Masa and Bar Masa

[SobaAddict70]

You are fed what he elects to feed you, most of it sushi, in the sequence and according to the rhythm he decrees. You do not seize control at Masa. You surrender it. You pay to be putty.

There may be an uni risotto with white truffle; dollops of a perilous blowfish's prized liver; slices of foie gras, to be cooked slightly in a ceramic hot pot; a mound of toro tartare and caviar to be spread on toasted rectangles of Japanese sweet bread.

Other restaurants strive to be extravagant theaters. Masa, with 26 seats in all, intends to be a minimalist temple, all neutral colors and reverential hush.

Masa (Frank Bruni)

With this review, it seems that Mr. Bruni has dispelled the ghosts of reviewers past.

Soba

[Jinmyo]

With this review, it seems that Mr. Bruni has dispelled the ghosts of reviewers past. 

Soba

Soba, what do you mean? How so? Whaa?

edit:

Quote thing weirded out.

Edited December 29, 2004 by Jinmyo (log)

[SobaAddict70]

An allusion to this review by one of Mr. Bruni's predecessors.

Soba

[docsconz]

There are some on these boards who will be very happy with this review.

[slkinsey]

Moderator's note: I have moved all the posts from this thread that dealt primarily with the question of "whether it can be worth the money" to a more appropriate thread. Please continue this fork of the conversation in the thread entitled Can Masa Really Be Worth THAT Much $? -- $350/Person for Sushi?!

Let's keep this thread for discussion that bears directly on Masa and Bar Masa.

[bouquetduvin]

Can someone enlightment me on any specifics or insight as to the wine list at Masa or Bar Masa, besides Sake and Beer. Thanks much.

[sakana]

Can someone enlightment me on any specifics or insight as to the wine list at Masa or Bar Masa, besides Sake and Beer. Thanks much.

←

The wine list at Masa is here.

After reading this thread over and over, along with the NYX reviews, etc, I think I've decided to go. It'll have to be the last place I go when I'm in NYC in March or everything else I eat (based on the reviews) will taste like dirt-- but I'm going.

And I actually got butterflies just typing that.

[bouquetduvin]

Can someone enlightment me on any specifics or insight as to the wine list at Masa or Bar Masa, besides Sake and Beer. Thanks much.

←

The wine list at Masa is here.

After reading this thread over and over, along with the NYX reviews, etc, I think I've decided to go. It'll have to be the last place I go when I'm in NYC in March or everything else I eat (based on the reviews) will taste like dirt-- but I'm going.

And I actually got butterflies just typing that.

←

Sakana: Thank you very much for providing the wine list. I am actually meeting with Masa tomorrow to show them some wines. So your information was very insightful and solidified my decision on what to show them. I hope you have an opportunity to dine there. Much appreicated.

[sakana]

Glad you got the list in time, bouquetduvin!

A question of my own, now. Browsing through New York's on-line listings, I ran into this bit of info on Masa (I assume from when their review was written, in April):

Reservations are taken the first week of the month for the following month only.

Does anyone know if this still holds true?

[oakapple]

A question of my own, now.  Browsing through New York's on-line listings, I ran into this bit of info on Masa (I assume from when their review was written, in April):

Reservations are taken the first week of the month for the following month only.

Does anyone know if this still holds true?

←

I think that was true when Masa was a hard ticket to come by. By the time Frank Bruni reviewed it last month, this apparently was no longer the case.

[sakana]

I think that was true when Masa was a hard ticket to come by. By the time Frank Bruni reviewed it last month, this apparently was no longer the case.

←

Thanks, oakapple. Is a month in advance far enough to make my call then-- I want to make sure i get a seat at the bar.

(Also, sorry for all of the questions-- eventually I'll get an handle on this stuff and will be answering them instead. Eventually....)

[bouquetduvin]

I think that was true when Masa was a hard ticket to come by. By the time Frank Bruni reviewed it last month, this apparently was no longer the case.

←

Thanks, oakapple. Is a month in advance far enough to make my call then-- I want to make sure i get a seat at the bar.

(Also, sorry for all of the questions-- eventually I'll get an handle on this stuff and will be answering them instead. Eventually....)

←

I will say one thing, I meet with many high end and low end restaurants in my business. The Wine Director at Masa is extremely knowledgable, professional and most importantly very pleasant. Too often you meet with this level of restaurant and the Chef Sommelier has an attitude, etc. We met at Bar Masa, nice lunch crowd for mid week, the staff which I met were extremely pleasant.

[jbonne]

I will say one thing, I meet with many high end and low end restaurants in my business.  The Wine Director at Masa is extremely knowledgable, professional and most importantly very pleasant.  Too often you meet with this level of restaurant and the Chef Sommelier has an attitude, etc. We met at Bar Masa, nice lunch crowd for mid week, the staff which I met were extremely pleasant.

to say nothing of a really appealing, affordable (compared to the food prices) list.

can i ask the wine director's name? haven't seen it mentioned anywhere obvious yet ...

[bouquetduvin]

I will say one thing, I meet with many high end and low end restaurants in my business.  The Wine Director at Masa is extremely knowledgable, professional and most importantly very pleasant.  Too often you meet with this level of restaurant and the Chef Sommelier has an attitude, etc. We met at Bar Masa, nice lunch crowd for mid week, the staff which I met were extremely pleasant.

to say nothing of a really appealing, affordable (compared to the food prices) list.

can i ask the wine director's name? haven't seen it mentioned anywhere obvious yet ...

←

The Wine Director's name is Mario.

[jbonne]

The Wine Director's name is Mario.

thanks. i'll have to look into his backstory. he seems to have a great eye for a balanced list.

