$20 for $25 Deal at Masala
Yelp Deals
What You Get
- A voucher redeemable for $25 at Masala.
- Two options for redeeming your voucher: Print out your voucher, or redeem on your phone with the Yelp Mobile application.
Additional Restrictions
$20 for $25 promotion lasts for 1 year from date of purchase. For another 6 years after that period, your Certificate is redeemable for the amount you paid, less any value you may have received. Not valid with other certificates or offers. Only 1 certificate(s) can be purchased for own use. Up to 3 can be purchased as gifts for others. Subject to the Yelp Deals General Terms.Reviews for Masala
- 0 friends
- 4 reviews
Masala is a neighborhood gem! If you've been here and only eaten from the 'Indian Cuisine" sections of the menu, you're really missing out, because it's the Nepalese items that really shine and are the best I've had in the Boston area. Only in Nepal have I had better, and even then, it wasn't necessarily better, just different.
You can't go wrong with the meat-centric appetizers KUKHURA KO CHHOYLA (shredded chicken) KHASI KO SEKUWA (marinated grilled boneless goat) or KHASI KO TASH (marinated stir fried boneless goat with lemon), all very tender and flavorful. They are sometimes served with either beaten (Chiura) or puffed rice, forms of rice that traditionally can be eaten by members of any caste, so you'll find this in Nepal at restaurants or events where different castes eat together. All delicious. Also amazing are the Chicken Mo-Mo Cha, which is served with a to-die-for chutney and the most amazing chickeny delicious broth you've ever tasted. These momos differ from the Tibetan style momos with the thicker, chewier wrappers - these wrappers are lighter and don't overwhelm the filling.
Other great bets are PHARSI KO TARKARI (pumpkin with garlic, ginger and spices), KARELA KO ACHAR (bitter gourd with potatoes, onions and spices) and KUKHURA KO MASU (a chicken curry, Nepali style). The rice and dal are also very good.
The decor is great, the servers are friendly, they have a full wine/beer/bar selection, what more could you ask for?
- 10 friends
- 23 reviews
I was so excited when Masala, the Nepalese/Indian restaurant in Tele Square opened, but a bit apprehensive. The location is notoriously risky for restaurant survival. Is it the paucity of parking? Is the gravitational pull of Davis Square just too strong? Certainly, Rudy's Tex Mex and the Croatian Sabur have managed to survive. But not many others have unlocked the secret. I've been to Masala several times for lunch and dinner. On every past occasion I found the lunch buffet to be terrific: fresh food, great value and exceeding the quality of Diva. Dinner was less successful. The kitchen and wait staff seemed to be unable to scale up their operation. Similar food orders between customers were mixed up, orders arrived late, and the quality was not bad but nothing spectacular. Since most restaurants rely on increased dinner traffic and the bar markups to turn a profit, this was not a good sign. Oh well, there's always the great lunch buffet to enjoy. But alas, the laws of restaurant economics are not easily broken
I met a friend at Masala yesterday for lunch; I am sad to report that it seems the restaurant management has made changes to save money and that has affected the food quality. We met at noon so everything should have been prepared not too long before we arrived (one of the restaurant's differentiators when it first opened was that everything was prepared fresh the same day,- nothing was reheated). The place was nearly empty and for the next 1.5 hours there was no more than perhaps 8 - 12 customers.
The first thing I noticed on the buffet table was that the serving trays contained half as much food as usual and some had barely enough for one or two servings. Where did all the food go? Were the other six customers THAT hungry?? Over the course of the meal, the serving plates were never replenished. It seems likely that this was a deliberate attempt to save money, but this sort of economizing leads to a downward spiral, i.e. lower food quality and value leading to fewer customers leading to more cost saving attempts. Wash, Rinse, Repeat!
Worse yet was the quality of the food. The appetizers were clearly warmed over, with a dry, rubbery texture. One lone pakora fell off the serving plate and was lying fore lonely on the floor, in plain view of the wait-staff. No one bothered to pick it up. I kicked it under the serving table so it wouldn't get trodden-upon. The Shrimp Curry contained a handful of tiny obviously prepackaged frozen shrimp swimming vainly in a watery sauce. The Chicken Tandoori was overly seasoned/salted, a sign that it was very likely reheated. There was perhaps a half-cup of Saag Paneer (or should it be called Sans Paneer, as the cheese was MIA) sadly sitting in the middle of one of the serving dishes (where had the rest gone?). There was nary a Papadam in sight. For afters, the Masala Chai was very weak, more like masala milk.
It is sad to see what started off as such a promising Indian/Nepalese restaurant devolve into yet another mediocre establishment. With Guru Catering not a block north and Diva a short walk south, how does Masala intend to survive? By reducing the quality and quantity of the food? I don't think so!
The bottom line I'm giving Masala 3 stars on the potential it has to consistently create and serve really fresh Indian food. However, it is not currently living up to its promise.
- Elite '12
- 111 friends
- 279 reviews
Really enjoyed this one and am even more happy that they were quick to fix what I thought was a freally big mix up. The staff is really friendly and make for a nice dining experience.
Bought the $20 for $25 and a few days later I received an email from Yelp asking how my experience was after using my Deal. Only problem was I hadn't used it yet. In a mild panic attack I emailed Yelp and explained the situation. Within minutes I called Masala and all they said was that it was probably an error when inputting the codes (I never even considered that, I just thought I was going to get screwed out of my 20 bones) and to come in with my voucher when I was ready. That was really easy.
Vegetable Samosas were a little dry. The pastry dough was pretty thick and the corners were too hard to eat.
Aloo Ghobi was really good. I'm used to having more sauce in mine and this was just cauliflower and potatoes with spice sprinkled on top.
Bengan Bharta was very flavorful. Usually I like that I can taste the eggplant and here I mostly tasted onions. Not bad, but I did miss the eggplant.
Aloo Dam & Poori is really fun dish. Nepali style potatoes in Nepali spices. I have no idea what they are, but the dish tasted wonderful. Poori is a Nepali bread that's fluffly and has a subtle sweetness to it and very light.
Garlic Naan: HUGE. Fresh. And yummy!
The onion chutney and mint chutney were perfect! I've gone to so many Indian restaurants that water down their sauces, but these were very flavorful and spicy!
- 0 friends
- 21 reviews
Remains a solid 2 in my book. And really offers a cautionary tale about paying too much attention to yelp reviews when it comes to ethnic food. This is no 4 star place; not even close.
After my last review, the owner wrote to me saying that their regular cook was out and to try them again. So I did. And it's still a 2. This time I had a paneer dish. The paneer was of decent quality, but the curry itself was *full* of onions; the only other flavor that came through was a somewhat unpleasant tangy sourness. May be that's how the dish is supposed to taste, you say? May be, but it's not Indian or Indian-Chinese food.
Kebab factory, Guru or even Diva are much stronger options...
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12/12/2011
Well, being Indian, I know good Indian food, and this isn't it folks. Even by Boston's generally… Read more »
- 19 friends
- 52 reviews
Lunch Buffet: I was really impressed with Masala's lunch buffet. They had a lot of options and the food was delicious. They also gave you complimentary Na'an which is key. I do wish they had more waiters on hand. On the day I went, they only had one guy running around trying to clear tables and grab drinks so the service could be better. Parking can be challenging in this area and there are so many one way streets that lead you to annoying, high-traffic areas. Bring quarters...
