My favorite sushi restaurant in Austin...and possibly Houston and Dallas too. Been coming here for years! What makes them the best is the flavors and quality of food. Everything is good. If I wanted to list everything Id just copy and paste their menu here. lol Go to their website for full menu AND photos.
(5)
Christine O.
Whenever I want sushi, this is the spot!
(5)
Eric M.
Disclaimer: It would be exceedingly difficult for me to be unbiased in this review because I've been going to Musashino nearly every week for 15 years...long before Yelp was even an idea. However, I see several misguided reviews here on Yelp so I feel the need to chime in. If you are seeking truly exceptional Tokyo-style sashimi, nigiri, and maki there is only one place to go in Austin, and that place is Musashino. Frankly, I almost hesitate to write a review because Musashino already does such great business that you can often expect an hour or more wait on weekends. While I don't want it to get over-crowded, I definitely want the best for Smokey and the gang as they've been such a big part of my Austin life for so long. I took my wife there on our first date and year later proposed to her there. So, take my review for what it is...a long time friend and fan of Musashino setting the record straight. Now, what makes Musashino so good? The fish, the talent, the ambiance, and the fish. Oh yea, and the fish. Fish - Let's start with the fish. Most sushi restaurants get their fish from standard foodservice supply companies. They have the typical yellowtail and salmon but nothing exotic. Better sushi restaurants have specialty seafood suppliers shipping from the coasts. These might occasionally have toro (bluefin fatty tuna) and better shellfish selections but nothing from Japan. Finally, the very select few..the best of the best will have a lot of their fish broker-selected from the Tokyo fish market and overnighted to the restaurant on a regular basis. There are only a handful of places in the country that do this and there are two are here in Austin that I know of. Musashino and Uchi. Most upscale sushi places you go in NYC, SF, LA, Chicago will have toro, but rarely will they have several grades (toro, chutoro, otoro..) at once. You can find all of them every weekend at Musashino, as well as exotics like giant clam, japanese scallop, shima-aji, spanish mackerel, arctic char, and much more. YES, this fish is going to be more expensive..OF COURSE it is. It comes from the best supply in the world. Talent. There are lots of talented sushi chefs in Austin. Uchi is mentioned a few times in these reviews and as I just said they get fish direct from Japan as well. Tyson Cole created Uchi after his six years of apprenticeship at...guess where...Musashino. Cole is very talented and he learned and developed much of that talent from Musashino's proprietor, chef, and sushi master Takehiko Fuse (friends call him Smokey). Cole was smart to turn his style away from traditional Tokyo style sushi and do more trendy fusion style. Smokey meanwhile continues to serve the very best sushi in Austin in both traditional and creative styles. Smokey's right hand man and sushi rockstar these days is Kazu, another amazingly talented and creative sushi chef. Trust me..Smokey and Kazu and the rest of the crew at Musashino know what they are doing. Ambiance. If you are looking for flashy neon, bad Korean techno, glass and steel...you should look elsewhere. Musashino is traditional Tokyo style from the teak wood sushi bar to the pufferfish lamps. Smokey has created a warm and inviting environment that honors the traditions of sushi. Musashino has been successful for decades because it is like a comfortable home for the best sushi in town. How do I compare Musashino? Well, in the 90s I lived in Dallas and San Francisco and found the best of the best sushi I could. Business has taken me to Japan half a dozen times over the years and I searched out the best sushi I could find there as well. I can honestly say that Musashino is as good or better than any I have had in the States, and on par with the best neighborhood places in Shinagawa, Ginza, or Shibuya. So go to Musashino. Expect a wait...it's worth it. Get your pager, go upstairs to the bar they share with Ronald Cheng's Chinatown, and have Henry make you a fantastic cocktail or pour you some cold Onigoroshi. If you know sushi, you already know to sit at the bar and talk with the chefs to get the best Omakase experience you can. Put your trust in Kazu and Smokey. You will not be disappointed. Just don't tell too many people like I just did :)
(5)
Amanda R.
