Masakali Indian Resto Bar — Restaurant in Ottawa

Went there for dinner and had an overall good experience. We ordered crispy corn, vege bullets ,bang bang chicken, butter chicken nachos, chicken korma, lamb and chicken Biryani and for dessert had fried icecream.

Crispy corn and butter chicken nachos were really good ! Flavor was spot on and absolutely enjoyed them. Highly recommend butter chicken nachos!

Vege bullets served with their sauces were good too however the vege rolls has an intense cardamom flavor. Would recommend they lower the amount of cardamom they use in it.

Chicken Biryani was really good which came as a surprise! It was properly spiced. It was served with raita and that helped with controlling it's spice. We ordered the medium spicy one and that was perfect. For those who can't handle spices I would recommend ordering regular spicy. The cardamom flavor was slightly intense in the biryani as well. Would suggest they lower that amount. Lamb Biryani even though it was medium spicy was not as spicy as chicken Biryani but nevertheless was just as perfect.

Bang bang chicken was a disappointment. It's name is a bit misleading. It had no bang and no exceptional flavors. It's basically chicken tikka piece on a skewer and covered with sauces. The chicken itself was pretty tough and chewy and not given enough time to cook well. The sauces were pretty average too.

The chicken korma which we had with garlic naan and butter naan was more like butter chicken rather than a korma. The curry sauce that it was made in was thick and creamy. However the flavor was just average. The naans were too thin and crispy in places.

Fried ice cream actually tasted like taking a bite out of a doughnut with the ice cream melting inside. It was good but not exceptional.

Overall a good experience. The music was too loud for family settings. But a good place to enjoy a meal at as the portions were pretty good. We were told biryani was for 2 but 3 people could've easily had it. The nachos and korma quantity was pretty huge. 4 of us couldn't finish it all. It was priced pretty well too. Because we ordered quite a lot of dishes the bill was a bit on the higher side but the individual prices of the dishes were really reasonable. Would definitely come back for butter...

We visited the restaurant last June 7, 2024.

We had dinner at the restaurant, as a birthday treat for my fiancé's best friend.

We called the restaurant for a reservation, just in case. Well, we are Masakali fans. We have been dining at the Masakali - Stittsville. And now, we have to try the new location on Clarence St.

Food: As always, tastier than ever. We ordered the appetizers: fish pakora, spicy chicken wings, and sweet potato fries. For the main course: lamb korma and buttered chicken paired with, of course, garlic naan, which is very tasty!

Also, we tried the other appetizers during their soft launch. You should try the other appetizers listed on the menu -- try the crispy corn. Everything was just tasty!

Drinks: We had orange blossom, piñacolada, Singapore sling, and a beer for my fiancé. I had Singapore sling, which was good. They said the orange blossom and piñacolada were great too. With water, they always give you a refill without even asking. Oh, don't miss trying the mango lassi, my all-time favorite.

Value for money: good. Worth the price.

Ambiance: I like the style of this Masakali branch. This goes well with the atmosphere of downtown Ottawa. (Masakali - Stittsville is more laid back, which makes it interesting -- You should visit this too if you haven't been to this branch).

Cleanliness: Looks clean and neat. Also, they immediately clean the table after the customers leave.

Parking: You can park in the parking garage on Clarence Street OR on the street -- I think free parking for weekends (not sure).

Staff: They're superb -- very polite and were on top of things. Thanks to the staff who took care of us that night.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(I wasn't able to take more photos...

Have you ever felt anxious in an restaurant? If not, you must try this place then! The whole team was running around like chickens with their heads cut off!

We first went in around 9 PM and the restaurant is poorly designed when you walk in no one can see you behind the stained glass so there is no one there to help. There was no one at the reception. I poked my head and finally one person noticed me and brought us in.

We got our table and it took them 15 mins to take the order. We ordered 2 beers and and asked for Tea or Chai and the waiter said he can’t make Chai and it will be at least 1 hour. So instead we asked for hot water. The girl poured 2 glasses of beer and kept it on the bar table and no one brought us to our table. I went up after 15 mins and asked them if those for us and then they brought it to our table. The beer was flat already! The hot water never showed up!

We had to wait another 15 mins to place our main order. The waiter (the black guy) was the only one taking orders and he was totally stressed out. I think he must have entered the table number wrong. Every time the Indian guy brings the food it went to the wrong table.

The food was decent but they have to meet the BASIC Canadian standards when it comes to service and cleanliness.

They had clean supplies next to food containers! Used glasses and bottles piling up on the bar table facing the customers!. Food waste on the floor! Why do you wipe the table and push all the food waste on to the floor?

This happens only at Indian restaurants! The floor was so dirty with papers and food waste!

Their music was way too loud!

I am very surprised there are so many Indian restaurants opening up without adequate training!

God save...