"toro tartare with osetra caviar and chives, with toasts."
(in 19 reviews)
"uni risotto with white truffle shavings."
(in 5 reviews)
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Masa
Rating Details »
Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Theater District, Hell's Kitchen10 Columbus Cir
Time Warner Center, 4F
(between Broadway & W Central Park)
New York, NY 10019
(212) 823-9800
- Nearest Transit:
-
59th St-Columbus Circle (1, A, C, B, D)
57th St-7th Ave (N, Q, R, W)
7th Ave-53rd St (B, D, E)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Valet
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
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50 reviews for Masa
Review Highlights
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This review dates back to 2004. We ate here to celebrate our engagement, the evening of the proposal.
We ate at Masa's restaurant in LA (Ginza Sushi Co.) for my 25th birthday and had amazing fugu (blowfish) dishes. But this was our first time in the new NYC establishment.
The beautiful door was made from a 2500 yr old piece of wood. I loved the plates and cups. They are made in Tochigi prefecture and are beautiful examples of mashiko pottery. The cups had a sensual texture to them and I have been searching for something similar ever since, rough and unglazed, and designed such that your lips are forced to curve when pushed against the cup (this helps prevent spillage).
Here is a list of the courses we enjoyed:
1. hairy crab from northern Japan with Japanese cucumber and tade (spicy sprout)
2. toro tartare with osetra caviar and chives, with toasts
3. aji salad with mioga (Japanese ginger) and shiso flowers
4. kobe beef with fresh wasabi, lime, and sansho (Japanese pepper)
5. shabu-shabu/sukiyaki-style dish with raw fois gras and raw lobster; hot broth flavored by stewing lobster claw; included green onion and dipping sauce
6. after the lobster and fois gras were eaten from the above, we were served the broth as soup. --- still one of the most amazing dishes I've had in my entire life
7. toro nigiri
8. toro nigiri
9. shima-aji nigiri
10. shima-aji nigiri
11. squid nigiri, with orange zest
12. amaebi nigiri
13. grilled scallop nigiri
14. grilled shitake nigiri
15. akagai red clam nigiri
16. saba nigiri
17. hamo (sea eel) nigiri
18. toro maki
19. grilled toro nigiri
20. grilled toro nigiri
21. salmon roe nigiri
22. uni nigiri
23. Japanese jumbo shrimp nigiri
24. lean tuna nigiri
25. Sayori (Japanese needlefish) nigiri with shiso flower
Masa was friendly enough and happy to let us take a photo with him.
I had this review filed under the wrong restaurant....blasphemy I know but enough sake and things get a bit blurry. Sometimes a restaurant blows your wildest expectations out of the water, Masa is one of those places.
While I haven't been here in a few years, I remember the bluefin toro was the most incredible thing i'd ever laid my taste buds on! Besides my recent experiences with Foie Gras..... Your tongue will glide through his masterful cuts like a knife through a warm stick of butter. Masa was the first place I had the chance to try live sea urchin, to this date nothing else has even come close. The way he prepared it was transcendental, in a heavenly taste bud tingling ephiphoric way!
The sushi bar is small and intimate it's limited to about 5-10 people, and believe it or not even with the $$$$ price tag you will need to make reservations far in advance.
Masa has a 3 star michelin rating, but I can only honestly give them 4 of big yelp 5. As stated by others it's ridiculously pricey, i mean were not digesting diamonds or gold..... I caught a glimpse of the 1400+ bill for 2 people! Sorry but no sushi~sake experience is worth that price even if it's the best in the US. Get out your AMEX black card out.... you'll need it at Masa, fortunately for me I wasn't paying!!
Great sushi and service for sure.
No complaints for food quality and service.
But...it is too expensive and difficult to get a seat without very advanced reservation - like two months for Fri, Sat.
I agree that sushi/sashimi is very best quality; so is chef Masa's skills...but I can visit Sushiden three times with this price.
This is the epitomy of fine Japanese. The decor is small and intimate yet feels quite spacious. Despite the sushi bar seating there is plenty of room. There have been so many reviews on the food so I will just bring up my favorites- the toro tartar is to die for, the toast points the best I ever had, and the osetra caviar topping is fantastic. I have had toro tartar at Morimoto, Nobu 57, etc but nothing compares to this. The best toro tartar I have experienced in my life. The shiso corn dish is fresh and exquisite, the toro sashimi etheral. There are many high end pieces not served at other sushi places such as white truffle sushi and several dishes with maitake mushroom. A couple of pieces such as the amaebi and aoyagi were tasty but comparable to the ones at Kuruma zushi. The Korean prep chef, Nick, was happy to demonstrate how the sashimi is all prepped differently depending on the piece.
It seems no one has mentioned the cocktails but they deserve their own section. You might wonder if a $35 price tag on a cocktail is justified but these are more like liquid magic. The strawberry martini was amazing- rum mixed with elderflower (my favorite) and strawberries. The berries are juiced by hand and thismakes the drinks so much better than anywhere else. The raspberry cocktail with fresh raspberries, shiso, and Laurent Perrier was perfect as well as a blueberry cocktail with citron vodka and fresh blueberries. My favorite was the strawberry though- luscious!
