Mashi no Mashi, Pyrmont

Mashi no Mashi is the third outpost of this Hong Kong ramen restaurant and the first in Australia. Their proposition is a menu featuring ramen and Ozaki wagyu beef, a prized wagyu beef from Japan be it in ramen soup or Wagyujiro, Mazeramen or dipping ramen or in crispy fried gyoza or draped over Donburi bowls.

Mashi no Mashi's founder is Chef Hisato Hamada who is also one of the co-founders of Wagyumafia, a brand that has 15 restaurants around the world with each concept featuring a different spin using wagyu beef. Mashi no Mashi is one of these restaurants and they focus on ramen and wagyu. They source the top 1% of Kobe and wagyu beef. The wagyu used at Mashi no Mashi (which means ‘eat more and more’) is from wagyu farmer Muneharu Ozaki in the Miyazaki Prefecture on Japan’s Kyushu Island. He has been breeding Wagyu cattle for more than 30 years with the last 14 years spent breeding Miyazaki cows. His Ozaki cows have only been around for the last 16 years. He feeds his cows a mixture of cattle brewers’ grain silage as well as algae and seaweed to stimulate blood circulation.

Mashi no Mashi is located on the first floor on the harbour side entrance of The Star in Pyrmont. I was all prepared to wander around The Star confusedly but Sammie and I find it easily. The restaurant seats 36 with booths for two or four (or a squishy six) and it is walk in only. The menu is small-ish, there are a few types of ramen and some soft drinks and I sip on a lychee ramune drink while waiting for the food to arrive.

I need to prepare you for what happens when they bring your food to you. While most Japanese restaurants call out "irasshaimase!!" when people enter here at Mashi no Mashi there's a cheer when they bring each dish to the table with a flourish. The first item to arrive was the beef Ozaki gyoza, five picture perfect specimens of gyoza that are plump, crispy edged and absolutely delicious. They come with a dipping sauce - it is called 'Wagyusco' hot sauce so I'm expecting something Tabasco-ey but it's white vinegar and black pepper to balance the rich wagyu filling.

The Wagyujiro is their signature ramen. It is made with a 24-hour stewed Kobe beef bone broth, housemade noodles using a noodle recipe from Singapore and 120g of Wagyu strip loin/ribeye with organic cabbage, minced garlic, bean sprouts and bamboo shoots. Each batch of the stock uses up to 10 heads worth of rib and thigh bones and has a rich, umami, savoury flavour to it. The Jiro noodles are chewy and al dente. Jiro noodles date back to 20th century Japan when ramen eateries made their Jiro noodles thicker and bigger in volume so that they were more filling for their clientele such as university students. As for the wagyu, well it's sublime with a perfect amount of marbling making each bite succulent. Make sure to get some of the little dab of minced garlic on the side as this really brings all of the flavours together and adds so much to the wagyu. The only thing I would say is that it isn't cheap but good quality wagyu never is and while it is 120 grams of it, the picture on their website looks like it is double or triple the amount of wagyu, not four slices (just in case you have that in mind).

We also try the Tokusei Wagyu Tsukemen, a dipping ramen. The noodles are different for this, like an udon noodle and white in colour and served with a cup of broth with cubes of soft beef at the bottom. The wagyu sirloin here is served like char siu in thin slices. You add the little spice bomb into the broth and stir it and then dip your ramen into the broth. I love the flavour of this broth, the cubes of soft wagyu and melting wagyu slices.

The wagyu donburi is a bowl of rice with thin slices of wagyu sirloin on top as well as an egg yolk. You are supposed to mix it all up although it is a best when you take off the wagyu and then mix the egg yolk in with the hot rice and then eat it. We're all mashi'ed out by the time we get to this but we trade some dessert stomach space for this.

So tell me Dear Reader, are you a fan of wagyu beef? What do you think of this ramen?

NQN and Sammie were guests of Mashi no Mashi but all opinions remain her own.

Mashi no Mashi

Level G Harbourside, The Star, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont NSW 2009

Hours: Sunday to Tuesday 12–3pm, 5:30–9:30pm

Wednesday & Thursday 12–3pm, 5:30–10pm

Friday & Saturday 12–3pm, 5:30–11:30pm

Phone: (02) 9657 8628

https://www.mashinomashi.com.au/