Four friends who, in their spare time, set up a food stall selling spice infused traditional and modern Indian food on Bromley High Street, Kent, joined forces to open a restaurant in Orpington.
Based on the success of the market stall and with mounting glowing food reviews from taster sessions and customers, the partners felt a need to share their love of the spices used authentic and modern Indian food. The stall was a used as a way of sharing the message that Indian food goes beyond ‘chicken tikka masala’ that was previously known as Britain’s most popular curry dish.
A part time passion was soon to become a full time business when the entrepreneurs decided to take a step further and find a premises to set up a new restaurant. The owners spent time finding the best design and restaurant shop fitter for their new business venture. They decided to appoint Rapeed Design as they were looking for one commercial interiors contractor to design, project-manage and fit out the new restaurant.
To get a flavour of the business ethos Rapeed Design set up several restaurant design and shopfitting consultations with the partners and discussed their vision for the new restaurant. The owners knew the food they wanted to serve but wanted guidance on the overall design and layout - including space planning and with branding and logo design. The restaurant design brief was to create a contemporary colonial setting with classic colour scheme, old-fashioned features to compliment the vibrant undertones of the food served at the restaurant.
The partners had decided on a name - ‘Masala’ is the Hindi word for spices and ‘Dabbas' is the actual spice container. For the Masala Dabbas restaurant refurbishment project a new ceiling, lighting scheme and bar furniture was designed and installed. The premises had a new catering kitchen fitted along with new restaurant furniture and a new inviting shop front and signage works with the restaurant’s new logo. The colourful rangholi pattern has been used and inspiration for the logo which is visible on the ceiling.
The restaurant is not only the place to be but has also put Orpington High Street on the map for serving some of the best authentic and fusion Indian food. Speaking on the video, owner and restaurateur, Raghu Govada speaks of his view of the project and the final results.