[Todd36]

I think their sake is top notch and well valued. It's the main reason I go there. I think my second favorite sake place these days is Sushi Seki. Both places seem to have access to the unusual and have enough turn over to keep things fresh.

[vivin]

Finally went to Masa last weekend. Others have done a good job of describing the place. The fish is from nirvana no doubt. I will refrain from commenting about value because this kind of fish I have never seen in my life. Definitely worth going for at least once.

However, I did have an issue that I am struggling with. I am allergic to all shell fish - a concern that I was assured was not a problem when I made the reservation at Masa. I arrived at the restaurant and the hostess asked me about it again - it was obviously duly noted in the reservation. Then our server asked us who the person with the allergy was. All seemed to be taken care of.

The first sushi course, however, had scallops for me. I brought the issue up with the server immediately. She assured me that it was not a problem. The other sushi piece gave me a little irritation in the throat - contamination from the scallops maybe - I am very very sensitive. The next course was grilled shitake mushrooms that were very tasty but were obviously either brushed with or contained some shell fish ingredient that I could not detect just by smell. At this point, I had to decide whether to keep eating or to stop. I drank a lot of ice water and iced the inside of my throat and my allergy reduced to a irritation. Instead of kicking up a fuss about the whole thing, I decided to keep going, especially for the sake of my party. I was also a little defensive about bringing up my allergy again and again (after all, I chose to eat sushi despite my shell fish allergy).

Although I enjoyed the rest of the meal less than I would have otherwise, the fish was absolutely amazing. However, I got sick after I left the restaurant. Thankfully, I felt better after I threw up after reaching home.

My question to you guys is - having been to a lot of Japanese/sushi places and never having the problem before, is it too much to expect a place like Masa to make sure a person like me - who is very sensitive to shell fish but still wants to enjoy sushi - is taken care of. I did call them up and they apologised and offered to really take care of me the next time. I do want to take my wife there but am kind of cheesed off by service lapse I encountered. Suffice it to say that my very expensive meal was tarnished. I did want to bring it up and see what others think about it.

[ajay]

I think that it's perfectly appropriate for Masa (or any other restaurant) to refuse to accomodate a diner with special needs. Indeed, if Masa believed that shellfish pervades their menu and it would be impossible for them to provide a meal that is free from contamination, they are obliged to inform you of this fact.

However, assuming that you detailed the sensitivity of your allergy, and the restaurant agrees to accomodate you, it has the obligation to do so. I think serving you the scallop sushi is a major service lapse that is completley unacceptable. I think a particularly perceptive server would have offered to take back the sushi touching the scallop on his own accord.

That said, I think with regard to the contaminated scallop a little bit of self-help might have preserved more of your dinning experience. You obviously know more about your allergy than the restaurant, and asking for a new piece of sushi due to contamination fears might have done a lot to keep the staff especially vigilant for the rest of the evening.

I think it would be incredibly poor form for the restaurant to refuse to accomodate a request for new sushi based on the contamination, or indeed even to charge extra for doing so.

I understand the desire to avoid having to remind a restaurant (particularly at that caliber) of one's special needs over and over, but if it appears as though they don't understand the scope and nature of one's needs, providing additional communication is probably the surest route to an enjoyable dinning experience.

Thanks for the report.

[Todd36]

It should be Masa's standard practice to ask what their customers don't eat upon arrival, it is a chef's choice kind of place which means they control what you get, you do not. Sugiyama always seems to ask.

[vivin]

1) To be clear, the problem occured AFTER the scallop course. At the point I refused the scallops, I had communicated my condition to them FOUR times. It was the course AFTER REFUSING the scallops that got me into trouble. Also, if I have any way to avoid shellfish, I do (and have done it for years). In this case, there was no way to avoid it in my opinion.

2) If I were careless, I would have problems like these a lot.

3) The key point is, it was already done at that point. I could not have made it any better for myself by kicking up a fuss. I do not like to be a pain in the ass for restaurants (my dad has owned restaurants for 50+ yrs). All I am debtating is - why would it happen at Masa where attention to detail is a key ingredient to the experience.

[sakana]

Just got back from dinner @ Masa (I actually sat next to a guy who was allergic to shellfish-- Vivan, you weren't back already, were you?). While I have serious doubts as to if any meal is worth $400 (tax AFTER the 20% tip is added is a bit harsh, too), I do not feel ripped off. The room was magnificent-- oddly, something about the smell of the wood made me feel like I was in a ryokan in Kyoto. The food, too, was wonderful: every course was distinct, interesting, and meticulously prepared. The sushi highlights for me were the most tender squid I've ever encountered and a grilled small scallop (from "Nantucket, Japan"), garnished with both wasabi and tiny bits of nori-- nothing I hadn't had before, but in terms of taste, in a different universe than anything I'd previously tasted. It was interesting to me that the guy who didn't eat shellfish ended up on a totally different sushi track than his wife and I followed; in addition to his non-shellfish pieces, he also received other pieces that differed from ours. I did not at all feel as if I had too much food, though; based on other descriptions, I wonder if he's cut back on the size of dinners. Has anyone been lately who also ate there shortly after opening? I'd love to know for sure.

Anyway, I'm thrilled I went, both for the food and for the entirety of the experience.

[robyn]

I've never heard of tax being added to the total amount including tip - anywhere. Has anyone else here? Robyn

[BryanZ]

If any NYC restaurant can, in any way, replicate the feeling or vibe of a traditional ryokan in Kyoto that is an accomplishment in itself.

[a geek]

Any recent thoughts on Masa? Bourdain's review two years ago left a longing in my brain for the food and I have a few trips to the city planned.

How hard is it to get into Masa these days?

[Sneakeater]

Not that hard, based on my recent experience making sequential sets of reservations (all of which I unfortunately had to cancel).