Masak

432 East 13th Street, East Village, NY

7.5

Despite that fact that Masak has been open directly across the street from my apartment for nearly a year, it’s taken me a while to look in its direction. Why? Guilt by association. It’s located next door to the god-awful Key Bar, a bar that keeps my entire building up at night. Anyone who lives in the line of fire of a popular drinking establishment is familiar with such frustrations. When you’re woken up by drunken bridge and tunnel bufoons on a nightly basis, it’s easy to pass judgment. I always figured Masak was part of the problem, and therefore never gave it a chance. Yet once the good people of The Infatuation Nation started suggesting we check it out, we listened. I’m glad we did, too. It turns out that Masak is a great neighborhood restaurant, and it’s now in heavy rotation.

We’re not all that familiar with Singaporean food, but we thoroughly enjoyed what we sampled at Masak. There’s a creativity and depth to a lot of the flavors that left us wanting to come back for more. We loved the burger with red pepper spread, and the spicy, delicious crab dip served with fried buns. The cocktails (specifically the Bangkok Horizon with tequila and chili paste) and the well-crafted beer list (Smuttynose, Blue Point, Sixpoint) compliment the menu nicely. We are a bit concerned, however, about the fact that Masak is rarely crowded. Maybe everyone feels the same way we do about Key Bar. Or maybe no one knows this restaurant even exists. There’s not much foot traffic on this block, and this place isn’t exactly all over the internet right now. Or maybe it is. This is the internet right?