Lunch at MASA By Black Society, Orchard Gateway (Closed)

We had lunch at MASA By Black Society (黑社会), a new restaurant at Orchard Gateway (the mall that is next to Orchard Central). It is more than a Chinese restaurant even though dim sum features highly in their menu. The decor of the restaurant and the food breaks away from that of a conventional Chinese restaurant. From some angles, Masa looks more like a modern Spanish restaurant. And to add to the interest, there are pasta items in the menu and chocolate truffle cake in the chiller display.

You may be wondering about the reasons behind the name of the restaurant. According to the restaurant , apparently, “Masa” is a Hong Kong Cantonese and Taiwanese slang for the word “Master”. The word may also be used to describe a big corporate investor or to mean the master of the underworld triads – Black Society 黑社会.

Overall, the dining space at the new MASA By Black Society at Orchard Gateway is a pleasant one. There are two distinct sections. The more beautiful section is the area with the white chairs and bar counter (picture above) and the averagely attractive section that has black chairs and distracting wallpaper (picture below). It is a large space, but the service staff was intent on shepherding most of the diners to occupy tables next to each other at the black space even when the restaurant was less than half full.

MASA By Black Society Menu

Here are pictures of some pages from the menu. The food served at Masa Orchard Central is mostly Chinese but there is a bento section and a pasta section in the menu as well.

Our Lunch at Masa By Black Society, Orchard Gateway

We had a heavy lunch at Masa that day. The chilled orange winter melon ($9) started the ball rolling. It was a crunchy, refreshing appetiser.

We had an assortment of dim sum items after that. We had to try the Dim Sum Tasting Platter ($16.80) which looked so good in the menu. The real dishes looked just as visually attractive. But the taste was not exceptional.

The same could be said for the Mui Choy Century Egg Porridge ($6.50) and most of the other dim sum items such as the chilli crab tart ($6.80) and Netted Potsticker ($6). The latter, it must be said, looked like a work of art.

The best tasting dish of the day was the plain looking radish pancake ($6). This pancake version of the common chai tow kway certainly looks more presentable and neat than the usual ones. The taste was very good. The shreds of radish can be felt and tasted inside the crisp outer skin.

Ratings:
Food: 3
Service: 3
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 3 TOPs

Masa By Black Society (黑社会) (renamed Black Society Dimsum Kitchen 黑社會點心小廚)
#01-12/13/14 Orchard Gateway
277 Orchard Road 
Singapore 238858

Tel: +65 62437988

Opening Hours:
Sun – Thur: 11 am to 10 pm
Fri & Sat: 11 am to 10.30 pm

Nearest MRT Station: Somerset

Website

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog