Masala ART

I went here with my mom and boyfriend for dinner late on Sunday night (around 9.30, and they close at 10.30) and the place was deserted, the staff was playing old Bollywood songs and there was noone up front to receive us. My mom had to holler a «hellooo?» so that someone came out of the backroom or kitchen to greet and seat us. It seemed like they weren’t expecting any customers for the night… that said, That was probably the only negative thing about this chic little restaurant.
After that the service was prompt and attentive, the music was quickly switched to instrumental and we were handed menus in lovely wooden book-​like cases. The water was poured into steel/​copper glasses, as it traditionally is in India, but nothing other than that was «traditional» or catered to non-​indians as «exotic».
Our food arrived in good time, and i got the Apricot Paneer Tikka as appetizer, cubes of cottage cheese grilled with a hint of apricot with some stuffing, they were really tender, probably my favourite part of the meal. We ordered the Seekh kebab (3 kebabs cut in half, with mint chutney) the Mint Chicken Tikka (green mint chutney, when 1^st presented looked quite like. alien objects since the colour of the marinade was such a bright green!) but the chicken pieces were tender and just the right amount of spicy. Lamb Rapini, was tender pieces of lamb in a spinach purée-​ed base, was quite nice, non spicy. The Chicken Vindaloo totally threw me off, i had never tried a vindaloo dish before, it was very very hot! and sweet, but not in a tangy way, i didnt like this, but it was my boyfriends favourite of the night, so perhaps… it was just me?
The Kashmiri Naan flatbread was stuffed with nuts and apricot, i expected it to be sweet, but the almonds etc just added a nice texture. The Butter naan was soft, baked in a clay oven. went excellent with everything we ordered.
I really wanted to try the chocolate chocolate covered paan and the gulab jamun, but i was too stuffed to attempt that and will have to return shortly to try!
I’d recommend this place for a family dinner, or a date. Just try to make it at a time when they probably have more people dining. :)