Musashi Dining Bar, Sydney

I've always meant to try Musashi. Every time I've walked past its modern clean-lined Japanese interior, it's been consistently packed with lunchtime diners. It's a little off the general ant trail though, so when pondering a potential lunchtime destination, I'd inevitably forget about it--until the next time I happened to walk past and doh! the palm would smack the forehead in frustration.

Finally the short-term memory synapses were firing when I met R for lunch the other day. We headed straight on over and after a brief two-minute wait for a table, were seated amongst the buzzing crowd.


Nabeyaki udon noodle $9.80
Sukiyaki beef, vegetable tempura, fish cake, egg and noodles
cooked with seasoned dashi soup in a clay pot

R ordered the nabeyaki udon noodle which was larger than it appears above. Fragrant, hearty and full of trawl-able goodies, R was pleased with her selection.


Sushi sashimi deluxe set $22.00
Daily fresh assorted sushi and sashimi combination

I had heard that the lunch sets were good value, and had originally ordered the Musashi lunch set for $18.50 (sushi, teriyaki chicken and skewered pork). A miscommunication somehow resulted in the sushi sashimi deluxe set arriving at our table, however as soon as I spotted how good it looked, there was no way I was letting this go back into the kitchen!

An ocean's worth of beautifully fresh sashimi and sushi beckoned enticingly. Raw salmon, tuna, kingfish and botanebi prawns were all firm, sweet and tasty. Then there was broiled eel, inside-out California rolls, and best of all, the sushi rice which was perfectly sticky and flavoured with sweetened rice vinegar.

There was more. In addition to a bowl of steaming cloudy miso soup, there was a small bowl of udon noodles garnished with seaweed and scratchings of tempura bits:



Not to mention a refreshing final palate cleanser of a sweet kiwifruit half:


Would it be unfathomable to admit I ate all this?

And then I had dessert?

How could I not, when green tea creme brulee was on the menu. As you know, brulee is my weakness, and I adore green tea anything!


Green tea creme brulee $4.80

Oh it was good. Well-flavoured matcha nuances coming through the soft and silky custard, topped with a rink of golden toffee. I was debating whether to start licking the bowl clean with my fingers.

Fantastic sushi and sashimi. Unbelievable green tea creme brulee. I'm coming back here in a definite hurry!


Musashi Dining Bar
447 Pitt Street, Sydney
(corner Pitt and Campbell Street, next to the Capitol Theatre)
Tel: 02 9280 0377

Closed Sundays

There are also three sister restaurants at:
Masuya Japanese Seafood Restaurant
Basement level
12-14 O'Connell Street, Sydney
Tel: 02 9235 2717 (closed Sundays)

Makoto City Sushi Bar
119 Liverpool Street, Sydney
(corner Pitt and Liverpool Street)
Tel: 02 9283 6767 (closed Sundays)

Mokoto Chatswood Sushi Bar
336 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, Sydney
Tel: 02 9411 1838 (open 7 days)

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Musashi Dining Bar, March 2007