Mushashi – V Day Dinner

We have never been really big on gifts on Valentine's Day, as we both believe that it's a wrought – and besides, I would prefer that hubby would buy me something that's not on a 'commercial' day. However, when it comes to celebrating with food – how can I say no.

I have always wanted to try this Japanese restaurant, there are always a horrendous amount of people lining outside. Like the other Japanese restaurants under the 'Masuya' chain – they don't take bookings, and they have a 'ticketing' service, whereby, you rock up, and if its busy, you take a number and request whether or not you want to sit at the bar, table or outside. We were there 'early-ish' and didn't have to wait too long, however, we weren't exactly fussed where we sat.

The place was buzzing! We sat on the bench and I got to see behind the scenes of the kitchen! It's always exciting to see how they cook and how a kitchen operates. The waiters were friendly and tentative, our green tea was always topped up – which was a bonus!

We started off with the sashimi main – it's always a favourite of ours. Six different types of sashimi – 2 lots of salmon sashimi, tuna, king fish, octopus, king fish, and raw scallops. It was all very fresh, as you would expect!

We also ordered Chicken Karage and Beef Tataki – being Indonesian, I am used to having something deep fried at every meal. Thankfully, hubby doesn't like to eat deep fried food all the time. However, it was a special day, and he knows how much I love chicken karage – who can resist when it comes with sweet chilli sauce? Chicken was very soft and moist, crunchy on the outside.

Beef tataki was very very tender – it was medium rare. The sauce was rather sweet, didn't think it complemented the beef, but hubby seems to have enjoyed it.


Hubby unfortunately wasnt a great fan of the chicken karage - he said that my mother's fried chicken was a lot better! I agree, mum's fried chicken is good, but its not the same. I was more than happy to finish the chicken karage on my own. Clearly he demolished the beef tataki!

Over all, it was a great V Day dinner – relax and not pretentious. You can never really go wrong with Japanese food, especially if its under the Masuya chain. It is definitely worth another visit but be there early.. otherwise it would be a 30 – 45 mins wait!

Mushashi

447 Pitt Street (Corner Campbell Street) Sydney 2000
Phone: +61 2 9280 3777

Seabay... dumpling heaven

Whenever someone says 'dumplings', my eyes light up! Who doesnt like those meat filled pastries that are slightly fried, boiled or steamed - not all together of course! So when hubby said why don't we have dumplings tonight for dinner, I wasn't going to say no!

Seabay has been around for a very long time, it used to be an old, dark and dodgy little place on pitt street, but they have done it up the past couple of years. Its not so dodgy, but very bright and shinny - on some nights you definitely need your sunnies! It is so bright! Thankfully, the owner hasn't changed and you are guaranteed a delightful meal.

As much as I love just eating with hubby, the more the merrier right? More food and more choices, and who better than my brother and his gf to join - I know how much they both LOVE food :)We pretty much knew what we wanted to order - the usual choice of dumpling and noodles. Fried dumplings of course - slightly pan fried on the outside, and moist on the inside. I usually saturate my dumpling in vinegar and chilli! Although, everyone is different, some have it with just with soy sauce, and some just as it is! You get a good serving of dumplings - 12 on the plate.

The fried noodles is also quite generous - it's apparently 'hand made' and it comes with either beef / chicken or pork. We opted for the beef and it came out quickly. I am still not 100% sure if its handmade, I know the dumplings are as I have peeked in the kitchen and have seen a couple of older ladies sitting there tunning dumplings one by one!

We would usually order more dumplings, but thought we would try something different - salt and pepper pork. It came on a bed of shredded lettuce, and looked 'different'. But don't let that fool you! It was tasty! It had the right amount of salt and pepper! Personally, it could be a little bit more spicier, but I am big fan of chilli! Everything just tastes so much better with chilli!

We have never ever ordered this next dish, and I wish I had discovered it earlier - better late than never I guess. Eggplant with seabay 'special' sauce. I am not 100% sure what the sauce is, but it was a slightly saulty, yet sweet. Its like they put honey but it wasnt gooey like. The 'special' sauce was indeed special, and hubby is not usually a big fan of eggplant but surprisingly enjoyed it.

You can never go wrong with Seabay - don't let the door or the dodgy sign fool you! It is child friendly, and one of the best place for dumplings in the city. It is quite reasonable in price, and the staff are friendly, although, might not be as tentative as other chinese restaurant. It is value for money, and definitely worth a visit if you haven't been before.

Seabay - 372 Pitt Street, Sydney

Tel: (02) 9267 4855