Masa of Echo Park (Echo Park, LA, CA)

Located at:
1800 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Date of Visit: 10/23/13


      It's no secret that this gem in Echo Park has gotten more and more popular over the years.  The waits and lines outside this establishment just keeps getting longer and longer every time i try to dine here or pass by. Heck this place gets even worse especially on weekend nights. Only the brave and patient dare to dine here then. But all that is totally justified by the good food and nicely cultivated atmosphere that they have. However since I'm not that much of a people person I avoided coming here and take on their lines. Until it hit me that I just may avoid all that fuss if I dined with them at some obscure hour to dodge all that crowd mess.

      It has been a while and from the looks of it not much has changed. It still smells heavenly when you walk in because of their baked goods. And all the entire restaurant itself still had all its charms and character. The only huge difference that i noticed was well the influx of the hipster clientele. I mean whats also not a secret about Echo Park is that how much more hipster it has gotten nowadays. And sitting by the window people watching while i ate i kept asking myself at certain intervals "Am I still in LA?" Anyways I digress...
     Another familiar thing about this restaurant is the warm friendly service. They're very prompt and attentive. I never felt forgotten at any point of the service at all. But they aren't perfect. I recalled a instance a while back where I had a really off putting snooty waitress once. And another time where it was a guy who kept forgotten about us on multiple occasions and was left parched for most of our meal. And the place was practically empty. But I've been here a lot and dropping the ball only twice compared to the numerous other great services they provided me it's no biggie.
     Now, this place is definitely known for their Chicago Deep Dish pizzas. Which they do give you kind of a disclaimer that it usually takes roughly 40 minutes to make since they start from scratch. And normally that is what i would get if i wanted a awesome pizza buzz. But the ravenous spirit that possessed me that day told me I wanted pasta. So I obliged.  

      "Garlic Bread - A Loaf of Masa Bread, toasted & drizzled with olive oil, parmesan cheese & chunks of garlic served with marinara sauce." They got some bomb arse garlic bread here. First off they used their own rolls which tasted really fresh and it had the right amount of crisp hardness on the outside and a softer crispiness on the center. Secondly their ratio of garlic and cheese on top was spot on. Everything was just balanced out so well. And of course it came with a marinara sauce for dunking. The sauce itself is good but I usually choose to just eat the garlic bread by itself because the marinara will overpower everything. Also normally they would give you one of their rolls at the beginning to hold you over. Since we got the garlic bread to start we would not get it. But our waitress was kind enough to hook up the roll to go. Flippin score!

      "Penne Orleans - Blackened Cajun spiced chicken breast, spicy Arabiatta sauce, crispy mushrooms & shredded parmesan." They were no joking about how spicy this dish is. Had I shoveled all of that in my mouth in a manner that a worker would toss coal into a coal powered train's furnace. My eyes would fog and tear up and my nose would be running like Niagara Falls. In which case happened to my friend who i was with. But the flavors were really good and the pasta was nicely cooked. Hence the shoveling. 

       "Masa Gnocchi - Mushrooms, Garlic, Peas & at Touch of Cream" My favorite pasta dish from Masa. Then again i added bacon to it. Always. Maybe that is why. HA. The flavor is just amazing. Every bite is just garlic and bacon. One of my favorite double whammy.  And there is hint of smokiness to it which may come from the bacon. The gnocchi s themselves were cooked very well and not too chewy or just mush. 
      I'm glad this restaurant is doing well for itself. Even though it's been years that I've been coming here and I felt like nothing has changed much. It's been consistently good mostly throughout my visits and it proves to the testament that if something ain't broke don't fix it. I shall be back to maybe do a post of their deep dish pizza and their amazing bread pudding. Until then I bestow upon this place a very hipster thumbs up.