Ma-Se Sushi Eatery, Longwood *SC/GA Travel Notes

I tried this partially Japanese and partially Thai/Lao place on Friday at dinner. It replaces some whacky sandwich shop from Jacksonville or Tampa that was in this strip mall with a car wash and a pizzeria. Near the tracks on 434. It confused me. I thought it was just sushi. The menu is half Thai+. That always gives me pause. Although one of the two chefs may have been at least half Japanese. It's harder to look for "traits" when masks are worn. I did see a sign (far away) proclaiming Jiro a sushi chef. The first name (last names go first ) was very long though. Long enough to be Thai. Any way. I just trust Japanese chefs more with my sushi. Not that others can't learn the skill. They can. It's just an odds game. Remember when incorporating statistical logic showed you were endowed with a MORE advanced mind? In this case, I may have been right. Or wrong if there is a Japanese presence. I sampled two pieces of conch nigiri. The rice was bad. Bad temp. Broken husks. No discernible vinegar. Probably wrong grain. Etc. The conch was also spongy (old). It should be crisp. Like an apple. No flavor either. It should be sweet. The tuna I saw looked barely pink too. The salmon looked ok. And it is expensive. Only by a buck or two. But, that adds up. Renting this tiny location in a shit hole strip mall in a poor area of town should DECREASE the prices. Inflation or no inflation. All apps and rolls were also over priced. They did ply me with a sample tuna nacho. The tuna cubes on that were fresh. It was from the other sushi prep area. I didn't get to gaze at the quality of the fish in that area. And it was nice of them to do that. My main course was from the Thai side. Part curiosity. Part damage control. Part whimsy. I had the Ma-Se Noodles. It only cost $15. I wasn't sure if I had had it before. It is the place's name. It was ok. Half the chicken (alot in the dish) was like plastic. Freezer burn. The wavy, thin noodles were nice. Came with scrambled egg, cabbage, mushroom, onions, scallions, chili and they said Chinese broccoli. Not sure I received much of that. The Thai side is less expensive. It could be called the carb side. Yaki soba, fried rice, lad nar, kee mao soba and two chicken and three seafood dishes. The salads and apps are "pan" too. Tiny room. Maybe five tables of four and a sushi bar for five. A section of one wall with some sheets ripped out of a magazine to make wall paper is the decoration. Nice service. One cook. One waitress. two sushi chefs. Sushi orders to go took a while. The lunch menu isn't a great value either. A sushi roll sleep walk at $12 or $11-13 noodle/rice yawn. They have been open for two months. If they just had their stuff together a little more, I would have loved to recommend them. They even give 10% off to first time customers. I just need more Japanese obsessiveness. Fresher ingredients. Tighter controls. FYI - the name is a play on words. The end of "irasshai-mase" (welcome) from Japanese and ma-se (let's meet or something) from Thai (according to them). 

*Travel Notes - SC and GA: I went back and added "travel notes" to the start of all of the previous ones. Not that it probably helps. Maybe that can be the search phrase/word? Or the full name of the area or its abbreviation? I drove to Hilton Head and stayed at the Home 2 Suites for $104. Ate a lunch of ribs, ps and mac just outside in Bluffton at Jim n Nicks Bar B Q. Turned out to be a chain. Ate a dinner of fried chicken sandwich with slaw and pimento ch and ff at Chow Daddy's. On Food Paradise. Ate a brunch "smoke stack" of fried eggs, sausage, pulled pork, hb, fruit salad and toast at The Smokehouse. Winner. Ate a forgettable Wavy Nood of pork belly and egg with ramen at Nood. Slept at the Grand Hilton Head Inn for $99. It was near Coligny Beach. One of the few public ones. Had breakfast at Stacks Pancakes. The Hilton Head breakfast of 3 eggs, sausage, pancakes and hb. Had a dinner of bad fried oysters and fries and hp at Marley's Shrimp and Burger Shack. Slept in the Sea Pines Resort area at the Inn at Harbour Town for $254. It's on Travel and Leisure's top ten Southern hotels. It was fine. They actually just called and comped the room because I bitched a little in a review. I had a lunch of their supposed famous Calabogue shrimp salad with ps at Salty Dog at Braddock Cove inside the Sea Pines area. Walked the Lands End beach there. Had a pre-dinner of chicken pot pie soup and fried chicken salad sandwich at Nectar Farm Kitchen. A really cute place. We could use a few of these. Grabbed a surprisingly good meatball sub with house made chips at Fat Baby's Pizza. Slept at the Best Western at Coligny Beach for $111. Grabbed a terrible broiled flounder with rice and beans lunch at Skull Creek Dockside. Left town for Charleston area. Drove through Beaufort, Hunting Island and Fripp Island. Visited the Magnolia Plantation. Didn't go in because it was near closing plus it cost $29. Ate a disappointing brisket and smoked pork belly and ps and mac at Swig and Swine west of Charleston in an area called West of the Ashley. Pork belly doesn't smoke well. Slept at the Town and Country Inn for $111. Ate a breakfast of two eggs, sausage and toast at Early Bird Diner. On 3D. Went down the street and grabbed a Boxcar fried chicken sandwich with pimento ch and peach slaw at Boxcar Betty's. Left town because hotel prices in town were redic. Drove to Johns Island to see the 400+ year old oak tree. Free. Drove to St Simons Island. Stayed at the Ocean Suites and Inn for $104. Visited beaches at Massengale Park, Coast Guard Station and 15th St. Ate a dinner of lobster salad and blacked shrimp on a salad at Mullet Bay. I knew it wouldn't be lobster at the price, but, at least others have the decency to just proclaim the surimi - crab salad. Ate a lunch of Huevos Esplendidas (wrap of scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado) at Palm Coast Coffee. Lucky with the weather. Didn't plan to stay so long in HH. Glad I did. I think I finally found the place (Van der Meer Racquet Club) my tennis team had spring practice at years ago. Was going to try and stay at two high end resorts in St Simons. Rates were too high. Can't see paying high dollar for Georgia. Who would? Hawaii maybe.