The dessert whore in me would have liked to see some variety of desserts but there was only an icy sweet melon (granted one of the best melons I've had). I left comfortably full- not rolling out the way you would from a French place. Flash photography isn't allowed but I did get a couple pictures.
Before complaining about the prices let's consider the fact that Chef Masa is the only 3 star Michelin chef who works himself in the kitchen every single day. He could easily sell out and have a much bigger restaurant, multiple locations, franchise etc. The serenity and intimacy would be lost and the quality would be watered down. There is beauty in the simplicity and seemed effortlessness. To dine here is a great priviledge.
What an excellent place to eat at!! I went here for a friends birthday celebration and truly had an amazing dinner and experience. I am not sure how difficult it is to get into this place (since I did not have to work that out) but if you can get there, you will really love this place!
Aside from clearly being a convenient option for respite when shopping at the Time Warner shopping center, this place has overpriced and undersized sushi and other decently authentic Japanese cuisine. Having eaten here once right after a trip to Tokyo and then again when I was not so setup for disappointment, the consistency of my experiences renders my opinion fairly simple: If you want to impress someone with your ability to buy expensive dishes, which are admittedly artistically presented but not exceptionally tasting, go to Masa.
In more detail, I have had some of their hot dishes (miso cod and tuna steak), both of which were slightly oily though extremely fresh. The same freshness standard holds with their sushi, which in my opinion, is a better choice from this restaurant. As a notice, a basic sushi sampler runs about $80.
Finally, the ambience and atmosphere, which is spoiled given its somewhat commercial location, colors, and service, is not reflective of the luxurious image this restaurant attempts to emanate. The service is just friendly, efficient, and knowledgeable, adding to an albeit good but hardly unique experience.
My ability to recommend this restaurant is only compromised by the fact that the overall taste and experience is not a great value for the cost of the meal.
I admit to not having very high expectations for this place - it's in a mall for crying out loud. Yes, I know Per Se is right across the way, but come on. We're in a mall!
I have never spent more for two teeny tiny pieces of fish before in my life. $4 per slice, each slice measuring about an inch and a half across and a quarter inch thick. They were smaller than dominoes, no joke. It was good fish, yes, but. . . really? $8 for two itty bitty fish pieces?
The avocado and cucumber roll was the best I've ever had - big pieces of avocado, cucumber sliced so matchstick thin that it must be grated or something when it's frozen, and very little rice. But $14? Now you're just messing with me, right?
The manager(?) however must have been part concierge as after chatting for a bit and realizing I was a foodie, he went off and printed out (on Masa letterhead of course) a list of fantastic fine dining options that I might want to try, and included his phone number in case I had any questions. Now THAT is service.
Overall; fantastic sushi at sell your soul prices. I'm a fan as long as I'm not on a budget.
What an experience, WOW. With $1480 of a tab (two people), probably it last time I will eat here for some time. As already said, Wow will best describe this rare culinary experience.
Masa hit directly to the target. It is not aimed at the average upper class New Yorker. The design, service and high $ price are well received by corporate America as well as wealthy new Yorkers and tourists alike. With that in mind, you might be able to well appreciate this as a one time experience.
Back to Wow, for two and half hours, Masa himself pampered us with the freshest of fish as well as delicatessens like the liver and testicles of the puff fish.
I don't know if it is the show, the reputation, the actual raw materials or the experience as a whole, that make you feel as if you have just eaten one of god's gifts to hearth.
The most over rated dining experience in NYC? I think so. For a party of two this place will cost you essentially the same amount as two trips to Per Se (obviously not if you go for a couple bottles of Château Mouton Rothschild at Per Se). I visited this place on a Saturday night at it was dead - only a handful of people sitting at the bar.
To summarize this overpriced, terrible experience:
While the food was interesting it seems to me you are paying the entry price just to have Fugu and its just not worth it. The staff is militant (put that camera away!) and the overall dining experience similar to that of grabbing a late night dog at the Wiener Circle in Chicago (Yelp it if you don't understand the context).
I will never return to this place (hello! you can go to Per Se nearly twice for a single visit here!) and given the current economic conditions and the apparent health of this place on a Saturday night I give it less than a year.
This was a night beyond anything I have experienced.
While I consider myself to be somewhat of a foodie, the prospect of finding myself in NYC with sooooo many choices of where and what to eat can be more than a little daunting. I like to picture myself in a cross legged yoga like pose with palms up and give myself over the food gods of NYC to somehow direct me to my next culinary adventure.
I had plans to meet a good friend to catch up for drinks and a bite to eat. She had business client in town who very cordially invited her to dinner and when she told him about our plans, he insisted I join them. I had not heard about Masa other than they said it was good sushi. Sounded great to me, and I am always more than happy to meet a new friend. I set out to go and meet them for drinks at the Mandarin Oriental.
After a wonderful glass of wine, we set out next door for Masa.
I should have known how special the culinary delights I was about enjoy were by the hushed tones and the quiet sophistication from the moment we walked past the sheer crimson curtain.
We were seated before Masa himself and as soon as we ordered our Champagne, the first course was set before us.
