Masala Bay in Waterloo

Have ordered from here a couple times, the lamb korma is incredible and the portions are enormous. Always get extra garlic naan.

Hidden gem !!! Amazing food , great prices & friendly staff(couple). Definitely a place to eat

Excellent food and service, check them out

This is my Indian favorite restaurant in Waterloo. Love their Biryani, Masala, and their cuisine as a whole.

We order at least once a week. The food I always amazing and it s a lot! I can sometimes get 3 meals out of it. I can t speak on the atmosphere as we only get take out but the staff always greet us so kindly so I m sure it would be the same inside. Highly recommend.

Great food with no rush dining.

Four of our family had supper at Masala Bay yesterday. What a gem of a restaurant, wonderful dishes, very helpful young lady server (Christine) made for a great evening. We shared Fish Pakora, Butter Chicken, Chicken Malabar, Saag Aloo, Chicken Madras, Garlic Naan, Basmati Rice, with Masala Chai. Large portions, all superb! Looking forward to another visit!

Worst food around the place Wouldn t go back

Horrible place .. food is worst

Great food (especially goat curry, spinach & lamb gosh), sweet lassi) lovely friendly server and accommodating chef who lightened up the spiciness of mother in law s chicken masala, when it was too hot for her. Decor is attractive, music at just the right level. Just need to spruce up front door, to invite people in. We ll go back next time we re in town and check out lunch buffet next time.

They served chicken that was very undercooked. Nothing like the old Masala Bay since the previous owners sold the business. They should change the name because it is nothing like it used to be. Food : 1/5

Best taste of masala chai with big portion and new owner is HUMBLE..!!!!!

So yum!

Fantastic Dinner! The staff was very nice and the food was the best Ive found in Waterloo!

Let s be honest, the head chef, in his broken English was so vary kind to me, great grace and kindness he showed me, don t eat hear because the food is good eat here because their hearts are good.

insane food and great service!

Easily the highest value for a restaurant I ve ever been too. I can t believe how much good food we got out of here

High quality food, great service. I always end up few meals worth of yummy leftovers. really recommend!! My favourite are the goat and lamb dishes.

The best indian food Ive had in the region. Amazing food with excellent flavors. Good portion sizes and good prices. Good amount of meat in dishes! Definitely recommend. This place is a bit tucked away and isnt usually busy at dinner time but Ive never been disappointed by the food. Its not a bougie looking place but it doesnt matter because the food is soo good. Service is a bit awkward (in English) but the food is soo good. Parking: Parking may be difficult with only 1 or 2 spots right there. For parking you can park at the Regina St lots on the other side of Erb.

I visited the place after some months. Came to know that new owner has taken over the restaurant. Food was amazing and the place got more spacious. Must try their tikka masala and Indian goat curry. I ll suggest people who love spice to try this restaurant.

I ordered Paneer Masala, it is not very tasty and the worst part is it has so much oil in it. Are you serious ?? I can literally see people complaining in the reviews about the access Oil and here you are, learned nothing...

best saag paneer youll find anywhere.

One of my favourite restaurants to eat at when im in Waterloo. The food is great!!

This used to be my favorite Indian restaurant in Waterloo. Sadly, the quality of the food has declined a lot. I ordered through a delivery service and as soon as I opened the containers I could tell it wasnt the same. It wasnt terrible but I likely wont be ordering again, the chef has obviously changed. The tikka masala was extremely watery and tasted a lot like canned tomato soup.

Don t forget to check these guys out awesome food !

We ordered for Valentines Day not realizing the owners had changed. We had butter chicken and chicken korma both of which were no where close to what we ve experienced in the past. The butter chicken tasted like tomato soup with spices added. Korma was way too sweet and consistency was off. Really too bad as this was our favourite Indian restaurant in the city.

They changed management and the chef apparently retired. Food is no good anymore. Sad.

Ordered take-out picked it up. Simple order. Overall, food I received tasted good. Specifically asked for tamarind sauce when I called to order, for the samosa order and was told it was included. Of course when I got home NO tamarind sauce. Yes, I called to tell the restaurant to tell them it was missing and they apologized. Star rating reflects my disappointment with not getting what I ordered.

Butter chicken was sweet with almost barbecue like flavour. The chicken was dry too. Dal makhani was average, though too spicy for my preference. Lamb korma was very good.

