masuya suisan

would recommend calling up and booking a table beforehand if they had that option, we arrived without a booking and there was already a huge line outside, we had to put our name on the list and waited about an hour.
we ordered sea urchin, chefs special sashimi, chicken teriyaki, scampi nigiri & the king crab sushi rolls. we had an amazing experience, apart from waiting outside for so long, food came to the table extremely quick and customerservicewas exceptional.
their sashimi was so fresh and every dish very well presented.

i went for dinner on a friday night and found theservicesuper fast and attentive. i had a light meal of the tuna salad and a hand roll. all freshly prepared.

had their sashimi and tempura lunch set, sashimi was fresh and really tasty.servicewas a little slow, but given they were really busy (as they usually are) they still maintained their cheerfulness and were very attentive.

came for my birthday lunch with friends and had different sets each. the quality and taste were amazing, very memorable food.servicewas quick and friendly.

the first time i came to masuya suisan was out of curiosity, judging by the number of people queuing up for lunch and dinner. sometimes the line stretches further among pitt st, and it doesn't seem to end. masuya suisan presents itself as a high-quality restaurant with 'proclaimed' freshest seafood and meat in the market. the restaurant takes pride in its food hence high-end looking menu, the distinguishing prices, and the crowded diners. 

i was excited for my sushi plate because it has almost every seafood components besides the egg omelette and cucumber. bbq eel, salmon, tuna, kingfish, mackerel, and cuttlefish all displayed neatly on one plate. it was nice. the chicken karaage, tempura, and the fisherman's soup came after. it took a long time for the food to arrive... food was good, but nothing stood out.servicewas slow. don't put many trainees on the same shift especially if your restaurant is super busy, they end up overwhelmed. 

second time around, i came here for lunch. ordered teishoku (japanese homestyle meal), one with beef, and the others were with chicken & tempura. i don't know what went wrong here but it tasted extremely average. i could go elsewhere and avoid paying more than $20 per person with such food quality. under the masuya international group, i'd prefer going to miso for teishoku for much better meals and service.

this place is consistently always packed (especially on weekends) so expect a decent wait time before eating here. i ate here on a saturday night and had to spend 30mins loitering around the front of the restaurant before being seated at a shared table.

30mins was a lot longer than i was expecting as i was the sixth name waiting on the list. unfortunately, we were starving and had no choice but to lean against the walls due to no waiting seats. the staff provided tea for the waiting customers, but nothing more.

it was quite disorganised as there was no line whatsoever, and many customers did not know that you had to write your name down on the clipboard to be eventually seated. after 30mins of waiting, 8-10 names had quickly accumulated after mine and there was no longer any space to even stand in front of the restaurant due to the huge crowd.

the wait turned out to be worthwhile as the hotpot was delicious, filling and full of rich flavour. the broth was fantastic and well worth the price. i left the restaurant feeling very content and satisfied with the meal. theservicewas also attentive and very polite.

despite me leaving about 1-1.5hrs later, the restaurant still had a line of customers waiting outside to be served.

the food itself was great but the wait time was not (hence the minus one star). i definitely do not recommend coming here when you’re starving, as many customers even gave up on waiting due to how long they had been forced to stand for.

instagram: @sydneyfoodreviewer

photos on menu appear bigger than they look! portions were a bit too small relative to the price for them, so bear that in mind. overall, food wasn’t too bad but i just had higher expectations due to the hype for this restaurant. main thing that irked me was rude customerservicefrom the waiters who kept interrupting us every 5 minutes to clear a plate (why not wait till we’re done - we only have 3 dishes!) or clarify something unnecessary and obvious. overall average experience.

loved the old musashi for many many years until this place has been reformed. still the same deco which was quite nostalgic~ seafood quality was good. the hotpot was plenty enough for us two and sushi was not that great (i have high standards for sushi...)

theserviceon the other hand was quite strange. feeling like under a lot of pressure been told again and again how much time we got left and when was the last order.. under the pressure i don’t think i can give it a 5 star. be prepare with many korean waiters speaks poor english... communication was bit difficult.

this was my first time to masuya but i think i might have found my favorite japanese restaurant in the city!

