Massara

Surprised to see that reviews of Massara have been on the lower end but I found my experience here to be an incredible and delicious tour of all the best foods of Italy. My only gripe was that it took some time (~10 minutes) between arriving (we came at promptly our 5PM reservation) and getting seated but other than that everything was fantastic. For those comparing directly between here and Rezdora the portion sizes are bigger here and the variety (e.g. pizzas) are better in my opinion. Plus, the restaurant is less cramped vs the seating at Rezdora although service remains high across both.The pizza was some of the best I've ever had and very authentic as you'd expect from a proper Italian restaurant. I highly recommend the Crudo and our favorite pasta was the candele ragu.

Stopped by here looking for a after dinner drink and dessert. Super high end Italian restaurant with a really nice bar separate from dining area. The staff honestly initially when we came in acted like we weren't even there and took them forever to seat us at the bar, which wasn't busy at all. If they didn't come when they did we were about to leave. The bartender made it up by being very nice and attentive. Really nice space inside, dining spaces upstairs and downstairs. At the bar we decided to get a gin and tonic with Portofino gin that I'd heard about. Super smooth and made perfectly with lime and in a big goblet. I have to find this gin! My friend had a nice Rosé. We also tried the Affogato which was made amazingly with the espresso poured hot with a mokina espresso pot. Insanely good, with as good gelato with chocolate chips in it. Loved this! What was cool is that the gelato didn't melt quickly . They also had one of favorite Italian desserts, Sfogliatella. We tried the citrus one , loved the crispy layers of pastry with the ricotta that was citrus infused. Nice and warm and a great dessert. These desserts were super high quality, so glad we tried them. Was the perfect after dinner drink and sweet treats. I just suggest friendlier hosts !

Ever since this place opened, I've been meaning to try it, so I'm glad I finally got to go. The sister restaurant of Rezdora, one of my favourite Italian restaurants in the city? Got my attention and expectations piqued. The vibes and decor of the place were impeccable. So cosy and warm but still elegant. I loved it. We started with the ciabatta and margherita pizzette -- both phenomenal. The ciabatta was so well seasoned, and I was worried it was going to be bland bc it didn't come with olive oil and balsamic, but it didn't need it at all. Then to the main event -- the pastas. Two girls and we ordered 3 dishes and it was plenty. We had the raviolini, cavatelli and the paccheri pomodoro. You must get the cavatelli. It was so delicious. Such a stand out dish. The rest of the pastas were good, but didn't blow my mind. Ended the meal with a pistachio cake -- also delicious. Just what I needed. Overall, good service and food and would come again as the casual alternative to Rezdora.

The architecture of this space is interesting because there are so many angles at which you can see cooking / pizza making in progress. We got 2 pizzas and 2 pastas. Both pizzas were absolutely delicious; the bread is extremely chewy, and I'm not that much of a bread girlie but found myself wanting moreI loved the broccoli pasta but thought the lobster mafaldine pasta was not good. It was too nutty and grainy.

Very expensive but worth it! Atmosphere and service were great. Some of the dishes we loved and some were just ok. The steak (most expensive thing on menu) was a highlight. The gem salad was very anchovy tasting. I loved the green pasta but did not like the other one. Overall, good experience if you want to treat yourself!

Incredible dining experience! I very much enjoy enjoyed each of the three pastas and two pizzas I ordered. My personal favorites were the candele (ragu). This may be my favorite ever ragu pasta. Incredibly flavorful. Other one was the stagione (pizza). WOW! It was so tasty. The sweeter tomato contrasted so well with the pizza. As for dining experience, I sat next to where the chefs cooked which I thought was neat. The service was impeccable as well and the waiters were willing and happy to provide recommendations. One of my favorite dining experiences this year.

Nice ambiance and very good service. A southern Italian restaurant. Chef provided amuse bouche was a small pastry with whipped chard - a nice little start. 1st course was charred octopus with salsa verde - just good. Also invernale - a radicchio salad - a bit overdressed but was tasty and was a good size portion. Added a pizette - stagione - was very good - puffy crust with the right amount of char and butternut squash base. 2nd course was quadratti for Craig - ravioli stuffed with scamorza and a lobster topping with calabrian chili - excellent. I had candele - 3 day cooked short rib ravioli with pasta - very good. Dessert was a pistachio delicacy - large portion - good for 2. Good meal and portions were larger than expected or noted in prior reviews.

I went in with very minimal knowledge of this spot other than knowing they have a sister restaurant that is Michelin-starred and it's very telling that the first question we were asked upon meeting our waiter was whether we had been to said Michelin-starred restaurant, so knew we were in for a debatable night.The menu to start is very overwhelming in a way that I feel like is purposeful for the sake of making it seem elevated regardless of your level of culinary knowledge. There are so many ingredients I am not familiar with (cheeses, types of pasta, spices, etc.) that I actually feel like it detracted from my ability to make an educated choice on what to order.Polpo: This was actually a bit of a miss for me. I have almost never said that about an octopus app, but the texture at first was too charred and then as I went along the tentacle became too soft. And the sauce was too gritty for my taste.Baby gem salad: A big hit. The lettuce was fresh, as were the rest of the ingredients. I'm not even sure what said ingredients were but this was a great combo of textures that hit the mark.Stagione pizzette: Looking around, everyone gets pizzettes. But I am not entirely sure why. Aesthetically beautiful. But mostly crust and what wasn't crust was not super inspiring. The cheese was nice but wouldn't order this again.Candele: This was the biggest flop of the night for me. Plating itself was very underwhelming. The pasta just didn't really look good? And the meat was hard to pull apart to put with the pasta. We had read reviews that the pasta dishes were small and this is definitely true but really I wasn't even that interested in more of this. Quadratti: This was my favorite of the night. The lobster meat was plentiful and the pasta here such a nice addition for it. If anything wish I had gotten a bigger portion of this.Pancia di Maiale: We had trouble choosing a final meat dish and honestly went with this because some of the other options were outrageously priced. The sauce was great but the meat was less so-rather meh. The "cracker" skin on top I found very difficult to eat/bite into pieces. Broccoli rabe: Really did not need this side-dish, which is our fault. Rather bitter and oily.Ciabatta: This was surprisingly well-oiled. Our waiter recommended having this come out with the pastas, which was clutch. Perfectly soaked up the pasta sauces and much better than having it come out as an app.Truly, the food itself I would not go back for. However, the service was impeccable and the most reminiscent of Michelin-rated places. They had a ton of people attending to each aspect of the meal and everyone was super pleasant. Each course got its own dishware and a table wipe-down between. Water was never empty. People checking in frequently. That was really the best part of the meal.

I recently went here for my birthday dinner. The food was delicious and the service was exquisite. The portions are really small, so you have to order a lot of food. Our server was very upfront about the portion sizes and helped us order accordingly. The food was really great, but definitely think this is a special occasion type of restaurant. I wouldn't say I'm running back here anytime soon, although I could definitely see myself returning to celebrate something in the future.

Sister restaurant if Rezdora and thought this was much better. The portions are small, but everything is done perfectly. Not a single dish was disappointing. Service and ambiance of the restaurant were also great!