We have both frequented a lot of restaurants in our short 30 years on earth, especially Indian cuisine. This was by far the worst dine in experience for me. I literally have nothing positive to say, except that the establishment seemed clean. But that doesn t make up for anything else. The server seemed annoyed that we were there, no music, we were given water but had to ask THREE TIMES for cups and twice for a Diet Coke. Food was super sweet, like inedibly so. Wouldn t even bother taking leftovers home. There was no menu available, just QR code. I didn t have my phone so server said she would get the tab. This meant tablet, but didn t make sense to us, nor the people that came in after to the ominously quiet and empty restaurant who left after being seated and going through the exact same negative experience with lack of menu and the tab. Thinking the server was new and shy I explained to her that saying you ll get the tab before someone has ordered is confusing at the very least. She said tablet was like a pill and people would take offense, so I doubt that feedback was onboarded. Needless to say, this experience has left me feeling disappointed and full of regret. I hope this review helps someone else make the right decision before going through the same negative experience.

This place is a shadow of its former self. It was bought by new management recently, and it s not nearly as good. The food is passable, but the service is terrible. The place is staffed by what looks like students, who spend more time looking at their phones (maybe fulling UberEats?) than tending to the customers who show up in the restaurant. If you want to wait an hour to get your bill, then this is the place go! If I were the new owners, I d show up at the restaurant more, rather than let it be run by students, and then maybe your customers would want to come back. I think there are better experiences to be had locally for your night out now.

We had been going to the same place for years to get our Indian where unfortunately it had to close. I love lamb or goat Saag and either other places didnt make jt or was a disappointment. I am glad we tried Masala Bay again as their Lamb Saag was some of the best I have had in a long time! The chicken korma was great too. Unless another place opens up around corner from us to try, Masala Bay will be our go to restaurant for our Indian fix!

Hands down our favourite restaurant in town. This also place has a special meaning to us as my partner and I both said I love you for the first time here and got engaged here. The food is always delicious, and weve always gotten exceptional service. Highly recommend!

New owners. Cooking style is nowhere near as good as before. Was my favourite in the tri-cities now not so much. But not horrible so if their prices come down a bit it will be a good spot for a quick lunch but not a nice dinner.

We loved the food from the old owners at Masala Bay. It was rich and flavourful. We just ate from from there today and the food was nothing like the original. Sauces were thin, sweet and very generic. Extremely disappointed and will never ever return. We didn t even keep the leftovers, it was that disappointing.

The place still has a board saying they have buffet but when I arrived I was told that they no longer have the buffet option. I am writing this review for others who might be guessing. The owners should take down the buffet from the board

Change the name to mithai (sweets) bay, bc there was no masala in your food

Tasted goat curry, we enjoyed the taste.

I should have checked the recent reviews before ordering as others have said, it is under new ownership and not the same quality as before. Chana Masala and Aloo Gobi had muted spices, too much cream/butter and mushy.

Friends and I had our first meal at Masala Bay today, and were so glad we found this lovely little place. Its completely unpretentious, which we loved. The food was absolutely delicious -- perfectly cooked and prepared, perfectly seasoned. (It was a bit of a wait...but when it arrives, you realize its worth it, because its been so carefully prepared). The naan bread was excellent, and the lunch specials were a great deal, offering lots of food and variety for only $15. The mango lassi was lovely, as well as the masala chai, which we had as dessert. Our server, Christina, was pleasant, kind, ready to serve, but also gave us space to just relax and enjoy our visit on the patio, with no sense of being rushed or pressured. It was also fun to meet the chef when we went indoors, and see who actually prepared this delicious meal for us. We appreciated the food and the friendly experience filled with goodwill. This feels like it could become a go-to favourite! My friends and I drove in from out-of-town -- and we dub this, Worth the drive to Waterloo! Vegetarian options: Great vegetarian options, as well as meat dishes. The menu has a lot of items (and not a lot of description on them, its a very simple menu), but theres great variety and choice. Dietary restrictions: It was great to be able to get mango lassi without sugar, at our request. So nice they could customize it for us like that.

Our experience at this restaurant was truly disappointing. The food and service both fell far below my expectations. We ordered the meal for two, which included masala channa, butter chicken, rogan josh, a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian starter, and two desserts. The masala channa was simply inedible - stale and far from fresh. When we raised the issue with the staff, the server only smilled and said oh okay and then after a while said sorry about that , i will let the chef know. Such a response to a customers concern is highly disappointing. Moving on to the butter chicken, instead of the rich and savory flavors we anticipated, it turned out to be excessively sweet, store bought sauces would have tasted better. Our experience with the starter, chicken tikka, was equally disappointing. The server initially told us the chicken would be served in a sizzling hot pan. When brought to our table, we were served two bite sized pieces of chicken on a white plate. The chicken was undercooked, and we had to request a replacement piece. Furthermore, the taste was bland, lacking the necessary spices and flavors. For dessert, we chose lassi, and mango lassi which were a complete disaster. The drinks had an off-putting taste, with a strong aftertaste of butter that made them undrinkable. It was an unpleasant and almost nauseating experience. The only saving grace in this disappointing meal was the rogan josh, which was passable in terms of taste. However, even this dish couldnt make up for the overall poor quality of the meal. Given the subpar food and service, I strongly advise avoiding this restaurant at all costs if youre looking for good Indian food!! I regret not reading the recent reviews on owner chnages and believed the 4.0 google review.

