Masa

SOooooo this review came a little late after the dinner but it is here nonetheless and as we know before I did not have my camera for photos....

Masa is located in the South End on Tremont Street in Boston, super accessible from 93 and situated on a corner with ample street parking (also a bonus for Boston!!). The fare is south western meets the Caribbean islands-ish and has been a favorite of Bostonians for years.

The decor inside is fabulous and reminded me of places I had been to around the Grand Canyon area in AZ. Wooden chairs with leather cushioned seats, exposed wooden beams, and rough plaster mixed with white washed brick gave it a feel similar to a chic western retreat. The wooden bar is gorgeous with its mirrored cabinets and carved banister columns. Every bottle in that place had a well lit, well organized home that brough feelings of both grandeur and ease.

Masa is home to tequila. They have a whole menu just of the stuff - 99% of them, I had never heard of and a cocktail list devoted to using all those tequilas in various, adventurous concoctions. Being the tequila hater that I am, I opted for a Smuttynose IPA (I thought it a much better choice anyway, since of the food would have some heat to it). The rest of the girls went with a fancy margarita, mojito or the ever popular $5 Carafe of sangria!

The cornbread is homemade as is the rustic bread and it comes with a trio of sauces: maple butter and a hummos and something else (to be honest I was to obsessed with the maple butter to care what the other two things were! I know - bad dietitian eating butter, but no body's perfect people, live with it!). Anyway, this maple butter was heavenly, especially on that homemade cornbread. It reminded me of something I had in Quebec many moons ago - at a smoke house we went to along with dinner they would serve loaves of sliced white bread with vats of 100% maple syrup and butter. You were to spread butter on the bread and then cover it with maple syrup. I lived on that combination for 3 days (I was 12, what else was I going to eat in French-Canadian land) and have found nothing like it in the states until now. So fond of it was I, that I found myself asking the waiter what else on the menu I could order just to put that butter on!! I understand that is a little out of control!

I decided on plantain crusted catfish which came with some hushpuppies. The catfish flesh was nice. Not over cooked and not cool. The outside, while crispy, did not taste much like plantain at all - actually when I took bites of the whole thing together (fish and crust) all I could taste was chipotle, which was discouraging since the fish itself was so well cooked. The hushpuppies had a great flavor and a creamy interior but spent a tad to much time in the fryolator and were a bit burnt on the outside, which sent a lanced a burnt-smokey fry grease taste throughout the whole item. Two girls got the swordfish which was just pan seared and looked lovely sitting atop some bacon roasted potatoes, and two girls got the steak frites which also came with a bit of greens salad.

Dessert was for sure the icing on this cake. A thick and creamy creme brulee came to the table with a sugary, thin crisped shell on top; a pumpkin cheesecake enclosed in a shell of high quality chocolate (probably the biggest hit) and a caramelized banana bread pudding. I got the bread pudding and though the pudding itself tasted great - cinnamon, sugar and brandy with the sweet bananas, the sauce was spicy and not what I wanted to end my meal with. I guess I was a bit shocked/surprised when the first bite of heat in my dessert came through and then I was just annoyed with their overdose of heat throughout the meal.

However, I would give Masa a second chance, as I thought that they had some great looking appetizers that I would probably order in sets of 2-3 for a meal, but if you are someone who does not like heat or bite to your food this is not the place to visit.