Masala Box — Restaurant in New York

I recently went to this restaurant and ordered takeout. The food was ready on time and the staff was pleasant. Unfortunately, the food is not designed for the discerning Indian palette that knows the difference between authentic Indian food and makeshift Indian food. I ordered a very traditional Indian meal of chicken curry, rice, naan bread. In Indian cuisine, it is very difficult to get chicken curry, rice pilaf, and naan wrong. However, this restaurant got it wrong. The chicken curry was not made from scratch. In fact, the chicken did not aprearranged tender, it seemed like it was frozen, white meat tenderloins cut up into small pieces placed in a premade curry paste tomato sauce. Chicken curry is a staple in North Indian cuisine. I know what chicken curry looks and tastes like because I've made it a gazillion times. This neither looked nor tasted like chicken curry. The rice were not fully cooked, such that the grains were stiff and not tender. The naan was not cooked in a traditional Clay Oven and it didn't taste like naan either. For those who did not grow up eating authentic Indian food, this meal is a lovely introduction to Indian food. But, if you grew up eating good authentic Indian food and if you know how to cook authentic Indian food, then this meal is disappointing. I happen to fall in the latter category and was not impressed...

Ordered take out, street parking, the wait was reasonable.

Packaging was great, very neat. I loved the use of chinese takeout-esque boxes containing the food. No leak/spill.

I ordered the chicken biryani (spicy). Steamy, creamy flavorful rice with a fiery kick. Pieces of tender marinated chicken. Portion sizes are good. Flavor is also good. Albeit not keeping a full ethnic authentic rendition of chicken biryani, it was not bad at all. The biryani also had a very minimal amount (if any) of whole spices that can be mistakenly eaten, so feel free to dig right in. A good dish overall, done in their own way.

Malai kababs were alright. Flavor was okay, chicken was rubbery and dry however. It did not look or taste grilled. Served with oily onions and peppers. Overall not the best.

Chicken lollipop was a no. Chicken wings in a onion/garlic sauce. This dish comes off as simply cutting corners here. Who goes to an Indian restaurant to order chicken wings? Would not recommend this dish.

Overall, the decor looks nice, people working there are great as well. However, food is mediocre from my experience. I’d be happy to take dish recommendations from the owner and edit this review in the future. Thank you for having me in your restaurant...

Once again a great night out at Masala Box. The food is fantastic & omg the cocktails! Kuran (sorry if I misspelled his name!) is the quintessential bartender...friendly, personable, knowledgeable and makes killer cocktails. We ate at the bar and had a great time discussing everything from the food, drinks, the pandemic and vaccinations to travel plans and bucket lists with him. Cocktail favorites are the lychee martini (the best anywhere according to my hubby) and the nirvana. Instead of getting 2 entrees we had several apps & 1 entree. For apps, we has the samosas (potato & pea and mushrooms & cheese)...always a go to choice. We also had the spring rolls (crunchy & delicious) and the spicy, stir fried chicken (a new favorite, unbelievably good!) For the entree we decided to try the chicken saag, which was creamy, gingery, garlicky and amazing! If you haven't been to Masala Box...try it, if you been there before...go back again!...