I highly recommend this restaurant!! Before ordering off an app, I called to inquire about my food allergies. The staff were patient and eager to help me find something on their menu. I believe they made my order from scratch to accommodate me! The food was DELICIOUS (I got paneer masala and plain naan and my friend got butter chicken), the portion sizes were generous, and the spice level was perfect. This is now one of my favourite restaurants in KW.

They were accommodating of the dietary restrictions we put in and the food was good! Also the extra side of rice was massive.

This restaurant from the inside is disgusting. Its not clean and they pick up the food thats fallen on the floor into the pot and serve the same food to customers. The smell inside the kitchen is a nightmare. Most of their food is not fresh. Owner, the husband is a maniac.

Need more variety

Take out service. Food great. Only restaurant I could find lamb dhansak. Service exceptional. Difficult to locate as sign not visible when driving by.

Good

Very disappointing taste , bhaigan bharta made in cream rich paneer gravy!!! It was not authentic taste and we felt cheated would not recommend this restaurant if you want to eat authentic Indian food

Delicious food and great value. Very impressed. I will definitely frequent this restaurant going forward.

Worst foood ever I had..

I ordered butter chicken and I honestly didnt like it. It didnt have an authentic taste.

Ordered takeout through Skip and picked up. Masala Bay did not disappoint, food was excellent and portions were big! Will definitely order from again!

Okay butter chicken. Too tomatoy.

Used to be my family s favourite Indian restaurant in KW. Very disappointed this time. The veggie biryani was literally soggy plain basmati rice with sweet brown onion sauce. The Lamb vindaloo and butter chicken were under cooked. The Ghana masala was wrong flavour and under cooked. The only thing they got it right was the dal.

Good overall

The hostess was wearing pajamas..... Gestured at the barcode menu and walked away. Lol

Hole in the wall charming place. My favorite Indian cuisine in Waterloo Region. Chicken korma is to die for

Best chai in the KW area

Great people make great Food

I have ordered and have experimented with no less then 10 Indian food Restaurants. I can say, hands down, the very best in KW is Masala Bay. The tastes, food description on their web site and ultimately the product is second to none. Well done, keep the quality going and your patrons will happily pay $2 more per dish for what you offer. Not to mention the various meals from various parts of India. You nailed it. Excellent food experience.

I dont usually give reviews but Masala Bay is the worst restaurant of KW. Please fire your Chef who has no idea how to cook food and dont care about health of the customers. I accidentally enter in kitchen and couldnt believe my eyes how food is cooked here. FYI Chef, hands must me clean before cooking the food.

Very, very, very slow service but the food is good.

Pricey but tasty!

Really good restaurant. Fantastic food and great service. Highly recommended

Vegetable samosa was great, mulligatawny soup was good flavour, a bit too rich for my taste. Bhuna ghost was very rich but pretty tasty. Chana masala was great when paired with the garlic naan. Both curry dishes were saucy and generous portions. 1 rice was enough for 2.

The Kashmiri Rogan Josh was delicious, Garlic naan was tasty. Dessert - Kesariya Kheer wasnt upto my taste, it was not creamy, instead it was watery. Overall good experience and would like to try some other dish before saying anything confidently about the place.

Indian comfort food is the best way to describe this. I have not done takeout so cant comment on some of the reviews about that, but the dining in experience was very enjoyable.

I got naan to take home from this restaurant. They were awful: burnt on top and raw in the middle. I paid 20$ for 6 naan which is a pretty steep price, but would ve been worth it for a house-made staple. The naan they served me was far from worth it. The inedible doughy mess completely ruined our dinner. I won t return here and won t recommend it either.

Excellent food, lovely waitress, thank you

My FAVOURITE restaurant!! Even on a day they are not open, they catered a luncheon for us with excellent food, service and gave us some extras! Always a wonderful experience!

Service is ok but food is not. They literally served butter chicken curry in the name of tomato soup. Others starters were also worse.

Awesome Indian food. Very flavorful.

Restaurant with both patio and indoor options. All menu items good but Naan bread and Butter Chicken the best.

