Bar Masa

Description
If Masa is the sushi version of a Martha Stewart Thanksgiving banquet, then Bar Masa is the children’s table. You’re still eating food from the Great One (Masa Takayama), but it’s not quite the same. Plenty of admirable qualities are at play: no-reservations and a casual dress code in a stylish room (polished bubbinga wood bar, oya wall tiles) suddenly make a taste from a sushi god a spontaneous possibility. The grazing menu groups food into 11 categories (such as fried, hibachi grilled, udon or soba), but while options are artful and delicate, it ultimately takes cash and stomach resources away from the sushi. Those expecting the ethereal raw fish from next door will be disappointed—the kid’s table, after all, gets the drumsticks not the breast.