I'm so sad, I just didn't get the hype for this place! We ordered the sushi-sashimi sampler and two rolls to try to get a full view of their offerings. The sushi was definitely fresh but the rolls were pretty unimpressive--average in flavor, and a bit overstuffed with rice rather than fish. The worst thing to me here is the price! Cost more than traditional rolls at places like Tomo and Kome (and not nearly as tasty!) and actually cost as much as the special rolls at Uchi/Uchiko but nowhere near as good. The atmosphere is fine--I think they keep it kind of dark to distract from the fact that the place needs a facelift. Service was great and the staff was really nice. It's not awful by any means but I'm definitely sticking with Tomo and Kome for now!
(3)
Tony B.
Musashino...is that Japanese for Foodgasm? Oh, how I love this place! No sign, so every time I go I feel like i know something that nobody else does. Of course, that's not true...but I like to think it is. I've been for the sushi and such, but this is for the ramen. During lunch they become somewhat of a ramen house...and that pleases me greatly. Going to high school in Japan allowed me the pleasure of experiencing the steamy sardine can ramen shops of Harajuku and Shinjuku, leaving me with an addiction, that until recently has not been fed until venturing to Musashino! My selection was the Hakata Ramen. The rich broth is made by cooking pork bones at high heat for a lengthy period until the marrow is released...creating a sublime milky, velvety broth...drool...The chewy noodles and ample veggies could have easily made this bowl of happy feed two. Two normal people! Being half Asian, I know that to not finish would be an insult. (At least that's what I tell myself when I overindulge) Waddling out fat and happy...I vowed to return and conquer their noodle selection. One happy massive bowl at a time!
(5)
Anna B.
Old man & the sea Taught me to like it raw. "Sushi, grasshopper." Musashino taught Austin to love sushi. It also played finishing school to several of Austin's finest sushi chefs (Tyson Cole, e.g.). In the roaring '90's, I did my part to help the high tech boom and dropped a lot of coin on a lot of fish here. It was notoriously busy. The wait could be two, sometimes three hours. Which was ok because they also had a great selection of sake. I have eaten, although not always liked, every kind of raw fish imaginable. Time passed, and sushi joints proliferated. There is cheap sushi, hip sushi, expensive sushi, sushi to-go at the grocery, etc. Sushi got caught in the tornado of market adoption and went mainstream. I hadn't been to Musashino since Smoky was head chef and Tyson was next in line. And that, my friends, is a very long time ago. So I was excited when a work colleague suggested Musashino for lunch. I hadn't even realized they were open for lunch! I got their Sushi lunch combo, which came with a small salad, miso, three pieces of sushi (maguro, sake, hamachi), and a California roll for $12.95. A pretty good deal. The miso was...unique...compared to others I've had. It had a vaguely smokey, almost toasted flavor. Not bad, just...odd. Salad had a nice, semi-spicy ginger-y dressing, which was the most interesting thing about it. California roll was rolled in tempura flakes, which was a nice change from the usual sesame seeds or masago. And the sushi was divine. My friend had a rainbow roll, which looked amazing. And a large bowl of some kind of ramen. She was expecting something smaller, and ended up taking the majority of it home in two take-out containers. (It was that big.) She declared it "ok," and pointed out the half boiled egg that looked a little gray. Probably due to the broth, but presentation is so key to a sushi place that it needs to extend to all dishes. So, the rating I am giving is for my experience alone. (I would guess she would give it three stars.) But I have to confess: I miss the Musashino from the '90's. I miss Smokey. And Tyson. And sitting up at the bar, chatting with the chefs and sampling new and strange things I've never had. Hip doesn't have to be new. Musashino is worth checking out because THIS is where it all started, grasshoppers.
(4)
Yelper S.
A different approach than the Uchi franchise which is nice and there are some unique offerings. Interior could use some updating.
(4)
Upss P.
So good. So fresh. So worth it. Good sized portions. Freshest sashimi ever. Great service. We got complimentary soups and dessert just because we had to wait a little. Its a little difficult to locate. Its inside the chinatown downstairs. But it is anyways super crowded and has waiting. So it seems people find their way to good food.
(5)
Joe K.
