Masala Square Indian Kitchen — Restaurant in Somerville

This restaurant was previously India Palace and my colleagues and I were regulars there because we really loved the food. Perhaps it is under a new management now. The place looks much better now, a point for that and the polite staff. That is were the good things end. There was only one person in the kitchen and he was also taking the orders. After waiting for almost 10 mins, the chef came out of the kitchen and said that I should order the food at the cash counter first. Why didn’t he say that when he seated me and gave the menu card? I didn’t mind that much though, because I have been to food places where you are expected to place the order at the counter first. After ordering the food, chef got busy. I noticed that there was no one else to assist him in the kitchen. 25 mins later the food arrived. By this time, I was super hungry and could have eaten almost anything the chef made. So I thought! The vegetable biryani smelled stale and rice was soggy, fried in an overdose of oil to make it look fresh. I had ordered paneer masala wings, one bite and I had spit it out. They should call this Super Salty Paneer fry. I was thinking that glad I ordered some naans, that can’t go wrong. But again I was throughly disappointed. The naan looked like frozen naans reheated on a pan. Even though I was very hungry, I paid for the food and walked out leaving the entire order on the table. Never in my life I have tasted such horrible reheated stale food.

I used to own an Indian restaurant before. I have worked in the kitchen before to help out my staff. So I do know that not everything is made from scratch at least in Indian restaurants. It is not possible, because most dishes require timing consuming, complex cooking process. Instead restaurants prepare certain things ahead. For example the base gravies are prepared in large batches, vegetables are half boiled and blanched, pilaf rice and biryani rice are half boiled. Instead, it looks like this restaurant cooks the entire food ahead and reheats the food without even bothering check if the food has gone stale! I wonder why the health department hasn’t sealed...

During my recent culinary escapade, I found myself at an Indian restaurant that initially held promise. The establishment exuded a commendable ambiance, boasting cleanliness and an overall appealing atmosphere, setting the stage for a potentially delightful dining experience.

Opting to explore their "Make Your Own Curry" menu, I selected the Biryani, along with the protein options of paneer and tofu. Given the takeaway nature of my order, I decided to peruse the beverage offerings and settled on a Pina Colada to pass the time while my meal was prepared.

Regrettably, my enthusiasm dwindled as swiftly as the ice in my thin and inadequately blended Pina Colada. The beverage, lacking in texture and flavor, failed to meet even modest expectations. My anticipation for the Biryani to salvage the situation was soon met with profound disappointment. What purported to be Biryani was, in fact, an assemblage of white rice heavily saturated with turmeric, punctuated by a sparse inclusion of paneer and potato pieces. This culinary letdown left me yearning for authenticity and flavor.

However, it's worth noting that the restaurant did not falter in terms of quantity; the portion of Biryani provided was substantial, though this virtue alone cannot redeem the overall experience, especially given the $18 price tag.

In conclusion, my visit to this Indian restaurant left much to be desired, warranting a rating of merely two stars. The service was commendable, and the portion sizes were generous, earning the establishment one star for each of these attributes. However, the quality of the cuisine, particularly the Biryani and the subpar Pina Colada, falls far short of the mark, rendering this eatery far from my top recommendation. As I strolled down the same street, I couldn't help but wonder about the potentially superior dining experiences awaiting me at nearby...

The food that I managed to get was tasty. The Supreme samosas.. yes. However, myself and my friend came in tonight and the young lady running the front of the house was so distracted talking to who I assume was her partner, that she couldn't get the orders right and basically wasted about an hour of our time. The issue? When you place an order for takeout online, you are still able to order things that are sold out apparently. When I went to pick up my order the first time, the girl tried to act like I was confused when I said I was missing an item from my order... Then she finally said oh " the impossible samosas are sold out" after I showed her my paid receipt and tried to reconcile it with what was in the bag. Strike one. So then I asked about the refund for missing items, to which she responded that I had not been charged the full amount... We will see. Strike two because my card definitely was charged the full amount. I will keep an eye on it to see it corrects. Strike three? I sat and waited with my friend and tasted her supreme samosa, which was good so I placed another order. I shouldn’t have. She got the second order mixed up too, they were out of a second menu item, she didn’t reference my ticket, tried to give me only one of the two things I paid for and then seemed to forget that she offered me a chicken tikka kabob to replace the thing that was sold out. Then after all that, she gave the food to my friend, instead of me, unbeknownst to us both. So I’m looking for my replacement but my friend has it and then she snaps at me and says “OH MY GOD, didn’t I just give you your food?” Then it hits me. She was distracted talking to her boo, both of us were black women and dressed in all black, and so she confused herself and us too. But snapping at us because you can’t get your business together is unacceptable....