No doubt you’ve probably heard of Musashi, if not seen the queues that swarms the outside; perhaps you have even tried it? As part of the Masuya Group which boasts names such as Makoto City, Makoto Chatswood and Masuya; Musashi is arguably ‘in-between’ Makoto and Masuya in terms of price, service and atmosphere.

C and I make plans to head as early as possible (6pm) to avoid the uninviting queue that is present all days of the week; also, bookings are limited with respect to timing: for lunch, bookings are available before 12:15pm; and for dinner, bookings are available before 6:15 pm. Even though we arrive at our organised time, there is still a short 10 minute wait for a table to clear at the already-packed restaurant. Perhaps it was worth booking?

After being seated, I requested to move to the corner table as the lighting for food-shots would much better compared to the darker area we were placed

Green Tea Shake ($5.20): a combination of green tea powder and milk, I decided to give this a go after reading a few users comments on eatability and was disappointed as it lacks the creamy flavour and sweetness of vanilla essence that makes me keep going back to Starbucks’ Green Tea Frapp.

Here Comes The Food

Musashi Special – Deep Fried Tasmanian Oyster ($15.80): After placing my order for this entree, I can see a few tables around me with the exact order, so I have a feeling that it is a popular dish. When it arrives we are delighted with our order as the oysters are juicy and plump without the over-jarring taste for me when eaten raw. The tartare sauce is a favourite over the vingerette, which heightens the flavour and is a great complement.

BBQ Beef Tongue ($8.80): Kept warm by the hot plate, the beef tongue has been overcooked to a hard elasticity than what I would normally allow in yakiniku circumstances. However, it is still enjoyable with a dousing of lemon juice.

Katsu-don ($14.80): Whilst this is my order, C can’t help but to take a few spoonfuls of the rice that has uncooked egg which is still gooey and sticky. Does anybody know the exact way of replicating this? I’d love to try it at home. The pork is tender and wrapped by the blanket of the flakey deep-fried dashi soup stock. It’s great and I’d be more than happy to order it the next time, if I don’t find anything else that interests me on the menu

Yakiniku-Lamb ($19.80): C had a hard pressed when deciding between this dish or the Premium Wagyu Sirloin Steak ($25) but eventually decided on this. I would hazard a guess and say that it was the more rewarding choice as on a previous visit, she had already ordered the wagyu steak. The lamb was in a word – perfect. The yakiniku sauce matched with the lamb. De-boned without effort. Soft. Succulent. I found myself taking more than my usual share of the dish. I recommend it to any of our readers to give a go and let us know what you thought about it.

Dining Bar Musashi 447 Pitt Street(Cnr. Pitt & Campbell Street) Sydney 2000 Australia (on the corner of Capitol Theatre/Square)
Ph: (02) 9280-0377
Monday to Friday(Lunch): 11:45-14:30 (Last Order) Monday to Saturday (Dinner) : 17:30-22:00 (Last Order) Sunday (Dinner) : 17:30-21:30 (Last Order)
Closed: Saturday, Sunday Lunch Only (this is what the website says, can someone confirm this?)

Bookings are only available for following hours.
LUNCH: before 12:15
DINNER: before 18:15

• For small groups.(5 people or more)
On weekends, bookings available between 17:30 to 18:00.
No bookings are necessary for small groups after 21:30.

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The title is a little bit deceiving but it is still sort of correct. I simply just used supermarket bought vanilla ice cream and added green tea powder to it. It is the simplest thing to do in the world and this is what Japanese restaurants do to make their green tea ice creams so this is just cutting out the middle man and at a much more reasonable price for this tasty treat.

To make the green tea ice cream all you need is some vanilla ice cream preferably a creamy kind like the one pictured or Blue Ribbon and it does not have to be the best or most expensive ice cream either. The other ingredient of course is green tea powder, which you can get from Japanese supermarkets.

Allow the ice cream to rest at room temperature until it is soft so not too long, sift the green tea powder in and flex your muscles and mix away! Once all thoroughly mixed (make sure it is or some people will get a bite of pure bitter powder) put back into the freezer.

Remember not to mix for too long either as the longer the ice cream is left to melt outside the higher the probability of forming ice crystals when refrozen. The amount of green tea powder to use also depends on your personal preference as some people prefer a more subtle green tea flavour and some like it heavy and slightly bitter so just try it out and taste for yourself

This was the 2nd tub of ice cream so we only added the remaining green tea powder after the 1st tub hence the streaks of white in the picture.