This is a good place to eat at if your in Austin. The place isn't super fancy but the lighting and decor makes it cozy. I did not care too much for the rolls but the sashimi was amazing especially with the fresh wasabi. All the appetizers were delicious too
(4)
Rose B.
I've been looking for sushi in Austin to like for two years. I finally found a place. While I can't afford it all that much I really enjoyed it each time I've been. I'm not a roll person I like fish by itself or fish on rice and everything here I've had is very fresh and it's great that they have variety. I came here once with a large group and the food was pre-ordered so I didn't have a choice and it was mostly rolls which as I already stated I don't love but those were really amazing as well. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is sometimes they don't have as large a variety of fish or they run out of fish (which probably isn't their fault but I was disappointed not to be able to get my favorites) Overall I really love this place. Service is excellent too!
(4)
Ben S.
Best sushi we have had in Austin. Amazing service and very fresh fish. We had mostly sashimi and it was delicious served with fresh wasabi. We will be back.
(5)
Frank D.
RIP Musashino. This was our favorite sushi bar for several years, but last night was pretty lame. For starters our waitress came over and gave us a rapid fire overload of information about the saki list. She must have spoken for several minutes w/o taking a breath. That out of the way, we ordered several of our old standbys and several nigiri sushi that sounded interesting. The nigiri arrived first, with the announcement that they were out of the sea bass, with no suggestions of a substitute or assurance that it would be removed from our bill. A dump and run, if you will. The rolls arrived shortly after, and while the presentation was nice, they were mushy and lacked any flavor. Our meal was barely a cut above the pre-made sushi you can get in most supermarkets these days. As I mentioned, we used to look forward to going to Musashino, but this will likely be our last visit. Yes, Tyson Cole came here to learn the art of sushi, but things have changed radically since our last visit. A friend whose judgement we trust said that the head chef had recently left, which could be the reason for the change in quality. After this experience, we will be on the hunt for a new sushi bar to frequent in Austin.
(2)
Joy N.
This place is hands down my favorite sushi in Austin. The fish is always fresh, and it is the best place to get traditional nigiri and sashimi. I always order whatever tuna special they have that day, smoked escolar, and the perfectly spicy suicide salmon nigiri. We normally go every couple of months for a special dinner, and most recently we went with a party of 10 for a birthday. Even though it in not the best place for large parties (their biggest table seats 10), the dinner was a success - everyone loved their food! The servers are always friendly and all smiles from my experience, which is an added bonus. The atmosphere is fairly traditional which I appreciate. Definitely give it a try if you crave traditional japanese sushi!
(4)
Jessalyn C.
Gyu tataki and south sider roll.. all you need to know!
(4)
Katrina D.
I've been in search of a good Japanese katsu curry place in Austin ever since eating at Coco Ichibanya in LA... and with Musashino I think I've found it!! :D The chicken katsu was crispy and well-breaded and the curry itself was hot with just the right amount of spice -- enough to know it was there but not too much that it overpowered the overall flavors. The consistency of the curry was creamy and gravy-like, which is what I like (versus soupy), and there weren't any vegetables in the curry (I think there might have been tiny pieces of onion). The dish is pretty expensive ($17) compared to other places, but you get A LOT, and I ended up having leftovers even after splitting the dish with a friend. It's better quality and taste than other places anyway, so I'm fine paying the price. We also tried the chashu (pork belly) appetizer, which was my friend's favorite part of the meal. The meat was so tender and so well-flavored, I kind of wish they would serve this with rice as a dish itself. (Or maybe they do and I just didn't see it on their super huge menu!) It was a bit pricey ($15) for the amount you get, but it's a nice restaurant and they can do that. The third thing we ordered was unagi nigiri. The unagi here was one of the top-quality I've had, and I would have ordered more if I hadn't already ordered a crap-ton of other stuff already. I could probably just eat a whole plate of these and still want more. It wasn't super fatty or drenched in sauce to hide the low-quality of the meat, and it was cooked so it was just the right texture :) Although the restaurant was super loud, it's not too surprising considering how many people were in such a small space. And it's honestly no wonder there were so many people here -- it really is a great restaurant. The service was quick and very friendly, and the food was all really good :) I will DEFINITELY be returning here for more curry, and (if I'm feeling rich) to try more of their sushi menu!
