Best Indian in town
Sharon Grealey27/05/2009 12:00:00 a.m.
MASALA is popular – even in a biting southerly with stabbing sideways wind… on a Sunday night.
The Indian café and bar is a cozy retreat buzzing with activity. Dining at Masala is a fantastic way to take your mind off the working week ahead. It’s very difficult to worry when an entrée of tandori prawns and marinated lamb chops are placed before you.
The aromas are dizzying and the textures divine. My prawns were infused with marinade – soaked overnight then cooked in the tandoor (clay) oven. The barrah kebab of lamb were also marinated and presented beautifully with foil on the bone making them ideal to eat with fingers.
Both the prawns and the lamb chops were the perfect-sized entrées – leaving us wanting more.
Between gulps of New Zealand pinot noir and bouts of shivers as we watched people walking into the biting wind and rain we progressed to mains.
Addicted to malai kofta, I went for the tried and true vegetarian meal, while my date stuck to the lamb theme choosing the lovely sounding lamb badam pasanda.
The three weighty homemade cottage cheese balls (malai kofta) in creamy gravy of nuts, potatoes, and spices were to die for – sticky and solid, mild yet flavoursome.
The boneless lamb pieces (badam pasanda) were tender – sautéed in onions, garlic, ginger and spices with almond gravy. There was a fight between words and mouthfuls of food – the latter won in the end.
Keen for a mango lassie but with no room to spare we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to indulge in the tart yet sweet yoghurty drink next time by forsaking an entrée so as to leave room.
A friendly farewell from the top-notch staff and a stomach full of hot food made walking in the dead of night and bitter wind seem less extreme.
I’d have to agree with last year’s Capital Times Best of Wellington Reader’s Survey which chose Masala as the best Indian restaurant in Wellington.
The Indian café and bar is a cozy retreat buzzing with activity. Dining at Masala is a fantastic way to take your mind off the working week ahead. It’s very difficult to worry when an entrée of tandori prawns and marinated lamb chops are placed before you.
The aromas are dizzying and the textures divine. My prawns were infused with marinade – soaked overnight then cooked in the tandoor (clay) oven. The barrah kebab of lamb were also marinated and presented beautifully with foil on the bone making them ideal to eat with fingers.
Both the prawns and the lamb chops were the perfect-sized entrées – leaving us wanting more.
Between gulps of New Zealand pinot noir and bouts of shivers as we watched people walking into the biting wind and rain we progressed to mains.
Addicted to malai kofta, I went for the tried and true vegetarian meal, while my date stuck to the lamb theme choosing the lovely sounding lamb badam pasanda.
The three weighty homemade cottage cheese balls (malai kofta) in creamy gravy of nuts, potatoes, and spices were to die for – sticky and solid, mild yet flavoursome.
The boneless lamb pieces (badam pasanda) were tender – sautéed in onions, garlic, ginger and spices with almond gravy. There was a fight between words and mouthfuls of food – the latter won in the end.
Keen for a mango lassie but with no room to spare we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to indulge in the tart yet sweet yoghurty drink next time by forsaking an entrée so as to leave room.
A friendly farewell from the top-notch staff and a stomach full of hot food made walking in the dead of night and bitter wind seem less extreme.
I’d have to agree with last year’s Capital Times Best of Wellington Reader’s Survey which chose Masala as the best Indian restaurant in Wellington.
