Bar Masa
Masa, the 600USD restaurant. Insanely expensive, so much so that I really didn't want to fork out the money for it. However, while staking out Per Se, I noticed that they had what appeared to be a bar section. Turns out they accept walk ins here, and so I decided to hedge my bets. I'd come here, and spend less money than if I went to Masa itself. My goal was 300 - 400USD.
The otoro and caviar is their signature dish, and that's a generous pile of caviar! Wow! It also came with little toast things to spread the tuna on.
Oyster and uni shots! Luckily these weren't the alcoholic version so they were totally enjoyable! I would have preferred to have less of the liquid so that i could really savour the uni and oyster flavours, but even with the tanginess of the shot it still tasted great.
Some refreshing wakame salad with whatever fish was available to go with it. Current menu says sea bream, so I must have had something similar. I'd actually forgotten that it's not the green cheap stuff, this was actually really nice and all different varieties of seaweed!
I also ordered some nigiri, cause who doesn't try out the sushi at a sushi place. I ordered scallop, king crab, mirugai, aoyagi, lean tuna. This was the perfect chance to eat lots of shellfish! I especially liked the mirugai, that meat was really tasty and sweet, and exactly the kind of texture that I enjoy! However, it was interesting that when I received the sushi set, it felt rather underwhelming. It didn't quite feel like I was getting sushi the artform here, instead, just the food. I think there's a distinct difference when you get an omakase, because it just feels that much more special and personal, I think. Here, I felt like I received fish and rice. I think this is the main aspect where the dining room experience probably differs greatly from the bar, and what you end up paying for.
One thing to note, I forgot to mention the bar table. When I did research on Masa, I found out that the sushi bar itself is made of a single piece of really expensive wood. When I sat down at the bar counter, I think it was constructed of a similarly impressive piece of wood! It felt like one long intact piece of tree, finished in a way that made it a very nice table.
I'd finished all the food I'd ordered up to this point, since I wasn't quite sure exactly how much food I'd get per order. I felt like I could still eat, so I asked for the bartender/waitstaff's recommendations. After considering them, I went for my next round of food.
Watched some bartending in action! Another couple had sat down next to me, and started their meal. When the guy had finished his cocktail and offered another one, he accepted, but managed to motion his hand in a way that hit the straw and made some of the drink and garnish splash all over the place. It was so unexpected that he and the bartender started laughing about it, and he even asked me if I saw what happened, to which I responded that I did. He also said that usually he'd ask chef Masa to come out and greet everyone at the bar, but alas, chef Masa was in Japan! Oh well.
After that little event, it was time to get on with the meal.
Oh my goodness. Look at the spines on that sea urchin. Look at that bowl! Look at the urchin dish garnished with white truffle! What is this wonderful thing?!
Haha. It actually reminded me a lot of the "uni-corn" dish that I received at The Table at Kisume, since visually the two looked very alike. Instead of cauliflower and corn though, this was just one big custardy umami bomb. It was so good. So good that even though I was reminded of The Table, I feel like this far exceeded the tastiness of Kisume's rendition! I am so glad that the bartender recommended this dish!
I was pretty set on this rice dish, featuring mushroom rice, salmon and salmon roe. I think the bartender tried to persuade me away from this one, but I really really wanted it, because I love mushroom rice with salmon roe. Well, he might have been right. I did like this, but it wasn't quite the WOW factor that I was hoping for.
I also grabbed another mirugai as sashimi because it was just so tasty!
Finally, after that massive rice dish, I was actually full, and that meant it was time for dessert. I took a look at what was on offer, and a few different things caught my eye. After checking with the bartender how big the ice cream scoops were going to be, I told him what I wanted. He was a bit surprised that I wanted three things! Oh dear. I think I've scared the bartender!
First up, fresh fruit. I'd asked what was available, and he said mango. It wasn't in my top choices for what I might receive (melon was my first preference), and I was wondering where mangoes are sourced from since nothing but apples grew in New York right now. But... hey, I'm on holiday, I'm splurging, let's get the mango.
It was okay, but it wasn't a variety that I was used to eating in Aus. In Aus, I like Kensington Pride mangoes because they're super sweet, soft and juicy. These ones were firmer and had a stronger mango taste to it, much like the ones that my workmate gave me recently. Maybe closer to a Keith or Honeygold? I really do have to go try more mango varieties!
Then this was the grand prize of desserts. Truffle ice cream. Yeah, truffle. You know, the one that comes with a $45 price tag for a SINGLE SCOOP. Call me crazy! That being said, I think the actual price on the receipt ended up being $35. Still hefty!
