Masala Art DC (Tenleytown)

This restaurant is consistently our favorite Indian restaurant in DC. The lamb vindaloo is spicy, with very high quality ingredients. The eggplant dishes are exceptional. The wine list is fairly priced and the selections pair nicely with the menu. We highly recommend this unassuming restaurant with great ambiance and exceptional service.

Wonderful food, gracious service, we will be back!

Just before our reservation there was a tremendous wind and rain storm, which plunged Masala’s neighborhood into darkness. Blackout. Always a terrific place, but on this night Mother Nature has other plans.

Excellent food and service. The best Indian restaurant in the DC area.

We love this place. Great food and convenient location. But it was sweltering on Sunday night. No AC? In DC? Not so wonderful when you’re eating spicy food.

food and service were good, unfortunate that the Air conditioning was not working

Usually love the food, get the same dishes. Didn't like the flavor of mine AT ALL but we had brought a guest and didn't want to complain in front of him. Turns out it was the same for my husband; on our way home he told me how yuks his was. Will take this off the rotation

The buffet at Masala Art is the best sit down lunch value in Washington, DC, hands down. I'm not sure my bill even came to $40. The buffet is imaginative - it's not just butter chicken and saag paneer. The service wasn't great this time - it took a long time to get our bread and I had to go searching for the server to get our check. Other times I've eaten there that hasn't been the case.

Such a great place to enjoy when visitors are in town. The food is always amazing and it's usually quiet enough to have a conversation. We also enjoyed the leftovers that made the trip home with us.

Authentic food, quick service and peaceful environment.
Pain poori was really good.

I have long been a fan of Masala Art, but I was stunned at the poor quality of the food we were served on a night when we were more or less the only table that was occupied in the restaurant. Things were bland, some dishes were cold or not very fresh. Only the naan was at the level of quality I had known in the past. I'm not sure I will be back unless I hear a good report.

We had a spectacular meal. Every dish was wonderful.

This is one of my favorite (top 5) DC-area restaurants. The food is delicious and perfectly prepared, and they do not skimp on the portions. I always leave stuffed and happy.

Great food and service. Loved the waiter’s recommendations. Nice neighborhood atmosphere.

It consistently serves dishes of quality taste and authenticity.

We went to Masala Art DC on a Sunday evening. After letting the waitress know three times that we were ready to order and watching her nod her head and then go do something else, we got fed up and walked out. Really poor customer service.

Terrific service for a group of us meeting for a special occasion dinner. Nice ambience and very good food. It's worth a repeat visit for sure!

Food was outstanding...garlic naan was crisp and fresh. The cauliflower appetizer was crunchy, light and flavorful. Our chicken was spicy and just the right amount of heat, and the lamb with mint/cliantro sauce was the highlight of the meal. Great Moscow Mules, too. Our server was slammed with three tables seated simultaneously PLUS a big group in the front, but to his credit, made sure he served each of our tables in order, as quickly as possible. It was loud up front due to the large group, and probably quieter towards the back. The ambiance is mediocre but comfy, but in this case, it was all about the food!

Delicious food and different than most Indian restaurants.

Great food and excellent service.

Masala Art is our go-to joint after a concert at National Cathedral. Fast service, excellent food. By excellent I mean Masala Art does not suffer in comparison to Rasika. (We ate at Rasika 4 days previous.)

The food was fine but the service was atrocious. Won't go back except for carry out.

An early dinner with friends prior to an event was perfect. Neither of our friends had been to Masala Art before and they were as impressed as we anticipated. What is there not to love about chicken biryani, saag paneer, perfectly good lentils and more?

After a bit of a lull, Masala Art is back better than ever! Every element of our dinner was delicious.

A great neighborhood Indian restaurant with very friendly staff and a diverse menu with choices for every taste

Crowded conditions expected on Valentine’s Day. Nevertheless, there were mistakes on the bill

Great neighbor restaurant, but steps away from metro.

Dining at Masala Art in Tenleytown is an unexpectedly upscale experience in an otherwise unimpressive neighborhood. The food is absolutely scrumptious and the restaurant itself is sumptuously decorated. My dining companion and I shared three dishes: Kastoori Paneer Tikka, Lamb Neelgiri Korma, and Baingan Mirch ka Salan. All were mouth wateringly delicious.

Although the service was professional and efficient, the staff seemed . . . I don't know, unhappy to be there? I did overhear one of them discussing the fact that their business had taken a hit due to the gov't shutdown; so maybe that explains it. Also, the bathrooms (at least the one I used--which has two toilets facing one another. Weird) are not heated, so it's pretty darned nippy in there!

Bottom-line: I would (and will) revisit Masala Art again in a heartbeat, chilly bathroom notwithstanding.

Service was not good, slow but overall everything was very good!

Great experience; everything was just right: service was attentive, ambiance was relaxed and conducive to talking; and the food was delicious, as usual.

Came here for a quiet dinner with my husband. Great food and a comfortable, cozy atmosphere. Conveniently located close to the Tenleytown/AU Metro. Will definitely return.

(Weird toilet situation, but I won't tell you and ruin the surprise. Haha.)

Wonderful food, both the vegetarian and meat/seafood dishes. They warn you that the vindaloo is hot - true! We went Christmas night and it was packed. We were seated right at the time of our reservation, but ordering took 30 minutes and the food took another 30 minutes to arrive. But I really want to go back. It was delicious. Nice wine too.

Spectacular dinner on Christmas day. Every dish was delicious. The staff seemed briefly overwhelmed by the crowd of diners, but service was professional and cheerful. Highly recommended.

Amazing service and meal! The entire atmosphere was wonderful!

Spicy, but delicious!

Always reliable, Masala Art is a valued neighborhood asset. You can always count on having a good meal.

Fantastic service food and ambiance but they do better with their red wine selection and would appreciated if they would return my favorite spicy lamb chop with ginger and better quality of their cardamom ice cream

The food and ambiance were wonderful, but service was non existent. We waited a full 10 minutes after seating and i had to grab someone to get their attention. We were completely ignored and had to ask multiple times for everything. The food was delicious and a nice atmosphere, so perhaps it was just a bad night, but until the service improves, i'm not returning.

We had reservations but had to modify them twice because of our guest's schedule. Even so, and even with a crowded restaurant and a line at the hostess station, we were greeted warmly and after only a brief moment, shown to our table.
Three of us ordered three different entrees and all three were delicious.

Meal was very satisfactory. I did not like my choice of wine.