One doesn't often describe a meal or restaurant as funny, but my experience at Masa definitely was. First the décor is 'early garage sale', old unmatched chairs and tables, random wall hangings, thoughtless lighting; a general sense of what-the-hell-do-you-expect-we-only had-fifty-Euro-to-work-with-and-we-needed-to buy-cigarettes-too! Which would be meaningful, and I took it to mean, 'Here our food is so elegant that your surroundings will disappear'. Well, it wasn't quite like that, but the longer I was there the more charmed I became by the whole thing.
The waitress seemed bored by us the moment we sat down. Eventually she sauntered over and we ordered drinks and waited. I stared at a blanket nailed to the wall, had it ever been washed? She returned only speaking German so I was at the mercy of my companion's translation. Ordering took about 20 minutes. We had examined the menu in her prolonged absence and decided we didn't have a clue about Pakistani or Afghani dining (I never did figure out which it is) and we would defer to our waitress's suggestions. When this was posed to her, she said, and this is a near quote, 'I eat at home before my shift so I really don't know what dishes to recommend. I haven't tried any.'
Well that left us hanging. So we ordered randomly, and hoped for the best, perhaps in the way the decorator had flung these objects onto the walls and around the room and hoped for the same.
We weren't disappointed, the food was good and plentiful, very plentiful. We stuffed ourselves on enormous platters of lamb, chicken, rice, lentils and other saucy dishes. Masa is one of the more reasonable meals in Hannover and a far cry from German or Italian fare. It is also a far cry from the ubiquitous robotic service and Germanic pride so often encountered, not to sound unappreciative of the norms, but Masa is kind of like traveling without having to leave home. All in all I recommend it as a reasonable and relaxing alternative.
There is also a lovely courtyard dining area. read more