Masala Kitchen — Restaurant in Columbia

Shoutout to our local community heroes! The Owners, Mr. and Mrs. Shah have been giving friendly service for about 10 years. They are professional, kind, warm, hard working, welcoming, and easy to speak to. Their Facebook Bio states that they are the largest South Asian and Middle Eastern grocery and Meat store in Howard County. And I believe it! The venue is clean, organized, well lit, and there is soooo much variety. I’m not sure how many cultures are represented, but at minimum there’s 4: Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, and I even found British snacks. They offer many accommodations like dietary restrictions, preferences, vegetarian and non vegetarian, etc. Having 5 Star quality food so close to my church is so awesome, because we don’t have to travel far to eat. The venue is a bit camouflaged as I am trying to get used to in Columbia, MD nondescript building beige tan landscape, but once I see the inviting blue stripes above the doors, my brain happily transmits, “ You have reached your destination!”. There’s a lot of parking available, even handicap spaces, and handicap ramps. Did I mention 5 stars on Google. (Shoutout to my hubby for this venue recommendation) He knows how picky I am. Flavors are on point! I never knew some of these foods existed! Order food online for delivery, dine in, or takeout. (delivered via Door Dash) or walk-up to the ordering counter . Weekend buffet pay by the lbs. Store front, Halal meat counter, Fresh fruits and veggies , International Food and snacks. There’s a banquet sized Dining Room, (behind a large curtain towards the left side of the storefront. It’s like going into Narnia), so plenty of room for tables and chairs to spread out, they a large projector screen to watch whatever, TV, sports, music, comfy lounge seating to chill and eat, and kid sized tables as well… so it is very family friendly. Great prices, Generous portions, Authentic flavors! Classic favorites like butter chicken, beef curry, tika masala, kebabs, tandoori, samosas, naan breads, Jasmine rice, beef patty, mango lassis, biryani, etc… and new favorites curry goat, puri, Spice levels can be adjusted as well. Hubby like food more spicy than me nowadays. I feel like I am genuinely getting my taste buds educated! My culinary life has been elevated! I never knew that I would LOVE curry goat! My entire family will love this venue! I can’t wait to bring them all when we all have our next...

Great little gem. I highly encourage anyone to try them. My daughter's taekwondo dojo is in the area so I often drive by the place and often see their car on the street with their signs. So I finally stopped in after reading some of the google reviews. I was quickly greeted by Azad (sorry if I mispelled the name). A very nice gentleman who knew I was a little lost lol. He briefly told me about the different dining/carry out accommodations and then left me to look around. I finally ended up in the back to order carry out. Picked some familiar items (chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, samosas and other stuff for my family). The guy at the carry out counter was very helpful. I put in the order and then walked around the grocery area while I waited. Azad came over to show me around the place personally including the back lounge area with a couple tables (for those dining in I guess). Learned a little bit about the history of the shop and by the time we were finished the food was ready. The food was very reasonably priced - way better than if you went to a restaurant for sure. The food was very good overall. The samosas were excellent. The tikka masala wasn't bad but I'm also comparing it to some really good ones I've had in NYC. The butter chicken was very good as well. Again, I highly encourage anyone even if you're not very familiar with Indian food to stop by this place. Loved my experience there as well as the food! Will be going back again...

Masala Kitchen is a total "find." Unless you happened to drive around a business park in Columbia, you would never know it's there. And, that's a shame. Masala Kitchen deserves to be known widely. It has much going for it.

This surprisingly large South Asian grocer has a great looking butcher shop and nice produce department. The rest of the store is well stocked and clean. However, my friend and I didn't go there for food to take home, we wanted to eat there. We opted for the buffet. Despite offering only a few different dishes, each one, including the butter chicken that is well loved on this site, was remarkable. There was goat, there was chicken, there was lamb, there was lentils. Also included are the typical sauces and a wonderful spicy applesauce. The buffet comes with water and naan. We also ordered the goat karahi. It was remarkable. (And, it saves me a trip to the kabob and karahi place in Montgomery County.)

We ate in the large room in that back that appears to be used for various functions. The room was simple and felt like a part of a warehouse, however I'd eat that fantastic food anywhere.

The place is run now, and has been for the past decade, by a lovely couple in that mom-and-pop shop way.

If you've any interest in South Asian food, head to this...