Masala Zone Mystery Explained With its mix of spices, richness, colour and grains of rice, Indian cuisine - the UK's favourite food - is just about the toughest challenge warewashing equipment can face. Yet while dishwashers might have a tough job in Indian restaurants, glasswashers have an Everest to climb. Glassware inevitably captures customer finger marks from the food being served, especially with Asian food which is often eaten with the fingers. But that was only part of a recent problem for Masala Zone in Islington, according to manager Abdul Samid. Masala Zone, a new breed of Indian restaurant, has been praised by critic after critic for excellent food served at reasonable prices in a 'funky' and casual 'fun atmosphere. The success of the original Soho site led quickly to the opening of the Islington branch shortly after, followed quickly by the new Earls Court branch. And more are planned. At the heart of it all is quality and attention to detail. "Freshness is important to us, and we serve a lot of freshly-squeezed fruit juices to go with food", he said. "But that leaves bits of fruit cell stuck to the inside of the glass, which can be really difficult to get off. We check every glass before use and too often we found a high proportion needed to be rewashed." The problem of smear marks and food residues was a constant problem in Masala Zone despite having a top-flight Winterhalter glasswasher. It was only after a consultant from Winterhalter's Hygiene Express division visited the restaurant to isolate the problem that he discovered it was neither London mains water nor the glasswasher where the problem lay, but in the detergents being used. They were generic chemicals from a supplier the restaurant had used over many years, but they proved not suited to the tough nature of the glasswashing task. Abdul said he is always reluctant to change any supplier without good reason, but agreed to trial glasswashing detergents from Hygiene Express. And the results, he said, were instant. "The amount of glasses we were having to re-wash or hand-polish was reduced dramatically. You are never going to eliminate the problem entirely in an Indian restaurant because of the nature of the food, but glassware has not been a problem for us since switching to Hygiene Express." Abdul also praised the service he gets from Hygiene Express. "If we have to ring up for anything such as ordering more detergent, there is always someone answering the phone who understands the product and our machines." Plus, as Abdul himself pointed out with a smile: "Having the same supplier for detergents as for the glasswasher means one can't blame the other if there is a washing problem!"         top