Masal Cafe

Went into Masal for lunch with a friend. When we got the check there was an 18% charge added to the bill listed as a SERVICE CHARGE. I questioned the waiter if this was the tip added in and he said NO! He said it was a restaurant fee. I have never heard of an 18% added fee that wasn't a tip. There were only 2 of us dining and we were paying cash. I feel like I was ripped off. There were no posted signs or anything mentioned in the menu. This will be my last time dining here and will warn my friends. I'll dine at Opera or Soup and Burger next time.

Fughgettaboutit, this is the best mediterainian cafe. Kunefe is great, turkish tea is great, food is great, people are great, and it feels like your in Türkiye when you sit in there. It also feels very Turkish, i enjoy it alot.

Such an mediocre store in my opinion, I took this picture of the kids place back in 2018, the food is meh, the employees/service are neutral, there was music playing in this place alongside the kids games too, some kid at the other day took a poop and nobody was cleaning it, which was plain disgusting, such weird times. it was a cool place until it fell off to be a mediocre slop of a "place" it is nowadays.

Please keep in mind that this review was written 30 minutes after leaving the establishment. My husband took me out for my birthday weekend and I knnow he loves mediteranean food and thought it would be nice to try. Whwn we got there the space was beautiful with modern cultural infusion of design. The greeter was nice to us and allowed us to sit wherever we wish so I chose. Please keep in mind the pIace was not packed at all. More waiters than tables to serve. My husband and I sat waiting. I had the view of all the waiters and no one would step up to serve us. I dont like the pull race cards. I cant stand when people use that as a poor excuse to misbehave so we waited to be served I kid you not it was as if the waiters were trying to pass of off on someone else to help us. Each of them made eye contact with me becasue they realized I was waiting and they see I am waiting. The look and as they pass my table they put their head down to not make eye contact with me. I didnt tell my husband anything because my husband is more forgiving than I. He then realized we were being ignored and we chalked it up to ok maybe in there culture thats how they move but then we realize wait, the table before us is being serviced. Than a guy comes to take care of us and he moving rather fast as if he wanted to get us over with. I thought he wanted us to put in order for dessert one time so he dont have to deal with us a second time. Again its observation and Im just taking mental notes. We had our meal and it was alright the lamb was dry but I liked the salad and beef. After we completed our dinner the waiter passed by many times never checking on us or even catching a hint that we were done and just sitting there with our plates stacked. I sat for 10 minutes and then signal him over to order a to go bag and the check. The waiter knows we owe him payment and he keeps walking away from us then straddling around. The other staff members are aware as well but no one jumps in. I dont know if there was a black party that was previously there that rubbed them the wrong way but I was offended. I dont like to carry on in public as people think all black people have no class. Anyone who decides to visit there be warned they may not be as welcoming and will walk egg shells around you. You may not like me becasue of the color of my skin then you should not serve not me at all becasue my money is as good as anyone elses. BTW they add the gratuity inside the bill.

Had a wonderful dinner with friends at Masal! I didn't take a picture, but there was a children's play place on the second floor. What a helpful concept- have the adults chit chat and making boring conversation while the kids go off to play! I've never had Manti before- small lamb dumplings with yogurt sauce. I don't know much about it, but it looked like the dumplings are hand made- good texture, flavorful lamb. I really tried not to eat it so quickly because I knew I would be :( once my dining experience ended. Dessert - warm kunefe with pistachios on top. It's a baked cheese pastry in syrup.

The place has a massive amount of seating both indoors and outdoors on the street with shade. However the food is pricy and the quality isn't amazing. Ordered a large Turkish tea the potato special with is a huge baked potato stuffed with cheese, tomato, cheese, corn, pickle, olives, sour cream ketchup and sausage. They also have meat entrees such as kebab, gyro and chicken but are on the pricier side. Food is mediocre and service could use improvement, it was difficult to get server's attention to pay bill. Might go back for dessert and tea only next time.

Food was mediocre. Service sucked we went to the part where the kids play area was and it was filthy and definitely wouldn't pass health inspections the waitress messed up the order and didn't come over at all had to hunt Her to get the check i wanted to love this place but it was not at all what i expected from the pics online

I ordered the Baby Arugula Salad, which one would think it would be hard to screw up. But they managed to do a horrible job. I might have well been pouring salt down my throat. It was so oversalted that it was inedible. My date said it must be the goat cheese, but it was the greens themselves. The tomatoes were mealy and equally salty. They could at least have used grape tomatoes. I almost ordered just the babaganoush, which in retrospect seemed a safer option, but I suspect that would have been a disaster as well.We sat in a corner at a booth. I cannot say whether all booths are the same, but this one was problematic. The benches were at a distance from the table, which meant having to sit on their edges. Extremely uncomfortable. The Masal Cafe has two locations, one at the corner of Sheepshead Bay Road and Emmons Avenue, the second a few doors further down on Emmons. We patronized the latter. I don't believe the menus differ. They do not have a liquor license, a disappointment, as a glass of wine might have made the experience tolerable. I have only sampled this cafe once, but I would advise you to steer clear of it. And I advise them to leave the proportion of salt to the consumer.

We ordered a variety of dishes including stuffed potato, meze platter, and kofte platter, all of which were pretty good. We asked for extra bread but had to ask twice as it never came the first time. The service here is very slow and casual but this makes it a good place if you want a very leisurely, calm experience. The food value is good here. The problem is that when the bill comes it already has an 18% tip added to it instead of having a blank space to add your own tip which most NYC restaurants have. Upon quizzing the server, I found out (if he was telling the truth) that the tips don't necessarily find their way to the servers, which is disgraceful. Like this place, but this tip issue is a turn-off and may affect my decision to return.

The food is inedible. The bread they brought was either yesterday's or the day before yesterday. Warmed up old stale pieces of bread. When I asked why the bread was tasteless and inedible, the waiter simply turned around and left. No service. The waiters leave and do not return, although the restaurant was empty and besides us there were only 2 women at the next table. The food is tasteless, the Turkish omelette is over-peppered and too spicy (my stomach hurt after eating it), the portions are small, the food is inedible.An 18 percent tip is automatically included in the bill. And another 3 percent on top for using a card rather than cash.And then they ask for another 18 to 22 percent tip.Terrible!!