Al Masgoof

grilled fish (masgoof) was very good; I picked a live fish from the tank and the cook weighed it and cooked it on charcoal…
Fish was a bit pricey, 50 for a 5.5 pounds fish…
Fresh bread…
Good appetizers…
Good service…
Large dining area with live music on Saturdays…
I’ve got to try their breakfast and grilled (tanoor) chicken next…

I don’t know where to start… Plastic plates, no steak knives, and soda by the can could be forgiven when amazing food & service take front & center. I had to remind the waitress about my soda, she forgot my ranch, forgot my dads tea, brought red rice instead of burgul, and our food (masgoof) took an hour and 8 minutes. The guy that brings the chai was the only one that checked on us but the manager did apologize for the delay so that’s what the 2 stars are for. The rice was bland, the salad dressing was eh, the fish was underdone (to me, my dad liked it), & our bread was burned.

Place is not very clean
Food is excellent
Servers are friendly but service is so slow

Another unmistakably Iraqi dish is the legendary Masgoof — a dish that takes time and plenty of technique to master and an entire restaurant crew has converged in suburban Detroit, MI and taken this namesake to dedicate the name of their restaurant as homage to this dish — «Al-​Masgoof», a brightly lit and clearly legible sign in English and Arabic reads with a gigantic fish in the center. Most Iraqis will probably admit that only a handful of masgoof restaurants in the entire world actually get it right. Now that might sound a little dramatic, but after getting up-​close and personal with its preparation, you realize how cumbersome and it can be.
The dish sounds straightforward — well somewhat. It consists of large usually live freshwater fish (normally carp but I’ve seen bass and trout as well) which is completely slip open — head to tail. It is then cleaned, and then seasoned with salt, pepper, and turmeric and left standing for a few minutes to absorb the seasoning. Meanwhile, a fire needs to be started consisting of a conically placed heap of charcoal — not the bagged shit with chemicals — but the true large shards of the stuff. Then some exclusively hickory or palm wood planks need to be prepared — soaked in water for about an hour so that the wood does not burn up. Once the fish has absorbed the seasoning, it is basted with a tamarind paste at least twice. Then the fish are nailed to the hickory wood planks, tilted in a 45-​degree angle to openly face the fire. After a reasonable amount of time cooking, there should be a beautiful char on the outside of the fish. It can then be served with chargrilled tomatoes and onions. And I would say that at Al-​Masgoof they do this dish justice. It was piping hot, fresh, smoky, earthy, and simply delicious with the slight tartness of the tamarind without concealing the true flavor of this otherwise uninteresting fish. As a side, the fish milt and roe is also served with butter and herbs — a truly beautiful caviar experience.
Basically you want to come to Al-​Masgoof to try this dish. However, the other items on the menu are also excellent like the grilled platter and also the chargrilled lamb liver served with the caul-​fat — very rich and excellent dish. I am also looking to look way past the gaudy interiors in favor of the beautiful dishes. And of course the wait staff was very friendly and accommodating — very hardworking people who really go the extra mile to make sure the masgoof is perfected.
Solid 5-​stars. Well done.

If you are here to eat fish, than you are in the right place. Anything else from the menu is not recommended.

I tried it it for the first time last week and the food is absolutely amazing I loved it

Amazing great Iraqi food, specially their Masgoof fish, it’s so good, also don’t forget their Iraqi Tannoor bread, also their Kabob is so tasty.

The grilled whole chicken tastes amazing (wood grilled) the beef shawarma sandwich is always tasty. This place has really authentic Arabic (Iraqi) food. I highly recommend it.
Ps when you walk into the restaurant, it does smell like fish since they have a live fish tank that customers can order by the pound and have them grill it.

Great food & great customer service love the fresh hot bread. The fish is always fresh & knowing its live & cooked while your there make it so much better.

The food here is as authentic Iraqi as any I’ve had in Detroit. It may even be better than I make at home. The whole fish is wood grilled –excellent and worth the wait. The tabooli is fresh and lemony. The hummus bi tahini is so creamy. The bread comes off the wood grill hot and tasty –yummy yummy yummy

You come here for the Masgoof. Choose your fish. Incredibly tasty. Take it home. Devour it amongst hungry family. It’s an experience.

Its an excellent spot if you’re looking for authentic Iraqi cuisine. The fried fish with yellow reice is a good combination.

