Restaurants

Bewitchingly exotic, Masa is a glitzy beacon on an otherwise drab suburban precinct. Inside, below a substantial central chandelier, youll find heavy wooden furniture, shiny tiled flooring, a satellite TV, maroon and wood-panelled walls, a cushion-bestrewn area at the back (for the taking of tea), and a shiny open kitchen. The food is fabulous. Picture a marriage between the best of Middle Eastern and Pakistani cuisine, with a few Balkan salads thrown in as bridesmaids. Hence the bread (resembling roti, hot from a tandoor) and the rice (fluffy pilaus) are sublime: the juicy seared kebabs likewise. Yet the enticing menu holds much more. Try the mantoo, pasta dumplings filled with minced lamb and sweetly flavoured onions, covered with a mince and split-pea sauce; or a starter of bourani-e-afghani (a tangy, moussaka-like dish of aubergine in a tomato sauce with quroot reconstituted yoghurt); or a side dish of chickpeas and new potatoes in a minty relish. For dessert, there are ice-creams, baklava or fereeni (a rosewater-based pudding). Slinky, black-clad staff, low prices, a BYO policy and the almost entirely Afghani clientele add to the allure.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008