About Masala Story
About Eat Great Cheap 2019
This article is a part of Washingtonian’s Eat Great Cheap feature, our annual list of where to eat (and not break the bank) right now. Our food editors put together the best new restaurants around DC where you can find Detroit-style pizza, Japanese egg-salad sandwiches, chicken-nugget-filled tacos, and more—for $25 or less per person.
This vibrant Brookland cafe with a covered patio turns out Indian curries and street snacks with fire and finesse. Fried things—Amritsari fish, extra-spicy Punjabi-style fritters, crisp spinach rolls sheathed in chickpea powder—are must-orders, as are herb-flecked curries of lamb, goat, and chicken. If meat isn’t on your menu, go for kadi pakora, vegetable dumplings adrift in a yogurt sauce, or the eggplant stew called baingan bhartha. Drinks run from cocktails to local beers to a lovely masala chai that doubles as dessert.