(5)
Cyndi G.
Maybe this isn't the best sushi in the world, because we're inconveniently not placed near an ocean, but for my money, this IS the best sushi in Austin (Sorry Mikado, consistency) Prices are good, sashimi is sliced thickly, and they serve the best tuna in town. Going on Tuesdays is a good plan (truck delivery) and recently, I had the freshest, best tasting yellow tail since I "learned" sushi, 30 years ago on Santa Monica Blvd. My favorites here are the seaweed salad (fresh, not too sweet), the avacado kama (OMG, wear elastic), spicy spider roll (best spider in the city) and of course the honking big rainbow roll (like the buffet of sushi). The ginger is always fresh, the sushi chefs are friendly and the place is so cute. Never too loud, and always low key in vibe. The waitresses tend to swing widely in skill, but oh well. As a bonus, they make the coldest Cosmopolitan in North Austin. I'm a fan
(4)
Dave P.
Id like to start this review with the fact that I'm not a huge fan of sushi ( it kinda sux lmaoo). However even the non sushi lover can find dishes to satate their taste pallates. I had the eel over rice and it was pri good. The eel was the the right amount of chewy with really nice taste to it. We also had so much sake the waitress lost count on our bill ayyyy lmaooo. The service was pretty good except for the time they tried to bring out my entree, opened the box to reveal only a box of rice lolololol. The only knock here is the price of the food. I think charging over $10 for don Katsu is an atrocity against fried pork LOL.
(4)
alicia k.
Still dimly lit and traditional in decor, I was really hoping that the restaurant, who provided the jump start for some famous Austin chefs, including Tyson of Uchi, was better. The sushi was more traditional and the fish was good quality, however, we found the rice to be on the sweet side. The bento box was just not very good. The salmon was candy sweet and chicken teriyaki was dry. Overall, it's ok to stop in for a bit, but I didn't feel like they stand out in any way from any other Japanese place (we miss Daichi and Soto in Cedar Park!) Service for us seemed rushed. Our order came out at different times and even before we put down our utensils, someone was already taking our plate away. This was out first time back in years and I don't see us coming back anytime soon.
(3)
Clara S.
As a sushi lover I can say I was in HEAVEN. Took a little drive to get here but if I could I would definitely come here every day holy cow. Let me share with you my experience: Roadrunner roll: I ordered this with salmon. The fish was excellent, and the presentation was fabulous. I was not a fan of the hybrid mayo on the side though. 34 special roll: this was also delicious, I ordered it with tuna. The jalapeño soy sauce was pretty good, but I like my traditional soy sauce and wasabi mix. Otoro: my friend said he's had better, but this was my first and so I loved it. Fatty and tender and fantastic. Overall, service was excellent- our waiter was so nice and knowledgeable about sushi and fish. Ambience was beautiful- I felt like I was in Japan. The house Cabernet Sauvignon was also a good pairing to the sushi. SUSHI LOVERS COME HERE NOW.
(5)
Annalise P.
I'm late to the game (late, but charming and tipsy) for a review of musashino. And I'm sure that all the other reviews rave on and on about the quality of the rolls, or the selection of sakes- but what stood out most to me was the service. One might be deceived with the waiters all in t-shirts that this is a casual operation- but this restaurant trains their waiters to have eyes on the back of their head. Drop your chopsticks? Someone is there with new ones. Finished your plate? It's picked up within seconds. All the food is perfect here, but the stellar service was the icing on our cake!
(5)
Scarlett Q.
It was busy and we had to wait, but it worth waiting for 45 minutes. We got a black sushi roll with shrimp tempura,4 pieces of sushi a la carte, and a deluxe bento box with tempura, tamagoyaki, salmon and chicken teriyaki, sushi and roll. The seared sashimi sushi were very good.
(5)
Emery N.
Favorites include avocado kama, ankimo kobachi, gyu tataki, and the spicy spider roll! :) my favorite sushi place in Austin!
(5)
Wanting H.