Delight of all delights, our meal was started with Toro tartare with Sterling Royal caviar served on sweet japanese toast - really? Yuuuuum, next was the Fugu sashimi salad with ponzu dressing followed by a trio of Fugu dishes, Fugu collar and Fugu Liver
White fish followed by Mochigome Zosui (a seaweed dashi-risotto made from mochi rice) garnished with shaved black truffles
Sakura Masu (ocean trout) and Eringi mushroom nabe (konbu dashi)
Toro fatty tuna (line caught boston big eye tuna)
Shimaaji (striped jack)
Hirame (fluke)
Tai (sea bream)
Kinmedai (gold eye sea bream)
Ika (squid)
Amaebi (Boston sweet shrimp)
Suji (toro sinew grilled to perfection on sumi binchotan robata)
Saba (mackerel)
Aoyagi (red clam)
Uni (hokkaido sea urchin gonads)
Anago (sea eel)
Unagi (fresh water eel)
Kobe Beef grilled on robata
Black truffle nigiri (rice balled rolled on bed of shaved black truffles)
Negitoro maki (minced otoro and onion roll)
Soba Cha (buckwheat tea)
I am borrowing here from some of my fellow yelpers for spelling and translations on some of these courses as I was in such food bliss that I had a tough time remembering all of the lovely morsels placed before me. I do remember a lot of Fugu, a lot of shaved truffles, delicate layered flavors and at one point shaved gold. Yes shaved gold!
I am still reeling from the amazing evening, the amazing food and the amazing company.
I'll probably get flamed for a 2 star rating, but I have to say it's 100% not worth the hype, and it's entirely too overpriced in every respect.
Our total - with tip and alcohol included - was in the mid 4 figures. With that kind of price tag, I definitely expected a lot more. The food was good, but nothing really blew my mind. I know it's all about the experience and eating food created by the legendary Chef Masa, but I was honestly disappointed.
The staff was sort of cold and unfriendly. Our waiter knew his stuff, but his demeanor was really off-putting. I wasn't looking for a Friday's style waiter at a restaurant of this caliber, but he made me feel pretty uncomfortable.
I - and my three guests - ended up leaving still hungry.
All of this said, the quality of the food was fine. The toro tatake with caviar was fantastic, the Fugu was interesting, and those are honestly the only two courses I can remember standing out from things I've tasted in my lifetime.
I'd much prefer dining at Okada (LV) or any Nobu before I went back to Masa. It was an enjoyable experience, but definitely not worth the hype.
Do you have $1000 dollars to blow on dinner? Can you spare 3 hours for dinner? Make a rez at Masa. Masa is the only dining experience that comes even close to justifying the cost.
The restaurant specializes in traditional Japanese Kaiseki-style dinner. Chef Masa was personally recruited from his famous Beverly Hills restaurant Ginza Sushiko by Thomas Keller. The dinner will cost $400-$500 a head without alcohol, tax, and tip! I didn't realize how poor I was until I ate here! =)
He sands down his counter every day. His knives are practically samurai swords. He imports fish directly flown from Japan to his restaurant. He also specializes in Fugu, the poisonous Pufferfish. Dinner at Masa is very special. In fact, it is more like a performance. You have reserved front row seats. You are essentially leasing the services of a Japanese master chef for an entire evening. A $500-$800 price tag, in this context, starts to seem reasonable.
His offerings change depending on the quality and the season. Here's one example of what you can expect:
He will scrape beautifully marbeled Toro off a pristine Tuna loin with the a clam shell. He then serves this with toasted points and Beluga caviar. He will toast the points to order. As soon as you are almost finished with your first piece, he will begin toasting another point. The entire meal progresses in this fashion. You will have the highest grade imported Wagyu beef, a comprehensive flight of sushi, and several other amazing courses. The real attraction is the Fugu which numbs your mouth. The sole purpose of his entire existence for that evening is to treat you like the emperor of Japan.
So I recommend you swap your front row concert ticket or Knicks' floor seat for one evening at Masa. After he retires, you may never get the opportunity again. Masa is on My Fave 10 NYC as The Best Once-in-a-Lifetime Dining Experience.
Three reasons to go:
1. o-toro
2. Worth every penny - forget about the numbers.
3. o-toro
If you truly love sashimi, you must do this at least once in your life. Make a reservation for the front row - at the hinoki wood bar, right there in front of Masa and his assistants. Go with someone who you would enjoy going to a museum with.
I think we should not be allowed to attempt to disclose what goes on in this restaurant, as it is sacred and life-changing. For this reason, I will not refer specifically to my experience, although I remember every detail - and recount it in my head from time to time.
Put it this way: If a doctor tells me I am going to die in one month, the first thing I am going to do is put in a booking to do this again, with a couple of my closest pals. Then my heart can start racing and the reality set in - but not until the reservation is confirmed.
Like a few people have stated this place is expensive. I have no regrets. The salmon roll with caviar was delicious. Ankimo was some of the best I have tried. Delicious uni. The fish here was extremely fresh and the preparations were done very well. Very nice sake selection. When I get back to NY I will return.
