IIKO Mazesoba — Restaurant in Sydney

Great ideas. Poor execution.

Parking: You can find free parking on the side streets near the powerhouse museum side after 6pm onwards and walk wherever you like. Otherwise Wilson’s parking works too. Customer Service: They seem like nice people but were very inattentive during our service due to over-reliance on technology. They want you to order via QR code but before you confirm your order you MUST create an account with MINIMUM 8 digit/letter password. Too lazy to do so, we ordered the traditional way. The staff do not pay proper attention to your table, so you may need to stand and walk to them to get their attention. Our waitress also served us our meals without utensils, and I did have to walk up a second time. Atmosphere: Atmosphere is fine. They followed covid spacing rules properly. But you may need to bring a jacket or something to keep you warm because you may need to be sat outside due to limited space inside (it can get chilly quickly).

Menu & Food review:

Mains ($26) Black soft shell crab mazesoba: noodles got cold too quickly, crab was fine, the sauce (squid ink yuzu mayo) overpowered quite a few ingredients rather than meld. ($28) Wagyu MBS Mazesoba: noodles got cold too quickly, wagyu was tasty but I wish there was more meat. Not filling enough.

We had a feeling that the timing of completing the noodles did not match the timing of the meat, meaning that the noodles were cooling down for a while before the meat finished cooking.

Drinks ($15) DaiDai Hitachino Nest (Cold brew): Quite interesting. Pricy but understandable because they are imported from Japan. Standard brew hit at the forefront with a miso aftertaste. The more you drink, the stronger the miso. ($4) Ramune Lychee (soda): Yum!

Improvements/recommendations: I recall writing a review where staff ask you too frequently “how is your food?”. Well these people do not ask you at all, and the only awareness of your table is the one on their tablets. With a quick glance at a physical table, you can see whether a customer needs help, water, utensils, need to pay the bill, ask a question, etc. They do not have any of this information being transferred to their tablets at all. If you are to keep this style of service, I would recommend investing in digital bells, where if customers need something, they ring the bell and a staff member will take your enquiry.

My biggest gripe is the mazesoba style. In traditional ramen, the Soup base is what brings harmony to the ingredients, whereas for the mazesoba, it is the sauce. This means to thoroughly enjoy the dish, you should generally always mix the sauce. Customers do not get told this, and the only way to know is if you have done your research or read a tiny blurb of text in the menu. If you order a dish with large ingredients, how is one supposed to comfortably mix this? What if you had a whole crab, a giant cauliflower, or chicken karaage? I had to break down my crab into smaller pieces before mixing it. I wish they had offered to cut it, offer scissors, or mix it for me.

As mentioned previous, the sauce overpowered a lot of the ingredients and I did not get to enjoy a lot of the smaller ingredients until the end because they were buried at the bottom; especially my salmon caviar. I was looking forward to the burst of the caviar mixed with the noodles and crab but I only tasted sauce.

In conclusion, the ideas are nice, the technology is nice, but the restaurant is lacking the fundamentals of what makes a good restaurant. It is like talking to someone who looks attractive on the outside, but has a lot of work to do...

Service: 3.5/5 seemed good at first, but the waiter's (perhaps the manager) paranoia and control came through when informing us that we might have to vacate the table by a certain time -- which was not mentioned when we were booking as would have been the appropriate time to tell us, and the night wasn't even a busy one to warrant it either (Tuesday). It was not nice being told by the same person too that we couldn't eat BYO food when just moments before another staff member had told us that we could (to be exact, that their policy is usually to not allow it, but she'd make an exception this time -- and then even brought us plates without our asking). Of course we stopped eating it after having our permission taken away again, but overall we did not feel welcome or comfortable aside from when that lady who brought us the plates interacted with us. I would hate to imagine how the service would be on a busier night. I hope the gentleman serving us, who especially if he is the manager, learns what true hospitality means and how to better deal with stress. at least the food quality was immaculate though, every dish beautifully- and neatly-presented, good quality, and delicious. The 'oimeshi' system that allows you to request a bit of rice to finish leftover sauces with is also a thoughtful and cool touch!

Tuna Kakiage Cup: 4.5/5 what seemed to be a puck-sized croquette (vegetables mixed with mash battered and fried) with a dollop of raw tuna and mentaiko sauce on top; a harmony of cooked and raw, with umami throughout. A delicious snack that was definitely a perfect appetiser, leaving us wanting more Duck Mazesoba: 4.5/5 the duck was perfectly-cooked, tender yet chewy, covered in a citrus sauce that was sweet and slightly tangy but perhaps not entirely to everyone's tastes. It didn't quite meld with the rest of the noodles, but those at least were savoury and so tasty mixed with the sauce, onsen egg and other toppings. The foie grass was interestingly battered and fried and nice enough, but the batter may not have been necessary, and the serving of it could've been bigger (it was very small) Wagyu Steak Mazesoba: 5/5 quality wagyu speaks for itself; the thin slices were aromatic, soft, juicy and decadent. The noodles were also delicious, definitely the restaurant's forte Mentaiko Mazesoba: 4.5/5 definitely the saltiest of the dishes we got, maybe even a bit too much so, but still tasty. With a protein or other topping added to it, this dish could be perfect; it was an absolute flavour bomb.

Conclusion: One of the most promising restaurants I've ever been to, a rare occasion where somehow practically every dish is top tier!? The service isn't perfect, but the food more than makes up for it; I would recommend Mazesoba for sure, and look forward...

IIKO Mazesoba, Haymarket Sydney

If you love ramen, and in particular the chewy bite of freshly- made ramen noodles, mazesoba might be right up your alley. The only difference is that there's no broth! It's soupless - a dry from a raman of tendencen a soy-based flavoured oil dressing, but you can get it with a mild curry sauce too. The "maze" in the name means to mix, so you mix the steaming noodles out from the bottom with the variety of toppings layered above. Then it's recommended you add some swirls of chilli oil and kombu vinegar for extra flavoure liko Mazesoba in Haymarket's Darling Square was actually the very first mazesoba-specialised restaurant in Australia. There's now other restaurants that serve mazesoba and aburasoba (same same). liko's the one with the passionate journey though. Owner Michelle grew to love mazesoba during her time working in Japan. She then learnt the tricks of the trade from a ramen senpai (mentor) in Osaka. She knew she wanted to make her own noodles fresh so, with funds tight, she purchased and imported a second hand noodle-making machine from Kagawa prefecture in Japan! Funnily enough, the previous owner of the machine also learnt under the same senpai.

The machine's still going strong after over a decade of hard work. While it's being used, the machine makes loud noise, breathing a rustic character into liko's trendy ambience. Between the three mazesoba we ordered the OG with pork belly chashu and spiced pork mince, the karaage chicken with curry sauce, and the spicy tuna) I preferred the latter two. The curry sauce was superb and the spicy tuna is refreshing yet decadent. The noodles have a certain way of catching up every single bit of sauce. The kitchen also sent out a genmaicha ochazuke style mazesoba for us to try! Nice, however I'd recommend popping the sashimi on the side before you mix it as it...