Masuya

Two of our dear friends Irene and Andy will soon leave our sunny shores for a bit of a stint in London. As a final FFL get-together with the Cheungs, we went to Masuya Japanese Seafood Restaurant.


We started off the evening with a bit of sushi and sashimi. The Spicy Tuna Avocado Roll and Eel Bo Sushi were your typical sushi rolls and delicious. The Sashimi Boat was impressive in size and content, filled with fresh salmon, tuna, kingfish, oysters and prawns on top of a bed of seaweed and shredded daikon.

Spicy Tuna Avocado Roll

Sashimi Boat

The entrees that followed the sushi and sashimi were equally delicious.

Agedashi Tofu

Nasu Dengaku

Tempura Seafood

Spicy Karaage Chicken

For the main event, we ordered two hotpots. The Chanko Hot Pot had a variety of seafood, juicy chicken, pork and seasonal vegetables cooked in a dashi soup. The Sapporo Hot Pot consisted of Tasmanian oysters, crab, salmon, scallop, chicken, deep-fried tofu, udon noodle, coriander and vegetables in soymilk and dashi soup with fresh chilli and garlic. The contents of the two hotpots arrived separate to the soup which the waitress prepared at the table. While the Chanko Hot Pot was a little on the salty side, the Sapporo Hot Pot had a creamy soymilk base that was pleasantly enhanced by the seafood.

Chanko Hot Pot

Sapporo Hot Pot

While the food at Masuya didn't blow us away, it's still a pretty good place for traditional Japanese cuisine and fresh seafood.

Bon voyage Cheungs - we will miss you!

Lindt Cafe

To me Easter only means one thing: CHOCOLATE! So to kick off the Easter long weekend we visited the Lindt Cafe in Darling Harbour. This place is every kid's (and adult's) dream with walls of Lindt chocolate bunnies, a huge column filled with Lindt balls, Lindt ice cream, Lindt delice (meringue yo-yo's), chocolate truffles and cakes.

Chocolate truffles

Cake display

The chocolate truffles were rich and creamy and only a small nibble was sufficient for enjoying the flavour.

(Clockwise from left) Champagne, Milk, Madagascar, Grand Marnier, Dark and White chocolate truffles

The hot chocolate came in little pots containing warm milk and melted chocolate to be mixed before drinking.

Lindt hot chocolate

The chocolate sundae was a monster of a sundae, consisting of scoops of 70% cocoa ice cream atop a chunk of chocolate brownie drizzled with chocolate fudge, chocolate shavings and whipped cream.

70% cocoa hot fudge sundae

The four little profiteroles perched on a biscuit base were filled with a light creamy filling and smothered in chocolate. The profiteroles were delicately portioned but satisfyingly sweet.

Chocolate profiteroles

The not too sweet iced chocolate was a perfect follow up to the desserts and finished off everything nicely.

Dark iced chocolate

Ichi-ban Boshi

After a stint of late-night shopping we headed over to Ichi-ban Boshi for a late dinner and some ramen-y goodness. As usual, the crowd waiting for tables filled the entire foyer area outside Kinokuniya. After several groups were seated, our number was called and after being seated we quickly scanned the menu to reaffirm our choices picked while waiting in line.

The Aburi Chashu Ramen was exactly as pictured on the menu board outside the restaurant. An enormous bowl of ramen topped with three fatty pieces of pork belly and some greens. The pork had a wonderful smoky flavour that was infused into the broth. A first for me but definitely not the last.

Aburi Chashu Ramen

Patrick ordered the Kimuchi Ramen, a Japanese twist to the Korean pickled cabbage side dish. The kimchi was perfectly balanced with chili and fermented sourness and great with the ramen.

Kimuchi Ramen

Lynn had the Hiyashi Chuka, a special menu item available only during the summertime. This is a ramen salad served with a tangy dressing and a dollop of hot mustard to add spice.

Hiyashi Chuka

Three hits and no misses from this trip to Ichi-ban Boshi and definitely worth the wait.