Masa
“America's priciest counter: $950 before drinks and two stars since November 2025. Reserve the hinoki counter for a once a decade client.”
About Masa
Masa Takayama has run the counter here since 2004, slicing toro a few steps from the mall escalators of the Time Warner Center, and for sixteen years the room held three Michelin stars as the most expensive restaurant in America. In November 2025 the guide took the third star away, a demotion that dominated the city's food conversation for a week. The price did not move: the Hinoki Counter Experience runs $950 a person before a single drink.
There is no printed menu and there are no choices. Fish lands from Japan's markets daily, the rice is seasoned to Takayama's fixed standard, and the meal moves from sashimi through nigiri toward the signature indulgences: toro topped with caviar, truffle shaved over uni, ohmi beef seared at the counter. Roughly two dozen services pass in about two and a half hours. Table seating runs the same format from $750, and an extended seasonal omakase reaches $1,200.
Booking runs through Tock with full prepayment as the deposit, and Resy carries table inventory for some seatings; either way the money leaves first. With tax and a modest drink order, $1,300 a head is a realistic exit figure, which is why the Value score sits at four. Bar Masa next door sells the aesthetic à la carte at a fraction of the commitment, and it is the honest rehearsal.
The Room
Twenty six seats around a counter milled from a single hinoki cypress, sanded daily, in a stone room that mutes the shopping mall outside into silence. No music, low voices, chefs working at arm's length. Dress is understated money: no jackets required, no sneakers advised. The counter is the point; tables watch the theater from a polite distance.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
The score explains the kitchen. It does not tell you which night belongs here. These do.
For the client who has eaten at every counter in Tokyo
The number is the message: $950 before drinks says this relationship sits at the top of your book, and the hinoki counter guarantees the guest watches Takayama's team work the full service. Two stars or three, no competitor in America matches the theater of expense. Prepaying on Tock means no bill ever appears, which keeps the gesture clean. Confirm your guest eats everything; the menu bends for nobody.
For the negotiation that needs awe on your side
The counter's silence is a tactic. Courses arrive in a rhythm that forbids small talk from going stale, the seared ohmi beef lands like a closing argument, and the two and a half hour format ends the evening before momentum fades. Take the table seating from $750 if the conversation needs privacy the counter cannot give, and let the room's hush do the pressure work a conference call never could.
For the solo pilgrimage priced like a flight to Tokyo
Alone at the counter is the format this room was built for: no negotiation over supplements, no split attention, just the chef, the rice and you. Solo seats also appear on Tock more often than pairs when the calendar looks sold out. Go once, order tea, watch the knife work, and decide for yourself whether the third star should have stayed. The memory outlasts the invoice.
What to order
Everything is decided for you except the seat, the drink and the level of commitment. Choose those well.
- The hinoki counter over the tables
The $950 counter ticket guarantees front row seats to the knife work, and the counter itself, sanded smooth daily, is half the experience. Tables save $200 and lose the show.
- Sake by the glass, not the pairing
The list runs deep and expensive fast. A single fine junmai daiginjo carries the whole meal and keeps the exit bill nearer four figures than five.
- The extended seasonal omakase only on a return visit
The $1,200 long menu adds rarities but assumes you already know the baseline. First timers take the standard counter service.
- Bar Masa as the rehearsal
Next door, à la carte, no deposit. If you are unsure the main room justifies its price, the toro here answers most of the question.
Practical
- Address
- 10 Columbus Circle, fourth floor, New York
- Reservations
- Tock, prepaid in full · some tables on Resy
- Counter
- Hinoki Counter Experience $950 a person
- Tables
- Omakase from $750 · extended seasonal $1,200
- Duration
- About 2.5 hours, two dozen services
- Dress
- Understated smart · no sneakers
- Dietary
- No substitutions · confirm you eat raw fish and beef
- Backup
- Bar Masa next door, à la carte, walk in
Questions diners ask
How much does Masa cost per person?
The Hinoki Counter Experience is $950 per person, table seating starts at $750, and the extended seasonal omakase runs $1,200, all prepaid as a deposit and all before drinks and tax. With a restrained sake order, expect roughly $1,100 to $1,300 a head at the counter. It remains the most expensive restaurant meal in America.
Did Masa lose a Michelin star?
Yes. At the November 2025 ceremony the guide dropped Masa from three stars to two, ending a sixteen year run at the top tier that began in 2009. The demotion sparked loud debate given the price never moved. The cooking and format are unchanged; only the plaque is different.
How do I book Masa?
Reservations run through Tock with the menu price paid up front as your deposit, applied to the final bill. Some table seatings also appear on Resy for parties up to eight. Counter seats release in limited numbers per seating; solo diners often find the last availability. Book weeks ahead for prime nights.
Is Masa worth $950?
Only you can sign that check honestly. The fish quality, the hinoki counter and Takayama's presence remain singular in America, and for a once a decade client or pilgrimage it delivers a memory nothing else here matches. As a repeatable dinner it is indefensible, which is exactly why the Value score reads four.