I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. Very spicy and flavorful

Super delicious food (coming from someone who is not used to Indian cuisine!).

Ordered Kadai paneer and naan using Doordash and this is what I got. There is literally no gravy and its entirely full of oil. The bag it came in was also drenched in oil and got all over my fingers before opening the delivery. Tastes like nothing, paneer was chewy and overall just wasted my money. Threw out the whole thing. As a student, I wasted my money on this and I m still hungry. Disgraceful business, absolutely unethical

I have visited this place about 7 years ago for lunch buffet and dinner. The food was good and the ambience very commendable at that time. Given my previous positive experience I thought I will go back to this place for dinner while visiting Waterloo yesterday. Unfortunately my experience was quite the opposite. Everything was exorbitantly priced and the food quality was extremely poor. My dish was bland and not cooked properly. The service was quite poor overall as well. Will not recommend this place anymore. In any case I rarely write reviews but I thought I must share this experience. Definitely not value for money.

We ordered lamb biryani, pakode and naan from there last night. The biryani was below average which was totally not worth it for the price, the pakode were extremely salty and garlic naan was hard. would not recommend this place

Lamb Biryani had no salt and the rice quality was cheap basmati. Mixed Pakode were extremely salty, I couldnt even eat more than one had to throw them all. Wasted $50+. Will never order again

This is the worst experience i ever had . I went to this restaurant today picked up the food from there . At 12 i started eating as u can see in picture the naans not even cooked . I specially went to this restaurant 1 hour drive from my house . Am really sorry but will never go to this restaurant again horrible experience.

Delighted to have a food from this restaurent. Cooked very Indian style and had such a taste as well.

Best Indian food in town!

Most indian Atmosphere in Waterloo

Deliciousness!

Our go-to for butter chicken. Consistently good.

Uncooked Naan of very low quality (quality could be seen in the picture, looks like 2-3 days old)They don t even know the difference between tandoori naan and butter naan. Highly unprofessional people. On top on that person over the counter was so ill mannered and don t know how to deal with customers. There was no option to give zero rating otherwise I would have given that.

Thick naans, when I ordered they said chicken in butter chicken is tandoori grilled but when I got my order it was boiled chicken in gravy!

Their Mango Lassi was very bad... it was very wattery... lassi is supposed to be think in consistency but may be they added alot of water in the Lassi... the Lassi was not even sweet... very bad experience on Lassi...

Great service and food

No lamb on the menu despite having it their web site. Apparently lamb is too expensive right now so they substitute it with beef. They could just raise the price but keep it on the menu.

Worst place zero customer service

Excellent Goan curries and service. Loved it

Absolutely lovely food. Bloody great naan. Perfect service.

Excellent food good service.

Great Dahl curry!

Great place! Delicious food and very friendly owners!

Fresh herbs, aromatic spices, made fresh... You cant go wrong... Sure its a bit pricey but when your craving good Indian food this a great option to keep in your top three

Very good food and if you order something hot...its darn hot! Price is a bit higher than some others but portions are generous Definitely give it a try

Valentines Day dinner here. My first Indian food restaurant. Excellent food. Friendly staff. Will definitely visit again.

Food was amazing, service was wildly neglectful.

If you know/had the Indian food, this is the worst place to go. Bad taste, bad customer service and half cooked Naan/Rotis.

They need some serious improvements. I am not criticizing; but for the betterment of their own, they need to make the food tastier. I had 2 veg main courses and found none of them upto my expectatios. Had an disappointing experience. Even their naan was more raw and less cooked. I hope the owner reads this review and implements necessary changes in order to make their food better. Good luck!

Awesome service and awesome food.. Tastes like home

Amazing food and amazing owners. If I could give this 10 stars I would. The people are just as phenomenal as the food

Made the mistake of ordering food for takeout from Masala Bay today. One of the item was aloo ki chat which is supposed to have crispy paapdhi. By the time I brought it home it was all soggy like batter. It was fine it became soggy I thought I will let owner about it saying either you could have put paapdhi separately or gave me a heads-up, owner says this is the way we pack it up. She didnt even have courtesy to I am sorry. Not going back again.

One of our favourite spots! We specifically love the Kadai Murg, Chana Masala, and Aloo Gobi. We just tried the mango chutney and it expanded our already flavorful dishes further into a taste we could never have imagined! Its delicious, its local, check it out.

We love this restaurant. They have many great dishes but the butter chicken is out of this world. Delicious food. Highly recommend!! You wont be disappointed.

