Review, Masa Japanese Restaurant in Manchester, NH

Tuesday night Jack and I went on a double date to the restaurant I have most wanted to try since I moved here- Masa Japanese Hibachi! I have had hibachi/teppanyaki before and love the meat, the rice, and the show. I also knew they had a sushi bar and wanted to get my sashimi on.

Pictures originally from the restaurants website, Masa Japanese Hibachi. I forgot my camera! :(

The first thing I noticed about this place, which you can see from the pictures, is that it is gorgeous. In an area of family restaurants Masa really stands out to me for it's adult oriented and well, sexy decor. While some parts do feel a bit kitschy, the lighting underneath the bars at the hibachi tables and tiled everything really stands out. Even Masa's hours are more adult oriented- on a Tuesday night we were there until 10:30 with no rush from the staff, and on weekends they are open until 11:30.

When we walked in we were sat down at a Hibachi table, but they also have booths and a sushi bar. I ordered salmon sashimi, a bottle of Kirin Ichiban beer and steak for my meat. Everyone else in our party ended up ordering the filet and chicken meats. (You can see the full menu here, prices are between $15 - $45 for most entrees.) First the normal waitress brings out a salad which was delicious, and used some kind of house sauce as dressing. She also brought out a clear broth which the other girl with us enjoyed, but I didn't enjoy it at all. She also started to get the griddle hot.

I didn't catch the name of our chef for the night, but he was pretty young and energetic! We were the worst audience ever, since everyone was a little on the tired side and the birthday party sharing our table was headed by the most apathetic 20-year old ever. Poor guy, I still feel bad! He worked with what he had though. He did have tricks up his sleeve- juggling eggs on the cooking apparatus, making the chicken do the worm, accidentally spilling on one of the girls with a trick sauce bottle, throwing broccoli off the spatula into our mouths (I failed at this, miserably.), and squirting sake into the mouths of those who were up for it. I was very entertained, and so was everyone else despite the lack of energy.

First he prepared our fried rice, which was amazing. The fried rice was perfect. I would eat the fried rice for dinner for a week if I could. Next were vegetables, also insanely good! And finally the meat. My steak was medium-rare and I really loved it, the flavor was really great and it was actually medium rare! The filets were fantastic as well, and I probably should've just ordered filet but I am crazy. I did not try the chicken, but from all accounts it was awesome as well. I also got green tea fried ice cream as a desert and it was fantastic. I love fried ice cream, fried cheesecake, all fried deserts. I ate it all by myself! So proud.

I am going to go back to Masa, the only real negative for me throughout the night was the clear broth. I think next time I will try to make it more of an event oriented night, so that we can be more lively with the chef and make their night easier! I am sure there are better places in Boston, but with Masa only being a 5 minute drive from my apartment I think it will be my favorite for quite a long time.