You must sit at the sushi bar if you come here. The lucky customers who know chef Masa get to sit in the middle section and be served directly by him. The newbies get seated on the ends and are served by either of his excellent sous-chefs. 10 seats at the bar if I remember correctly.
There are other tables off in a side room, but I feel you miss out on the full experience if you are not sitting at the bar.
Meals consists of 5-6 appetizers (I had almost exactly what Amanda B. describes). That was 5 months ago, so menu must not change that much. The toro tartare - caviar with brioche was fantastic
For an additional $100 they offered an extra appetizer dish of japanese wagyu served tataki style (can't remember the prefecture they told me it was from). This was excellent.
This is followed by a 20 or so course of sushi...usually one piece each but occasionally two (for me toro and uni were two pieces each).
Items I remember:
blue fin toro
kampachi
aji
shima aji
squid
giant clam
needle fish
fluke
snapper
eel (served inside a cucumber skin--exquisite)
"toro skin" - cooked (wasn't skin per se, but another layer of toro meat that chef Masa was slicing earlier in the evening)
rice ball coated in summer truffles
kohada
uni
tuna roll
and a few others...
dessert consisted of two types of tea and sliced japanese pear.
Our tab was $1550 for two (including the kakunko sake and one other daiginjo carafe)
Enjoy!!
As if the food at Masa weren't such stuff as dreams are made, I enjoyed lunch there with an old friend whom I hadn't seen in twenty years and who has become even more delightful with the passing of time. Talk about an embarrassment of riches. And apparently, Masa opened for lunch just to accommodate us. Surprisingly, having the entire restaurant to ourselves was not in the least bit strange or off-putting. Just serene.
It's funny that I'm writing this review on what would be Darwin's two hundredth birthday, since the it's really the evolution of species that give the cuisine at Masa it's jaw-dropping majesty (no, I wouldn't consider that an overstatement.) Many, many fish and crustaceans taste really, really good, even without human assistance. Masa Takayama and his acolytes are clearly masters of their craft, but that craft is more about honoring raw materials than reinterpreting them. The cuisine at Masa is perhaps the definitive example of Less Is More--well, with the possible exception of adding gold leaf to the fugu.
Yes, Masa is freakishly expensive. And yes, in my opinion, it's worth every cent. Your mileage my vary, but I don't want to hear about it. Now I'll get out of the way and let Masa do the talking:
1. Ginko nuts, kissed with salt--the nuts grown in Central Park
2. Japanese hairy crab, yuzu, cucumber, shiso leaf, chrysanthemum buds (served in a large, chilled cast-iron tower)
3. Tartare of blue fin tuna, California Oesetra-variety caviar, toast points
4. Fugu (!) sashimi, shisho flowers, soy, and yuzu, garnished with gold leaf (!), served in a hollow shell of raw basalt (I was a fugu virgin prior to this moment. I'm glad I got to try it, and glad I didn't die before my hashi hit the floor. To tell the truth, I'm not sure it would be worth an agonizing death. But maybe.)
5. Fried fugu collar ( I had initially thought this cut was rib, but now I've reconsidered)
6. Uni risotto, black truffle (sublime)
7. O-toro sashimi, freshly grated wasabi (surprising texture, body; fat content off the charts)
8. Chu-toro sashimi (we were ordered to not chew these; they obligingly melted in the mouth without mastication
9. Shabu shabu of Japanese grouper, sliced thin and wrapped around thin slices of duck foie gras, fine julienne of scallion, dashi kombu ( the shabu shabu apparatus was remarkable: a heavy ceramic column with a celadon glaze that enclosed smoldering charcoal, a thin cast iron bowl, and a lid that matched the column)
10. The broth of the shabu shabu, returned as soup
(What follows is all nigiri unless noted)
11. Chu-toro
12. Tuna sinew, lightly grilled, tangle of scallions, back truffle paste
13. Aji (amazingly fresh--I mistook it for tai)
14. Fluke fin (amazing--I have never seen fins totally deboned; flavor was entrancingly assertive)
15. Needle fish, nori (while our itame prepared most everything himself, he summoned a helper to lay sheets of nori on the counter for him)
16. Ika
17. Scallop, lightly grilled, another flavor that I simply couldn't place
18. Okinawan sweet shrimp
19. Toro maki
20. Red clam, finely shredded cucumber, wrapped in thinly sliced cucumber
21. Shitake mushroom, grilled and seasoned
22. Uni, nori
23. Unagi
24. Insanity: through out the meal, a single black truffle the size of a grapefruit sat like a lump of coal next to the wasabi rhizome and a chunk of crystal halite like a tiny Washington Monument, all in a tray off to the side. For this offering, our itame grated off a good ounce of the thing, balled up some warm rice, and just packed on the truffle slices. The final product was like a truffle SnoBall. Hilarious, and giddy-making in that way only eating too much of something opulent can be.
25. Chrysanthemum buds, shiso leaf, lotus root, plum paste (no rice)
26. Japanese musk melon and roasted barley tea
Oh, and the bar itself: on vast slab of hinoki cypress, sanded smooth. Hands down the sexiest thing I have ever touched that didn't have a pulse.
BEFORE REDING THIS REVIEW: please understand that my reviews are a comparative analysis of the establishment versus it's peers. A 5 star rating at Masa and a 5 star rating for a korean restaurant in flushing does not indicate that i consider them equals.