we ordered quite a bit as a group but i can’t complain about any of the dishes.

i really enjoyed the karaage chicken and the agedashi tofu. the chicken was just so yummy and the tofu definitely worth a try!

the sashimi platter was delicious and all the seafood were very fresh.

and lastly the hotpot! this is by far the best japanese hotpot i’ve ever had! the wagyu beef was so tender and delicious that keeps making me to want to go back.

overall, quality food, friendly staff andservicecombined with a good environment is a place that i’ll definitely go back to.

went for the lunch session. the food and the price were both ok. they had sea urchin, which is a plus. the only issue is that theserviceneeds improvement.

this place was super crowded when we got here and i contemplated whether or not we should wait. took a chance and decided to wait approximately 30minutes for a seat. reading reviews here before i got in, i started getting cold feet hearing all the negative reviews about this joint.

theservicewas pretty good, staff were very polite even though it was very busy. the food also came out really quick. all our dishes came rolling out together after 15minutes. overall, the food was ok - it wasn’t mindblowingly great but was decent enough to eat and not complain. price wise, i thought it was pretty affordable. the only thing which was super expensive was the rump steak. we ordered the usual:
- agedeshi tofu: this was ok - given i just had a really good agedeshi tofu the other day this one didn’t hit the mark. however, it was still ok compared to what i’ve had in the past.
- chargrilled rump: really nicely made, this was great! sauces complemented the meat too.
- semi dried squid: this was also good - not too dry and had a good level of moisture.
- nasu dengaku: this was huge! i really miss traditional nasu dengaku... this one was ok, i wish it had some shallots on top though, it would’ve tasted much better. overall though, it was more on the traditional side to what i’ve seen lately in stores so it sort of gave me some nostalgia.
- steamed veggies: this was pretty plain and simple. had nothing much to say about this. would probably not get this again though (was trying to be healthy). it was super plain and the yuzu soy sauce didn’t really taste nice with it.
- spicy karage chicken: this was ok - i liked how crispy it came out and it actually had a tinge of spicyness to it. however, it didn’t taste like actual japanese karage and had too much batter on it.
- spicy salmon aburi: this was ok. very different to what i’m used to but still tasted pretty yummy.

overall, although it’s not the most authentic japanese you can get it hits close compared to some of the other joints in the city. theservicewas good, food came out quick and everything was pretty well priced (~10-~15 per dish except for the rump). i’d definitely come back here to try their hotpot... was looking around and saw heaps of people ordering this - it looked delicious!

the hotpot is the best!!! really love the soy milk soup. taste soooooo good. theserviceis very nice too. definitely want to go back to try more stuff. just have to make the booking very early. cause a little hard to book

theservicewas good but unfortunately the food which we ordered was a bit of let down. the spider roll which was indicated as one of the popular dishes however was not to the standard i expected. the rice was too soft and the soft shell crab wasn't very crispy and slightly dry. i like  that the tempura wasn't oily though. we yoloed and ordered a special of the day called something like emperor sushi which was a pricy $19.80 for 4 pieces. it was alright tasting but not amazing. we also ordered aburi sushi which was at a standard quality. many people ordered the sukiyaki which smelt amazing. may visit again to try the sukiyaki and lunch sets

masuya suisan

authentic japanese restaurant that has good quality sashimi, fresh sushi and tasty wagyu. japanese themed interior with polite japanese waitresses.

first time trying the wagyu sukiyaki and it was definately worth it. enjoyed the experience of cooking and dipping the meat in raw egg. it was flavoursome from the sukiyaki sauce and meat. not surprised as to why they don't accept bookings and how the place gets really busy. theservicewas quick and very attentive. the blue fin tuna was my first time trying it and it just melts in your mouth.

overall, i would definately recommend this place and would come back to try the other dishes.

quick and friendlyservicedespite the long waiting line. food was rich in flavor compared to most japanese restaurants. especially love the chicken katsu toji set and the unagi set. the chicken katsu toji was very delicious. and for the unagi, the serving was generous with a thick meaty cut 👌 the only thing to complain about was the tempura which i thought tasted a bit bland, even with the dipping sauce it somehow still lacked a bit of flavour.