This is definitely one of my favorite traditional sushi restaurants. The main reason is because their high quality and fresh sushi and sashimi. I love their bento box because it provides so many different options and for only $28!! The price here is indeed more expensive than other regular restaurants. The bento box offers wide variety of dishes and definitely can feed two people. They also provide good quality sushi and dishes. My friend loves their sashimi and sake. I like their bento box the most for its price and the amount of food. Also, their sushi rolls are all very good. This place provides more traditional Japanese sushi and other plates than most of sushi restaurants.
(5)
Marie H.
Went with a girl friend. INCREDIBLE sushi quality, best I've had so far. Price was a little high, but is what you would expect. I like that we got a soup and a salad included in our sushi combo. Like others have said before me, our server was a little rude. She never responded to anything we said, or made eye contact, but we still got everything we asked for. Whatever! Food was so good we barely noticed.
(4)
Lesley W.
Musashino, you made me feel a bit sad. Granted, you are still one of the top places in Austin to get fresh fish, but now that I've been to other certain sushi restaurants of your caliber in Cedar Park, I guess my eyes have been opened a bit. You are still more central to most Austinites, and a fun place to get some delicious sushi, but your service and price made me take off my rose-colored glasses for a while. The service here was acceptable, at best. We arrived at 9 pm (an hour before closing) feeling like we knew what we wanted and could get in and out in an hour. It wasn't very busy, but it took several minutes for the hostess to come to the front. She sat us, and we were greeted, got our drinks, and then an eternity later, we finally got to order. I was frustrated because it was close to closing and I didn't want to be there past closing (I have weird anxiety about this - it makes me feel so rude I want to melt into my chair and die). Before our food even came out, she came over to tell us it was last call. I think it was 9:30. So, you can see where the problem is here. 9:30 and still no food, but I am expected to know if I want any more. Great. Finally, we get our Sashimi Moriawase (sashimi for a group and bowls of rice if you want), which was not as beautiful as some other places I have seen it in um, cedar park cough Soto. I was a bit disappointed, but all in all it is an amazing value for fresh fish and you don't have to make any decisions. I was incredibly impressed by the albacore, wow! Best I had ever eaten. I actually never had liked it much before. My biggest problem of the night was that the server didn't tell us what the types of fish were that we received. I feel like that is the cardinal rule of sushi. I even asked her to come back and tell me, and she said one of them and walked away. I was pretty bummed! We also got the Road Runner roll, which was WOW one of the best rolls I've eaten ever. Musashino really kicks ass with their sauces.The road runner is perfectly spicy, and very stunning because it has black squid ink rice with habanero caviar. So food-wise, I was a happy camper. Except that while eating said food that took so long to get to me, they started closing up shop. We weren't even the only ones in there. They were sweeping, talking loudly, doing receipts, and even the kitchen staff walked through with cigarettes in their mouths to go smoke outside. One of these offenses may not rub me the wrong way, it was just the sheer ignoring of the fact that we are still trying to enjoy the $100 of food we ordered. Also, we didn't even get any water or service after the bill was dropped off with our last roll. Ugh, it's so disappointing, but there are just so many great sushi places in Austin, and when I'm dropping $100 on food, I have a certain expectation of service level. I ended up feeling a bit remorseful and that I could have spent my money better elsewhere. So, service was a 2 (for the level of restaurant this is) and the food is still a solid 5. That leaves me with a 3.5, which I round down because of the high prices. Sorry Musashino, I feel like we could have had a great life together :(
(3)
Julie V.
First off, Musashino is located in the basement of Chinatown for any first timers. It was very busy with an hour wait on a Friday night so make sure to make a reservarion. It is extremely loud too so if you plan for a low key dinner where you can talk without yelling you should find another restaurant. However, if you plan to sit and socialize at the bar this is a perfect spot for you. The restaurant is small but the ambiance and bamboo decor really liven up the atmosphere. The wait staff was friendly enough but nothing special to write home about. We had a few items recommended to us off the menu and ended up ordering the tuna tatake app, escolar sashimi, road kill roll, good times roll and the crab stuffed avocado. Hands down the fresh escolar sashimi was the winner. The tatake and avocado were good, just bland for me. The two rolls were just whatever. I had to dip them in their homemade Sriracha-like sauce to add some extra zest. I will say everything we devoured seemed to be very fresh, nothing smelled or tasted fishy unlike many sushi places in the Austin area. I will probably go back and try new items to see how the second go turns out.
