Masa Sushi & Ramen — Restaurant in Cary

Went yesterday for dinner. New to the area and have been trying to find somewhere good to eat. We decided on ramen and went to this place. First thing I noticed was a noticeable stench from the menus after being handed them. I asked my fiancé if she smelled it too, and she said they smelled like public transportation. I thought they smelled like dirty socks. I’ve honestly never experienced this at a restaurant before, like I wish I was making it up, but I’m not.

We ordered the calamari, it’s described on the menu as fried baby squid. I’m used to that meaning small rounds of fried squid and actual whole fried baby squid, not onion ring style calamari that looks like it came out of a bag. The chili sauce that came with it was nothing special. It might’ve been homemade but the stuff out of the bottle tastes better. The only redeemable aspect of it, was 5 pieces was $10 so it wasn’t crazy expensive. My fiancé said it was exactly like onion rings.

I also got the O-Toro nigiri and was very disappointed in 1 piece for $14. In Charlotte, you can get 2 pieces for $18 at a very nice sushi spot. The difference between the “Masa” O-toro nigiri and the regular O-toro nigiri (which has no topping) is $1 and the Masa has “real” wasabi, “caviar” (tobiko) and gold flake that doesn’t provide any flavor on top of the fish. I highly doubt there was real wasabi on there as real wasabi is extremely expensive and then they give you the fake green horseradish on the side. Also, I don’t like how they call tobiko, “caviar”. Trying to make it sound like something it’s not. Leave off the tobiko and gold flake and make it more affordable since without it, it would’ve tasted pretty identical to the plain one.

Lastly we got the ramen and it was very mediocre to say the least. I got the spicy tonkotsu and my fiancé got the shoyu. I had some ramen a few weeks ago in downtown Raleigh that was toward the bottom of ramen places I’ve been and it was way better than Masa. Both ramen look very good, but looks are deceiving. The broth at Masa lacked depth of flavor, the pork belly was tough, the soy marinated egg was over cooked, and the amount of toppings in the bowl were shameful. I’m talking about there were the tiniest slivers of Wood ear mushrooms (like maybe 5 pieces that would equal half a mushroom) as well as the green onion. It was laughable. Neither of us finished our bowls which has never happened before. I’m still trying to figure out how this place has good reviews.

We would’ve been better off eating store bought ramen and did the toppings ourselves then spend the...

My girlfriend and I are patrons at this fine restaurant once a week. At this point Masa Sushi and Ramen feels like my second home. I have seriously been here 50+ times and counting. At this point I have tried nearly every single sushi roll on the menu and they have all been stellar. The fish is always fresh and the rolls are always perfectly crafted. A favorite appetizer of mine is their chili garlic edamame. The moment that bean pod touches your tongue it explodes with a vibrant chili flavor, a harbinger for what I'd to come with your main course. Speaking of which let's talk about their ramen. You must forgive me now for I am about to rave about this ramen much more than a humble bowl of noodles seemingly warrants, but I promise every ounce of praise is well deserved. Masa Sushi and Ramen makes such high quality Bowls of noodles that they have changed my answer when I am asked what my favorite food of all time is. I am convinced that this is more than just soup and that it has medicinal qualities. It always arrives to the table well presented, piping hot, and with CHOICE, FRESH ingredients. They have always been willing to swap and sub ingredients for me as well depending on my mood. Their ramen selection seems to be growing as a matter of fact, the first time I came here there were only about five or six choices, now there's a full page and a list of ingredients you can sub in to craft your perfect bowl.

I hope that I'm not coming off as too Hyperbolic here but this is genuinely my favorite restaurant I have ever been to. I take family and friends here when theyre visiting from out of town or out of state just so they can experience it. I urge all others to give this place a shot, your taste buds will thank you.

My favorite food of all time by the way...

Their Tempura Shrimp Udon, sub the shrimp for tempura chicken, maybe some extra bamboo, and double up those amazing eggs (I usually just take my girlfriends), and add some Enoki or wood ear mushrooms and voila. Call it what you want but I call it Jazzy Ramen because it's everything that I...

Todays date, 1/15/2024 .This was my family’s first time experiencing this kind of meal. We wanted something out of the norm so we chose to drive 45mins to this ramen place that had great ratings. The experience overall wasn’t great. The energy was very strong and unwelcoming. We told our waiter that this was our first time coming to the establishment and we didn’t know what to expect from the dinning experience. She couldn’t care less, she didn’t even respond and walked away without even saying anything. The waitress was inattentive to our needs. She refilled our drink without question but she waited until we called her to the table to take our order with out suggestion or recommendation. I ordered the spicy Curry Seafood Ramen for my entree’ and the Jalapeño Bombs for my appetizer. My family received their appetizer 20 minutes before I received mine. I got my appetizer with my entree’. The milky bone broth was good but my scallops were gritty and unappealing. My green muscles were covered in what seems like hairy bits. It completely ruined my meal after I seen how they didn’t clean the muscles at all. It was like they took them from the ocean to my bowl. No washing process of any kind no exaggeration. It seemed like long hairs were covering the muscles in abundance. As I sat and ate, I would look in the mirror lined walls and notice, that the man and some of the staff would be looking at me. I presume the man was the floor manger; he would be staring at me, so much so that after the inattentive waitress gave us our check he walked to my table and asked how everything was and gave the ticket to our waitress. Granted he only ever spoke to us when we entered the restaurant. We spent one hour and thirty mins in this restaurant and I can tell you we...