Masala Zone has quite an extensive menu with food that they say represents different regions of India. The food on the menu ranges from street food snacks, grills, noodles, curries and thalis. So quite a lot to choose from and there is something for everyone!

The vegetable samosas had a thick crispy pastry and were not oily. I’m not quite sure what the filling was but it did contain cashew nuts. The samosas were good and it made a nice change to the usual potato filled ones. They were served with chickpeas in a tasty sauce.

The dahi puri were great little balls of puff pastry filled with tangy yogurt. They were topped with pomegranate seeds. This was a cold starter dish.

We had no complaints at all with the grand vegetarian thali! This is called the balanced meal and it consisted of little bowls of different curries and accompaniments. It was a really good selection of dishes. It was great as you were able to taste a variety of dishes altogether and it was surprisingly filling!

We got to choose the two main curries of the thali. I preferred the Gujarati dish of undhiyo and lentil khichdi. This was made up of sweet potato, purple yam, baby aubergine, raw banana, val dal and snow peas. It also tasted like it had some coconut in it. The second curry that we had was paneer makhanwalla which was paneer in a creamy tomato sauce. It was ok but not outstanding.

The other items in the thali were aubergine pakora, lentils, cauliflower curry, spinach and potato curry. It said on the menu that those dishes are changed daily. The lentils and cauliflower curry were particularly tasty. The final touches to the thali were rice, chapatti, raita, salad, poppadom and chutney. It was all nicely presented!

The grand thali was definitely enough for two people although the staff said that it would be just good for one person. The chapatti tasted homemade and very fresh. It was also perfect as it was made from wholewheat! The thali only contained a little bit of chutney and kachumber (salad). The Indian canape was just one piece of pakora. Saying that, I would still highly recommend the thali for the main meal!

For dessert, I had the falooda. This was a sundae made up of strawberry ice cream, pistachio kulfi, vermicelli and milk. It was a very rich and creamy dessert.

Falooda is traditionally served in tall sundae/milkshake glasses and it also usually contains tapioca. Masala Zone served the falooda in a dish! When we asked the waiter about this, he told us that they used to serve it in tall glasses, but then customers told them that it was not easy to eat from such glasses. So that’s why they changed the way that they served it.

Masala Zone have a range of hot and cold drinks. One of the things that we were intrigued by was the masala coke. This was coke with added spices; not something that I would have again. The orange and mango juice was a lot nicer! They also do masala chai – a milky spicy sweet tea.

This restaurant had quite an individual feel to it. It had quirky decor with lots of retro posters on the walls! There was the open kitchen at one end of the restaurant. The staff were really friendly, helpful and efficient. We experienced great service with a smile!

It was nice that at the end of the meal, the waiter asked us if there was anything that they could improve on with the food. We told them that the dahi puri’s pastry balls were a little soft due to the yoghurt and we would have preferred to have them crispy. The waiter said that he would mention that to his manager. It felt like Masala Zone does value their customer’s opinions.

Masala Zone, 25 Parkway, London, NW1 7PG

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Tupelo Honey looks ok when you enter but it did not take long to be disappointed with this place. All the food on the counter is open and looked stale. The main dishes in the counter fridge were already prepared and cooked, and would only be warmed up if ordered. Right next to the window seats was a shelf filled with dirty plates and cups. If that wasn’t enough to put us off, then the open bin next to it definitely did.

There is quite a small seating area downstairs; the wooden tables and chairs were wobbly. Tupelo Honey has outdoor seating but it is very narrow and cramped. The whole time we were having our drinks here, we didn’t feel at all relaxed. We were actually quite relieved when we left.

Tupelo Honey is open till late into the evening. Even though we went there during the afternoon, the upstairs seating was closed. They have two additional floors; one of which is a roof garden.

As for the drinks, the mocha and latte coffee was nice. They serve Illy coffee and they also do soy milk. Some of the staff were friendly. It is a shame that Tupelo Honey hasn’t made that extra effort with the state of its establishment, from the standard cleanliness to the seating and quality/display of food.

Tupelo Honey, 27 Parkway, Camden Town, London, NW1 7PN

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Caponata was full of surprises from the first moment we stepped inside. At first, it looked just like a normal restaurant with wood panelling and plastic seating. We were welcomed by the very friendly staff, who told us that this level of the restaurant was the informal Osteria, which means bar/inn in Italian. It had a really great aura and atmosphere and we were glad that we had come into this place for coffee.

As we went to the back of the restaurant, that was where we were pleasantly surprised. It opened out into a covered courtyard, where plenty of sunlight was streaming through. As if that wasn’t nice enough, one of the walls was totally covered with plants. It was just perfection and it made us forget that we were actually sitting in a cafe, just off of Camden High Street!

Caponata is a Sicilian restaurant and cafe and the formal restaurant is situated on the upper level. Some of the seats of the restaurant overlooks onto the courtyard.

We opted to go for mochas and we were taken aback when we found out that the coffee actually comes from Camden Coffee shop; one of Caponata’s neighbouring shops! That’s great that they were supporting the local business! The mochas tasted more like lattes than hot chocolate. That made a refreshing change as a lot of cafes make their mochas so you can only taste the chocolate and not the coffee.

To accompany the coffees, we had a selection of fresh biscuits. These were all really yummy! The biscuits that we sampled had various fillings such as fig and almonds. There was also chocolate biscotti and sesame seed biscuits!

As we were chatting to the staff, another surprise was revealed. Adjacent to the courtyard, the wooden wall is just a partition. On the other side of the partition is a music venue called The Forge! On some evenings, this partition is removed, so that the diners at Caponata can enjoy live music whilst enjoying their meal!

Our visit to Caponata was extremely enjoyable and we hope to return to sample a lunch or dinner here, oh and also their homemade ice-cream!

Caponata Osteria and Bar, 3-7 Delancey Street, Camden, London, NW1 7NL

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