Masala revitalises Carnaby

Masala Zone has taken over the former site of Cranks, the vegetarian restaurant just off Carnaby Street. The area, now renaming itself as simply Carnaby, is being eased slowly upmarket in a bid to undo the damage done by the tourist tat sellers who have taken over the old Swinging Sixties haunt. And, if Masala Zone is anything to go by, the process is well in hand.

From the owners of Chutney Mary and Veeraswami , two of the best Indian restaurants in town, this casual eaterie was actually destined for the Millennium Dome, hence the 'Zone' part of the name. Masala means spice and here the stated aim is to present the flavours of India at an affordable price (Pizza Express is apparently a budgetary target).

The decor, with lots of plate glass, metal and wood is expensively, if unremarkably, modern, except for those who still associate Indian food with flock wallpaper. Unremarkable, that is, except for the rear wall, a continuous mud-coloured, rough plastered expanse decorated in white paint; I suspect, if this were in a different setting, you could charge admission to see it.

Two tribal artists were flown in from India to execute it and the paintings depict their village, their air journey to London and highlights of the city, as well as various good luck messages, all meticulously applied with bamboo sticks.

While on the decor, I'll also just mention a counter allowing solo diners to sit facing the kitchen, instead of being stuck conspicuously alone at a table with everyone staring at them. Nice touch. There are no reservations and many previous customers of Cranks will be delighted to know there is no smoking.

The food (I had to get to it eventually) is equally sincere. There are separate non-vegetarian and vegetarian kitchens, filled with brass pots. Many of the dishes are based on street food, from Gujarat and Northern India. We started with Gujarati tiffin, steamed rice cakes and lentil wraps and something I was told was okra - though it tasted like no okra I've ever had, being dry and tasty rather than slimy. (Our waiters - of whom about half were Indian - were obviously settling in but made up in friendliness for any lack of knowledge, and I may have been misinformed.) A second starter, of aloo tikka chaat, spicy mashed potato cake with yoghurt and chutney, was splendid, the cool yoghurt providing a perfect balance to the spice.

My main course was butter chicken (labelled as the most popular dish in India) with a near-perfect, fragrant rice. The spiced cake had raised my threshold which was fortunate, as the curry, initially innocuous, started to bite back after a while as the complex blend kicked in. Lovely.

My companion tried one of the thalis, a tray full of interesting-looking dishes. Starter snacks, chutneys, two veg, a dhal, raita, chicken curry, yoghurt curry, papadam, chapatis and rice all came for £8.50 inclusive. My favourite was definitely the subtle yoghurt curry but she pronounced the whole 'very authentic'.

Desserts are not the highlight of an Indian meal but I enjoyed my caramelised carrot and vanilla ice cream which tasted richly of cream, rather than ice. What a pity the Masala Zone never did make the Millennium Dome; there might have been a reason to go there.