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Masuya, Wynyard

Masuya is an old favourite of mine. I’ve been going for the past 3-4 years or so and I remember it fondly as the place where I first tried Sukiyaki. Awesome Sukiyaki. So of course, when a couple of cold hungry photographers were wandering around on a Saturday afternoon, what else would I suggest for dinner? With over 8 of us at the table dinner inevitably became a smorgasboard of entrees and hot pots. They’ve also recently rennovated their dining area so everything was looking particuarly swanky as we rocked up. Dining is seperated into two time periods of 6-8pm and 8-10pm. Despite arriving at 6pm, thanks to the sheer quantity of food ordered we still found ourselves hurrying to finish things up by 8pm, and by 8:05 were out the door!

Green Tea Smoothie

Starting things early with a Green Tea shake! Initially I ignored the drinks menu, but seeing these smoothies come out I couldn’t help but order another for myself. Deliciously smooooth (hence the name) with a generous shaking of green tea powder on the cream helped this go down very smoothly. Not as sweet as other Milk Green Teas that I’d had in the past, much to my relief.

Sashimi (Entree) – Today’s market fresh fish served with wasabi and soy

Fat slices of Salmon, Tuna and other fish of which type I have no idea. The Tuna went down a treat. Masuya’s sashimi rarely disappoints me.

Rainbow Roll – Covered California roll with salmon, tuna, white fish meat and avocado looks like a colorful rainbow

Indeed as the menu had stated, the Rainbow Roll was indeed colourful. I first tried this in LA and while the colour combination was slightly different the impact of the presentation was the same. When asked about the taste, the boys could only reply that it tasted like Avocado.

Tempura Seafood (Entree) – Deep-fried king prawns, seafood and vegetables served with tempura dipping sauce

California Roll – Sushi roll with avocado, omelet, cucumber, crab stick, flying fish roe

Nasu Dengaku – Grilled eggplant with Masuya’s original miso paste

Unexpectedly creamy texture, we were scooping this one up with a spoon!

Pipi Sakamushi – Steamed pipi with sake and touch of butter

Usually a favourite of ours as the sake creates a wonderfully subtle sauce that compliments the pipis. Tonight’s variation was sadly disappointing as we fought against the numerous pieces of grain inside the not very well cleaned pipis.

Karaage Octopus (Entre) – Deep-fried baby octopus with homemade spicy sauce

The Octopus was perhaps squishier than I usually prefer and strangely bland even when eaten with the spicy sauce.

Deep Fried Spicy Soft Shell Crab – Crisp tempura served with soy tangy sauce

Nabeyaki Udon – Prawns and vegetable tempuras, sukiyaki beef, poached egg, vegetables and noodles cooked in a clay pot at your table

While the Nabeyaki Udon is billed as being for two, two of the boys at our table decided to order one each much to the disconcertion of our waiter. He suggested that one would be sufficient for the pair of them with perhaps a few more entrees (hence the smorgashboard of sushi).

Royal Salmon Teriyaki Steak – Sauteed Royal Tasmanian salmon fillet with soy and mirin sauce

Wagyu Premium Beef Misoyaki – Grilled fillet of marbled beef with sweet miso paste

Sukiyaki – Grain-fed beef, shirataki (Potato jelly noodles) and seasonal vegetables cooked in a special pot with Masuya’s mirin and soy based sukiyaki sauce

The sukiyaki was actually quite problematic to photograph as A. There was a lot of steam, and B. It was actually quite dark over on our side of the table. Sukiyaki differs to normal hot pot being that the soup is soy based and quite sweet. The pot is started by the waitress, the onions are stir fried for a minute or so, softening them slightly. The vegetables are added into the pot, soup stock poured in and the first batch of meat is placed inside the pot! Meaty bliss really. Once the meat has cooked, it’s dipped into a dish of raw egg to quickly cool it off before being transferred into one’s mouth. Simplicity itself! Extra batches of meat are available at an extra price.

The specials menu also had a Wagyu Sukiyaki option, however at almost double the price of the normal Sukiyaki we decided against it reasoning that the majority of the fat would most likely just slide off into the broth.

Green Tea Brule

Being a sucker for all things green tea I ordered the Green Tea Brule. It was rather disappointing though as it seems the desserts are all pre-assembled and simply pulled out when ordered. The Brule was cold, which was unexpected and the texture was rather purin-like, as opposed to custard.

Black Sesame Ice-cream

It has almost become an old habit to order Black Sesame Ice-cream. I’ve come to prefer it over Green Tea for the almost coffee-like taste of the seeds.

I’d always recommend Masuya’s for a large group of people. The staff are usually happy to accomodate large booking numbers, I’ve been here with groups of nearly 20 people. The service was quick and while nothing shone for me this time around, the food is quite agreeable for me. But I’ll be honest, I just keep coming back for the Sukiyaki.

Masuya
Basement Level,
12-14 O’Connell Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 9235 2717
Web: www.masuya.com.au/en/masuya/