Masu Izakaya, Sydney

Dixon St and its surrounds are any Sydney-siders go-to when they want Asian food, don’t want to blow a small hole in their pocket, but haven’t totally decided what they want to eat. Masu Izakaya is at the far end (opposite fried chicken favorite, Arisun) and is the only place in this part of town doing it izakaya-style. It’s pretty obvious that yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) is their drawcard because as you walk in, you’re immediately greeted with the sight of a chef quickly turning over skewers on a charcoal fire.

Masu Izakaya has a full page of yakitori and kushiyaki on offer – all skewered and grilled. It’s like Japanese tapas. There’s many different cuts of chicken available, along with varying vegetables, wagyu beef, and pork. You can pick some classics like momo ($3.50) – chicken thigh – or kawa ($3.50) – crispy chicken skin. The Butabara ($4.50) is skewered alternately with onions and served with a sweet soy sauce. This tender, fatty pork belly is easily one of my favorites. If you can’t decide, go with the chef’s selection ($18) of six yakitori.

It’s a good idea to order a few more substantial dishes as it can take a lot of skewers to get you full. After all the pork belly and chicken skins, it may be wise to follow up with something a little healthier and colder like the seaweed and tofu salad ($14.50). The spicy tofu ($8.80) is an example of how tofu should be eaten: dressed and flavorful. Something similar be said for the grilled salmon belly with ponzu sauce ($17.80) – the belly is fatty but you can never get enough ponzu sauce to offset it. The salmon deluxe ($18.80) is an old faithful consisting of sashimi, aburi, and avocado rolls.

To me, any sort of izakaya experience would be incomplete without alcohol. There are five pages worth of drinks but sake is the obvious choice. For the virgin sake drinker, one of the fruit-flavored ones would suit you well. In particular, the umenoyado ringo ($10.80/60mL) – apple sake – tastes like a watered down juice popper. I could drink this in place of water, but that wouldn’t be very healthy.

Masu Izakaya adds to the list of cheap eats in Dixon St, and while certainly not the cheapest, it’s pretty good for a post-work hangout when you don’t want to go home smelling like smoke. Now, I’m off to get more apple sake.

Masu Izakaya
35-39 Liverpool St
Sydney NSW 2000
Website