This was nice. It was smooth and mellow, but I have trouble picking out truffle aroma at these super low temperatures. The actual ice cream didn't quite taste like truffle, but then again, truffle is mostly smell. It still tasted very good, and got better the more I ate it. Was it worth $35? Probably not, but I still appreciated it!
This was actually my favourite dessert (aren't I glad I picked three?). Soba ice cream. Yeah, good old toasty buckwheat flavour! This was really nice, light, and kind of reminded me a bit like what houjicha tastes like. It was the bartender's favourite too! Yay I have great taste!
I was so full after having all my desserts, but I looked over because the sight of the rice dish that the couple next to me just received, seemed to catch my attention. They'd ordered a beef sukiyaki don with foie gras and egg. It looked amazing! The bartender recommended that they mix everything together, and that it was his favourite way of eating it, and that he ate this dish a lot. The couple asked him to mix it for them as a result. So firstly, he split the foie gras between them and placed it on plates. Then, he went in with a spoon and started mashing everything up, letting the yolk mix in with the rice and for the sauce on the beef to infuse into every grain in the entire bowl. Just watching him mix the rice was so appetising that I couldn't help but blurt out "that looks so good, I could probably eat a bowl!"
The bartender looked at me and said something along the lines of "I told you so, but you didn't listen to me!" ahahaha. I guess that's what I get for sticking to the salmon rice! But then, the most amazing thing happened. After the rice got divvied out to the couple, there was half a bowl left. The guy picked up this bowl and handed it over to me. What?! Yes, he was really offering me to eat their food! He even grabbed a small dish that was there so that I could take what I wanted to try it. I asked if he was sure, and he said yes of course, they wouldn't be able to finish it anyway! So I took a little and told them I felt bad for not being able to share anything in return, but he said it was okay. He said, see, New Yorkers are a friendly lot!
The rice was actually really yummy, beef sukiyaki just has so much flavour that it's hard not to like. I even took a sneaky photo of this bonus dish!
Then we had a conversation where I said where I was from and that I'd had an excellent holiday in New York, and just had a wonderful chat overall. I said that I found New Yorkers to be pretty nice, and they seemed impressed at that! I guess the nice ones are self conscious about how they're perceived?
Well, now I was really full and ready for the bill. And it came in exactly on target, at 400USD including tip. I am awesome! And expensive. Hahahahahaha. What an amazing meal. Once again, I've experienced an amazing meal at a bar, instead of a dining room, and it was the people that made it such a memorable meal. I really should opt for bar seating more often (I already do), because there's so much more to foodie adventures than just eating food!
Hooray for fun dining experiences!
Wildair
Sometimes, I distinctly remember how I hear about a restaurant, and what possesses me to visit. Other times, I just forget! Wildair is one of those restaurants where I don't remember exactly how I came to know the name. It was probably via Instagram or something. However, I do know why this place got my interest. It was contemporary, experimental, fun looking, and more importantly, walk-in friendly. I like keeping a list of interesting restaurants that don't take reservations, or at a minimum, have the possibility of accommodating for walk ins, because I don't like having strict plans when travelling, so I want to keep my food options open. The downside is that I have to decide within 30 minutes to an hour of the restaurants' opening time, whether or not I'm going to go there.
Wildair is actually the baby sister of Contra, which is owned by the same people and is a more formal, degustation, bookings essential restaurant. I have a strong preference to restaurants that have the same calibre food in a more casual setting, so Wildair was my must go to non-reservation place.
And random shots because I can! So as we walked in, I actually got asked if I'd put my name in the book. Huh? That book that I spotted earlier when I scouted the place, actually had a purpose? I thought this place didn't take reservations? Something about this was confusing! Maybe my research wasn't as thorough as I thought! However, they did have a table available, but we'd have to vacate at about 8PM or so. See, this is why you always need to take the table at opening times! That was plenty of time and really the norm for a restaurant like this, so it was fine.
The decor is also pretty cool It's a smaller place than I thought, and they have two particularly cool seating areas. The bar facing the kitchen, but more uniquely, on the very opposite side, a bench setup that faces a mirror. I'm not sure why you'd want to look at yourself when eating, but it makes for a great way to people watch the rest of the restaurant!
Look, another quirk! The tables actually had a shelf tucked away underneath where the cutlery was hidden! My friend and the waitstaff both mentioned (at separate times) that this felt almost school-like, how things were under the desk. That's so cute! And a nifty way to increase the available space without taking up actual floor area!
Oyster time! Always such a treat!
