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The drab shopping parade location is soon forgotten as you enter this hugely enjoyable restaurant. A spectacular chandelier, heavy wooden furniture, and maroon and white walls displaying colourful still-lifes produce a lavish air that's only partially dissipated by the droning TV and a glass display counter.
Afghani food is a blend of Middle Eastern and North Indian cuisines, and at Masa you can expect sublime rice and naans, tangy meze-like dips, juicy kebabs and rich curries. A selection of four dips is the best bet for a shared starter, perhaps including grilled aubergine with garlic, walnut and yoghurt. Ordering chicken corn soup - a cornfloury version of the Chinese standard - was a mistake. Kingfish and quail are barbecued options to follow, along with the usual chicken and lamb kebabs, but you'll also find a few uniquely Afghan dishes.
Try the mantoo: nicely chewy pasta parcels overflowing with tangy minced lamb and yoghurt. Rich, tender kidney bean curry made a fitting sidekick, as did a glass of yoghurty dogh (there's no licence). Good-natured staff and a laid-back Anglo-Afghan crowd (some in traditional garb, some not) add to the exotic vibe.
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Meals served 12.30-11pm daily
Main courses £5.95-£13. Set meal £23.95 (2 people); £33 (2-3 people); £55 (4-5 people). Unlicensed. Corkage no charge
Facilities
Babies and children welcome ( high chairs ), Booking advisable ( Thur-Sun ), Disabled ( toilet ), Takeaway service; delivery service ( over £12 within 3-mile radius ), Vegetarian menuThe food is good but it has become ridiculously over priced over the last year or so. we have stopped going there because of that.
This is without a doubt the best restaurant in London! Ok the sevice may at times seem a bit slack, but despite that this place puts so many others to shame! The Kabil pillow is just out of the world and the chops are in a league of their own. The wings are massive and I cant praise the place enough... Just go n njoy! Good times...!
Masa is the greatest foreign cuisine restaurant so far we have tried in London, with reasonable price and good service, except slightly slow in deliver dishes.
Every dish, from drinks, starter to main courses, really tasty!! However, dessert is just fair, most are British style, like chocolate fudge cake, ice cream, only few are Afghan style, so, we didn't try it.
For drink, we tried mango lassi, like mango yugort, not too sweet, fresh mango taste, love it. Starters are pea mash (hummus) and grill aubergine with Afghan yogurt sauce, served with naan, really much delicious than I expected!! The main courses are mixed grill meat, succulent lambs and chicken (both breast and wings) and mantu (dumpling) with minced lamb sauce served with Afghan rice, can't believe there is dumpling dish in Afghan, extremely yummy!!
Masa Restaurant is thoroughly recommended!
Just made the great trek to NW London for lunch and was not disappointed by the huge amount of tasty, very reasonably priced food. Service was slightly slow, but friendly, and not a problem as we weren't in a rush. I just wish this place was closer to home.
i been to masa 2 times the first time the food was good and the service was poor,as the starter appeared with the main course slightlly after a minute and we had a on the house Turkish delights (baghlava)the second time went again for this thought that this time the service might have improved but another disappointment that we had our meal cold and the service was worster than last time,will not recommend to anyone unless u want to spend for nothing, and this time will try the new Kabul city restaurant in Edgware highly recommended by too many families
Looking at the location of this restaurant, its easy to just dismiss unless you're a local. I must admit, as a Londoner who doesn't hold a drivers licence, I only agreed to go when being driven by my parents. The result was extremely pleasant, so much so that I'd be willing to do a ridiculously complicated commute to go again. This is some of the best quality Central Asian food I've ever had. The lamb kebabs are an absolute delight, as is their freshly baked naan. Afghan restaurants are also a massive rarity in the centre of London and the cuisine itself provides a wonderful meshing of Middle Eastern and Indian food cultures. Not only was the food of excellent quality, the restaurant was spotlessly clean (in particularly the plates) which is a rarity amongst suburban London restaurants offering Asian cuisine. Alongside efficient and polite service, this makes for a wonderful place to have an evening meal with family or friends. If someone is offering you a lift though, take it.
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