There's a Master Indian Chef Behind La Jolla's New Masala Street

Freshly minted in La Jolla is Masala Street, a new "colonial Indian gastropub" whose menu and concept was created by a master Indian chef with more than four decades of culinary experience. Chef Hermant Oberoi recently retired from a long-held post as the grand executive chef at The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai and corporate chef for the luxury division of the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces. Masala Street was developed in partnership with his son and fellow chef, Saransh Oberoi, CEO of OBI Hospitality LLC, who last cooked at the two-Michelin-starred, Cal-Indian Campton Place in San Francisco.

Saransh, whose wife is from San Diego, chose La Jolla as the recipient of Masala Street's first U.S. location, which follows recent openings in Bombay and Singapore. He says the menu is based on simple Indian street food with a California twist, that aims to amp up the local Indian restaurant scene with new flavors and presentation.

Now open for lunch and dinner, Masala Street also has big craft brew component, with a 20 all-local beers on the menu. Oberoi told Eater that they plan to launch Sunday high tea service in a few months.

Masala Street Menu by EaterSD on Scribd