The Masalla Merchant

Visited the Masalla Merchant for the first time in a while last night, and had a really nice meal. I 'd say this place is probably the best of the numerous Indian restaurants in the area the buckle in the Stirchley curry belt. I arrived a little earlier than my fellow diners and sat on a comfy sofa by the entrance, clutching my bottles of beer. This is a bring your own booze restaurant (which really keeps the bill down). I recommend getting drinks from the excellent Stirchley Wines, which is just a short trot up the Pershore Road, and is full of excellent and unusual beers, wines and spirits. However, if you 're feeling lazy there is a standard off license virtually next to the restaurant. Once my fellow guests arrived we were seated at a large table in one corner of the restaurant and served the traditional poppadoms and dips. The menus are crammed with loads of traditional dishes, plus a 'contemporary ' section. If anything the menu is too big, and we all took a while to navigate it. After ordering, the food did take quite a while to arrive, perhaps because the restaurant had become much more busy. Our food all arrived at once, in a flurry of naan and sizzling hot dishes. I ordered a hot lamb dish (something, something Naga) from the contemporary dishes section, with a peshwari naan and fried rice. The curry was delicious, with chunks of really tender lamb in a hot but really flavourful sauce. The naan was light and sweet, filled with almond and drizzled in honey. Perfect combo. Two of our group went for vegetarian dishes, including the paneer cheese parcels, which looked great and, I 'm told, were really tasty. Overall, I rate this place. Service can be a little slow but the food is really tasty and the prices are reasonable. Our bill was accompanied by white chocolate mice and gummy bears to sweeten the deal (although at £77 for 6 of us it was already pretty palatable). Retro sweet win.

Brilliant staff who were welcoming and friendly, and absolutely gorgeous food at good prices. You couldn't want or need more.

I really love this place. The food is fantastic and its a resturant rather than a curry house. The menu is great and staff are helpful. It can get very busy though. I often go early or during the week. Its a place you can either get really dressed up for or be casual. You need to book. Deserts are nice and the fab thing is at the end you get loads of free oranges, kids sweets and baileys/brandy yum. You can take your own drinks and there is a off licence next door. They dont have a high chair but are good with kids. Oh, and the ladies get a rose when you leave. Its really the extras that do it. I got a christmas present when I went one year! Parking at the back, but also road and other car park space around.

Good, reasonably priced food. Attentive but not over-intrusive staff. Clean. Gets crowded but with all that going for it you can see why.

Myself and my family have been coming here for years, its the best Balti house in South Brum, and I 've tried many, yes it gets packed esp at wkends when you have to wait for a table unless you 've booked (and sometimes even then wait a little) and the staff are always busy, but if you need anything or want to ask how long? they have always been helpful and friendly, the food is tasty and varied and always fresh so you don 't mind waiting that extra ten mins, plus having an offy next door means you can take your own booze in and have a good scoff without worrying about the price of that on top gets my vote for value for money/good food only little gripe is the loo 's are abit crappy(no pun intended) like old style skool toilets, a re vamp would be good but thats just a cosmetic blah, another plus point is (depending on how you feel) the 80 's cd 's they always play, always has me giggling into my lamb rogan josh nothing whatsoever to do with booze from next door! Guaranteed a good night out overall.