My go to Indian restaurant in Waterloo. Always great food. Yes, a little on the pricey side but inline with the quality of the food and service. 2 adults with beer was ~$75. Support your local small business and eat here!

I try not to give low reviews, but we were honestly disappointed. We found our meals to be average quality at a super premium price. Naan bread was doughy, chicken tasted reheated and not fresh, spicing was mediocre, and expensive vegetable samosas were mainly crust. Have had much better for less.

Taste is not upto the mark.

I usually dont give low ratings but the food we had yesterday forced me to. Below is what we ordered and how we felt about it. Reshmi kabab- chicken was smelly. The kababs were so hard. Doesnt look like it was fresh. 3 pieces for $8. Tandoori chicken- I havent eaten such tasteless one in the past. The only taste we felt was sour. Chicken Biryani- first of all the rice they use is of very low quality. The biriyani had an awful smell. Not sure if it was fresh or not. Butter chicken- It was sweet. As if they have added sugar in it. Garlic Naan- It was ok. My total bill was around $73 and it was like punishment to eat such food. Bottom line is this place is very expensive and the food here is substandard. I wont go here again!!

Oh my God the food here is freaking delicious so good so good cant wait till I come back and eat more the buffet here is so damn good

Great place to dine...

Awesome

Awesome meal! Very nice staff took their time to cater to our large party of reservation for 10! Will come back again!

Bad atmosphere and service

Worst biriyani .No respect towards customers.2cents is not worth.U will be wasting ur time to searching for 2cents in ur pocket

The worst food and the worst service i have seen in canada. Not even a worth for penny. I can prepare better than this. Not recommended. Dont be fool by seeing this paid reviews for this restaurant. Its really pathetic.

Very good food, fair lunch specials and welcoming staff

Odered biriyani, food was bland and rice was of cheap quality. Would not consider it as decent also

One of our fav Indian restaurants in KW.

The head chef refused to prove that the meat and the food was halal and was certified. He said you can leave my the place if you dont believe me continuing to push me away and hit me. I shouldve called the police but I was nice enough not too.

Excellent

Very poor quality of food. It was extremely spicy and not well cooked.

Always a hit. Authentic Indian food, family run, go support local and enjoy an Aloo Gobi while youre at it!

One of worst customer service ever had. Entered in the restaurant a lady came to me and ask very rudely What don t know what she meant? You are running a restaurant if someone is coming inside that mean he want to buy food.

I really like this spot. The food and service is always excellent. The prices are a bit higher than some others, but still very reasonable and we always end up with leftovers. It is a great spot for a large group because even with the cozy (some might say crowded) interior they accomodate large groups easily and have no problem splitting shared meal bills.

Pleasant and inviting service. Presentation was delightful and most unique. Portion for the lunch special could feed two people. I would recommend to anyone visiting or living in Kitchener to at least come by and see for yourself. I will definitely be back. Corey Miller

Crowded place with ok food and high prices. Quite strange that they dont have any parking.

Good food but the dining tables are very congested, not enough room to enjoy comfortable dining

Owner has a bad attitude problem because he knows his food will make you poop for days to come

The Paneer tikka & Paneer makhani was very bad.That had only tomato puree.very disappointed. .Recommended to friends but they were also dissatisfied.

Best butter chicken I have had in a very long time!!! Beautiful environment, dont be in a rush :)

Cool ambience, good food good service. Butter chicken was nice

Recommend the Rogan Josh. The people are great as well.

Murg Palaki and Nan to go. Spinach sauce has a nice, spicy bite to it. Nan is flavourful. Cant wait to go back to dine in, again. Price is good as the food is very good.

Excellent!

So much variety! 6 vegan options! Great ambiance and super tasty. Will return.

Food is good but little overpriced. Main course with side of rice and naan(s) is sufficient for two people.

New addiction

Excellent service ever i have got in a restaurant. Super awesome service and world best staff

Nice Friendly people

The food here is excellent

Delicious South Asian cuisine.

Amazing food.

The Lucknow Biriyani and Lunch Buffet were what I used to look forward to here. They scrapped both of them and opted for a lunch special or something. Im super disappointed that the Lucknow Biriyani is off the menu.

Best Indian food hands down. Their homemade naan is to die for

The food was fantastic!!

I went here for lunch today, I was advised that they are typically closed between 2:00pm-5:00pm but took me in anyways. They were willing to accommodate me and made a dish that was not on the menu and served it with quality and pride. I am highly recommending this place due to the high quality of food as well as the highest quality of customer service that I have come across so far. Masala Bay should be rated 10 stars.

Food was good, but way too expensive

Best Indian restaurant in kw! Love the atmosphere, excellent service, and delicious food.