Masuda’s Cafe: visitors experience loving hospitality and delicious Afghan and global cuisine

Upon entering Masuda’s Cafe, a new spot at 17 Kellogg Avenue opened by Masuda Abdullah, visitors find a warm, inviting, bright space, with tall ceilings and comfy furniture. The staff are super friendly and helpful, directing customers to a case filled with a variety of cookies, cakes, and pastries, including Persian love cake, carrot cake, and butter tarts. From classics like a chocolate chip cookie to luxury dates to namaki, an Afghan biscuit, there is bound to be something for everyone. 

Abdullah, who hails from Toronto, Canada, and is of Afghan heritage, calls her food “global fusion fare,” and those who have tasted it rave about it, leaving dozens of 5-star reviews on Google, Facebook, and Yelp. She lives in Springfield with her husband, also of Afghan heritage.  

Adbullah went to school for pastry arts and worked in the industry for eight years. “I’m a big foodie, and always traveled a lot,” she said. She was always looking for a good place to go have brunch or get dinner, until one day her husband asked her why she didn’t open up her own cafe. 

At first, she was resistant, noting, “I don’t like being in a leadership position, or having that much responsibility,” but eventually, she decided to take the leap. “A lot of the things that you think you’ll never do, you never know until you try it,” she said.  

Since owning a cafe was never a part of her original life plan, she didn’t have the chance to build up any expectations of what it would be like. Running her own business turned out to be a lot of work; for her, it is important to just take it “one day at a time, one step at a time, one task at a time.” Her husband will often remind her to “look back and see how much you’ve achieved, and how much progress you’ve made.” 

Though certain parts of her job are less favorable, she reflected that she enjoys the diversity of the management side of it. “[I like] how many hats you wear, how busy you are on a day-to-day basis, what you’re forced to think of,” she said.  

Abdullah learned to cook by observing her mom in the kitchen as she was growing up. “[My mom] loves to cook to this day, and is an amazing one,” she said. She later attended college in Toronto, where she learned the culinary techniques you need to cook and bake professionally.

The cafe’s menu began with her favorite dishes and evolved as she asked herself what she would want if she were going out for coffee or brunch. Living in Toronto also influenced her choices, leading her to include many items commonly found in cafes throughout the city.

The most unique parts of her menu are, of course, the Afghan-inspired items. To her, making sure there was a balance between well-known dishes and more exploratory ones was key. 

It was important that they be “very careful of how we were doing the fusion,” she said. “I didn’t want people to look at the menu and be afraid because they didn’t know what anything was.” She really stresses that it is important to have something for every demographic, every age group, every income level, and every dietary restriction.

The most popular drinks with customers are either one of the three types of chai offered: Kashmiri, Sheer, and Golden, or the Pistachio Cardamom Latte. As for food, the Spicy Poached Eggs, Farmhouse Egg Wrap, and the Cardamom and Saffron French Toast are always top sellers. 

Abdullah’s personal favorites are the Sheer chai and Masuda’s Breakfast, a new menu item they will be adding in the near future. It will consist of two eggs over easy, masala home fries, fresh veggies, and toast. 

Growing up, it was always made clear to Abdullah and her siblings that anyone was welcome in their family home. This mentality guided her in the creation of the cafe, where she emphasizes the importance of good customer service. 

“Afghans are known for their hospitality,” Abdullah said. “I wanted that embedded into the menu and the atmosphere and the training, where it was like you treat guests like next to God.”

Having such an open household when she was younger also greatly affected her attitude towards other people. Her parents never put any emphasis on distinctions between race, color, or ethnicity, making sure that they understood that people are people, and that everybody was welcome. “There’s always a place at our table for everybody, there’s always enough food for everybody, and everybody’s safe here,” she said. “I think that is my biggest inspiration.”

Abdullah truly cares about her customers; to her, providing a positive experience for them is so much more important than getting their money. “When we say our guests are an extension of our family, we truly mean it,” Abdullah said.

In life, the values that Abdullah finds most important are purity of heart, kindness, and respect. “We need to lead with pure hearts, no matter how nasty the world is, and we need to try to be as kind to one another as much as possible and be forgiving and understand that everyone is struggling with something,” she said.