April 30, 2011

Masuya, Sydney CBD

Sometimes when I have to work late and subsequently eat dinner at my desk, I choose to have a takeaway bento box from Masuya on O’Connell Street. It’s fast, fresh and yum. So I tend to associate Masuya with quick bento box meals but once in a while, I sit down for a meal inside the restaurant.

On this occasion, I was there with a friend and we were both STARVING. We ordered a veritable mountain food that the waiter cautioned us. He was afraid that we would not be able to eat it all but in the end we did, and ordered dessert too 😉

We started off with some drinks, which are the same ones on offer at the sister restaurant Musashi.

Shanghai Berry ($6.80) – Strawberry, raspberry and blueberry with Earl Grey Tea

Makiko’s Mango Pretty ($7.80) – Mango, Tasmanian Honey and Lime Juice

I had the Shanghai Pretty and it was so delicious! Sweet and fruity with the distinctive flavour of Earl Grey.

Masuya’s Tuna Salad ($13.80)

Lightly cooked tuna with boiled egg, kalamata olives, lettuce & a soy ‘thousand’ dressing

The salad dressing was served on the side, which is why the salad looks a bit naked in this photo. It was served in a large bowl and we polished it all off. The seared tuna pieces tasted great with the dressing.

Beef Tataki ($13.80)

subtly grilled rare grain-fed beef sliced sashimi style served with ponzu-soy citrus dipping sauce

The beef tataki was very fresh, but I would have liked more flavour in the ponzu dipping sauce.

Tempura King Prawns ($14.80)

Lightly battered tempura style prawns with dashi dipping sauce

I thought the serving size of this dish was a bit small but the prawns were coated in a nice tempura batter. Nothing to get hugely excited about.

Sushi O’Connell ($19.80)

combination of traditional & modern sushi nigiri and sushi rolls

Yum. Just looking at that sushi collection now is making my mouth water! The sashimi and sushi at Masuya is always fresh and this platter was no expection. My favourite was the grilled salmon, closely followed by the grilled scallop.

As I said at the beginning of this post, we were very hungry when we ordered so….yes, we got two sushi dishes.

California Roll ($14.80)

The California Roll pieces were big. My astute readers will have noticed that there was California Roll sushi in the previous sushi platter. They were exactly the same as the pieces on this plate, very big. So I will admit that I was a bit sick of California Rolls at the end of the meal!

I feel like I need to reiterate that we were starving at the start of the meal as we also ordered the next platter. Remember, this all this food was just for two hungry girls (who clearly have no self restraint when ordering)!

Sashimi Deluxe ($32.80)

Selection of catch of the day local fish, scampi, two kinds of tuna, salmon and kingfish & assorted of local fish on ice

The sashimi platter was a sight to behold, packed with fresh sashimi carefully placed on the bowl of ice. Including one of my favourites, scampi!

So after that huge feast, we were stuffed to the gills. Our waiter actually only brought out two of these dishes at the start (the california rolls and salad ) and waited to ask us if we still wanted the rest of the food we had ordered. We stared disbelieving at him because we had just thought the kitchen was really busy that night and that was why our food was delayed!

Last but not least, we both ordered the same dessert.

Black sesame ice cream ($4.80?)