Masala House Indian Bistro — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Review posted on 1/18/19: Food was very good. Had one of the softest(onion) naans in town.Service was however very slow probably because we went there on a Friday night during peak dinner time. Took us solid 20 minutes for an order of onion naan and paneer karahi to arrive. They still need to work on their Moti Choor-Ladoo dessert. It was just OK. Remember to ask them for a dessert menu if you want to try any. Its surprising they dint offer us one themselves. They can do better service wise. The owner Suresh is very friendly, he stopped at our table, apologized for the delay and asked us about the food. We will definitely go back again.

Review on 1/26/19: We decided to give another try this time for a buffett. We called them up to know till what time the buffet was open and they said 2:30PM. We went there at 1:50PM hoping we werent late. They told us the buffett was still open. Unlike the buffet you have in any other restaurant where you go and take whatever you want to eat, this place SERVES the buffet for you. You just tell them if you are a Vegetarian or Non-Vegeterian and they come to your table and serve accordingly. That was good and it initially gave us a homely feel like going to someone's house in India where they serve you till you are full. BUT we were seriously disappointed with the service there. There was literally just this one lady who was running around tending to all 8 tables. There was one other server but she was busy just seeing what they ran out of. Seriously under-staffed. With that aside, they started straightaway with an entree for main course, served us Dhaal 1st and brought a very tiny Dosa 5 minutes after. It was very small and since it was buffet we asked them for an extra dosa and also since nothing else was served for another 10 minutes but they came back and told us they ran out Dosa batter. They dint serve us appetizer until we asked for it and even then they said its being prepared and brought some very oily onion pakoras after 10 more minutes of wait time. They brought rajma later followed by rice after a solid 10 more mins wait time and literally just 2 scoop of rice. We called that server to either serve more or bring something else if they ran out of rice.5 minutes of wait time there. After another round of Guthi venkaya and Dhaal serving they said they ran out of Paneer. She said the buffet closes at 2 PM and they wont make any more of it. We asked them for another item on the buffett menu - veg biriyani which they almost ran out and I guess she was hesitant to say no so she brought a basin of it with very little biriyani left. When we were almost done eating there she came back and said they are prepping biriyani and paneer gravy again and asked us if we can wait 5 more minutes. We lost interest at that point and told them we are good. At last, they gave small amount of kheer in a tiny cup for dessert. Nobody at any point of time asked us if we want more of anything. When we were just about to leave at around 2:45PM, 2 more guys entered and asked them if the lunch buffet was still open and they said YES, I was puzzled, angry(since they dint serve us at least 3 items saying the buffet closes at 2PM) and decided never to come back here again.

They run this place like they dont know what they are doing although the owner was running another restaurant in city sometime ago. 4 star for ala carte and 2...

Great food, great service, and cozy atmosphere!

Our group of 4 visited on a Wednesday evening and were very satisfied with our experience. The atmosphere is welcoming with a bar on one side and 2- and 4-top tables on the other (a long bench/booth-style seating along the side wall); I imagine some tables could be pushed together to create a larger table for a group (I'd suggest making reservations as even on Wednesday evening, there were plenty of people dining here).

Our group sat in one of the back tables and were quickly served with water for the table and silverware. The person who took our order was kind and helpful, and she and others returned several times throughout the meal to check how the food was and whether we needed anything else. At our table, we chose Paneer Saag, Chicken Tikka Masala, and Chana Masala with 2 Naan, 1 regular and 1 garlic. Everything was delicious! . Toward the end of our meal, an owner/chef (?) visited us and kindly talked us through the herbs and spices in masala. :) He also explained the "at-your-own-table buffet" concept that Masala House has used after the pandemic to support a hygienic all-you-can-eat style lunch.

The prices were a perfect match for quantity and quality, and we will all be returning in the future.

Note: if you're not familiar with parking in Pittsburgh, don't fret. :) There are on-street city parking spaces available which don't seem like parking spots/look like part of the right lane of traffic flow, but they are actually parking spots. After 6, it is free to park on the street in designated areas--look for the sign which lets you know where you can park, and before 6, visit the kiosk on the same side of the street to enter your license plate number and pre-pay for parking. (This was true as of our 2/2023 visit.)

It is definitely worth visiting...

Just out of our curiosity to try new restaurants, we landed at this subtly tucked within the roads of downtown Pittsburgh, today ( Nov 2022) for a lunch buffet. We were served a delectable, unlimited Thali(a plate with a myriad of Indian dishes, breads, starters and desserts). From the time we entered the place, we knew we were at the right place. The ambience was cozy and inviting. The waiters were super courteous and responsive. The food was served promptly and presented well and hot. Next was the most important thing- the taste! It was bang on! I have eaten at almost all the famous restaurants in Pittsburgh and I can say that the food here , for me, was the best. I was specially blown away by the chicken tikka masala and the yummy naan bread. Then there was baigan ( eggplant curry) , I think it was a South Indian preparation. It was very new for my pallete and yet I was drawn towards the burst of flavours. While we lost in the food, the waiters made sure we were catered to promptly and food was refilled without delay. We didn’t try anything from the drinks except coke but they have an array of in house drinks. They also have unlimited desserts. I absolutely loved the sewai ki kheer, the best Iv ever had, away from home! To add to all this, my 4 year old who generally doesn’t enjoy eating Indian food outside because of the spices, devoured the dishes served in that thali. So thank you! All in all, it was a wonderful experience and we will return soon and will bring our friends along! PS- parking is paid and by the road. However we were lucky to get it for free as it was a...