unlimited. Next comes the actual buffet.

Before the salad counter above, there is also a soup counter. There is always a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian option. There are also the customary breads to go with it. The salad counter is all vegetarian with the occasional non-veg option thrown in. There was a vegetable and fruit salad, one with fried okra, a radish based salad and more.

This is followed by a range of crispies in the form of papads, fryums and the like. You then have a dry and gravy based chicken. Plain rice and dal and a mutton dum biryani. This forms the non-veg section. After this comes a chaat section where you can put most of what you like together as you can see below. There was also the lone curd rice thrown in for good measure.

By the time I reached here, one of the staff members walked up to me and told me to stop taking photos. So after this there are just explanations. The vegetarian section followed with a veg au gratin figuring amidst paneer gravy, fried okra, a veg biryani and dal makhni. Towards the end is placed the relatively big dessert counter. There is the customary chocolate fountain with marshmallows, biscuit rings and chocolate cake that can be skewered and dipped. There was also a range of cakes and tarts to choose from as well as three ice creams that you could scoop to your hearts content.

Service here is brisk and it is almost always with a smile. The loos are clean but are outside the restaurant at the end of the floor. Its the same loo shared by Aromas of China as well as Vaayu on the same floor. But for Rs 350, your tummy cannot handle any more.