Sunaina D.
Yelp
I have gotten food twice now from Masala Mischief and they do not disappoint! These photos are from my second round (each time I used Uber Eats), and on this round I got the paneer tikka masala fries, chicken pakora, and a mango lassi. Everything was super delicious and flavorful with good portions! Last time I also ordered their dahi papdi chaat, maybe my least favorite thing. Please excuse the photos-- I totally forgot to take photos before I dug in!
Tikka Masala Fries:
The first time, I tried the chicken and the second, I got the paneer. I am a huge fan of "ethnic fries" as I call them, and these have to be in my top three. The sauce is really flavorful (but not at all spicy so be forewarned if you are expecting that). I wasn't actually expecting cheese, like mozzarella or something similar, but it paired well with the saucy fries! I personally preferred the chicken to the paneer, coming from someone who loves paneer a lot. I think the chicken pairs better texturally with the fries because while the paneer was delicious, the texture is too close to that of the fries. It needs that contrast. Really really yummy either way though, and pretty large portions!
Chicken Pakora:
The first time we ordered, it came with tamarind chutney and the second time, they gave us green chutney. I personally prefer tamarind overall, but found that the green chutney was actually quite a welcome burst of freshness to cut through the heavy, saucy nature of the fries. The chicken pakoras come in really large pieces and are really juicy! The outside isn't as crisp as I had hoped, probably due to sitting during delivery, but they're well seasoned and taste like good pakoras. They come with around seven large pieces and make a perfect side.
Mango Lassi:
Their mango lassi is pretty classic. It's thick and sweet and has good flavor. Of course, it IS a lassi, so definitely consider how much it's going to fill you up before you order it alongside lots of other heavy food. Some other places do like, rosewater mango lassis etc., but I personally like the classic kind best. It's great to have in the Riverside heat.
Dahi Papdi Chaat:
So the chaat was not my favorite and is actually the only thing knocking this review down a little. I wasn't super happy with the actual papdi. It came with ten pieces (not bad), but rather than the light, crispy papdi I'm used to, they were thicker and more solid ones. It was well packaged, so the papdi and the actual chaat portion came in separate containers, but the dahi was too runny to pick up with the papdi and the potatoes chunks were too large. I think due to the packaging unfortunately the sauces all mixed together so you don't get each distinct flavor. I did appreciate the pomegranate, but overall it wasn't the best. I was a little disappointed because it was my friends first experience with classic chaat and she didn't think too highly of it, but it definitely wasn't bad! Probably wouldn't order again.
Overall, Masala Mischief is a solid place to go if you're craving classic chaat dishes with a modern twist. I have yet to try some of their more daring fusion dishes like the tikka-dilla or fusion tacos, but I'm overall really satisfied with the food. The only thing I didn't love was still pretty decent, just not the best I've had. I've had a hard time finding good chaat since I left the Bay and am glad to have a new place to go to! I'm also fairly certain this is a Bengali run place and I literally never find those so that's super cool! Definitely will be returning (like today, again with Uber Eats lol) and can't wait to see what else they have to offer.