Masuya

Had an amazing dinner here! Everything was fresh and beautifully presented — especially the sashimi and oysters. The steak was cooked perfectly and the sushi was so delicate and tasty. The dessert was a perfect finish to the meal. The staff were friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere was really cozy. Highly recommend this place if you’re looking for quality Japanese food in Australia!

Extremely underwhelming and disappointing food and price for the over-4 rating it has got. Restaurant in the basement with the carpeted floor (how damp would it get on rainy days, the air quality? And the smelly toilet. The tuna salad I ordered came with almost no tuna. I felt scammed. The photo of the tuna on the menu didn't look like this. Why would you call it tuna? It's just leafy salad! And they refuse to handle payment by items. In this 21st century where technology prevails. Oh, never again.

One of the best authentic Japanese food that you can find in Sydney. The blue fin tuna was of the highest quality and melted in my mouth without much biting. The Aburi sushis were also well seasoned and cooked, with the right texture to feel the seafood. Their tempura set was extravagant, offering 3 shrimps, 1 fish, 1 oyster, and others. The deep fried oysters were very impressive. The Kingfish wings were very tasty and cooked to the right timing. Staff here were very friendly and attentive. Otowa, apparently the manager here, did a good job getting our orders and attending to our requests. We came on a Saturday night so it was quite crowded and could be a bit noisy but this is understandable.

I was really disappointed with my experience at this restaurant. I won a $300 dinner voucher at the Japanese Expo 2024. I called the restaurant several times in 2024 and again a few times in 2025, trying to book the dinner to redeem the prize, which I had mentioned on the phone with the restaurant. When we finally went, we were welcomed, seated, and we placed our order. Only after ordering—we sat for 15 minutes—did a staff member come over to tell us the voucher had expired and that the restaurant could no longer honour the $300 prize. At no point was I ever told that the voucher had an expiry date and that I wouldn’t be able to use it. Not at the event, not during any of my phone calls, and never in writing. The staff told us that we could cancel our order and leave if we liked, which I found pretty sad considering this was supposed to be the prize and a nice experience to create a nice memory of the kimono contest Great Passion win. After explaining that we were not given this information, we were told that we could get a $100 discount and a couple of drinks, which felt very unfair considering the value of the prize and the lack of clear communication. The food was good, but the way the prize was received was very disappointing, and unfortunately my memory of this restaurant will be connected to this let-down. I’ve always associated Japanese hospitality with professionalism, honor, and exceptional customer care, so this experience was a major disappointment and a letdown. Even if the mix-up was between the Expo organisers and the restaurant, the customer should not be the one who suffers for their miscommunication. What should have been a special and celebratory evening ended up feeling like a let-down and a disappointment. I hope that the restaurant will take this feedback seriously to ensure that future guests or Jap expo contestants do not encounter similar disappointment.

Beautiful Japanese cuisine in Sydney CBD. Totally authentic and most of the staff are from Japan. Sean provides excellent service for us and we went back again. The tuna toro is stunning and it worth with the price. All waiters are friendly and nice!!

My friend won a dinner voucher at the Japanese Expo 2024 for $300. We tried booking the restaurant on one of the days shortly after, but were told they needed advance notice. We finally decided to go tonight. We were greeted and seated. However, later on the manager came up and said the voucher had expired and the only thing they could do is give a $100 discount and a couple of free drinks. We tried to explain that my friend never received any communication regarding the voucher expiration date: neither during the Japan Expo event, nor when she was calling the restaurant to reserve in 2024. We were both negatively surprised and, although the food was excellent, the service left a sour taste. I was more taken aback because I’d always thought the Japanese pride themselves on high level of service and also honouring their promises. There may have been some miscommunication between the restaurant and Japan Expo. However, that shouldn’t affect the customer experience

Definitely a hidden gem in Sydney! Top quality sashimi, fresh and savory. We were surprised by their hospitality as well. All the waitstaff were welcoming and friendly. Our waiter Sean has the best vibes! First time we were happy to tip in Sydney :)

Nice staffs, the person who served us was overly friendly but I could tell that they wanted to provide the highest service as possible. Sashimi and beef were both nice.

