October 15th, 2009
I was contacted via survey by Masa 14 after my recent visit with my friend Stephanie. Stephanie was in a great position to help me fill out this survey since she’s a fellow foodie and was able to provide her unique vegetarian point of view on the menu. The survey asked diners for their thoughts on Decor, Food, Menu, Service and “Thankful-ness” from the staff for our patronage. I’ve included our slightly edited responses below, divided into the sections they asked for our feedback on. They also asked for rankings out of a possible five points–we ranked all categories either 3/5 or 4/5.

Ambiance, decor, comfort

Love the wood detail, the layout of the place was okay. the outside made it seem like it was going to be smaller, and I was suprised at the size once I got inside. It was a bit hard to tell it was a restaurant outside since I couldn’t see a sign for “Masa 14”.

Menu variety and Choice & Food Quality and Taste

There were some interesting ingredient combinations, so this is a good place to get exposed to ingredients you haven’t tried before. The menu is not very vegetarian friendly–there were a lot of dishes that I think could be “made” vegetarian that would taste delicious. I would also like to see sushi rolls as well as temaki. A lot of dishes seemed like a good dish to try, but not good enough to order given that the prices would make the bill add up very quickly. I had the “Eastern Breeze” drink and it was very good.

Overall, the menu was interesting, but I was a bit confused. The dishes seem to be Asian with Mexican ingredients, making dishes “mash-ups”. Is masa 14 supposed to be Japanese-Mexican, or Asian-Latin (like Zengo)? If it’s the former, we would like to see more traditional dishes that use a mixture the flavor profiles as a way of modernizing, instead of these “mash-up” type dishes. Also, I think the majority of the menu was Asian with Latin ingredients, and I’d like to have seen some more traditional Latin dishes with Asian ingredients.

We ordered the seaweed/jicama salad, pork buns, ham/melon flatbread (1/2 with ham, 1/2 without), yucca fries, green tea tres leches and the mango panna cotta.

The salad was yummy. The texture could be improved a little bit, but the flavor was good. I think there needs to be a little more of a crunch element, which I thought would be provided by the jicama. Seemed simple, but had complex flavors.

The pork buns were alright. I liked the strong acidic flavors provided by the lime and pepper, but the pork got a bit lost in the mix in terms of flavoring. The “bun” was a bit too small and so it was awkward to eat. I think if the “bun” were larger, or an actual bun, it would do a good job of soaking up of those delicious juices that ran down the side of my arm instead~

The pizza had some very interesting flavors. I didn’t think I would like the melon with the ham, but it worked surprisingly well. I would have liked the ham to be a little crispier so that it was easier to bite into, but it was alright. The greens had a very strong dressing on them and the bread could also have been used to be a little bit crispier. I really liked the idea though, and the kitchen’s willingness to custom-make the pizza and it came out very quickly.

Mango panna cotta was great. Light but rich at the same time, and the coconut milk flavor was really pronounced. Green Tea Tres Leches was good, but it was a little bit off. I think the passion fruit “sauce” wasn’t integrated well into the dish and didn’t go with its overall flavors. Maybe something less acidic and more savory, like red bean or coffee on top?

Service

Our waitress was very helpful in explaining the menu when we asked questions. There weren’t any untimely delays in service and she was quick to repair an order that was served to the table incorrectly.

I was contacted to fill out a survey about my recent experience. I like when restaurants ask for opinions of their customers. I also liked that Masa 14 confirmed our reservation by calling us.

I really enjoyed talking to Chef Kaz, it seemed like a real treat that he would take the time to come to our table and ask our opinion.

Overall, We would both go back again after viewing the full menu (our waitress told us it was 50-70% of the menu). Masa 14 has some really great ideas, it’s in a convenient location, and I love Zengo!

August 15th, 2009
Visiting kora was required. It was like paying homage to the recently fallen Farrah Olivia. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Farrah Olivia. I saw Chef Morou when we walked in and got some butterflies in my stomach (Did he know that I was not-so-secretly in love with his Farrah? I think my face betrayed me).

The decor looked nice at first glance (hi tree branch wall!), but while sitting and looking around, it started to loose its charm. The purple wall paper with silver decals went from looking minimalistic to cheap. We saw chunks of wall that had been left unpainted and some dirty parts of the floor. The exposed warehouse-like ceilings were somehow a step down from Bebo Trattoria, which lived in this space before. Metal meshed boxes acted as dividers in one part of the restaurant and had purple lanterns in them. A nice idea, but I felt like I needed to hang some earrings on the boxes and the lanterns were quite obviously from Ikea, so lost their charm. I really like the tree branch decals on the wall near the pizza oven up front, but unfortunately this wall was out of sight for most people dining and almost completely covered by the oven. Can’t we just give you our lacy chandeliers and you can give our half of the restaurant tree branches? Maybe I’m just being stubborn because Farrah Olivia had similar tree branches in their dining room.

The service was a big miss at our table. Our waitress was trying to sell us really hard on wine and other things, and did not know the menu at all. When I asked her to explain a dessert, she said “I don’t know” and went to check with the kitchen. She was gone for quite a while, but she seemed to always be missing when we needed her, even though there were only a few tables filled.

The bread was a little dense for my taste, but I loved the vellum Italian newspaper it came wrapped in. The Margherita my boyfriend ordered was a little sparse on the toppings, but the sausage (we added) was very flavorful and juicy. My half order of tortelloni was very good. The saffron cream sauce paired well with the butternut squash filling, but the pasta itself was a tad thick and too al dente for my tastes. I do like the fact that they allow half and full orders of almost all of their pastas. The menu at kora changes a little bit week to week. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re finding out what diners like best or if they’re trying to stay seasonal, but it’s good to know they’re keeping up either way.

The espresso laced tiramisu was, in one word, yummy. It had a very pronounced coffee flavor and the perfect mixture of custard-y texture and airy cake. The mascarpone cream and zabaglione were nice accompaniments that didn’t overwhelm the cake itself. I’m happy that I got to visit kora the first week that it opened, but I’m not sure I would go back. If it was in my neighborhood I might visit for brunch (Morou’s got a reputation!), or a quick catch-up lunch, but it’s in Crystal City. If there were things close to the restaurant or if I lived in the area, it’d be another story. As is, kora isn’t quite worth the trip. Yet.

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