Ate at Masa recently and it was phenomenal. The fish meat was far and away best I’ve ever had, especially the toro. I’ve had high quality sushi before, specifically pieces that melt in your mouth but I’ve never had pieces that are so tender and high quality that I would describe them as creamy. I won’t comment on whether a $950 price tag at the hinoki counter is worth it since that’s for you to decide but I highly recommend sitting at the counter if you decide to go. Note that a large portion of the price increase from $500-$600 to $750 (for a regular dinner table seat) is driven by supplements that are no longer optional such as the generous amounts of black and white truffles and the omhi beef.
I was fortunate to have Chef Masa prepare my pieces of food himself vs other chefs. He’s not as extroverted as the other chefs but I appreciated just watching him work on the various pieces of food. Prior to the dessert he asked me what my favorite piece of meat was and I said the toro so he prepared me an extra piece with hokkaido sea urchin on top. The dessert was just a few pieces of crisp fruit with some tea – not great to be honest but I expected that given I’ve never had extravagant desserts after an omakase.
After the dessert, one or the workers asked me if I wanted another piece of dessert: a green tea lady M cake, some ice cream, or some sorbet. I said all three sounded good so he offered to bring me some cake and a scoop of either the ice cream or sorbet. I chose the ice cream, which wasn’t memorable at all. The green tea cake was actually pretty good but it’s from a chain dessert shop – feel like the desserts is a clear area for improvement.
All in all I thought it was worth it but would I go back? Probably not at that price point
dorkyromantic on
How’d you get the pic inside? Last I went it was a pretty strict no phones/photos allowed policy
I’m with you — really great experience, but won’t go back with that price point. Can get a better QPR at other spots around the city
Tejon_Melero on
This spot intrigues me. OPs menu continues that intrigue.
Part of me can’t justify the money, it seems ridiculous. However, it’s not really that’s much more damage than most incredibly immemorable 1 stars can add up for a casual night out.
Parrotshake on
You had me at “stone crab with uni aioli”.
0010110100110000 on
Absolutely loved the summer course at MASA. They had a perfectly roasted papaya with uni custard. Did you also get his signature on the paper used to grill the matsutake?
Masa is also one of the few restaurants in the US that has good soba tea. Literally the only other place that has something equivalent is the French Laundry
Kinda blows my mind that such a simple but perfectly earthy end to a meal is slept on by so many chefs
5 Comments
Ate at Masa recently and it was phenomenal. The fish meat was far and away best I’ve ever had, especially the toro. I’ve had high quality sushi before, specifically pieces that melt in your mouth but I’ve never had pieces that are so tender and high quality that I would describe them as creamy. I won’t comment on whether a $950 price tag at the hinoki counter is worth it since that’s for you to decide but I highly recommend sitting at the counter if you decide to go. Note that a large portion of the price increase from $500-$600 to $750 (for a regular dinner table seat) is driven by supplements that are no longer optional such as the generous amounts of black and white truffles and the omhi beef.
I was fortunate to have Chef Masa prepare my pieces of food himself vs other chefs. He’s not as extroverted as the other chefs but I appreciated just watching him work on the various pieces of food. Prior to the dessert he asked me what my favorite piece of meat was and I said the toro so he prepared me an extra piece with hokkaido sea urchin on top. The dessert was just a few pieces of crisp fruit with some tea – not great to be honest but I expected that given I’ve never had extravagant desserts after an omakase.
After the dessert, one or the workers asked me if I wanted another piece of dessert: a green tea lady M cake, some ice cream, or some sorbet. I said all three sounded good so he offered to bring me some cake and a scoop of either the ice cream or sorbet. I chose the ice cream, which wasn’t memorable at all. The green tea cake was actually pretty good but it’s from a chain dessert shop – feel like the desserts is a clear area for improvement.
All in all I thought it was worth it but would I go back? Probably not at that price point
How’d you get the pic inside? Last I went it was a pretty strict no phones/photos allowed policy
I’m with you — really great experience, but won’t go back with that price point. Can get a better QPR at other spots around the city
This spot intrigues me. OPs menu continues that intrigue.
Part of me can’t justify the money, it seems ridiculous. However, it’s not really that’s much more damage than most incredibly immemorable 1 stars can add up for a casual night out.
You had me at “stone crab with uni aioli”.
Absolutely loved the summer course at MASA. They had a perfectly roasted papaya with uni custard. Did you also get his signature on the paper used to grill the matsutake?
Masa is also one of the few restaurants in the US that has good soba tea. Literally the only other place that has something equivalent is the French Laundry
Kinda blows my mind that such a simple but perfectly earthy end to a meal is slept on by so many chefs