Great atmosphere, really like the decor. They could add a little bit of sound dampening as it gets very loud with a lot of reverb from the other tables. Food is amazing, one of the best Indian food I've had, & certainly the best Indian food in Sherbrooke. Service was fine, not the fastest or greatest, but lovely people anyhow.
After reading all the good reviews, our experience at Masala Café Sherbrooke was a bit disapointing. - Food: We both had the thali, wich we took with 3 accompanying dishes that we shared: butter chicken, korma lamb & tikka masala mushrooms. The thali was also served with papadum & chutneys, wich arrived on our table very fast & were excellent. When the thali arrived, it was served with a small fresh cachumber salad & a small bowl of dal, wich were good. The thali was also served with 1 single naan bread, wich was excellent. Unfortunately, when we did ask for more bread, at around 19h30, we were told that there was no more (I though: "no more naan bread in an indian restaurant, really?"). The rice, however, was great! For the thali accompanying dishes (butter chicken, korma lamb & tikka masala mushrooms), they were a bit disapointing. The chiken was good!, but in all 3 plates, the savors were drowned in what seemed to be cardamom (wich is a spice that I like, but not when it is so omnipresent). Also, the lamb felt a bit dry. All in all, the food was okay, but disapointing when you pay 85$ for 2 plates (including a 15% tip), no drinks, no desserts. - Service: Service was another area in wich the Masala café lacked. The waitress was kind & smiling, but throughout the service, we were many times remembered that "the service might be lacking because they (the restaurant) was "smashed" by more customers than they thought they would have on a sunday evening..." which was on the eve of the Journée nationnale des Patriotes, so they should of planed for it (right?). Despite those frequent remarks, we found the restaurant pretty empty & calm at 19h00. The service was fast enough, wich made all those comments a bit unasked for &, quite frankly, a bit unpleasent (although we did empathized with the waitress). Also, we brought our own bottle of wine, wich one of the waitress was unable to oppen, so we did it ourselves, wich was not a big problem but, still, for 85$, you expect a service that includes the oppening of a wine bottle without fuss. That second waitress did told us that she was only there to help the other waitress & was usually working in the kitchen, & that her boss should of planned for more staff (wich, again, might of been true, but was a bit unasked for & unpleasent to be always remembered of that situation throughout the meal). Atmoshpere: Decor & atmosphere were nice, wich was one of the resasons we chose that restaurant to begin with. Price: 85$ (including a 15% tip, for 2 plates of thali, no drinks, no side dishes, no dessert). The first thing that my guest told me after the meal was: "Well, that was okay, but definitely overpriced for what we got." Unfortunately, I felt the same way. I hoped our experience there would of been better considering all the good reviews I read before deciding on that specific restaurant. Maybe our experience was a 1-of thing & we were just bad lucked. Still, disapointing.
