Brunch at Masa 14

This past weekend, the MTB and I participated in a going away weekend for a friend of ours, that included about a dozen people for the various festivities.  For Sunday brunch, we tried Masa 14 - a relatively new restaurant on 14th St in the District.  Throughout the rest of the day, a smaller sub-group of us kept trying to figure out just what had happened and brunch and whether or not we liked it.

14th St on a Sunday at noon is pretty quiet.  A lot of the bars and restaurants are closed, and many in the neighborhood haven't ventured out of their hangovers yet.  With that in mind, as you step into Masa's small entrance, its total sensory confusion as you are treated to a jam packed restaurant where conversation can best be accomplished by shouting over your fellow diners and the BOOM CHA NTSY NTSY of the stereo blasting out club tunes above your head.  (half way through our brunch they switched to modern up-tempo jazz - a more apt alternative)

So here is the set up - unlimited "small plates" and alcoholic beverages (from a list of about 6 options) for $35.  By now, we've probably all eaten somewhere offering the small plates concept - the food comes out as its ready and is plopped in the middle of the table.  Now imagine that scenario in a group of 12 mostly hungover twenty-somethings trying to hear each other over the roar.  12 people x 3 dishes ordered in first round = 36 plates coming out of the kitchen with no label and little explanation.  People trying to a. figure out what it is, b. figure out if they ordered it, and c. irregardless of (b.) trying to figure out if they want a bite on the way by.

Absolute chaos.

Now, we're a bunch of reasonably well-mannered individuals who try not to be total jerks in public, but there was no way that this set up wasn't stressful.  Take me as an example - I just wanted my pho sandwich (I'll come back to this later).  So every plate that it came out, if it wasn't the pho sandwich, I wasn't interested.  20 minutes go by.  I also know I'm the only one that ordered this, so I cast a keen eye toward each plate to protect my order should it be placed in front of someone else.  This isn't how brunch should be.  Brunch should be relaxed.  Brunch should be quiet (until football starts), relaxing, etc.

The food - all in all, the food was ok to really pretty good, considering how many plates the kitchen was putting out at a very fast rate of speed.  I had the sauteed cauliflower, which had a nice bite with heavy soy sauce - would've been a lot better had it been a bit warmer.  Also had the Masa Chicken Salad, which was a vinegar-based dressing with veggies and chicken - refreshing on a hot day.  And then the previously stated Pho sandwich - sliced beef round with pickled onions, jalapeno, sprouts and a sriracha dressing was definitely a dish I'd get again.  The fried rice was good, but at the end of the day, its fried rice.  I really enjoyed the berries with yogurt, and the tenderloin benedict was very good.  One caveat - this is small plates in name only.  Some of these sandwiches, particularly the burgers, were full-sized. 

So back to the debate.  Several of the group said they didn't mind doing it once but would never go back.  I personally thought the concept would work much better with 4 people rather than 12 - I don't fault the restaurant that our party was abnormally large and hence we sort of 'broke' the system.  But consider the value - 35$ for bottomless food and drink sounds good, right?  But its not hard to find a brunch in DC offering 5$ bottomless mimosas and mary's, so its essentially 30$ for unlimited food - a similar price of many buffets in the area.  So it really comes down to individual tastes and how much you can eat.  I could have easily walked out of here with the Pho sandwich and the berries and yogurt  -$12 as ordered off the menu.  Of course, I probably ended up eating closer to $40 worth by the time all was said and done.  I also felt the food here was better and fresher than what you'd find on a buffet.

Would I go back?  Probably, with a small group, on a special occasion.  But I'd be tempted to hit Front Page's quiet bar on a Sunday morning again before I'd revisit Masa 14.