MASU by Nic Watt — Restaurant in Waitematā

It was my first time back to Masu post the covid-lockdown & was a special occasion for my (adult) son's birthday dinner, but unfortunately, it must have been a bad night in the kitchen, as the chef in charge must have been very, VERY fond of 'salt'.

The two of us ordered the Natsu Tokusen set menu ($145pp) to taste the best of Masu.

Beginning w/ an unusual start to a Japanese dining experience, the 'sourdough bread & wagyu butter' was delicious & filling.

This was followed by the 'nama-gaki (oyster in vinaigrette) & hamachi sashimi (Kingfish in tomato water) both which missed the boat, because the taste the seafood was completely lost by the sauce they were drowning in.

Next, the Wagyu tsukune (minced Wagyu meatball), was 'ok', nothing to remember & possibly a waste of Wagyu?

Next, chefu no sashimi (Tuna & Salmon sashimi roll). I am sure there was tuna & salmon in there some where, but couldn't taste it through the copious amount of salty sauce.

Next, the 3 nigiri sushi dishes combined; although you could actually taste the seafood this time, I did scraped off the salty sauce on the scallop.

This was followed by the tori tebasaki (chicken wing in honey soy sauce') which again was 'salty' & if there was any 'sweet' intended you couldn't taste it. The chicken itself was tender & well cooked & was stuffed with 'sticky rice' which is more of a rice paste. This was accompanied by the tori tebasaki yasai salada (salad dish) which was 'good' & very fresh, but unfortunately overdressed.

At this point, I ordered a separate plain rice. I had to try to clear the 'salt' from my palate as the 5 glasses of water & one coke I downed by that point was not cutting through it.

Our next dish was yaki gani (King crab leg with shio koji tofu mayo & ponzu butter sauce). I was really looking forward to this, but unfortunately it was overcooked, & the flavor of the actual crab was completely lost in the super salty, overabundant sauce. The other thing to point out, is that instead of getting a crab leg each (as per the menu, we receive one of each of everything else), ONE crab leg was cut in two & served for the two of us. I was surprised & NOT delighted given the price per person.

This was followed by 'yaki-gamo' (Duck breast with cherry sauce and sweet corn puree), this was a perfectly balanced dish & had the duck breast not been tough & chewy it would have been the best dish of the evening. Having to 'saw' through the duck with the provided butter knife was not expected. Also, I am not sure if it was because I cleared my palate with the plain rice, but I could finally taste something other than salt & the cherry sauce in particular was beautiful. This was accompanied by the saya ingen (grilled green beans), which not for the salty, salty garlic butter losing whatever sweet, spicy sauce that was supposed to be part of the dish would have been great.

To finish, the desert platter was a beautiful, & contained a lot of fresh fruit & an assortment of gorgeous sorbets.

In our opinion, this meal was not up to Masu's usual standard based on previous visits & appeared to be more focused on salty sauces then the actual stars (seafood, beef, etc.).

I have never been dehydrated by a meal at a restaurant of this caliber, but returning home, I still felt the need for a few large glasses of water.

Nic Watt might want to visit the kitchen to calibrate this set menu because maybe its a result of having too many salty dishes all in a row & just way too much sauce altogether?

Or perhaps it is done on purpose to keep you drinking? We were drinking water & cokes but reflected after, that had we been drinking alcohol, the need for more & more drinks would have been required.

I must say here that the two stars are for the food only, given the +300$ price tag for two, (which we are usually quite happy to spend on a meal) the food was definitely not worth it...

BUT the wait staff (in particular the young guy that brought out the dishes and explained what was on the plate) were fabulous from...

The service was really poor. We were mistakenly served someone else’s dishes twice, only for them to be hastily taken away. We told the waitress that we wanted two servings of the black truffle gyoza, but instead we were served the beef kimchi gyoza. When we pointed this out, the restaurant manager came over and insisted we were wrong because the waitress had written down “beef kimchi gyoza”. He told us the kitchen was already closed and that there was no way to change the order. Rather than offering a solution, he told us to accept the beef kimchi gyoza because it was “really good”.

I don’t doubt that the waitress believed she was right—but there were seven of us who clearly remembered ordering the truffle gyoza. None of us like kimchi (which is an acquired taste), and it was clear that English was not the waitress’s first language. Isn’t it possible she might have made a mistake? The manager should have at least apologised and politely asked if we wouldn’t mind keeping the incorrect dish. We would have happily agreed. Instead, he gave us no choice and turned the entire meal into an unpleasant experience. For what it’s worth, the beef kimchi gyoza were not good at all and tasted rancid.

On top of this, the food was overpriced and underwhelming. The grilled octopus wasn’t fresh and had a strange, powdery texture.

Overall, it was a disappointing experience. We won’t be returning — and I wouldn’t recommend...

Great restaurant, great service and great food.

Upon arriving at Masu, we were seated at the bar where we could order our drinks and look at the menu as our table was getting ready.

We decided to get the degustation Masu Shook meal, which was a fantastic tasting of the selection available at Masu. We also added the king crab leg as it looked amazing in photos.

The first three courses which consisted of their raw fresh seafood were divine. There were so many complex flavours in the taco and the maki roll which I really enjoyed. The veggie tempura was executed perfectly. The gyoza along with the sauce packed a punch and it was something I had not experienced elsewhere before. The teriyaki salmon was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was not overbearing. Our last main course we had the lamb cutlet and kumara was probably our least favourite, while I found my lamb good my partner found his a little over. One half of our kumara however, was really undercooked in the middle and so had a unpleasant texture and bite to it.

The king crab leg was absolutely delicious, it looks stunning visually. The meat is quite easy to get out of the leg and the smoked wasabi like butter that accompanies it is delicious.

Overall it was a pleasant experience with the exceptional seafood being where Masu shines brightest. Will definitely...