Tom Sietsema's rave review (dated Jan 31) of MASALA ART in Tenleytown
(www.masalaartdc.com) got me all spiced up to head to this new little
gem. The four of us settled in (ask for a rear table on a chilly night
as the door draft can be inconvenient) to this simple spot with blond
wood floors, medium noise levels and not much decoration at all
indeed. The place seemed to be a bit understaffed as we stood at the
door for a while and then when we asked for some wine, it took three
more requests to get our first bottle. Once the staff knew we were
serious eaters and wine-o's we had no problem.
We started with a bottle of NAUTILUS Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from New
Zealand and I must say that at $17 this was a steal. All the wines are
1/2 PRICE on Sunday-Thursdays and with a maximum bottle price of $36,
you can't go wrong. I just wish they had a big red Zinfandel to match
the spice of the food. Our second wine was a PAVILION 2008 Chardonnay
from Napa, our third a very light bodied (it was no deeper than the
hue of cranberry juice) PETER HOWLAND Pinot Noir 2008 from New
Zealand, which would never have stood up to the food, but worked well
between courses. We chose well with the final wine being an ERNESTO
CATENA "Padrillos" MALBEC from Argentina which did indeed stand up to
some of the huge intense spice in the food.
MASALA Art's food is not the kind with lingering, break into a sweat
spice. It is the kind that heats up in the aftertaste and dies fast,
making it easier to handle and to move on to another dish with
different flavors. There is also a huge vegetarian menu.
We took some of Mr. Sietsema's suggestions and started with the Aloo
Aur Pyaz Bhaji. At $3.95 these Potato & Onion fritters are deliciously
fried in a ChickPea Batter and all the starters come with two dipping
sauces: Yogurt & Mint or Tamarind. They are both superb with all the
various dishes. SHIKAPURI KEBABS are crumbly lamb and lentil cakes
stuffed with hung curd (our server desperately tried to explain this
to us) and onion; another great option for the dipping sauces.
NUKTI KABAB on Khastha Roti is a boneless baby lamb served on crispy
pita-like bread. Speaking of breads the ROCK SALT & CILANTRO NAAN is
not to be missed.
Our spiciest starter was the CHICKEN 65 which is fried and tossed in a
Southern Indian quite spicy Masala sauce. It was irresistible.

The main courses (we chose way too many and ended up with PILES of
leftovers!) included LASSONI CORN PALAK a superb creamy spinach with
corn & garlic, one of the vegetarian standouts. The TANDOORI MALAI
PANEER with Tamater Cut was a tangy tomato sauce with cubes of cottage
cheese that was nice but did not win the same awards as all the other
dishes. TAWA BHINDI is a novel style of cooking (griddle cooking) and
here the okra is not slimy at all and beautifully seasoned with sesame
seed and cumin; another veggie winner for sure. I just finished this
off for my lunch as was taken right back to all the great flavors of
MASALA ART in seconds! (Indeed, the leftovers seem to intensify in
spice after a day or two!)
If you seek seafood choose the AJWAINI JUMBO PRAWNS a beautifully
presented dish of four huge prawns foil wrapped in a saffron marinade
with carom seeds. Mr. Sietsema apparently did not like the other
shrimp dish (Pilli Mirch ka Jhinga) but he may have missed this tasty
one.
The lamb dishes were supreme from the BHUNA GHOST being a stir fried
curry with intense spice. If you seek more meat and less sauce and
spice go for the ADRAKI LAMB CHOPS which are ginger flavored and cumin
marinated rack of lamb quality chops that melt in your mouth.
If you crave for chicken try the SOUFIYANI MURG a superb fennel-hinted
sauce with chunks of tender chicken and be sure to order bread to mop
up the sauce (on the curry too!!) The MISSI ROTI is a chickpea bread
and the ALOO PARANTHA a potato based bread. There are many choices and
we can't wait to go back and try more...breads, dishes, and just plain
everything.
The only bad thing about Masala Art was the freezing cold bathroom
which was unisex and oddly had TWO toilets in one bathroom; would you
share?
We could not even think of dessert, so packed up our goodies and
planned to return soon! Even better news is that Masala Art will
deliver for free to our home as we are within their 2 mile free
delivery distance!