Masuya, Sydney

26 July 2010, 05:18

I <3 aburi salmon. Helen, Dave and I are at Masuya (Basement Level, 12-14 O’Connell St) and there’s just something about the smokey burn-y taste that makes me want to eat platefuls of this super delicious seared salmon. Though at $3.80 per piece it does make my soul cry. But the aburi is awesome. Go now.


The Misoyaki Oysters ($18.80) are baked and smothered in a layer of creamy miso sauce. They were also deceptively piping hot so resist the urge to shuck the whole oyster in one go or find out the hard way ahem Dave…


There is currently an ala carte tuna menu until 31st July and there is a slight pause as Helen and I glance at Dave after spying the otoro and chuutoro on the menu. Again the $50 pricetag for 6 pieces made me wince but fatty tuna! And medium fatty tuna?! I’d never had before and was surprised at the thickly cut slabs of tuna that arrived. Not sure if I got a dodgy piece but my otoro was surprisingly difficult to eat and I had trouble biting a bit off my slice. I was much happier with the chuutoro which had a more melt in the mouth texture


The Nasu Miso (large, $8.80) arrives and has Dave wondering where the other half of the eggplant went. He loves his eggplant and this is a hit with the table


The Beef Tataki ($13.80) are a bit dry but a dip into the ponzu sauce and all is good


The Jewfish Masuya’s Way (mulloway) ($23) arrives in all its spectacular golden glory, the fillet of jewfish wrapped in thin shards of potatoes and oven baked until crispy. I reckon this would be even more awesome if it were on a stick.


The Wagyu Beef Miso (230g) ($32.80) is a bit of a let down, the slices of beef a bit chewy for a marble score of 6.


By the time the Kingfish Wing Nitsuke ($16.80) arrives we are nearing explodey point. The kingfish is fantastic with sweet delicate meat and I wished I could’ve fit more in


Luckily there is a brief pause between our plates being cleared and somehow we decide to order 4 desserts to share because we can’t decide


The tofu and cream cheese cake ($6.80) is as intriguing in taste as it sounds. The cake is unbelievably light and fluffy, a slightly sour edge is all that i can detect of the tofu.


Zenzai – sweet red bean with rice cakes ($4.80). I am not a fan of red bean so I leave this dessert for the others.


The homemade green tea brulee ($6.80) was awesome with a nice layer of caramelised sugar that we gleefully broke into to reveal a smooth vivid green custard


I love green tea ice cream ($4.50) and Masuya doesn’t disappoint. Smooth and creamy it is a perfect end to the meal. Super thanks to Dave for dinner it was great to catch up and hope to see you again soon!

1. Green tea brulee… green tea ice cream… YUUUUUUUUM! Everything else looks fantastic too! :)

   — Maria    Jul 26, 06:11 AM    #
   
   

2. Shame about the tuna :( It looks nice too :(

   — Fiona    Jul 26, 07:21 AM    #
   
   

3. Masuya is a little exxy but it’s pretty consistent. Mmmm gotta love aburi anything!!

   — Steph    Jul 26, 08:42 AM    #
   
   

4. oh my – what a wonderful array of eats. And to finish with green tea icecream = perfection!

   — Lisa (bakebikeblog)    Jul 26, 08:53 AM    #
   
   

5. The kingfish wing was my favourite, and lol at your suggestion to have the jewfish served on a stick!

   — Helen (grabyourfork)    Jul 26, 09:16 AM    #
   
   

6. Wait, suze, were you at Mizuya or Masuya? Typo in the first line?
   That aside, I love aburi too, the best of both worlds, i think! I was just telling tim about the tuna ala carte menu, shall have to go check it out now…

   — Chris    Jul 26, 09:51 AM    #
   
   

7. OMG GREEN TEA CREAM BRULEE ♥♥

   Shame that tuna didn’t go down so well – it looks really yummy. Yay for aburi salmon!

   — Margaret | fangirlish    Jul 26, 11:32 AM    #
   
   

8. I agree with Steph, Aburi anything baby! :D last time I went the otoro was sold out. I love their kingfish wing though.

   — billy@a table for two    Jul 26, 12:41 PM    #
   
   

9. Aburi sushi is totally the way to go! OoOOoo the tofu and cream cheese cake sounds very nice indeed..

   — Rhonda    Jul 26, 02:35 PM    #
   
   

10. Is this your 1st visit to Masuya? Hehe… my regular joint. Glad oyu picked the Kingfish Wing Nitsuke.. Not too fond of the tofu cheesecake though.

    — Ellie (Almost Bourdain)    Jul 26, 02:38 PM    #
    
    

11. Omg, this place looks like a DREAM. I want to go there, like right now.

    — Laura (Starloz)    Jul 26, 03:08 PM    #
    
    

12. the miso eggplant looks super yummy! I’m salivating just looking at the photo!

    — Lianne    Jul 26, 03:15 PM    #
    
    

13. Masuya has got to be one of my fave joints in Sydney. Actually, I’ve been to most (if not all) the restaurants under the Masuya Group, and love every one (especially Miso, for so many reasons XD). Haven’t tried the jewfish, but will definitely order it next time—nothing like crunch and fish and fried in oil haha.
    btw, are they doing sukiyaki at the moment? that was pretty sensational too.

    — yygall    Jul 26, 03:19 PM    #
    
    

14. Mmm Masuya… Ooh never actually seen aburi sashimi before :S I think I prefer aburi sushi cos you get more charred surface area. Their nasu dengaku is awesomes and you think everything is better on a stick :P

    — FFichiban    Jul 26, 06:05 PM    #
    
    

15. Green tea ice cream – gimme! gimme! gimme!!!

    — Ladybird    Jul 26, 07:48 PM    #
    
    

16. I love their jewfish! And yes I think it would be better on a stick too hehe. I’ve got sashimi cravings now..

    — Jacq    Jul 26, 07:54 PM    #
    
    

17. Masuya is the best. And it’s good to see they now have green tea brulee on the menu :D

    — OohLookBel    Jul 26, 09:36 PM    #
    
    

18. Masuya is where I tried my first aburi salmon yes and it was love at first taste! I’m afraid they’re pretty consistent with their wagyu beef miso, mine was chewy as well, you expect better from a $35 dish and plonking it on top of mashed potato and a cold veg just doesn’t work for me!

    — Moya    Jul 26, 09:47 PM    #
    
    

19. Oh gosh, I love masuya! Their tuna sashimi is always a win for me!! I like the look of that red bean dessert, I love red bean so whenever you have a red bean dish you dont like you can pass it my way. lol!

    — Betty @ The Hungry Girl    Jul 26, 10:45 PM    #
    
    

20. I recently tried Adam’s green tea dumplings after seeing him cook the recipe on Masterchef. It was so delicious!

    I’m now keen to try the green tea brulee and ice cream at Masuya.

    - Cass

    — Cass    Jul 27, 01:38 PM    #
    
    

21. I’m very lazy to cook at the moment, so after seeing this post, I’ve decided on japanese for dinner :D Delicious!

    — Anh    Jul 27, 05:05 PM    #
    
    

22. I love Masuya! Looks like you guys ate up a storm, hehe

    — Jen    Jul 28, 11:13 AM    #