Masa Japanese

After a "value" Japanese meal at Sushi Garden the night before, you'd think we wouldn't do it again for the 2nd straight day right?  Well, if you've been reading this blog for the past few years, expect the unexpected - like the time I went to Denny's twice in one day for 2 different birthday meals.  Yes, that was a very unfoodie-like thing to do, but I'm Chinese and cannot forget what my parents taught me - eat the proteins first and leave those mashed potatoes alone at the buffet!  You get the idea...

We ended up meeting Mashmallow at Masa Japanese which replaced Kaneda and before that, Fish on Rice. Looking over the menu, it appeared that "value" might've been the theme.  Well, the Real Crab Salad wasn't exactly cheap nor big in portion size, yet it did feature a decent amount of fluffy crab and a whole lot of mesclun greens.  The dressing was sweet and appeared to contain plenty of pureed apple.  Presented neatly, the Assorted Sashimi consisted of sockeye salmon, Atlantic salmon, albacore tuna, ika, tako and tai (with and without skin).  This was actually pretty good with attractive slices of fish that were fresh with the right textures.  Flavours were mild though.

Next, we had the Gindara Kama BBQ that was served on a hot stone plate.  In actuality, the stone was not hot and only started getting warm after we finished (with a small tea candle underneath).  As much as the skin exhibited a sear, the meat did not benefit from it.  Rather, it had a steamed quality with very little flavour.  With that being said, it was still buttery soft and fatty.  The Appetizer Tempura was generally okay featuring a medium layer of batter that was mostly crispy with a touch of grease, especially with the golden squash and yam.  I actually had to remove the batter as it slid off quite readily.  However, the batter on the ebi was fine.

Our one maki sushi was the Unagi Tempura Roll with cucumber, avocado, imitation crab and tobiko.  We found the roll to be carefully made where it was rolled tightly without being too dense.  Hence, we could pick it up without things falling out.  The thin layer of sushi rice was decent in texture riding the line between chewy while not dry.  It could've used more seasoning though.  Shockingly large in portion size, the Chicken Katsu featured 2 panko-breaded chicken cutlets.  They exterior was fried a golden-brown where it was firmly crunchy.  Inside, the chicken was a touch dry, but not overly so. Overall, we thought the meal was decent considering the price point and portion size.  We agreed it was a step up from Sushi Garden/Sushi Town without the cost.

The Good:
- Decent prices
- Decent portions
- Overall decent

The Bad:
- What's with those table trays?  Made it difficult to share