Masala73

Since 2015, the Masala73 food truck—a restored and retrofitted 1973 Mercedes-Benz 406 D bus—has been serving flavoursome curries and Indian street food at some of Barcelona’s most popular festivals, including Palo Alto Market, Van Van and Eat Street. Co-founders and chefs Kuldeep Singh and Jordi Aros had years of professional culinary training under their belts at the time and yearned for something new and liberating; they dreamt of running a kitchen on wheels. 

Now, two short years after their successful roll out, Singh and Aros have opened a bricks and mortar version of their brainchild. The Masala73 Curry Bar, housed in a narrow but inviting space on Carrer de Muntaner near Hospital Clínic, is a welcome addition to Barcelona’s gastronomic offer for all curry fans.

The two founders were inspired by the single-mindedness and dedication of Japanese ramen bar chefs, who become masters of their craft by serving one dish in several variations. Instead of miso, shoyo and shio ramen, Singa and Aros are focusing on Indian curry. Each has its own style and appeal, from the classic and mild chicken tikka masala to a fiery curry of Aragonese lamb, formed into balls and stewed with fresh-ground spices, yoghurt and mint. In addition to the featured curries, Masala73 has brought some of their most popular and delectable food truck dishes from the street and into the kitchen, namely the chilli-spiked Vindaloo tacos filled with curried secreto Ibérico de bellota pork, topped with pickled onions and coriander and served on freshly grilled chapati bread, instead of a corn tortilla. 

Upon arrival, we were greeted with smiles from the chefs working in the open kitchen at the entrance to the restaurant, and were quickly led to the back dining area by our apron-clad server. The walls of unsealed cement are charmingly decorated with colorful Hindi lettering, artfully hand-painted and faded to simulate the aging advertisements that one might find surrounding a sun-bleached bus stop on the outskirts of Mumbai. 

The first dish to arrive was a riff on one of Barcelona’s most beloved tapas, the bomba de la Barceloneta, a fried ball of mashed potato and ground beef topped with alioli and hot sauce in its traditional form. The Masala73 version cleverly swaps the meat for a vegetarian filling of chickpeas and green peas, topped with a dollop of salsa brava and curry mayonnaise. Chased with an ice-cold swig of India’s popular Kingfisher lager, it’s hard not to love the Bombas Mumbai with their lasting spice and unctuous bite.

A tray of crispy fried pakoras (vegetable fritters with garam masala spice and a chickpea batter) served with coriander mint chutney were quickly followed by a deeply flavorsome curry of baby vegetables in a coconut and cashew mid-spice Korma sauce. The vegetables—a vibrant mix of baby courgette, asparagus, broccoli and pea pods—were sautéed with garlic and just slightly charred. The texture of each was a perfect al dente, the chef having sealed in their bright green color while cooking to tenderness, without losing their satisfying crunch. All the curries at Masala73 are seasoned with freshly ground spices toasted in the pan as a base for each sauce, all made to order. The bright and bold characters of cardamom or cumin can fade in a sauce that is made ahead of time and kept warm throughout the dinner service at some Indian restaurants. Thankfully, this is not the case at Masala73, where the skill and passion of the kitchen staff is evident in each bite, down to the sauce. I wiped up every bit of the rich Korma with triangles of chewy naan, studded with caramelized slivers of garlic and served piping hot from the tandoor oven. The basmati rice was fluffy and without fault, though the black and yellow lentil daal was a bit too soupy for my taste, and forgettable in comparison to all the otherwise audacious flavors of our meal. 

Masala73 offers its Menú Maharajá for €26 per person (not including drinks), which is essentially a tasting menu of three starters, a few sides, naan bread and a chicken tikka masala curry, plus dessert. There’s also a fixed-price lunch menu of curry with rice, sides, drink and dessert for just €13.00. 

Indian desserts have never been my favorite, but I loved Masala73’s carrot cake, served with pistachio ice cream. The cubes of fluffy cake laid on a smear of gajrela (a typical Indian carrot purée/pudding) were moist and full of carrot flavor, and the decadent pistachio ice cream (made by the award-winning gelato experts at DelaCrem on Enric Granados) was the perfect ending to a casual meal that respects tradition while modernizing the way diners can savor Indian curries in Barcelona.

Masala73. Muntaner 152. Tues-Sun 13:00-15:45, 20:00-23:00. Mon closed.