Masa Southwest Grill in Woburn

Today, I went with a coworker who also happens to be a native New Mexican to try out Masa Southwest Grill at 350 Cambridge Road, Woburn MA, where they've recently started serving lunch. When we walked in, I was initially dismayed by the posh decor: square plates, cloth napkins, wall sconces. But the prices on the menu were quite reasonable, so we took a seat.

The menu is nothing like the southwestern cuisine I'm used to. It's more like New Mexican food reinterpreted by a bistro chef. I ordered the tapas and soup ($7.95), and my coworker ordered the pulled pork sandwich ($8.95). We were both pleasantly surprised and quite happy with our dishes.

We started with a bread basket of mixed corn and peasant bread. We both thought the peasant bread was rather incongruous, though it was tasty, especially with the bean and chipotle spread. Also available was a cinnamon honey butter and a red pepper mayonnaise. The butter went well on the cornbread, but the bean and chipotle spread was far more interesting: nice even heat and good flavor.

Of the five tapas on my plate, two were bland and uninteresting, one was good, and two were outstanding. The Slow Cooked Lamb Springrolls with Guajillo Bourbon BBQ Sauce were the least appetizing of the tapas. The lamb had been rendered into an almost flavorless paste, the springroll lacked the crunch necessary to offset that pasty texture, and the barbeque sauce buried what little taste of lamb was left. Similarly, the Ancho Chicken Palitos (Skewers) with Chipotle Peanut Sauce were overcooked and dry, and the entirely bland peanut sauce was insufficient to moisten them.

The Grilled Chorizo with Cranberry Chutney Salsa was a solid chorizo with good flavor, and I was surprised by how well the tangy cranberries complimented it, although I'd hardly call it salsa. The Shredded Chicken Taquito with Chile Ancho Crèma was exceptionally good. The chicken had just the right texture, very familiar and well spiced, and the ancho flavor was wonderful. By far the best of the tapas, however, was the Queso Chihuahua Chorizo Empanada with Jalapeno and Melted Leeks. I'm not a great fan of jalapenos, but these lacked the annoying vinegary taste that marks a less-than-fresh pepper, and the consistency and flavor of the stuffing was perfect. My grandmother might have made the empanada, although she would have called it an empanadita for its small size, and she would have said the pastry was too flaky. Nevertheless, I was delighted to find something so thoroughly authentic.

The best surprise of my dish, however was the soup of the day: white bean with shrimp and chorizo, topped with red corn tortilla strips. One of my major problems with traditional tortilla soup is that it tends to be too watery, turning the tortilla chips to mush. Either you must eat the tortilla chips immediately, which rushes the dish, or you must put up with corn mush in your soup. The white bean soup was much thicker, and that fuller body supported the tortillas very well, so that they were still crunchy right to the bottom of the bowl. Packed with chunks of mild but tasty green chile, the soup was delicious, and I can't wait to have more.

My coworker's pulled pork sandwich was similarly excellent. The barbeque sauce was sweet, smoky, and spicy in good proportion. It was exactly the sort of sandwich that my grandfather would have absolutely loved. It was served with a very generous portion of chile-dusted fries and an interesting looking slaw that I did not taste. I was quite pleasantly stuffed with my own dish, thank you.

To finish, we ordered the Chocolate Truffle Stuffed Tamale ($5.95), wondering what on earth we were getting into. The dessert turned out to be something like a molten chocolate cake baked creatively in a rounded corn husk, topped with maple ice cream and fresh mint, on a plate drizzled with raspberry sauce. While it gets high marks for original presentation, the dessert itself was tasty but not outstanding. I would have loved to see something more thoroughly sourced in the southwest, like a chile-infused chocolate or pinon flavored ice cream. See what happens when you raise my expectations?

Masa's web site states that chef Sean Wesoky has a background in California- and Florida-style Mexican cuisine. Our waitress also told us that the chef had traveled in New Mexico and other parts of the southwest studying the cuisine. I believe her (her service was also quite good).

Masa is a little too rich to go to on a regular basis, but their prices are very reasonable, and their food is, on average, quite good. I plan to go back for their brunch and their dinner, as well as dragging more coworkers along to try the Tapas Platter (10 tapas, $10).

Still on the hunt for homestyle New Mexican cuisine, though, particularly sopapillas. But this certainly does take the edge off my culinary homesickness. Nice job, Masa.

A New Mexican in New England

There are a lot of things I love about living in New England: being near the ocean, mild summers, stunning falls, a strongly innovative technology community, a deep sense of tradition, and some fabulous food. But lacking among the diverse cuisines available in the Boston area are good Southwestern restaurants. In this blog, I'll post reviews of local restaurants where I've dined and let you know how authentically Southwestern their offerings are.