I told myself i wouldn’t go back to this place, the first time i went years Ago when they first opened up. I was robbed on the bill the first time, and yet once again went there the other day, clearly says the pricing on the menu, yet they always have an excuse to why the price is more than to what it says on the menu. Its one of those places you leave and say ill never return, should have learned my lesson the first time. And if you dont speak arabic, dont bother walking in, by the way, i speak Arabic.

I ate in at this place a few years ago, I recall it wasn’t too bad in terms of service or atmosphere. (But then I was invited by a friend and that always makes food taste better.) Typical of what you would find at any «authentic» Middle Eastern restaurant — nothing fancy. Recently, I had take-​out.
What makes them stand out is their style of cooking fish, masgouf style. Its unique to Iraq, not really practice much outside there and this place is the only place in town (they claim in the States) that makes fish masgouf.
The masgouf fish is fairly pricey, but well worth the cost and the drive! I drove 45-​min each way to pick it up and would do it again.

the food is average. service is bad. fish is overpriced. the only good thing is the cream chop but everyone can make that. a lot of better places to go just in a 1mile radius

The food is average. The service is below average. you order a 10 lbs fish and they deliver you two fish one for 5 lbs and the other 6 lbs without letting you know that they do not carry what you ordered. surprise on the table with one extra pound you are being charged for it also !. rice was good. cracked wheat was cold!
I cannot say I want to go back there.

My first visit here with my family and friends. The food was amazing especially the grilled fish and rice. The lady who served our table had no experience at all. We waited for more than 15 minutes for bread, and then another 15 minutes for plates. I would give it 5 starts without the waiter’s rating

Al-​Masgoof or (The Masgoof) is a mediterranean restaurant that makes a delicious dishes but the best one and most famous dish is the live fish taken from water and cooked on wood pile, its gourmet and unique in doing it, also the kabob and beef tenderloin are very very good, another thing I tried it recently is (bajilla Tashreeb), its a breakfast meal consist of a broth of fava beans with bread and over it scrambled eggs, its very famous in middle east and delicious .
The prices are fair for the dishes its 10 $ as average may be little higher or cheeper than that depending on what you gonna order
The problem is the cleanness of the restaurant and the small area that there is a small reception and behind it an open kitchen, its little messy, I think the owner needs to enlarge the restaurant, make close kitchen and give more space for entrance and tables, and care about the cleaning of the restaurant and rest rooms, this is very important, for that I will give it 5 stars for the food and 2 stars for the cleanness

Best Cornish Hens you ever had in your life hands down!!!
Al Masgoof cuts there Cornish hen down the middle and flattens them out, and puts them in medal cages. They cook on a wooded fire with plenty of smoke. they also put there own citrus seasonings on there! I have ate many meals in my life, and alot the those meals where chicken, so let me tell you that this chicken bye far bar none!
Forget there fish, lamb, and beef GET THE CHICKEN

If you’re daring, get your rubber wetsuits on, and get ready for a food adventure.
The reason I went in to Al Masgoof was because we were driving by and the sign was funny: «FISH COOKED OVER WOOD PILE». That sounds fantastic, right?
When you enter Al Masgoof, you are greeted with the heavy scent of woodsmoke mixed with the smell of water and fish. It’s like going to a beach barbecue. At first, it’s not clear you’re in a restaurant; it looks more like a fish market. There are tanks and a display case, and an open kitchen. Glance to your left, however, and you’ll see a dining area.
The waitress we had spoke no English; this is a concern because it’s very difficult to explain what you want. We opted for the house special (The Masgoof), because we weren’t sure what else to do, honestly.
The Masgoof is fascinating: You point out a fish from the live tank, the chef catches it for you and they split it along the back (not the belly), clean it, and smear it with a delicious smelling herb paste. Then, they put the fish on a wood plank and stick it up next to the fire for twenty minutes or so. While you wait, you get a salad and maybe some rice, along with lots of fresh-​baked bread.
The prices are listed clearly, but what they DON’T tell you is that the prices are PER POUND. We thought we would be paying $ 14.95 for each of us, and it turns out we had 2lb Tilapias, so our meal ended up costing almost $ 50, which was way more than we had anticipated. Beware of the pricing!
The chef is clearly very proud of his craft. He came out to show us another fish he was preparing, and was excited that we were there, and made sure we were happy with everything.
You take the good with the bad at this place; don’t go in expecting anything other than what it is: If you want FISH PREPARED OVER WOODPILE, then this is worth trying (and it is fantastic, truly), but the … foreignness of the place might put many people off. It’s a challenging restaurant to be sure; are you up for it?