VERY FRESH seafood! We order a Sashimi boat for our date night, and liked all the items. The otoro was high grade too. Almost the best otoro have had. Included Scampi sashimi was a nice touch. Loved Scampi sashimi. Very nice pasty texture. The matcha cheese cake dessert was delicious as well. The restaurant was run by Japanese too It was wonderful for a date night

Dined here Monday night! I was excited because we tried to dine here Saturday and they only could accommodate us at 8 pm which was too late for my preschoolers, We ordered a shrimp tempura $30, Waygu steak (65) ahi tuna roll ($30), chicken katsu ($30), Oysters ($29) a side of cucumbers and 2 sides of rice. We got our tempura, oysters and cucumbers first. Then our sushi arrived 15 min later. Then they took 30 min to bring our steak. Of course by this time that was all the food we had on the table. The chicken katsu and rice came 15 min later. The servings were small. We had got up twice to ask for water. Oh and the place was empty but fully staffed. If you pay for a pricy meal, the service should complement what you pay for. Do not go here if you want to eat together as a family. You'll be eating alone and watching the others eat. Say good bye to eating together. Horrible!!!!!

Friday, December 12, 2025 Masuya If you are in Sydney and looking for some great Japanese Cuisine, Masuya has you covered! This great Japanese spot in downtown Sydney can get busy, therefore try to make a reservation in advance. They open at 6PM therefore you can get a nice and early reservation. They have a great selection of mocktails along with all of the traditional Japanese dining options. The Edamame comes out nice and warm and the sushi offerings are delicious as well. My favorite dish was the Kingfish! The evening can finish off with a great Matcha Bruelee topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The dress code ranges from casual to business formal. While you might get away with "less", it is a nice place and you will fit in with a little effort on a dinner wardrobe. It does not require a tie. Remember, at the end of the meal, you need to go to the counter to pay. Make sure that the items presented matches your table. The tables are not numbered therefore you need to confirm the receipt you are presented represents what you ordered.

If you know legit sushi you will cringe at this shit hole. Add to that the service sucks. Those of us ordering sushi ate first and our non fish eating friends food came 20 min later. Miso soup only came after a 20 min wait post sushi and an inquiry... Then 10 min into waiting for a check a third spicy tuna roll came out - had to argue that away too. Really bad. I know I'm hard core on Japanese food (because I know my shit) but this place is as weak as it gets. I speak Japanese, they hardly knew the basics yet claimed to be Japanese. No offense, spend your $ elsewhere. Oh and btw, the spicy tuna is sweet and atop a California roll and they don't know what Yama Gobo is. Lame, semi pro. Weak.

Dinner here was so good on 9/18 we went back tonight 9/21. Blue fin tuna sashmi and hand rolls.. Pork katsu. Excellent Barramundi. Staff is super energized and so nice. The hot pots and seafood boats look fabulous.

Wonderfully fresh Sashimi and the tempura soft shell crab was to die for - crispy but not greasy. The miso soup was flavorful and really set my palate up for what was yet to come. VERY pleasant dining experience across the board - the service too was beyond reproach. This "sleeper" basement restaurant is a place to go if you want a great food experience - just get there right at opening to get immediate seating

Overall I'd give it a 4.5 but rounding up. We arrived without a reservation, but they were able to seat us as long as we limited our meal to 90 minutes. We were fine with this and very happy they accommodated us, as shortly after we sat down the restaurant filled up with people waiting. We ordered the sashimi deluxe, some bluefin tuna and the salmon avocado roll. Everything tasted so fresh. Service was excellent. We really enjoyed our meal and would highly recommend.

