Although the Menu's (large bits of laminated paper with uninspired layouts and out of focus headings) felt a little out of place at the upscale establishment, no one could complain about lack of choice. Chicken, fish, meat, salad, pasta, pizza; Masa serves it all.
Masa is a Grade A people watching spot, located within a plaza of dizzyingly chic shops. Given this setting, Masa could have gone for something ultra-exclusive and aspirational, like some of the brands with which it's rubbing shoulders, but it seems to fairly neatly swerve that trap.
The menu is intimidatingly large, a popular Istanbul approach to dining, it would appear, and took a good while to peruse. Mina and Patrick pointed us to some of the good and bad points of their previous visit. I ended up torn between the Pizza Fagotto and the grilled quail, opting for the latter simply because I'd eaten pizza in Tribeca, the other day.
The quail arrived very neatly presented, accompanied by wild rice and a little green salad. The salad was nondescript but the rice had a buttery goodness to it that was reminiscent of my cardio-trauma inducing spinach experience in NusrEt. The quail itself was well cooked, tender and moist. The honey red wine sauce brought a little colour but no real flavour or unity to the dish. So, it was a little bit of a curate's egg - good bits and bad bits. I'm glad I went with this option, though, as the pizzas that my fellow diners were tucking into looked like they had been prepared in a very similar style to the Tribeca one that I ate.
Coffees book-ended the meal, with their espresso much better than their cappuccino.
Overall, Masa does pretty well at providing an accessible eaterie among exclusive stores. You're likely to find something to entertain you on their menu that won't be too challenging, so you can focus on the real reason that you're there: to see and be seen
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| Outside seating at Masa |
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| menu |
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| garlic crisp bread and fresh small loafs with olive oil and balsamic dipping sauce |
After placing our orders, we leaned back to watch shoppers amble in and out of the stores around us. The sight reminded me of that Black Eyed Peas song, how did it go? "Dolce & Gabbana. Fendi and that Donna.." Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Ralph Lauren...the Istinye Park 'Meydan' where the restaurant is located has every high end brand you can think of. And so, in the vein of Cafe de Paris Monte Carlo, Masa is people watching central!
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| Stores surrounding Masa. |
Now for the food...
Beyza's Verdict:
I had the Beef Stroganoff Salad and it was really good. They used good quality beef, and the stroganoff sauce which can be a little heavy sometimes was just right. The mustard sauce on the mixed greens was also really tasty and worked really well with the beef. The only thing that wasn't amazing was the potatoes, which were too thin, oily and tasted more like chips than fries.
Elif's Verdict:
I also had the Beef Stroganoff salad and I have to agree that the fries weren't great. I personally liked the crispiness, but some of the pieces were way too thin and it was too oily. The meat was nice and soft, and even though I'm not a mushroom fan, I liked the ones in the stroganoff sauce (which was really nice, although it could have done with a tiny bit more flavour).
Ayse's Verdict:
I had Steamed Asparagus with Parmesan and olive oil as a starter. Although the veggies were great, the portion was a bit small for value and since I'm a big fan of Parmesan cheese, I could have done with a few more slices.
I had the Grilled Veal Cutlet with Vegetable Tagliolini. The meat was perfect, without a single nerve or bit of fat on it. The pasta was more than perfect; al dente tagliolini with a slightly spicy-garlicy sauce with spinach leaves. Loved the food, loved the presentation, loved Masa!
Patrick's Verdict:
So Masa is the place to be seen. It is apparently in the top ten restaurants in Istanbul, and I wondered if this was for the ‘being seen there’ factor rather than the quality of the food. I was wrong. I think. The menu is particularly diverse - Turkish, Chinese, Italian, steaks, really whatever you like.
We shared a starter of asparagus with balsamic vinegar and parmesan, which was very tasty - the asparagus was lovely and fresh and piping hot. For a main course I plumped for a ‘Bistecca’ salad. I have no idea what bistecca is, but it was mighty tasty. After ordering I regretted it as I actually fancied a burger but since everyone else was having a salad-type thing I didn’t want to be the odd one out! Anyway, my choice proved to be a good one.
My salad consisted of rocket, spinach and lettuce in a balsamic dressing which was wonderfully light, with four large slices of tomato on the side (not really needed) and four generous slices of what was essentially steak, expertly cooked and with just the perfect amount of a basil sauce (very interesting and worked a treat!) and four large pieces of fresh parmesan. Now, this all sounds a little much, but the combinations worked really well and I was delighted by my meal, scoffing it in record time.
