Masalawala & Sons Reviews

This humble, shoebox of a restaurant is the toughest reservation in NYC. I had to beat the door down and as a fortunate walk-in, lucked out. The seats in this Indian restaurant are coveted by guests, a tribute to the James Beard award-winning chef: Chintan Pandya. A quick scan of the menu revealed delicacies like Macher Dim (Bengali fish roe, rice & egg yolk), Kaema Keleji (goat mince & liver and others. I selected the bone marrow with smoked chili and shaved egg followed by a homemade yogurt dessert and one of their novel drinks in the form of Moon Moon Sen, a vodka concoction. The Masalawala's food speaks loudly for itself......drinks too.

Well, drove 40 miles to Jersey City, took the path to SOHO, then the subway to Brooklyn, and walked 15 minutes to come here, because my wife is Bengali and she has been craving good Bengali food for a long time. It is from the same group which runs several of New York City’s absolute best restaurants of any kind, including Dhamaka, Semma, and Adda. The owner opened the original Masalawala on the Lower East Side. It is owned by Rony Mazumdar and his father, Satyen Mazumdar. They put lots of dishes on the menu from their native Kolkata, in West Bengal. The menu is almost entirely Bengali. They have three portions category in their menu and prices are set accordingly so make sure you check what you are ordering. We ordered from the medium category. You can see the price difference. * Lamb Chaap: so it's not your usual Lambchop, it's CHAAP. The big fat juicy mutton piece covered in gravy comes with paratha. Well, have it while it's hot as the fat part gets cold after some time and it's not fun. - 4/5 * Biyebarir Butter Fish: Some recipes have been around for generations — like a roasted eggplant finished with scrambled egg — while others are more recent innovations,. One of them isbiyebarir fish fry, a technique that only became popular in the ’70s and ’80s as a celebratory wedding dish. too good- 5/5 * Chilli chicken: Usual Kolkata style chili chicken - 4/5 * Ghee Bhaat: Too much ghee for me. I wanted to try their Kosha Mangsho (Mutton Curry) but no space left in my tummy. There are many other entree-sized options, starring things such as spicy chicken, rice and lentil porridge, eggplant, mutton, and fish heads, all of which are delicious, but don’t skip over the snacky starters at the top of the menu to get there. Some dishes they serve in a kadahi, I guess they cook into that, and the same kadahi is brought up to your table. Ambiance: The dining room is colorful, bright colorful paint, beautifully decorated with a few chains of paper marigolds. The space is not that big, kind of congested when it's crowded but still, that should not stop you from visiting this.

Really good authentic Indian food Wait service definitely average the wait staff have no clue about the dishes they are not desi(Indian)origin and really don’t even interact to ask you if you are enjoying the food. Also put off by the hostess I had to ask I hope the chefs are of Indian origin. For those who are desi you will appreciate the cocktail menu as the drink are named after slang Bengali expression

Have eaten on lots of Indian restaurants and none were like Masalawala. I did not recognize any of the dishes! Is Bengali food. The four of us shared a number of dishes. Each was completely different , well presented and lovely. The dishes are served in the containers they are cooked in and the food is quite strongly spiced. The menu is relatively short which makes it easier to choose! We shared maybe some four appetizers and a similar number of larger dishes. The restaurant is small. We sat in the terrace at the back outside which is covered and i preferred that as is quieter.

Good Indian option if you are in New York .We were seated outside and the ambience was nice . We tried the Chili Chicken and the BIYEBARIR FISH FRY .Both came with a lot of flavor and reminds us of Kolkatta. In Entrée we tried the MURGH REZALA .The only issue with that is it comes with bones and the kids had problem eating it .I wish it was boneless though we would jave missed out some flavors of the rezala .Light and flavorful .Highly recommend it to try all these items .Also on the side we ordered rice and Luchi .Overall the meal was quite satisfying