Welcome to the new Japanese McDonald. Noisy, bright place. Still lots of Asians get lured in here. Good sake promotions make it easy it get drunk as it's to loud to have a conversation anyway. After some time, when clients leave noise level is reduced. Still, most important, food is very good and fresh. Staff is attentive and polite. I would come again.

This has to be one of the top japanese restaurant in Sydney. My boyfriend and I came here for a special occasion celebration and it was a perfect place to do so. All the food we ordered was delicious and fresh. And more importantly, service was really good. Sashmi Boat - Every single piece of fish is fresh and just yum. Love the sauce that went with the oyster. Highly recommended! Hotpot - With almost every table ordering some sort of hotpot , you better do the same! The broth was sweet and filled with seafood flavours. Yum ! (wish i have some rice to go along with it) Mixed seafood tempura - Probably not the best I've had but it's decent ! Note: Make sure you make reservation early as they are always fully booked!

GREAT great Japanese in Sydney. I came here after seeing pictures of the sashimi boat and this place def. impressed me. I was surprised at how fresh the fish was. Their northern blue fin toro is expensive, but will be the best raw fish you can get in the area. Get both the nigiri and sashimi. I was back in Sydney for one night before leaving to Bora Bora and my friend and I trekked back to O'Connell just to have their toro again. It's THAT good. Eel is good, but ask for double eel sauce otherwise it's dry. Also, their sea urchin is great! I've had uni all over the world and it is really fresh and creamy. If you like authentic sushi and sashimi and are in Australia, definitely head on over here.

Nice restaurant with genuine japanese cuisine. We braught our three children, two of them real sushi lovers. Ordered maki rolls and meat. Sushi avarage to ok, a bit dull. The meat was ok. Teriyaki chicken was wxcellent. The 7 year old boy said it was the best he ever tasted. Order rice on the side If you're a rice lover. The meat comes with mashed potatoes. We also advice you to order the drinks first. We almost had half of our meal before we were served the wine we ordered.

Went there late. Very nice friendly stuffs. Food was good. Sashimi is fresh. And hotpot is really really really good! We asked for rice, green onion and an egg made congee!!! Sooooo good! Good time good food!

Although this is a restaurant, its good for both eat-in and takeaway dinner. I used to come here for eat-in dinner due to its proximity to work and because the food is always consistent. However when I was working late, I would get my Masuya fix by ordering over the phone (menu is available on the website) and pick up in 30min. I even had takeaway adedashi tofu! In both dine-in and takeaway situations, the food has always been delicious. Anything interesting to note? The place has 2 dinner sessions at 6pm or 8pm, and they are pretty strict with that. At 8pm the waitress told us to kindly finish our meals as the next session was starting. Also Masuya has good Choya Japanese plum wine by the bottle on the menu, served on the rocks. They even provide you with a little ice bucket - not for storing the wine but rather to re-fill your glass! A friend and I finished off a bottle the last time (total of 8 standard drinks) which is good between 2-3 people. However they do mark it up quite high so worth it to have once in a while. Overall a great Japanese restaurant by the Masuya Group. Other restaurants operated by the group are Musashi, Makoto and Miso.

A good friend of mine vouched for this Japanese restaurant when my whingeing about eating at the food court got a little repetitive. She pointed out the place where it was hidden (which I promptly forgot) and had me hunting around for it the next time I was in the area for lunch with the boyfriend. Eventually, we stumbled through this little door and down these dark stairs. We didn't know what to expect. What we did find seemed like a throwback to the days when Japanese food had that sense of exclusivity. The set up is elegant but the place gets a little noisy when it's full. It was like walking in on a private party of corporate suits (which should have been expected at peak hour lunch time in Martin Place). We ordered a bento box each which comes with a bowl of miso soup, salad and main of your choice. I had the teriyaki chicken which was cooked well but nothing you don't expect for what you pay for. It's enough to fulfil a lunchtime appetite but not a meal to leave you staggering out the door. Also, expect the bill to run higher than some of your average Japanese restaurants, but for its looks alone, it's definitely the next great place to bring a lunch date.