One of the best meals i've ever had. We sat at the center of the bar in front of chef masa who cut all our fish himself. FYI If you don't love sushi and can't tell the difference between your local sushi restaurant and say yasuda then perhaps this is not the place for you. Sake list had some great bottles of course but not the longest i've ever seen by any stretch if thats of any concern.
The fish was divine and varied from the common to the unheard of. The other dishes were true to his form, simple but heavenly (eg flame seared beef from a province near kobe which i unfortunately forgot the name of). For dessert we were served strawberries. Now normally i would expect a little more but these strawberries were, for lack of a better word, perfect. I suppose in the context of the meal we just had which could only be described as perfect, it was a fitting. In terms of quantity, surprisingly we were well fed and by the time dessert rolled around we were all pretty full.
Oh and expect to pay a lot more than the $425 pre fixe + gratuity per head unless you plan on sneaking in your own booze and drinking tap water from the bathroom sink. Our tab hit $525 per head sans the sake, tax and tip. You don't want to know what the final tally was.
I would highly recommend Masa to anyone who truly loves sushi. It significantly differentiates itself from Gari, Kuruma Zushi, Yasuda, 15East, Ushiwakamaru and everyone else in NYC.
There's a recent study that has shown that people enjoy food more, the more they believe it costs. Take away knowledge of the prices, and the pleasure centers don't quite activate the same way; it goes back towards how much they like the food. Rather elegant study, mind you: They scanned the brain for activity in the pleasure centers during drinking of different kinds of wine with real and fake prices.
Well, if you were to enjoy the Omakase menu here (When I went it was at $350 a head), you'll certainly need to be ready to enjoy the food based on price alone.
Fortunately, it is well worth it.
From the design elements to the culinary experience, Masa follows very deeply Japanese design principles. The decor is simple yet imposing, made of straightforward geometry, yet containing nuances of shape and asymmetry that gives much of Japanese design its organic feel. When I went, there were live bamboo stalks set in 2 inch deep water in an inset pool of sorts. The unvarnished wood table at the sushi bar was so unbelievably impractical, but I loved it. The fact that it required sanding each day, to keep it clear and ready for use. There are not many places where you can "eat off the table" as such.
The meal was similarly pure in ethos. Umami to the nth degree.
The attention to the quality of the material; preparation to emphasize the taste and texture of each piece is breathtaking. Presentation does matter. Masa allows the diner to focus on each piece, one piece at a time. You're encouraged, thusly, to pay all of your attention on whatever it is you have before you. Visually, osmically, and by taste.
And Masa delivers excellence in spades. Even now, many years after the fact, I still remember some of the scents and flavours as they dusted my tongue with synergistic and contrasting flavour elements. I still remember which sake I ordered, and what scotches.
A fantastic night in a snowstorm.
Not a place one can readily frequent without being fairly wealthy -- and the time the meal requires is simlilarly steep. But when one is inclined to truly bask in a gustatory experience, this is one of my favourites.
It was an amazing experience to feel as though the entire restaurant was reserved just for my family. The food was delicious, the drinks were wonderful, and the service was unbelievable....almost as unbelievable as the bill.
While I had more than my fair share of caviar and truffles, the cost was a little ridiculous. Masa is wonderful, just make sure you're ready to pay for it!
Having graduated from dishwasher to apprentice-chef at world-famous 140-year-old Sushi-Ko Honten in the Ginza district in Tokyo, Masa Takayama moved to LA and opened Ginza Sushi-Ko in Beverly Hills which he ran for 20 years, and became famous for his $300 omakase-only (chef's choice/no menu) edomae (Tokyo-style) dinner service.
Wanting to expand his horizons, Takayama sold Sushi-Ko to his apprentice chef last year where it became Urasawa, with a more Kyoto-style influence on the ingredients and recipes:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
Upon the sale's completion, Takayama opened the elegant Masa, which sits on the fourth floor of Time Warner Center, just off the SW corner of Central Park on Columbus Circle. Diners are treated to amazing 3 hour show of sushi and kobachi, but at a price: $300-$500 per person (not including drinks from his hand-picked sake list). Counter service is not only recommended, it is a necessity to dine at the pristine twenty foot long bar made from one exquisite trunk of Japanese cypress, which is sanded by hand at the end of every night.
The majority of the seafood and vegetables (and japanese citrus like sudachi and yuzu) are hand-picked from his personal buyer/broker at Tsukiji Market than rushed on to an overnight flight (JAL 006 - NRT to JFK) to be consumed less than 16 hours after being caught in some cases.
