Sell Rating: Bar Masa (at Columbus Circle NYC)

Just as this blog has outlined good investment ideas / trades I feel there is duty to also report bad experiences as well. Therefore, wanted to outline a sell rating on Bar Masa.

Went there Sat night dinner for 2 and found these issues:

1. No uni: this is big no no for Masa, like Five Guys running out of beef patties. I think it's commercially detrimental to even give the impression as a sushi place that the restaurant is not stocked up with freshest sushi. Poor management of reputational risk. 
2. Masa fatty tuna = normal lean tuna: First thing server says "we are known for our fatty tuna". We do a piece of fatty toro anyways. In fact the toro we get is actually lean tuna, not even medium fatty tuna; the color of the tuna is red like blood (not pink) and does not have the buttery / rich taste of fatty tuna. So in addition to no uni, they misrepresent their toro. 
3. Poor Skills Sushi chef: Indeed, I'm nitpicking now, but when the sushi came, the fish was overly cold and rice not warm and fresh. Duane Reade (a local drugstore) serves cold sushi for $6 for 12 pieces. The true indicator of skill is when the rice comes warm (body temp) and fish does not taste like it's from the freezer. This way flavor is balanced instead of tasting sushi that's equivalent to a block of ice. 

My conviction was further reinforced by the clientele. They are what we describe in financial markets as unsophisticated / misinformed counterparties. None of the clientele really knew sushi or Japanese food in general. Hence the business model of Masa or Nobu is to target and arbitrage clients who cannot really recognize good sushi from bad.

Q.E.D.