Makoto, Sydney

Matoko, Sydney in World Square has been since its inception 15 years ago a highly recommended place to dine. This sushi train joint has been known for its well made and very fresh sushi.

In its 15 years of business, there have been many competitors all around its vicinity which have come and gone. Prices of some joints have plunged to attract customers - and with that a drop in standard of its food. Some newer places have failed to drum up customers. But Matoko still draws a crowd. So on it's 15th anniversary, we decided to check it out to see what makes this place buzz!

We made it to the restaurant as early as we could (5:30pm) to avoid the dinner queue. There was plenty of sushi of a wide selection stacked in a double deck on the train. We checked out the menu first. 

There was most of the usual selection of hot food ranging from udon to tempura and other grilled food.

The a-lacarte sushi menu was no lacking of options either.

My husband went for the Wagyu Yakiniku Beef and a side of rice. The presentation as you can see is fantastic! The beef was perfectly medium rare, juicy and went well with the kewpie mayonnaise.  I really liked the mushrooms that went with it too.

I went for the less exotic Nabeyaki Udon. Unfortunately by the time the udon was served, the beef was really tough. But the egg remained nice and gluey. There was nice tempura vegetables which came with it, along side with slices of Japanese fish cake and mushrooms.

We also went for a Chawanmushi (Steamed egg in a cup) off the train. This was silky smooth and lacked no ingredients like chicken, fish cakes, mushrooms and shrimp in it.

Next we went for an array of sushi. This included:

Seared Salmon Sushi

Fresh Salmon Sushi

Tuna Sushi

Scallop Sushi

Alfonsino Sushi

One thing in common with all these sushi was its freshness, excellent presentation and well cut fish. The scallop was a real stand out - it literally melted in my mouth! I really appreciated that the rice balls were firm and we had no difficulties with crumbling sushi. The cuts were very well done, each sushi shinning - as you can see in all the pictures above.

The other thing about this sushi train which really stand out from others is having different fish or different cuts. These are a few examples of less common sushi available at this joint:

• Scampi
• King fish
• Bar cod
• Medium grade belly tuna
• Made to order beef tataki where you can chose how well you want it done

Finally, we went for the desserts.

Green Tea Custard

Red Bean Mochi

The green tea custard was a big let down. The texture was terrible. Unlike most custards which would easily give using the edge of a spoon, this custard required some effort. It tasted much more creamy than a custard would normally be. The red bean mochi was on the other hand yummy and not too sweet.

Overall

Matoko, Sydney is a premium sushi train joint. It would cost about 10-20% more than your normal sushi train. But for that price comes the value. The wait staff were very attentive. This is a pleasant environment to be in - just a little noisy (the chefs would announce when they put a special dish on the belt). Seating on the bar was far apart enough to be not squishy. I hope we will see many more anniversaries of this place!

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