Not exactly sure how long this place has been around but I think I've been dining here for as long as 10 years? Located on OConnell Street, this Japanese restaurant serves top quality food from their extremely fresh seafood to tofu and hotpot dishes. One of their trademarks are the Sushi Boats - where different platters of oysters and sashimi and brought out on a wooden boat to your table. I can attest I've sunk a few of these boats over the years .... Another famous dish at Masuya is the soy milk based hotpot which is a little strange as an idea and also in appearance as the broth is white and milky. But take one spoonful and any apprehensions are left behind as the taste is divine! The basement location has a nice ambience about it and it is brightly lit. They have opened a small quick eats Izakaya type eatery a few doors down now which appears to be doing well also.

Reliably good seafood! I've been coming to Masuya for years, and the crowd has consistently been a mix of suits, large groups & families. My go-to items are the grilled kingfish head and the nasu miso eggplant. Check it out!

One of my favorite places in the city Japanese food. As you know most Japanese places in Sydney are run by Koreans and Chinese. Even when you go to more expensive places this may be the case. But here you can be assured you get authentic Japanese fare. It's not cheap so we go there for special occasions. You can book larger tables and the sushi is fresh, the agemono crisp, everything is as it should be. We have never been disappointed.

While the food here is good for a Japanese place, I'm only giving it 2 stars since they were SUPER unaccommodating for someone with health issues. I can't have any raw fish at the moment and the fact that they wouldn't substitute the sushi/sashimi on my bento (which had chicken, beef, tempura, spider roll as well) for a cheaper veg dish is kind of unreasonable. It's not like I was trying to cheap out when eating their either. Another bummer was that there was very little available in terms of cooked side dishes. I had to get 2 more deep fried items to my bento order (which already had a heap of tempura). The agedashi tofu was meh, the nasu was ok. And who in their right mind would settle for edamame? On the plus side, the hostess who had previously denied us a table due to previous booking quickly notified us as soon as they had a cancellation. The table service was quite good with wait staff that were very attentive. It's too bad about the lack of dietary accommodation, enough for me not to recommend to other diners in the future.

Stopped by for a fairly quick meal before seeing a show after a recommendation from Japanese friends. It was well worth the visit with exceptionally fresh and very tasty dishes. We had a mix of sushi/sashimi and some hot dishes and everyone one of them was light and fresh as one expect good Japanese food to be. The staff were attentive if not a little cold but very efficient. We are looking forward to coming back and spending more time with a few dishes having caught our eye as they arrived at neighbouring tables. We squeezed in for an early sitting without a booking but I would recommend booking to make sure that you're not left without a table as it is a busy place.

Found a decent Japanese restaurant where I can trust the seafood was fresh and not older than a day, my Lord. You can tell by the taste, from entree onwards, didn't get one bad dish. We ordered the swordfish carpaccio for entree...should've ordered two servings...omg. Waygu beef marble score 7 teriyaki & a massive sushi deluxe platter for main. When I say massive it's because my partner handled that one. I did try some of it but it's so much..but so fresh. My partner actually told a tiny fib to the waiter that I was allergic to wasabi so that they didn't put wasabi by default within the sushi platter and only as a side. And they did it. I'm not allergic, I just don't like wasabi but hey it worked. We also ordered a mango pretty mocktail because they looked deliciously non-alcoholic. In true Japan style they don't serve diet coke and only coke zero (if you've been to Japan you'll get the reference). This seems to be another of those 2 dinner sessions places, one at 6pm and 8pm so you have a 2hr window to stuff yourself with delish food. It's not cheap but the quality here is worth it. Definitely worth a second visit.

