Restaurants

By Sejal Sukhadwala

Kat-a-kat is not an Asian chocolate bar, but a type of street food popular in India and Pakistan. Various ingredients are mixed with tomatoes, onions, chillies, spices and butter and cooked on a hot griddle; and the name derives from the sound made by the chef's palette knife as he slides it across the ingredients, chops them up, and flips them over in successive rapid movements. You don't see kat-a-kat on London's menus often - but Moj Masti's USP is a small selection of meats (mainly offal) cooked kat-a-kat style.

Moj Masti ('fun and games' or 'having a ball') is owned by a young Pakistani couple, and has three compact, attractive dining rooms. For a small venue, it has big ambitions. There's a separate children's menu, for instance (rarely found in Asian restaurants), and a stunning Pakistani breakfast menu. Monthly 'ladies nights' offer henna painting, a jewellery sale, fashion show and entertainment. Moj Masti is also hosting regular hookah-smoking 'sheesha nights'.

However, the execution doesn't match the ambition. Our meal started off well with tender tandoori baby chicken, and spicy paneer and mushroom tikka: both delicious. Curries, however, were mushy, melting goo with finely minced ingredients and no texture; moreover, they were timidly spiced and drowning in ghee. 'Fenugreek' (more likely, spinach) curry contained large chunks of undercooked potatoes. Kheer (rice pudding) was overwhelmed with the slightly astringent taste of screwpine essence.

The best dishes were soft, flaky naan, haleem (slow-cooked lamb, lentil and bulgar wheat casserole) and kat-a-kat made from lamb's brains and testicles - although the latter looked and tasted rather like chicken. The menu promises the theatre and spectacle of kat-a-kat cooked live in front of the diners but, due to 'staff shortage', it's currently whipped up in the kitchen by the solitary chef. Six new chefs are due to arrive from Karachi in a few weeks - let's hope they spice up the offer.

Time Out London issue 1868: June 7-14 2006