My most recent meal featured:
Seasonal Japanese late winter vegetables (nanohana and something else)
Kohotaruika (baby firefly squid) appetizer
Toro tartare with Sterling Royal caviar served on sweet japanese toast
Fugu sashimi salad with ponzu dressing
-3 types of fugu skin
-fugu liver
-fugu toro
-fugu intestines
Fugu karaage (fried fugu kama and tail meat breaded in potato starch made from Hokkaido Imo)
Shirauo white fish
Fugu no shirako (sperm sac of blowfish) served on Konbu Mochigome Zosui (a seaweed dashi-risotto made from mochi rice) garnished with shaved black truffles
Sakura Masu (ocean trout) and Eringi mushroom nabe (konbu dashi)
Masu shiru
Sushi Course
-Toro fatty tuna (line caught boston big eye tuna)
-Shimaaji (striped jack)
-Hirame (fluke)
-Tai (sea bream)
-Kinmedai (gold eye sea bream)
-Ika (squid)
-Amaebi (Boston sweet shrimp)
-Hotate (hokkaido scallop)
-Suji (toro sinew grilled to perfection on sumi binchotan robata)
-Saba (mackerel)
-Aoyagi (red clam)
-Iwashi (anchovy)
-Uni (hokkaido sea urchin gonads)
-Anago (sea eel)
-Unagi (fresh water eel)
-Shiitake (mushroom grilled on robata)
-Black truffle nigiri (rice balled rolled on bed of shaved black truffles)
-Negitoro maki (minced otoro and onion roll)
-Ume shiso maki
Dessert
Grapefruit Granite (grapefruit ice)
Soba Cha (buckwheat tea)
The hand picked seasonal sake list is excellent featuring everything from Tsukasa Botan (Junmai) and Ken (Daiginjo) to Kubota Manju (Junmai Daiginjo).
While most are dazzled by this once-in-a-lifetime experience of ancient recipes and flavors, insiders are appalled at Masa's also ancient practice of indentured servitude by not tipping out apprentice chefs and waitstaff, which at these prices is criminal.
I contemplated reviewing Masa's because well... I'm Japanese. I've lived in Tokyo where frankly the sushi-go-rounds beat some of the top rated sushi restaurants here. Only one of my memorable dinners exceeded a grand. (for three people) It's too bad that hefty price tags are a given for real good food in the U.S. and lately it seems too inflated.
That said, my experience had to be one of the best I've had. Easily places in my top 20. However, it's too damn expensive! I also took a peek at Bar Masa's menu. 50 dollars for negi-toro is too over the top.
Bottom line, if you can afford it, go to Masa's, not the bar, for the full experience. But if you can't, save your money. Two trips to Masa's will cover flight and accommodations for a week in Tokyo. Easily.
*travel budget calculated during off peak seasons and staying at a weekly apartment instead of a regular hotel. peak season would be three trips to Masas.
[edit]
I docked a star because Masas doesn't tip out their staff (servers included !!)
With the omakase, I had about 17 pieces of sushi and 5 cooked dishes. Each piece of sushi is served one at a time and you are told when and when not to use soy sauce. For the money, you get lots of otoro and truffle. I was waiting for the fugu but that never came out.
Notes: You definitely want to sit at the sushi bar, front and center. Masa is a master at his craft and slices sushi to perfection. Fresh wasabi. BTW we were able to sneak in a picture of Masa himself slicing up toro before being stopped..and no, I am not sharing it with you...suckers!
I've eaten Sushi in Tokyo including a place right in Tsukiji (sushi dai). That's probably the best place i've eaten. The fish was just to fresh and the price was right...
I've eaten at many of the high and low end sushi places in NYC from Nobu to sushi joints in the East Village. I've also eaten at Masa's old place in Beverly Hills (2 Rodeo Drive).
Both my meal at Ginza Sushi-Ko (more than 10 years ago) and my meal at Masa, just after they opened are more memorable than any other meals i've eaten.
Tiny baby squid, Lobster Sabu Sabu, Turo Rolls, just to name a few...
Instead of going to Atlantic City and dropping $500 or $700 go here..
Update 12/06: Even better than the first time! Here's what we had:
Ginko Nuts with Fried Shrimp legs
Crab Salad with yuzu and shiso flowers
Toro Tartare with Osetra
Truffled Uni Risotto
Fugu Liver with Fugu Sashimi
Deep Fried Fugu Collar
Steamed Scottish Langoustines and Broth
2 Toro
Shimaji
Hirame and Tai
Ika
Okinawa Shrimp
Sayori
Amaebi
Deep Sea Snapper
Saba (Seared with hot coal)
Nantucket Scallops
Cooked Toro
Needlefish
Cooked White Eel
Tako
Deep Sea Whitefish (Rolled around rice and grilled)
Truffled Rice Ball (!!!!!)
Chopped Toro Roll
Ayoagi
Mirugai
Pickled Lotus and Shiso
There needs to be a 10 Star rating to cover places like Masa. Perfection beyond perfection. Masa was the best dining experience i have ever had. it's a good thing it is in NYC, because if it were in SF, i just might be selling myself to go here every night...perhaps like the escorts sitting next to us at the sushi bar with their heinously drunk businessman clients. that really added flavor. it definately helped to alleviate the natural nervousness and reserve we both felt, as we always do when in such an awe inspiring and sophisticated place...but all that not being relevent, i will just say that i literally shed a few small tears several times during this meal, so overwhelmed was i with everything. Ahhhh, sushi.