My dear mother also made some red bean soup which I heated up and added the ice cream into! Yummmm ^^! Perfect for any weather as it has both cold and warm elements.

FFichiban

Located towards the Balmoral Beach-end of Military Road, Dancing Zorbas is just off Military Road thus making parking hassle-free and easy to find as it’s lit up during the evening. When I first heard the name of the restaurant when it was suggested for dinner, my mind immediately reminisced the particular techno-pop song in the 90’s which starred big-gutted men dancing to a and hypnotic beat (Link). Furthermore, the online site boasted ‘dancing’ on Saturdays – sadly we went on Friday: Perhaps one of our viewers who has been lucky enough to see this spectacle leave us a comment and tell us what the performance was?

A well-lit bar is always a plus on my list. There are some restaurants where the bar is just dull and uninviting.

Here Comes The Food

BBQ Octopus in Ouzo ($12.90): I was feeling like an entree and this one stood out on the daily specials board for one reason: I had no idea what Ouzo is .. until now. After conversing with the waitress, she described it a liqueur popular in the Greek culture…why wasn’t really helpful but I decided to give it a go anyway. Think black licorice and magnify the after-taste by about 10 and the result is the flavour given by Ouzo. I’m not really a fan of licorice apart from the flavoured ones you can buy from Darrel Lea, so it took some time to finish the dish. Though I say that the Octopus had a great texture and cooked to the right tenderness – retaining elasticity but not overdone.

Traditional Mezze Plate for Two ($25): C and cupcake shared this as an entree and after much waiting after they had their share and declared themselves unable to continue – I proceeded to make myself handy. The Calamari Rings are fresh and are coated evenly with a fluffy batter – so good that I was a bit disappointed only one was left ( greedy much?). The grilled/melted cheese is highly dependant on the eater’s palette as you either like it or you don’t. It was nice but after a few, you could tell that the flavour and texture soon became highly similar singles cheese found in the supermarket.

Traditional Greek Moussaka ($18.90): I was definitely not on top of my game when deciding on ‘the right’ dishes. Having enquired earlier about Ouzo, I also asked what was a Moussaka. From the description it reads as: “traditional minced meat with layers of eggplant and potato combined with a bechamel sauce”, you would think this anybody could easily interpret this to mean lasagne; sadly I was under false pretenses and conjured up a very different image. I was disappointed as the centre hadn’t clearly cooked through in the oven as it was slightly cold. The eggplant was gone after two bites and it whole dish lacked any flavour which made me want more.

Baked Lamb ($19.90) served with vegetables and potatoes: pupu ordered this dish and I have the say that after a few morsels I wanted it. The lamb had been cooked perfectly – tender and fell apart without any effort. Highly flagrant with herbs and nicely accompanied by greens. I would highly recommend it for patrons of this restaurant.

Grilled Pork ($18.80)

Lamb Souvlaki ($18.90): Fresh lamb grilled on two skewers served with Greek salad and chips.

Carpetbag Steak en croute ($22.90): stuffed with prawns in balsamic vinaigrette mixed leaf salad & cherry tomatoes. This dish was ordered by cupcake who gave the reason “because it sounds wierd”. From what I can gather, it was enjoyed especially the feature of stuffing prawns inside the steak itself.

Steak Romano ($21.90): Eye fillet cooked in brandy, cream, green peppercorns, served with vegetables and potatoes. C’s choice for the night, which worked well when accompanied with the sauce. The meat had been served as medium-rare as requested, which places regularly get wrong.

Zorbas Meat Platter for Two ($59.90): FFichiban and Skinny Panda’s order – Traditional Greek Style Baked Lamb, grilled pork cutlets, fresh lamb souvlaki, grilled chicken breast & traditional mince meat. Whilst there isn’t room for presentation, the focus is clearly on the variety of meat.

Customised dessert chocolates – yum! The friendly staff and company made this a great night.

Dancing Zorbas:
Shop 9, Level 1, 707 cnr of Military Road and Gouldsbury St
Mosman 2088
Ph: 9969 6222; 99551592
Email: restaurant@dancingzorbas.com.au
Website: http://www.dancingzorbas.com/index.html
Lunch: Tues-Sun 11:30 – 3pm
Dinner: Tues-Sun 6 – 10pm

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