(3)
Quyen B.
It's really a 4.5 star review, but I'm rounding up for the Texas Chainsaw roll that I can't get anywhere else (not even close to it). This roll is not on the menu, but you can ask for it. It is salmon, tuna and shrimp wrapped in rice paper sprinkled with masago and a thin slice of key lime with every piece, all in a light fish sauce. It is steep at $17 for the roll, but worth every bite to me. The other item I come here for is the tempura ice cream (vanilla ice cream) with coffee beans. They have a good selection of nigiri, rolls, and hand rolls. I love tako (octopus), sake (salmon), hamachi, and unagi nigiri. Have not had a bad piece of sashimi/nigiri here. Spider handroll is good (soft shell crab). Their other popular item is the avocado kama, which in my opinion is better than the one at Uchi. They close on Mondays and most of the major holidays. Come early to avoid the wait during dinner time.
(5)
Kimberly K.
I've heard that Musashino is up there with Uchi and Tomo for many so I re-visited it on my own recently and sat at the sushi bar for a quick bite. The atmosphere has a vintage-y, old school asian feel to it and is big but darkly lit to so it feels intimate. I like it but I still prefer Tomo and Uchi and their respective, more creative and modern menus with an emphasis on daily specials. The rice here was moist and sweet but maybe too flavorful for me and a bit too much of it with my sushi fish. It certainly does the trick and is a wonderful option for classic sushi. service was prompt and friendly!
(4)
Alex R.
This place was absolutely amazing! The sushi is as authentic as you can get and I even got lemon chicken and it was the best I have had in a long time! I would recommend this for a special occasion or just a nice dinner. Can't wait to go again!
(5)
Clare B.
I came here for lunch a few times with some colleagues, including a chef that seemed pretty tight with the crew here so, thanks to him, we got a little preferential treatment during our visits. Since I've only done omakase here, I was fortunate enough to try just a little bit of everything. The fish here is exceptionally fresh and the sushi chefs are masters, garnishing each dish subtly to play up different flavors. This is a high-end sushi experience in a very traditional non-pretentious setting. It's fairly dim and feels relatively private, so a great place to dine in solo. I've had ramen here as well which was solid, albeit a little sprouty. And when I say sprouty, I mean every single bite will be packed with crunch from the amount of sprouts in the soup. I think I'll request to have those on the side next time. Overall, very highly recommended.
(5)
Sara R.
The best sushi I've ever had! It's the kind of sushi you'll eat and never want any other sushi ever again. I love love this place, it honestly melts in your mouth Yummy yum yum
(5)
Brendan C.
Got the sushi deluxe and the spider hand roll. The hand roll was delicious! But, I take issue with the rice here. The rice wine vinegar they use may either be too sweet or too heavily applied. Also, the rice's temperature was too low. The sweetness of the rice overwhelmed the flavor of most of the fish on the sushi plate . I hear good things about the curry, and when I tried a bit - thought it was alright. Maybe I'll get that and 2 handrolls next time. Happy eating!
(3)
Ashley C.
This is and has been my all time favorite restaurant for 10 years and still going strong. It is the best sushi in town. I know I know... Everyone says that about every sushi restaurant. first you have to start off with the avocado Kama as an appetizer I highly recommend trying this. The Texas hybrid roll is my favorite... Spicy and delicious! The restaurant is small but nice because it's never so loud that I can't hear myself think. I'm hungry now for musashinos... Yummy yummy
(5)
Marc C.