It was the clams that were really impressive though! Clams are so hard to get in Australia, and the last set I ate were $12 each from Cumulus Inc! How eye wateringly expensive! With conversion rates, tax, and tipping though, I can't actually be sure these were any cheaper, but hey, I was on holiday so it didn't count towards my budget! That being said, I really wanted to order another plate of these, but that would just be a bit too far for my sensibilities (famous last words, *coughEMPcough*)!
This is actually one of Wildair's more famous dishes. Radishes and butter. So simple, but I liked it! Mainly because I love radishes, and breakfast radishes also seem to be another rarity in Aus. These were not peppery so I could eat my fill! The seaweed butter was a bit of a challenge though, since it was still kind of hard so trying to scrape it off the plate with the radishes was a bit of a challenge!
A beautiful ugly thing. Maitake mushrooms! With straciatella, chicken skin, tomatillo. Now that's an amazing combination! Mushrooms and chicken go really well together, and I loved the straciatella being in there, but it was the tomatillos that really made the whole thing taste amazing - that touch of lightness and acidity were so good! This is totally something I would re-order!
The pork milanese is what my friend ordered. Again, like at Roberta's, I'm really not a fan of meat mains and other large dishes at the bottom of a menu (I even didn't consider the lobster! Gasp!). And, again, I was proven oh so wrong! I didn't know what a milanese actually was, so I imagined just a chunk of pork with vegetables and stuff.
Little did I know that what came out was the best pork schnitzel I've ever had! Wow, I really should start trying out meat mains again at this rate! This was a very thin piece of pork, very manageable and not at all heavy/filling, perfectly tender, and that batter. That fried crust was unimaginably perfect! There was no trace of excess grease, there was no crumbling or sogginess, it was light, uniform, and was almost like a skin in terms of how well, thinly and evenly it coated the pork while still maintaining its definition as a coating and not stuck onto the meat. Wow! Woaaah wow! My mind has just been blown! I am SO glad that I got to try this!!!
Okay, things got serious. I thought this was a great, cute, experimental restaurant. No one told me it was also consistently technically brilliant! What an incredible set of skills the chefs have! I say this because I ordered the passionfruit millefeuille thinking it'd be small and light, a perfect end to my night. My friend ordered the chocolate tart.
I had a little giggle because when they were served, the waitstaff had assumed that I'd ordered the chocolate dessert. Nope, I went for the "lighter" option! Or, the non-chocolate option. Whichever stereotype she'd used to try and guess who ordered what haha! I don't really mind, I just like wondering how waitstaff read their customers at restaurants because it's actually a skill that the best waitstaff have.
Okay, so I got this millefueille. My first reaction was, it looks like the potato and butter dessert I had at Franklin! Similar format, two thin crisps that sandwiched a luscious, generous chunk of cream. Yeah. That's the stuff of my dreams right there. I tasted the cream, and it was great! I never actually knew I loved the balance of tangy passionfruit/lemon against the richness of cream until I ate passionfruit truffles at Sue Lewis Chocolatier in Perth. I had an appreciation of the combo when I was loving Haigh's lemon white chocolate truffles, but Sue Lewis showed me the light, and now this dessert has proved the combo is godly.
Then, the icing on the proverbial cake. The pastry. A pastry that cuts perfectly vertically with a spoon. IT CUTS VERTICALLY CLEANLY. Wow!!! It didn't snap, it didn't flake, it just... it was a perfect pastry. I couldn't believe my eyes! This was way better than I thought I'd be, there was just so much enjoyment in the cutting and the eating!
The only downside was that I was getting really full because it was a larger dessert than I expected, but that's hardly a fault! I actually attribute that to too many carbs in the morning from two croissants and a bundt cake, because I'd had a slight tummy ache in the afternoon as a result. I don't really know what caused it, since I never get tummy aches, and it went away overnight. My friend also liked the passionfruit millefueille better, stating that the chocolate tart was a bit too heavy. I had an inkling that might be the case, which is why I avoid chocolate desserts, and having had a small taste, was pretty sure my suspicion was right. But, I didn't have enough to determine if the technical proficiency I'd seen extended to the chocolate tart, but I really don't have any doubts that their entire menu was curated to their strengths.
We finished our meal in plenty of time! Overall, I'm really glad I got to try this restaurant because their skills were way higher than I'd anticipated! I went in thinking "oh yeah I'm probably gonna experience some new flavour combos here" and walked out thinking "these chefs are insanely good at what they do and know exactly how to perfect their food!"
Yep. Go. Now. To. Wildair!