Asian

MUNCHIES [CA] . Masa’s Sushi

If you’re going to put your name on something, especially an eatery, you’d better make damn sure it’s good. Masastugi Uehara proudly parks not only his name on Masa’s Sushi in Mountain View but his smiling face on his website. Masa is not a behind-the-scenes kind of entrepreneur. He’s always behind the sushi bar counter or even behind the cash register when the wait staff is swamped, which is often because this place is always packed. Tucked away in an unassuming corner between Dittmer’s Meats and a grungy liquor store, kitty corner from a Bank of America and across the street from an almost abandoned mini mall, you would never guess that there was a sushi joint here, and not a good one at that. Chris and I favor hole-in-the-wall restaurants, so we braved it and are ever so glad we did. Recently, however, we haven’t been brave enough to go back.

Masa’s selection is diverse and is some of the tastiest Japanese food around. The combination dinner plates include an overflowing chawan bowl of rice, sides of moyashi (”pickled” bean sprouts) and tsukemono (pickled cabbage and veggies), a good-sized bowl of green salad with the yummiest sesame/miso dressing, the obligatory miso soup. The grilled teriyaki salmon is superb with a sweet sauce that’s not as overpowering or predictable as most places, nor gooey thick as if it were hoisin. Masa’s saba shioyaki reminded me of my former favorite Japanese joint, the now defunct (*sniff*) Kyotaro, perfectly crisp and barely burnt skin, tender and flaky and not too greasy flesh. Since our first few visits, however, the quality of the crisp has been hit or miss, but I know that saba (mackerel) is quite oily and might be difficult to consistently grill, and it still ranks higher than other places overall, but dammit Kyotaro got it right every time, why can’t other places?

Okay, on to the sushi! I’m not one for the “specialty rolls” that are so popular nowadays, but let me tell you that Masa’s Sushi has the best and the cutest caterpillar roll I’ve ever had! With two ikura (salmon roe) dots for eyes and kaiware (radish sprouts) for antennae, this treat is lovingly shaped with heaps of unagi and sliced avocado. Their nigiri is also tasty, with the tendency towards smaller portions of formed rice and richer/fattier fish. Their sashimi is cut into 3/4″ thick rectangular logs rather than thin strips, and I favor these fat flavorful cuts. All the major staples are a reasonable $3-4 per nigiri pair. They even have vegetarian maki like avocado, carrot, asparagus.

Masa’s spider roll is serious business, meaty and definitely one of the largest we’ve been served. They’ve got the crispiness set to perfect with this one, and this time it’s consistent. Their incredibly light and chewy calamari with thin tempura batter is served with a delightfully tangy ume sauce. Its one of the best calamari we’ve tasted and we often order squid any which way you can fry it everywhere they’ll let us order it! If you want to ooze oil, Masa’s Sushi also has an entire laminated page dedicated to tempura (battered and deep fried) sushi rolls. We’ve mistakenly ordered a few times from that menu and regretted it, but it’s just not for us.

The only major caveat I have is the inconsistency. When we first started coming to Masa’s, there was a row of friendly sushi chefs, attentive and at the ready. You didn’t have to wait very long for even the most complex rolls. Now, depending on which night you go, there’s some dude that’s too busy flirting with the girl groups seated at the counter to make proper rice forms or slice the fish proportionately. You might be served lopsided pieces with raggedy fish flesh teetering upon a tiny rice nugget that quickly disintegrates when you try to pick it up. The rice should be firmly formed yet fall apart in your mouth. I know this because I watched Shota no Sushi, man. I know aaallll the tricks! And it’s a long wait, even for his buddies at the end of the counter heckling him for his tardiness. This, unfortunately, has been the reason why we’ve been disappointed with Masa’s for the past year and why we haven’t been back since. It’s sad because we love to see Masa’s smile and admire his diligence.. maybe he just needs a more stringent employee screening process.

Photos to come!

Masa’s Sushi [SUSHI, JAPANESE][$$]
(650) 941-2117 - 400 San Antonio Road - Mountain View, CA

HOURS:
Lunch: M-F 11:30am-2:30pm
Dinner: M-Sun 5pm-9:30pm

About the Author:

Kris Kobayashi-Nelson is an avid food adventurist who has tried everything from jellyfish to sea cucumber to chicken gizzards. She loved liver and onions with ketchup and cayenne pepper ice cream as a kid.

Related Articles:

• MUNCHIES [CA] . Yuki Sushi
• MUNCHIES [CA] . Hanamaru
• MUNCHIES [CA] . Yakko
• MUNCHIES [CA] . Sushitomi
• MUNCHIES [HI] . Genki Sushi
• MUNCHIES . Restaurants [HI] . Hoku's at the Kahala Resort