Masalawala & Sons — Restaurant in New York

Reserved for 3, Sunday evening. My niece happened to be in NY City so wanted to include her. However, found there's no way to reach the restaurant via phone. After repeated tries forced to send an email to update reservation to 4 (from 3) and to which they responded but bumped us out to patio. Also rather strange they stated they are unable to change the online phone number in Google/Yelp. That's bad management. Ideally they should either do it or update website indicating the number is wrong.

We ordered Ripon Street Majja, MOROG Boti, Kosha Mangsho and Daab Chingri.

I am born and brought up in Kolkata and during a period of 3 yrs reviewed various establishments there. I even had a pseudonym and my critique was generally well received. Hailing from that part of the world I believe I am well suited to provide my opinion below.

They did NOT try to westernize the food. Which is really awesome. Considering how tough to get real spices here in US its commendable. Very authentic.

The big negative for me was morog boti. Every one at the table said the same: dry. Bone-in is great but meat should be falling out and juicy. It was very dry. They have cut the pieces too small but in reciprocation did not reduce the cooking/grilling temp or the time. Recommend them to use steam method to retain juiciness.

Daab chingri was very good. However, if there's 1 feedback I can give - to reduce the water. It was too much liquid. Daab chingri usually has sufficient coconut malai embedded within the juice to cause some level of thickness/coagulation. However, personally I felt this is a small aspect for the taste was really good. Not sure if they are re-using the shells though. What I was missing a bit was the intense aroma of the daab in this dish, what I am used to.

Kosha mangsho was outstanding. Simply superb. Mouth watering, juicy and correct level of spices.

Ripon street - probably I'll pass. Not sure if they overkilled it in this case but the sheer volume of red chillies was tough to accept and in reality the marrow content was more or less non existent except in 1 instance.

The service guys was awesome, especially the guy from Goa. Hats off to him. The decor is a bit strange though. At first glance reminded me of a hip type of joint/MX Catlina and definitely not Bengali or Indian. Not sure why the color and design. The table was wobbly and plastic. All of us continuously was worried of toppling over, LOL.

I never received the final receipt! Now that for me is a big deal especially when I selected Print.

Would I repeat? Probably yes for authenticity is there, quality of the food w.r.t. taste is generally great.

The chef did come out to talk to us. This is awesome and the chef is truly a good guy. Very knowledgeable. It seems there'll be some changes to the menu soon. I'd suggest they look into a book author "Bela De" for inspiration. Its probably a +60 yr book but accurately captures 99% authentic Bengali dishes. For desert, as he asked would suggest "Alu...

My husband and I secured a reservation at Masalawala this past Saturday after being denied a walk-up attempt a few months back. We were very much looking forward to this experience, especially with all of the hype about this restaurant. Boy were we in for disappointment. The restaurant looks great and has a very vibrant atmosphere, though the door “guards” are a little over the top; this is South Park Slope, not a SoHo Speakeasy with a password. And after I signed up to be notified about reservations on Resy, there were TONS available, so honestly, the door policy and draconian reservations are to continue the hype that they are busy and exclusive. FYI, you will have better food from your local takeout, and make your drinks at home (though the drinks were the best part of the meal to be fair).

The Dahi Vada is sold as a fermented lentil dumpling—all it is are some tiny mashed up lentil balls (think falalel texture) in raita, tamarind, and mint sauces. Good, but not exactly exciting. The Morog Boti was spicy (and grisly) tandoori chicken while huge rounds of raw red onion (nothing done to the onion, just raw—it’s supposed to be a palate cleanser?).

The worst part of the night was when the echorer Kalia—the jackfruit with ginger, and Khichuri—which was supposed to be kalajeer rice, mung daal, farm vegetables, ghee, Garamond masala, and beguni—showed up. The Echorer Kalia was SO oily and salty that it didn’t taste like anything else. Whereas the Khichuri tasted like greasy, grainy mustard seeds. Both were inedible.

Honestly? We left hungry and went home and ordered delicious tacos from our local taco truck (shout out to Tacos Pollos Loco 2!) because the food was just NOT good. The manager took the stuff off that we would not eat and tried to explain that it is Bengali home style cooking, but dude, the food was just terrible; I had to sit through a detailed description of each and every dish from the waiter, so I knew what I was ordering, and what came out was NOTHING like what was described. I am excited to eat all kinds of Indian food—we have checked out lots of great places (like Gup Shup! Omg, check that place out if you’re interested in some crazy good, interesting Indian food). But Masalawala? This place takes itself WAY too seriously and their food isn’t good.

I have to give credit to the bartender though, the drinks were great—we had “The World of Satyajit Ray” and that was a fantastic cocktail. However, they do “last call” at 9:45 and we hadn’t even gotten our entrees yet or finished our first drinks, so this speaks to the whole taking itself too seriously/trying make a scene where there isn’t one. How do you close your bar at 9:45 on a Saturday night? Like what is that even about?

I would not go back here unless they completely redid the menu and I found out they changed business practices. This place needs to both chill and also get cracking on...

It's a Bengali ( Indian Bengali) style Indian restaurant. We reserved earlier but showed up an hour before the time. They were very generous and accommodated us. It was a weekend evening, and the place was quite packed. My friend started with a drink, and I just drank water. He said that the drink was decent. We embarked on the food adventure with fuchka as the appetizer. The fuchka ( aka panipuri/ golgappa in other Indian states) was close to the 'authentic' Kolkata style. The mashed potato filling was exquisite; however, it was a little bland. I understand that they prepare for everybody ( including Americans); maybe they must keep the option of putting a bit more chili on top for the spice eaters on request. I loved that the server served it on the table by making the fuchka with the water.The tamarind water was very close to my heart. Again what was missing was a bit more spice and a layer of lemon ( gandhoraj) or, at least, some kafir lime leaves. Moving on, the fish fry was terrific. I loved how it was served with 'kashundi' ( mustard). Bengali-style polao was right on the spot, and the daab chingri with tiger prawns was mind-blowing. The quality of the fresh prawns was excellent. However, the show stopper was the 'kosha mangsho.' The mutton, aka goat meat, was tender and perfectly cooked with all the spices and condiments. The perfect meat pairing with the yellow polao is best, or even with the luchi. The meat goes with everything. We ordered the 'bhapa doi,' aka yogurt, to finish the meal. It was creamy and soft with the right amount of sweetness. The entire meal reminded me of the home and childhood we left behind back in India. Some of the portion sizes were big, and some were not. The cozy, laid-back interior lacked some Bengali songs ( not Hindi) to give the 'biyebari' feeling. Or even an instrumental/ classical/semi-classical/ fusion will go great.

Update: we visited again, and this time it was for Sunday brunch. Brunch thali looks great however taste wise not that great. I loved ‘chholar Dal’ but the ‘luchi’ was not the best. The fish battered fry was extremely greasy. The mutton was decent. If you review it on Google they offer a free dessert. We got ‘bhapa Doi’. The yogurt aka Doi was truly a gem. My overall feeling is that the brunch thali was more run of the mill. I would like to stick to the a la carte next time.

Again i have a complaint regarding their song choice- the owners should give it a serious through to choose appropriate music/ songs for the place. Typical Punjabi numbers don’t match the vibe of the restaurant.( personally I don’t have any problem with Punjabi songs- love them to the moon. However it’s not going with the mood...