Sushi Masu: Returning to an Old Crush

(THAT'S what I'm talking about)

After the Indonesian extravaganza in East LA, I headed back to the Westside in preparation for an “end of Shakespeare” celebration dinner with Reno. Reservations for two at one of my favorite LA joints – Sushi Masu.

I first fell in love with Masu and his Westside eatery after a kick-ass omakase lunch last year. It was absolutely stellar. Piece upon piece of melt-in-your-mouth goodness was presented to me on small mounds of rice. Needless to say, I was stoked about my “reunion” with Chef Masu.

I opted for ordering a la carte this time around. And, for convenience’s sake, I’ll do a picture by picture run through of my meal. The prices listed are per 2 pieces:

Monkfish Liver ($4.00). Thank God I started with this piece because it was a little disappointing. I’ve actually never had monkfish liver before but I was expecting a kind of deep, rich foie gras-esque flavor. The flavor was actually really mild – it was difficult to actually taste the liver over the rice and nori.

Spanish Mackerel ($4.00). This was one of the specials of the day so, needless to say, it was super fresh. Again, a little on the mild side (which makes it a good opener to the later, more intensely flavored pieces). One thing I love about Masu’s nigiri is the almost perfect fish to rice ratio. Chef Masu is right on target with creating bite-sized nigiri pieces.

Albacore ($4.50). This was a huge, FATTY piece of albacore. I didn’t realize it would be slightly seared. Oh well. This piece was pretty awesome. The taste of the fish really shone through and it was a real jolt of flavor, especially after the earlier, milder tasting pieces. A.W.E-SOME.

Ikura ($4.00). I never used to like ikura. Tobiko was always my favorite sushi but, for some reason, I neglected the tobiko and checked off an order of salmon roe instead. The ikura tonight didn’t “pop” like little flavor bombs but the wonderful saltiness was still there nonetheless. Just, instead of having the flavor bursting out (I had been dreaming of a gastronomic equivalent to the starting riff from The Stones' “Brown Sugar”), the flavor just sort of slowly melted onto my tongue. Not what I had expected but it was good nonetheless.

Seared Salmon ($4.50). THIS was the seal-the-deal piece during my first meal at Masu’s. I had never had seared salmon that was so well done before – it was a perfect balance between super fresh raw salmon and smoked salmon almost. This time around, the seared salmon was still good but nowhere near the first time I had it. It was probably because I left it to the very end and, since food keeps cooking itself even after it’s been removed from the heat, the salmon was a little too much on the seared side by the time I got around to eating it.

The meal was absolutely amazing. Reno also ordered a whole bunch of fish (ten pieces in total, including tuna, salmon, eel, albacore and seared salmon) and the total came out to be $47.00 sans tips. I really can’t think of another place that can compare to Masu’s in terms of quality and value! The meal was almost a steal. On top of that, service was great (as usual). The atmosphere at dinner is definitely a lot better than at lunch. The place is still small and a little cramped though – if you’re planning to go during the weekend, reservations are highly recommended.

I was a little sad that amberjack wasn’t being offered on the menu. I’d also have to make one complaint – Chef Masu was really laying on the ponzu and scallions. Out of the pieces I had, only the ikura didn’t have a splashing of ponzu sauce and chopped scallions. While the little additions helped bring out the fish flavor, by the time I was on to my fifth piece, my tongue was beginning to become overwhelmed especially by the strong scallion taste.

Still, my heart is still married to Chef Masu’s creations. I have less than a month left in LA and hopefully I can fit in time somewhere to visit Sushi Masu one last time before I go.

FOOD: 4.5/5
SERVICE: 4.5/5
ATMOSPHERE: 3.5/5

SUSHI MASU ($$$)
1911 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 466-4368

Sushi Masu: The Best Thursday Ever

I hit it lucky again this term and managed to get two days off school. Seriously, having school FIVE days a week last term was waaaaay too much and I don't think I could ever handle that again. But that also means I have 7 hours of back-to-back classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday...but we don't like to talk about that.