Normally at an expensive restaurant a bottle of Gewurtztraminer is around 40$ these guys have it for 70$!! OKay I understand its in the middle of nyc but come on now..anything at this price better be damn good anyways
Dinner at Masa to me, is the perfect experience. The atmosphere is relaxed and tranquil. I don't care how people say Per Se or Jean George makes you feel welcome etc.... There is still that feeling of intimidation and grandeur that I'm sure makes almost everyone feel a little out of their league. Masa is completely different. I felt they were humble, everyone just happy to be there.
Anyway, If I could, I would eat here almost everyday and I would not say that about any other restaurants in its class. By the end of the meal, I felt great, perfectly content. I was not overly stuffed and left the meal thinking about what I ate and how much I enjoyed it. I even dreamed about it that night and tried to figure out what I would have to do (suck up to parents, save, steal) to go back.
The whole meal just flowed together so well and each bite of food was great with interspersed revelations of wow (The others have detailed the menu quite nicely so I won't get into it). Definitely sit at the bar for you first time. There's nothing like watching Masa at work and smelling white truffle and yuzu in anticipation for that piece of sushi.
Now, I'm not going to justify the price. If you're willing to pay 500+ for the best, the more power to you. I feel most people (myself included) are happy with excellent sushi and 1/4 the cost. So just ask yourself, how much is the best worth to you? If it's above Masa's price point, enjoy :)
The best most memorable sushi experience I have ever had so far. o-toro sashimi this o-toro handroll.. everything was o-toro. The meal was from about two years ago but first time I have experienced the mysterious Fugu. Masa served us a study of Fugu done 3 different ways. Fugu Shabushabu, Fugu drum stick, and Fugu Sashimi.
I hope I can afford it every week! :P This man is too serious about food. His sushi is goddamngood!!! Even I wasn't so happy I had been pushed to use my hand to eat the sushi one time we sat at the bar, their sushi is just too good to find anywhere else in new york... So I am being cheap... I am still going once a while :P For the about 10 small appetizers, some were really good, some were just good, but this guy's sushi is always perfect...
Let me start by saying that this is the most expensive restaurant that I have ever been to. When I say expensive, I mean EXPENSIVE!!!!. A couple of my friends were in town to celebrate a milestone and they wanted someplace that was as special as the occasion called for. Masa was it!
Masa is a rare place where simplicity is celebrated through its food.The minimalistic surroundings are alluring. The design....exquisite. All of which was intended to celebrate the cuisine. When you are starting the meal the server asks you to turn off any cell phones and electronic devices. Finally, a meal that will not be interrupted by movie theme song ringtones! Next, a bowl of lemon water was placed in front of us to use as finger bowls. The most interesting aspect of Masa is that there isn't a standard menu. The menu of the night would be made up of what was available at the market. Tonight, we had a meal full of some of the best sushi outside of the Tsukiji Fish Market. It was a night of Anago, Ika,Toro, Chutoro, Otoro, Torigai, Maguro, Tako, Mirugai, Hokkigai,and Kohada. The flesh of the fish was magnificent. Second to none!The maguro was so intense that everyone at the table seem to be flushed after eating it!!
if you get the chance to experience this impeccable restaurant i would suggest that reserve a spot at the bar. You will enjoy everything that Masa has to offer!
(The bill at the end of the night was $375 per person * feeling very faint*...Thank God that the bill was picked up by my friends.....They are my best friends!)
Amazing place -- my mouth is still watering. Great chef to introduce me to many dishes and styles. I think I've fallen in love with sushi.
i came in with very low expectations from what friends said and with the weird 20% mandatory house charge on top of the price fix, before tip. i thought it'd be like yasuda which i think is awful (we sat in front of yasuda-san once and all he did was talk about himself and how the way he did things was superior. and it's seriously a sushi factory where it seems like they're trying for a guinness world record for number of sushi rolled out in a minute. and it's noisy. i couldn't wait to leave). anyway, we had a blast. the food was amazing. i don't think there was a whole lot we hadn't eaten before (sushi azabu has similar sushi offerings i.e. not california rolls) but here they shave truffles on everything which never hurts. the ambiance is great too. it's a small place and the counter isn't crowded and it's not too noisy. we sat in front of masa-san and made small talk with another sushi chef too. masa-san was really friendly and suggested we take a picture with him after dinner. everything was done so meticulously, service is impeccable. at dinner the next night at per se, i couldn't stop thinking about our masa dinner. uni risotto with truffles. chopped toro with osetra caviar. i saw the credit card bill the next day and it was more than i thought but masa is closer than a 14hr flight to japan and cheaper. the omi wagyu (even the fat has flavor) was a $125 surcharge but who's keeping track.
I can't complain about the price of $450 including tax and tip for one person since I knew what I was getting into, but there are other places I would more apt to pay that much. It was like expensive rice and seaweed. The sushi was quite ordinary and nothing stood out or gave my mouth that special sensual feeling that comes from great cuisine. Yasuda is 100 times better in flavor. The service here was not rude but indifferent and I got a perverse kick out of the chef's final comment as he handed me my last piece ("That's it!) Tip is a set amount and the whole emporium is in a mall which is so strange in NYC.
I'd skip it and go to Yasuda or Nobu.