We visited this restaurant for dinner during the Vivid Sydney week. Some other Japanese restaurants charged minimum $45 per person during this time, but luckily we found this restaurant which satisfied our cravings for sushi and sashimi. Food: We ordered the blue fin tuna sushi/sashimi platter for two and a drink. The fish was fresh and the sushi taste great. The drink was similar to Starbucks green tea frappucino. But there are a wide variety of sake options and non-alcoholic drinks. Service: We just walked in without knowing that we need to make a reservation during the Vivid Sydney week. The staff was nice and seated us at the bar. The service was quick and friendly. Ambiance: The restaurant is classy and casual. Reservation is recommended especially during weekends and special events. Price: The price is mid-range, not as expensive as other Japanese restaurants. There are wide variety of sushi and sashimi platters, so you can choose the ones that fit your budget. Conclusion: It's an excellent Japanese restaurant not too far from the Opera House. We'll definitely visit again if we are in the area.

If you're looking for a good omakase experience, don't go here. Probably the worst experience I've had, and I've had omakase in Southern California, Seattle, NYC, San Francisco, Boston, Las Vegas, Singapore, Moscow, Istanbul, Hamburg, and other places. Sushi chef was lazy at best, serving two pieces of each (to try and full me up) and then running out of ideas and essentially stopped serving me until I asked for more. Very disappointed. If you want to be part of the overpriced "sushi scene" go here. Otherwise, just go to the other conveyor belt sushi places in Sydney and you'll get your money's worth.

Great food, attentive and friendly staff, loved the atmosphere. Would return if I lived here. We got fried oysters, chefs selection of sushi/sashimi and Japanese BBQ beef.

I came here for a girls dinner to celebrate a friends upcoming wedding. We booked the 6pm-8pm dinner session, but ended up staying until 9:30pm as the restaurant wasn't fully booked. We tried a selection of dishes including the soft shell crab, tofu and avocado salad, veggie tempura, edamame, salmon and tuna sashimi, wagyu beef and pork schnitzel. The dishes were really well presented and tasted fresh. The wagyu beef was ok but would be better as a main meal as the slices were very chunky and steak-like and didn't really suit our more tapas style of eating. The service is excellent, our water and wine glasses were filled at regular intervals. Next time I want to try the sashimi boat, which looked amazing!

Excellent sushi. The rolls are HUGE so do not over-order. Everything is super fresh. Tuna sampler is great as are a la cartel sushi and maki.

This place exceeded expectations. We've been craving sushi through out 3 week adventure through New Zealand and Australia and this did not disappoint. We ordered more than we thought we could finish, but it was so good that we did finish every bite! The rolls are a bit pricey but their sashimi is outstanding. It was fresh and delicious! The service was good, we were tended to when we called them, they were not overly attentive so we weren't interrupted every few minutes. I would recommend this place to anyone that visits Sydney.

Really enjoyable evening - food was lovely (sashimi in particular) and the wine list impressed my wine snob friend ;) Service was unobtrusive and prompt. We ordered a lot of food and were pleased with a reasonable bill at the end of the night! Will be back!

We reserved a table a whole week ahead of time, only to arrive at the appointed time to find out that they could not find our reservation. Shoved us aside while they tried to sort things out, except of course there was really nothing to be done because they were clearly fully booked on a Saturday night. They could have just told us so and then apologised for the inconvenience caused. But no, we were made to hang around while they seated other guests. It was as if they thought if we were ignored for long enough we'd finally go away. Not a single word of apology from any of the staff. Just pathetic.

Reminds me of sushi in Japan. Plus I love how they feature many different local (Australian) fish options, and a pretty good Sake menu too.

Went here last night. One of my favourite Japanese in Sydney. You always need to book as it is so busy. We had a booking and got there early and had to still wait until our table was available. The soft shell crab was so lovely that we ordered a second lot. The mussels were so tender and tasty. The Sushi was fresh. It is a bit hidden as it is downstairs.

Really bad customer service... there have so many Japanese restaurant can instead of Mazuya... Won't go anymore.....