Anyhow, I've decided to make good use of my two days off a week and dedicate the time to a new "project". That's right...a new project. Right off the top of my head, I'll label this project "Eating Beyond Wilshire". It sounds very all-expansive but really, without a car, all it really entails is eating down Westwood Blvd and extending down Pico. But that alone should take me a good amount of time anyways.

So, as an informal beginning to my project (after all, I have eaten at several restaurants "beyond" Wilshire already), I went to Sushi Masu. I've read such great things about this place and, more importantly, it's really been a long while since I've been to a REAL sushi joint. You know, places that aren't fusion or called "California Roll" and the likes.

Sushi Masu is a small place. Personally, I prefer small sushi joints...they remind me of the restaurants we'd go to in Japan and I like the relaxed atmosphere that comes in the small package. Plus, I don't know what it is, but the best sushi always seems to come from the tiny hole-in-the-wall places, which Sushi Masu was.

(Amberjack and Seared Tuna Sushi...SO FRIGGIN' GOOD!)

I grabbed a seat at the sushi bar and already, Chef Masu smiled at me and asked "first time here?" I told him I came ESPECIALLY to try this place and his smile grew even bigger as he semi-bowed his head. I fell in love with him already in those 2 minutes. I glanced over to the hand-written daily recommendations and the first thing that caught my eye: LIVE sweet shrimp.

"Live? It's still moving?"
"Yes. You like?"
"That sounds really interesting. But I've never tried..."

Shrimp in hand. Flick of knife. Live sweet shrimp sushi on my plate.
SOOOO good. It's been a long while since I had something THIS fresh.

"Good?"
"VERY good."

Well, the shrimp was the perfect introduction to what this place had to offer...within 5 minutes of meeting him, Chef Masu had already won over my complete trust:

"Give me whatever you think is good today"

A piece of amberjack sushi appeared before me. Into mouth. Melt. Literally. I looked up at Chef Masu, eyes glimmering almost and told him how good that was.

"Next piece even better."

The thing I love about Chef Masu is that he doesn't lie. The next piece - the seared tuna - WAS even better. This was followed by 5 other pieces of the "best sushi I've had in LA so far" (including white tuna and abalone, among others) and a perfectly sweet eel and cucumber hand roll. Every piece I plopped into my mouth induced a huge smile on my face.

My favorite was definitely the seared salmon sushi. I could smell it when Chef Masu was searing it behind the counter and was already excited. Then he placed it in front of me...the way he seared it made it look like a mini piece of art! My excitement rose. Now, the actual eating of it. WOW. I'm still thinking about it right now. The outter part of the fish tasted almost like smoked salmon (which I absolutely love) and just when I was thinking that it was the best thing ever, I was introduced to the melt-in-your-mouth texture and taste of fresh raw salmon. Two of the best forms of salmon in one bite - what more can you ask for? Want to know what love is? It's Chef Masu's seared salmon sushi!!

(Fried Shrimp Head)

And remember that live shrimp I had at the very beginning? They took the head back into the kitchen, fried it, took it back out. Better than fried calamari!! At the end of the meal, I told Chef Masu that the seared salmon was my favorite, to which he replied,

"OK, next time I give you thicker piece".
I'm so looking forward to "next time".

(Rounding off a perfect meal. Chef Masu is an artist!!)
Everything together (including a huge tip for Chef Masu and the friendly waitress) came out to about $45. Like Chef Masu said, I had a "big lunch" today...but it was worth every cent. I was a VERY happy camper.

So yes, that was my "first time" at Sushi Masu. And that's the "first time" to a WHOOOOOOOLE load of more times!!!!

And, to make today even better, after the meal, I nipped into Pink Orchid bakery next door and got a mini tub of Mashti Malone's pistachio ice cream. And, unashamedly finished the whole thing by myself. I rock.

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 3/5

Sushi Masu ($$$)
1911 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025

(310) 466-4368