Reader Tony W. tells me that Masala Spice has opened at 1919 Cliff Drive, the former home of Mesa Verde restaurant which closed last July after ten years in business. This will be a second location for Masala Spice which opened in January 2019 at 5796 Calle Real in Goleta. “Instead of the voluminous list of Indian dishes on the Calle real menu, this Indian menu is pretty limited,” says Tony. “But they’ve added a pasta menu, a pizza menu and a taco menu. We’re not sure what the thought process was that produced this odd fusion of foods that already exist in abundance here in SB – and friends who’ve tried it are equally perplexed.”
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Knowing that their Cliff Drive menu is a hodge podge of random stuff really kills my desire to try out this location. Why serve alfredo pasta?
What a weird decision on the part of the owners. I couldn’t wait to try Masala Spice when I heard we were getting a new Indian restaurant on the Mesa. I’m sorry but I just can’t imagine ever going there. Bummer.
Sounds like they wanted to re-create Cliffs & Co.
The problem is that with today’s rents and wages there’s no way to do it cheap enough these days!
I tried it during the “soft opening”. It was underwhelming. There is one page of Indian entrees (plus some appetizers and stuff) and the rest of pizza and pasta and other random things. The curries we got were relatively bland. Quite strange that they would do this. I’m not sure why it has the same name as the other restaurant, it seems entirely different.
My wife and I just ate there. Granted they don’t have the multi-page menu of their Goleta location. However, there are more than enough Indian items. In fact, there are very few non-Indian items. Perhaps they changed the menu somewhat after the other commenters were there. I had a delicious fish curry and garlic naan. My wife had a kabob with paneer and vegetables. Her rice was very flavorful. We shared a noodle dish, that, to be honest, was not at all unique. Our appetizers were great – I had what they call Lollipop Chicken, flavored with a tangy sauce. Our other appetizer was wheat packets with flavorings and a mild sauce. All in all, I would disagree with the marked negativity of the other comments. We live near the restaurant and will definitely visit again.
I agree with almost of these comments and echo from what I’ve heard from many others. This is a major disappointment. After all the success they’ve had in their Goleta with traditional and delicious Indian offerings, it’s unbeleivable that they would go so far astray.
As a resident of the Mesa, I was eagerly anticipating the opening of this restaurant, especially given the reputation of their Goleta location. However, after dining there two weeks into the new year, I found the experience to be quite disappointing.
While I didn’t sample the pizza, the naan I ordered had a texture reminiscent of pizza dough, which was unexpected. We ordered a curry dish and inquired about any vegetable sides. To our disappointment, we were told that only steamed vegetables were available.
I understand the challenges that come with launching a new restaurant, and I truly hope they can improve their offerings. However, based on this visit, I think I’ll be making the trip to Goleta next time for my Indian food fix.