We Googled "Boston, food, restaurant" on a whim, and went straight from there to the South End's Masa.
We were enticed by its description as "sophisticated southwestern." With the menu chock full of robust flavors, from roasted corn to queso to pork, the restaurant itself is something between rustic (Restoration Hardware, not Oregon Trail) and Latin (Mariachi, not Mario Batali). Normally this would be above our budget, but Charlotte's mom and brother were visiting, so it was a go. The lighting was dim and the dance floor was ready...
That's right, they have a dance floor. That's because every Thursday is Salsa night from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., including lessons from SalsaBoston from 10:30 to 11:30. Thank our lucky stars, we arrived at Masa around 9:15 on a Thursday, and were seated courtside to the Salsa floor.
For whatever reason, Winston didn't really believe the waitress when she said that the crab- and jalapeño-stuffed sole was "very hot, even for people who like spicy." Charlotte probably thought that she could handle it, but couldn't.
The sole itself came in the center of a pool of Tang-colored sauce, not unlike the pool of neon liquid that Domino's hot wings are delivered in, only more gourmet.
Charlotte, having never had Domino's hot wings, had difficulty picturing how said liquid could possibly have a gourmet version, but she tried to keep an open mind. Weirdly enough, this wasn't what made this fish so spicy. The real heat was packed in the crab and jalapeño stuffing.
Stuffed sole is really just a filet wrapped around a mound of the "stuffing;" there's no intricate incision or packing necessary - maybe just some butcher's twine to hold it all together while it cooks. Delicious as well as hot, it may be the only thing we've ever eaten that actually cuts like butter.
The fire in Winston's mouth started a few minutes after finishing the fish. Using some of the impressive roasted corn salsa that came as a side to try to ease the pain didn't do much about the blistering heat. After trying to play it cool in front of Charlotte's mom and brother, Winston ended up taking the lime wedges out of everyone's drinks and sucking on them. Like Aloe Vera for the tongue.
Charlotte had an extraordinary Negra Modelo braised pork shoulder with sauce borracha (drunken sauce), which came dressed up with a port and fig jam, baby arugula and garlic whipped potatoes. Masa changes its menu seasonally, and while we chanced upon the debut evening for the spring menu, this is one of a few items so popular they've become perennial. The pork was so intensely flavored and had been cooked for so long that it was perfectly lean and so tender it comfortably fell apart into complementary fig and port jam.
When we left Masa there was a ticket waiting on Charlotte's mother's rental Prius. But wait - there's more. Charlotte has never actually known her mother to have gotten a parking ticket before, so this alone was surprising enough, even before her brother announced, "third this week."
As she dropped us off, having mentioned over dinner a jam she'd especially enjoyed at her B&B the night before (juicy table talk), Charlotte's mother fished for something in her purse. Full of surprises, she produced a dime-sized jar of blackberry preserves. This kind of surprise is just what you find at local restaurants like Masa: something delicious and unexpected.
Winston Berkman is a sophomore majoring in international relations; Charlotte Bourdillon is a sophomore who has not declared a major. They can be reached at Winston.Berkman@tufts.edu and Charlotte.Bourdillon@tufts.edu, respectively.