The only downside of the meal was the coffee. It wasn’t as great as I would expect from a top ten restaurant. And they forgot my biscotti - a criminal offense.
All in all, if you want to be seen eating pretty good food, in a nice setting then Masa is good for you. It’s expensive by Turkish standards but you’re paying to be seen.
Mina's Verdict:
My Goats Cheese Salad was nice. There was a slab of really good Goats cheese (grilled for the shortest time) on a bed of mixed greens. I was a big fan of the Cheese (i'm a big fan of cheese in general), but the salad bit wasn't particularly inspired. The rocket was good, the iceberg lettuce was a tiny bit soggy and the spinach leaves were tasty but baby spinach would have worked better in the combination. The sauce wasn't bad by any means, but the simple olive oil, lemon mix wasn't as fabulous as I hoped. A more interesting sauce (maybe a touch of sour pomegranate extract which many good Turkish restaurants use in their salads) could really have made the dish pop a little more. The little bits of red and orange capsicums and pickles are testament to the chef's attempt to add colour to the dish (which it did!) and his partiality for pickles (a quick look at everyone else's dishes and it seems we all had some!).
At the end of the meal, I had a double expresso and that was my only let down. Foam nice. Colour good. But for those who like their coffee strong, Masa's espresso is weak and watery. As for the biscotti - I assured Patrick he didn't miss out. In Germany I sometimes hear people respond to the question 'how are you?' with the phrase: 'so-la-la'. In my head it equates with a Scottish 'meh'. Both sounds describe the biscotti adequately.
Blythe's Verdict
After reviewing Masa, last week, the guys took us back there to sample it for ourselves and you could instantly see why.
Masa is a Grade A people watching spot, located within a plaza of dizzyingly chic shops. Given this setting, Masa could have gone for something ultra-exclusive and aspirational, like some of the brands with which it's rubbing shoulders, but it seems to fairly neatly swerve that trap.
The menu is intimidatingly large, a popular Istanbul approach to dining, it would appear, and took a good while to peruse. Mina and Patrick pointed us to some of the good and bad points of their previous visit. I ended up torn between the Pizza Fagotto and the grilled quail, opting for the latter simply because I'd eaten pizza in Tribeca, the other day.
The quail arrived very neatly presented, accompanied by wild rice and a little green salad. The salad was nondescript but the rice had a buttery goodness to it that was reminiscent of my cardio-trauma inducing spinach experience in NusrEt. The quail itself was well cooked, tender and moist. The honey red wine sauce brought a little colour but no real flavour or unity to the dish. So, it was a little bit of a curate's egg - good bits and bad bits. I'm glad I went with this option, though, as the pizzas that my fellow diners were tucking into looked like they had been prepared in a very similar style to the Tribeca one that I ate.
Coffees book-ended the meal, with their espresso much better than their cappuccino.
Overall, Masa does pretty well at providing an accessible eaterie among exclusive stores. You're likely to find something to entertain you on their menu that won't be too challenging, so you can focus on the real reason that you're there: to see and be seen
Scores on the Doors
Out of 20 Beyza gives Masa:
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 15/20
Out of 20 Ayse gives Masa:
5/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 17/20
Out of 20 Elif gives Masa:
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
5/5 for service
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 16/20
Out of 20 Patrick gives Masa:
5/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 17/20
Out of 20 Mina gives Masa:
3/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 13/20
Out of 20 Blythe gives Masa:
3/5 for food;
4/5 for presentation;
3/5 for service;
4/5 for setting,
giving an overall 14/20
4/5 for presentation;
3/5 for service;
4/5 for setting,
giving an overall 14/20
Today's Lunch Questers were: Mina, Patrick, Ayse, Elif & Beyza (then Blythe, the following week!)
We drank: Water, Double Espresso
Total Bill: 240TL (around 85 pounds)
Masa
Istinye park, Istinye
Istanbul
0090-212-345-53-24
I want to go see and be seen there. Followed by a camel ride and then off to buy works of art from undiscovered geniuses and then finish with venue shopping and wine by the Bosporus. Make this happen. (p.s., Masa is optional, the camel, however, is not)
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