Martsa On Elm

One of the best restaurants in Boston. The Shakampa is elite as hell. Pumpkin balls, momo, thenthuk all also elite.

Vibes are good - not a lively spot per se but better sit down section than most similar joints. Service fast and always friendly. Love it

Food: great! The spicy beef noodles must try!
Service: 7/10. On average.
Ambiance: great! The music is really good! But no Wi-Fi!

1. The food at Martsa is great
2. I really wish the owners would take the time to update *something* (social media, voicemail, etc) when they decide to close randomly.

The problem with Martsa is the stars and moon have to align perfectly for them to be open.

I get that stuff happens and it's your store. That's great! Just don't make me slog halfway across town to figure out if you're really open or just really busy.

If this hadn't happened more than a handful of times, I'd let it alone.

I know you know how to use Facebook and instagram. Be polite to your customers, let us know when you're closed with something other than a sign taped to your window!

Also, get a better credit card machine! Yours often takes 10 minutes + to process a transaction. Which means if you have multiple tickets queued up - sometimes we have to wait 30+ minutes just to leave!

This was so much better than I thought; it is now on my I have to come back here and try more tasty things. I loved the wine selection, but the food is the star, as it should be. We ate the "matsa" for the first time, and I will get it every time. I was being vegan at the time of my visit, and I had plenty to choose from.

Service was laid back and inexperienced, but we weren't in a rush, and as they got busy more people joined the service crew, so I saw it running ticky-booh by the time we left.

The decor and atmosphere are definitely an Asian chic vibe. Dark, quiet, and with a little romance in the air. I think next time I will book two hours for dinner and not be so picky. Enjoy!

I think this spot is thoroughly average. Tried the momo, chicken qorma and the pumpkin curry.

The momo was fine - not particularly flavorful, but definitely decent. There was a lot of dough compared to the filling.

The chicken qorma (pictured) was definitely not doing well. It was too salty and also swimming in oil. Not too appetizing to look at.

The winner was the pumpkin curry. If I ever came back, this is what I would get!

Martsa on Elm has been here for three years, with their last location serving for five. My partner and I came here to try Tibetan food for the first time.

I had momos before, but from Nepalese and other Asian restaurants so I wanted to see if theres any difference. If you don't know what they are, momos are steamed dumplings filled with veggies or meat. These are as good as the other great momos I've tried.

I also wanted to try out other well known tibetan food. From my research: butter tea, shapalay, and thukpa.

The butter tea was definitely interesting. It is used widely in Tibet and is drank by older folks in ceremony. The hint of butter adds richness to the tea which is savory. It's not something I would order again as i found it overwhelming, but it is worth a try.

Shapalay is meat filled fried pastry. It's filling and delicious. The pastry is crunchy and the meat is flavorful.

Lastly, thukpa is a noodle soup that can come with meat or tofu. The noodles are kind of like pho noodles but thicker. I loved the texture and flavor. I might come back for it again.

I had beef for all the meals and i noticed they used the same style of meat throughout. The meat you see in the soup is the same being used in the momos and shapalay. It was very filling indeed.

Overall, the ambiance is amazing, theres authentic decor throughout the walls. It made me feel like I'm in a foreign area. The food was delicious and t service was great and accommodating.

Loved it here and can't wait to go back. The atmosphere was warm, inviting. It looked like most tables were booked up but we could still have a conversation. And the food!!! So good. Honey ginger shrimp! Gyathuk Choco (noodles and veggies)! Beef and spinach (with a kick)! Loved every bite! In fact, I'm going back tonight.

For appetizers, we ordered:
1. Shapalay
2. Veggie Momo
3. Beef Momo
4. We something else but I think they forgot. ‍

For the main dish, we ordered...
1. Crispy Eggplant and Tofu
2. Pumpkin Curry
3. Chicken Masala
4. Chicken Chili


For Appetizers, the Shapalay was the best. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Beef Momo came in second and then the veggie Momo. They were all very good. I would come back for the Shapalay.


Crispy Eggplant and Tofu was hands down our favorite. It kind of reminds me of the dessert candied sweet potatoes at those Korean take on Chinese food Restaurants.

The outer skin has this light and thin layer of candied crispiness and the center is soft and lightly gooey. The veggies had the same coating of the delicious sauce that they used for the eggplant. Whatever, just order it!


Pumpkin Curry was good but deceptively spicy. Be careful of the singular chili bits. I didn't taste the spice but the unfortunate party member who bit into the chili did. A lot of water was needed.

The Chicken Masala was good .

The Chicken Chili was nice because it was different than what we expected. If you're looking for something somewhat unique, this was it.


Overall, we had a great time and meal. The waitress was kind. I would go again!

I recently went to Martsa for the first time in a while and it's even better than I remember! I just wanted to put in a plug for my love the chicken thenthuk (spicy). It's so flavorful, savory, and spicy with tender tender chicken and thin chewy handpulled noodles. Probably one of my favorite broths in the world.

We also tried a few things we hadn't tried before. The fish curry has good flavor but I didn't love the texture of the cod fillet. The roti is thin and chewy but a bit dry since it doesn't have much fat. The fiery pork belly has a very savory punch of flavor with very tender meat. Apparently the lamb squash is amazing.

The steamed beef momos were delicious! They had delightfully chewy (what seems like handmade) skin with juicy flavorful beef inside. It comes with 8 and I would gladly eat it all myself.

While I do want to try more menu items, I cannot resist the pull of the spicy chicken thenthuk. It's probably my favorite dish in this area, maybe ever. I hope to eat it for many years to come :)

Came here on a Saturday evening and we only had to wait a few minutes to get seated which was good. The space was pretty full by the time we got there at around 7, but tables were freeing up when we were leaving. It never got too loud or rowdy which was nice - made for a pleasant meal overall.

Their menu had a good variety of food and made it hard to choose, but we settled on 2 apps and 2 entrees to share for 2 of us. Our waiter was nice enough when taking our orders, but seemed to forget about my mango lassi as I had to remind someone to get it for me after our starters had come out.

The pumpkin balls were interesting and tasty while the momos were a little disappointing - they broke very easily and were soggy in a bad way despite being steamed. Nonetheless, we'd probably get the pumpkin balls again as they were unique enough and the sauce they came with was delicious.

Both entrees, the pork belly and chicken, we got were very delicious. I loved the spice associated with both and would love to eat them again if I ever came back. The portion however left a lot to be desired for the price so I found them to be a little expensive and not worth their cost.

Overall, I'm glad I got to try this spot after passing it so many times in Davis, but I probably wouldn't come back if it were my choice of somewhere to eat. Delicious food, okay service, poor pricing.