The best restaurants serving Indian food in Dorchester North West Dorset South West

If you just glanced at the shopfront, you might walk past & not try it. You would be wholly wrong. This place has a 5* hygiene rating & you can see the kitchen. Yes the decor is tired, and there are supplies piled inside the front door, but the quality of the food is exceptional, and the prices reflect the takeaway/delivery only format, so a bargain. We were having a party with a number of vegetarian & vegan guests. The owner took extreme care to get the order right and to clearly label the particular vegan items for our guests’ comfort (even the complimentary pickles/sauces). When someone goes to that much trouble, you know that they really care about delivering a fantastic meal - which it was! Best sag paneer I’ve ever had. The guests loved and raved about all of the food & we’ll definitely go back. Just to note, this place prefers cash so they have a £15 minimum to pay by card. Takeaway or delivery only.

Masala is a fabulous Indian restaurant. It is easily the best in Dorchester. They were happy to prepare a dish not on their menu (Shashlick Phaal) for me and it was exceptional. The balance of spices and heat complimented the tender succulent chicken that I ordered. The Tarka Daal was a perfect accompaniment and the rice was perfect too. The staff are very good, friendly and efficient without being overbearing. They timed their visits to the table with perfection. Despite not living in the UK, I have been to this restaurant many times and have never been disappointed. Highly recommended.

My first experience of this restaurant although I’ve heard great things from a friend who lives locally. On this occasion we had a takeaway. My chicken tikka Marsala was delicious and I enjoyed the poppadoms with pickle pots - a first for me. I hope to return when next visiting Dorchester and have a full restaurant meal.

New owners and what a great meal we had. Currently living in the Midlands and we have a superb range of great curry houses. Not often I come across a menu where I want to try such a range of dishes, it took us ages to pick our choices. They do all of the usuals from tikka Madala to Rogan Josh. In addition there are really interesting Indian dishes including lobster, squid and beef rump. The three of us chose 2 starters and 3 mains between us. The trio of chicken was delicious, even though one of them was bright green! The lamb strips were fabulous, like a minted red current jelly lamb with an Indian twist. If you like a rich slightly sweet curry the lamb and apricot could be for you. My sis had the lamb shank which just fell off the bone. Ann loved her New Delhi chicken which was creamy and full of flavour. The Naan was some of the best I’ve had, light and crisp and the mushroom rice was another triumph. We will definitely eat here again, I’m a real foodie and this was such a lovely surprise, great food, £21 a head with drinks, bargain!