Latest Reviews
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Usually just get the vegetable samosas as they are so delicious and great value but decided to get the vegetable korma and was really disappointed. Th…
Bianca Celliers
Masala Cafe
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I have eaten here three times, all different dishes and all DELICIOUS. Always sich delightful service and a fresh Indian restaurant that is a wecome d…
Zoe Paris
Masala Cafe
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Masala cafe has truly authentic south indian cuisine and great lunch specials! Their curries are great (I especially like milagu) but they also have r…
Yinyin
Masala Cafe
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Masala Cafe is open for Casual Dining. Masala Cafe serves Indian dishes. Incorrect or missing information? Make a report, or claim the restaurant if you own it!Details
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deliverytakeaway availableindoor seatingno alcohol availableReviews
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7 Reviews on “Masala Cafe”
Usually just get the vegetable samosas as they are so delicious and great value but decided to get the vegetable korma and was really disappointed. The curry resembled nothing of a korma- it had no flavour and was so watery. The vegetables tasted horrible and were rubbery- it felt like they were super old. It seemed like they just threw together whatever they could find and cooked it. Would not go back again for another curry there
I have eaten here three times, all different dishes and all DELICIOUS. Always sich delightful service and a fresh Indian restaurant that is a wecome departure from heavier regional Indian cuisine. They have these gluten free dosa (amazing crepes filled with curry). This place should be packed! Need a quiet dinner spot to relax? Lined up somewhere else? Head over to Masala Caf.
Masala cafe has truly authentic south indian cuisine and great lunch specials! Their curries are great (I especially like milagu) but they also have really good dosas, which are a south indian specialty that are not easy to find in Vancouver.
Great food and a great deal. What a bargain – for $35 you get 2 glasses of wine, 2 curries, rice and naan. The food was absolutely delicious. We will be back soon!
Excellent, authentic South Indian food – Masala Cafe really delivers. I didn’t know what to expect from Masala Cafe when I first looked at the menu in their window. It appeared to be South Indian – there was the dosa, idli, sambar and rasam that I expected, even some Chettinad dishes and they called their fish ‘meen’. But then there were also all the same old, same old – butter chicken, lamb korma, mutter paneer, alu gobi, naan – the immensely boring standards of every Indian restaurant in the Western hemisphere. Other than Alu Gobi (which I love in all its incarnations), I refuse to eat any of the ‘standard’ dishes, ever. For an Indian, eating that stuff is like condemning yourself to a diet of Macdonald’s hamburgers and then judging all western food by that standard. Yes, truly, it is!Fortunately, I decided to try Masala Cafe’s offerings and I am absolutely delighted I did!! They offer a selection of dishes from various South Indian cuisines, including Kerala, Goa, Mangalore, Chettinad, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad. Even after I eliminated all the North Indian dishes there were still a great many to choose from. Unlike some South Indian restaurants which are strictly vegetarian, Masala Cafe has an enticing selection of meat, fish and poultry dishes, reflecting the various regions and traditions of Southern India.Among the dishes that leaped out at me was a Hyderabadi Biryani. Oh joy!! Confession: I have been obsessed with Biryani since my visit to India last December when I tasted a real, to die for, Kolkata Biryani. For those unfamiliar with it, a Biryani is a rice and meat dish, perfumed with aromatic spices, steamed gently in a tightly shut vessel, so that the flavours permeate every separate, golden grain of rice, studded with succulent bits of meat or fish or chicken. It is a truly magnificent dish. There are many variations, but two major traditions – Awadhi from North India and Hyderabadi from the South. Vancouver has mainly the Punjabi variant of Awadhi (Maurya has the best of these) with an outlier at Dhaka Fish & Biryani which serves a brilliant Bangladeshi version. Masala Cafe presented me, for the first time in Vancouver, with a Hyderabadi Biryani. It was the first item I ordered. I chose the Masala Cafe Chef Special Biryani with goat meat.Normally, a biryani is a meal in itself, accompanied only by raita. Since it was our first visit to Masala Cafe, we decided to accompany it with a couple of other dishes, a Kerala Fish Moilee and a vegetable dish. We initially ordered an eggplant dish but it turned out to be a renamed Baingan Bharta (good, but North Indian). So we substituted it with a dish of curried garlic. Yes, that’s right. The garlic dish was mellow and tasted like long roasted garlic. It was surprisingly good. We ordered rice with the fish and my husband, being western and firmly wedded to wheat, order naan to go with the veg, or should I say, garlic. I cannot speak to the naan since I did not eat it. My husband appeared to enjoy it :-)I can say. without hesitation, that every dish was superb. The Biryani was absolutely delicious. Perfectly cooked, every grain of rice was separate and aromatic. The bone-in goat pieces were tender and delicious. I loved the aroma and every mouthful. I shall be back to try the other versions. The Fish Moilee, a Kerala dish with coconut milk, was so good I spooned up every last bit of the sauce. This was a dish that is as good as anything like it that I’ve tasted anywhere. Bravo! I also loved the South Indian style Raita and Achaar that we ordered as side dished. Overall, this was a great meal..Masala Cafe definitely met my rather exacting standards. I shall be back for more. Next time I’ll try the dosas 🙂
Not bad… I’ll give ’em another shot.. Lunch buffet: To be honest there wasn’t much to choose from, but what was there was fresh and tasty. The made-to-order naan was wonderfully crispy/chewy. However, there were only two meat dishes and both of them were chicken. I am not criticizing the abundance of vegetarian offerings, but would have been nice to have had a bit more variety. Understandable, though, business was slow that day. The server was an extremely upbeat and friendly fellow, and I found that his earnestness went a long way to smooth over any bumps. If they are able to improve, we’ll definitely be back!
Not to miss…. The lunch buffet is amazing! Food is fresh, just like out of someone’s home kitchen. Totally satisfying!