This place is amazing as I have only been there once b/c it is so expensive. It is more of an experience than anything else. It's unlike anything in the world. I've only been to Spain, Paris, and London. So my observations are limited but rest assure this place is profound like none other. It's in a neat location and there's lots to do close by afterwards. If you have a grand to drop, stop by after a 6 month wait period for a reservation and enjoy the ride.
I went to Masa about 2 years ago and the experience I had was good but not great. If I were to summarize the night I had at Masa it would go like this...quiet place, beautiful decor, excellent service, lots of otoro, about $200/person overpriced. I went with my ex-girlfriend and the meal cost me about a grand including a bottle of sake. I thought the best part was the sushi but to be honest, I liked the sushi much more at Yasuda (even holding cost constant). I think it's a place worth visiting maybe once in your life but for the cost and quality of sushi I recommend going to Yasuda, Sugiyama, Kurumazushi, Blue Ribbon (in that order).
Went back and it was just as good!! The tea infusions drove away my little cold and I forgot just how wonderful good, fresh kampachi is.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/6/2008
I've had some great sushi in Yokohama, Japan but Masa was ridiculously good! It was worth every… Read more »
good
Experience the Sushi
This is a hard one to review. When we dine at this caliber of restaurant our hurdle rates and expectations are extremely high. The food definitely lived up to those expectations. First is food, then service, then ambiance, then extra points for the little touches.
Food unbelievable. Started out with 7 appetizers. The highlight was Ohmi tataki. This was a lightly seared Wagyu Beef. If you have had KOBE before this makes it look like shoe leather. This literally melted in our mouths. Each tender morsel was better then the next. I dont want to call it a mouth orgasm but it was. The $100 supplement per 2oz serving was worth EVERY penny.
Japanese sushi I think of Toro and you get lots of it in different ways. My favorite was a Toro Tartare topped with caviar and served with toast points.
Masa also provides non typical Japanese ingredients like lots of black truffles. The dish that won me over in this category was an Uni Risotto with black truffle. Typically I am not a fan of Uni (Sea Urchin) because of its strong taste. This dish was a perfectly prepared risotto. The marriage of sea and earth work with the Uni and Black Truffle.
Kudos also to the Cherry Blossom Trout shabu shabu.
Each piece of sushi (20 of them total) showed that the quality of fish really makes a difference. Before we ate at Masa this was my biggest reservation. How good can sushi be for this price? Masa proved me wrong.
The only food disappointment was dessert. It was Japanese strawberries and that was it. I was hoping to be proved wrong that there are not good desserts in asian cuisine. But wasn't
Service was good but my only issue was with a place like this I expect each dish to be explained and given some back ground. Our servers are very knowledgeable but the barely spoke english and were very soft spoken.
We also like the little things that make the experience. Here it was the serving dishes we rustic and unique. The tables were beautiful unstained wood that they sand down to keep clean. There is a shallow pool behind the sushi bar. We sat at a table but would recommend if you are lucky enough to sit at the bar.
Be prepared to spend what a small studio goes for on a dinner for 2. This include sake and 20% Tip is added to bill.
i LOVE this place!! i am still glowing from the experience here. sigh... im lost for words to say about this place. how about i just list what we ate:
1. hairy crab + octopus seaweed salad
2. toro + caviar with toast
3. kochi marinated in ponzu and lavender
4. baby eels in sizzling white sesame oil
5. uni risotto with white truffle shavings
6. hamo (pike eel) shabu shabu in matsutake mushroom broth, with cucumber vinaigrette
7. now comes the sushi: toro, shima aji, hirame, tai, suzuki, ika w yuzu, taragai, kuruma shrimp, koba shira (baby scallop), hotate w yuzu, tako, kohada, aji, seared toro, sanma (pike fish), matsutake mushroom sushi, japanese uni (really good!!), anago, unagi in cucumber wrap, and white truffle rice balls (!!!!!)
8. a massive toro maki with green onions
9. ume rice ball with shiso leaf
10. finally, a japanese grapefruit sorbet and udon tea.
everything was expertly presented, and of extremely high quality and freshness. this was the cleanest, nicest looking sushi bar i have ever seen in my life.
totally worth the $350 per person, plus 2 carafes of $85 dai gingo sake, plus tax and 20% tip. seriously!! i wish i could eat here every day...
a good friend married well and i got to go to masa for free. we sat at the sushi bar where we had our own chef, though not the man himself. he was there overseeing our guy who definitely knew what he was doing. a couple of the dishes before the sushi began were exact copies of things i had when i went to japan, like delicate eel served in broth in a teapot. the toro and caviar starter was buttery and decadent. we had noodles made from fish- inventive and an adventure in texture. then the sushi began. it was absolutely the best i have ever had. i play the lottery in the hopes that i win and have the money to return here again and again.
Heard about this place and was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to go. It was a magical experience. Very intimate w/ just 5 or 6 tables and first class service. I didn't feel like I was in the city, b/c there was such a simplicity to the space...no windows and all the elements of nature surround you like water, tree, wood, stone etc...Don't think I could eat at my neighborhood sushi place for awhile. I would recommend the sake over wine. There is a huge selection and the waitor was helpful in directing us to one that we'd like best. I very much enjoyed Masa.