What we got: Sashimi Moriawase, Avocado Kama, Smoked Escolar, Spicy Scallops, Chainsaw (roll), Road Runner, and fried ice cream First off, AMAZING. The Sashimi Moriawase is an assortment of 20 pieces of sashimi. It had 4 pieces each of salmon, tuna, escolar, yellow tail, and shima zushi. The pieces were fresh and tasted absolutely amazing. No need for soy sauce or anything else for that matter. The avocado kama was an avocado filled with shrimp and crab. I definitely recommend you order that for an appetizer. It's enough to sample for 2 people, but ideally you would want your own. The smoked escolar was probably one of my favorites. Served on rice with capers on top. Despite it's size, it had tons of flavor. The spicy scallops were my girlfriend's choice and her personal favorite. It is served with avocado and a special sauce that was mild at most. The two rolls we chose, chainsaw and roadrunner, were both tasty and very unique. Overall this place is a 5-star joint. The place is cozy and I would imagine that it gets pretty packed/busy due to it's small size. We were here on a Tuesday night and there were a good amount of people at the restaurant. The service was great and fast too!
(5)
Tara Z.
Best Sushi I have had in a really long time.
(5)
Tiffany T.
Best days to go is right when the new shipment of fresh fish arrives, which I believe was Monday and Thursday (call to make sure). They usually run out towards the end of the week. We went on a Sunday and there were some things we ordered that were out, such as the New Zealand Salmon & Sea Urchin. This is a hidden gem inside Chinatown (Not to be mistaken with the N. Lamar one). The waitress was extremely helpful in suggesting what to order as well as answered all our questions about each dish. We ordered the Avacado Kama, two orders of Bakudan mussels (it was that good that we ordered a second!) & grilled squid as appetizers: delicious! The portions here are small, pricey, BUT it's about the quality. Fresh variety of fish that melts in your mouth! Check out the pictures I posted: the presentation of each dish looks (and is) appetizing. We ended the night with Tiramisu, mmmm! It was very fluffy and light!
(5)
Rachel H.
I really liked this place!! We came here for a friend's birthday and there were probably three other birthday parties happening at the same time, so I guess this is the place to go if you are having a birthday. We had about a 45 minute wait in the bar upstairs and then were buzzed down to the main dining area! I ordered the black widow roll, which was a little taste of heaven. I can't tell whether the squid ink in the rice tasted like something, or if it was the fried taste from the fish...either way, it was super tasty. Our server was all business and you could tell he just wanted to make it happen! BF got the spicy spider roll, which was not as spicy as we felt it should be but was still pretty good, nothing to write home about. We really like the seaweed salad though! It had some cool stuff in it, not even really sure what all was in it. Some kind of cucumber and radish? Tasty! I usually don't do sushi because it's so expensive, but I'd say the prices here were fair. We'll probably be back if we want to make a night of sushi again! I could see this being a really good date spot!
(4)
Loc N.
This place isn't bad but expensive. It's the price you pay to get the freshest/best sashimi in Austin. But then again that isn't saying much because being the best sashimi in Austin is like being king of the rats. It's charlie work. You're never going to beat what is offered on sea-fairing cities, but it is evident they do fly in their premiums. Service here is good, but it caters to Americans, aka asking to refill your drink every 2 minutes and constant interruptions. How do people dine like that? I bet the same type of person needs their hand held as they go to the bathroom. Clientele-wise there's a lot of honkies here and internationals. So chew on that for a bit. Honestly I think most people go here for the eye-candy, it's kind of like the hooters of sushi. I'll probably come back here for some quick sushi. My tastebuds are probably all jacked from being away from seattle for so long anyways.
(4)
Vinh N.
Been coming here for a long time. A little less frequently since I had kids. Before kids we were here at least once a week. Smoky is awesome and his food is fantastic. Arthur the bartender rocks!
(5)
Tam N.
My girlfriend loves Musachino. She talks about it all the time and been wanting to take me here to try it for the longest since she knows how much I love sushi. So, after a long day venturing around Austin and partying at Lake Travis, we made it here an hour before they close on a Sunday evening. Its been possibly five years since my girlfriend last ate here, so trying to locate the restaurant itself was a little more difficult then usual even though our gps led us to the location. The restaurant does not have a sign on the outside so I drove past it twice until we decided to pull into the parking lot and checked out a building with the sign that says "China Town," I believe. And wa-LA, we have arrived at Musachino. Upon entering I noticed the inside was dimly lit which made it a nice place for a date night. We opted to sit at the sushi bar. Its fun to watch the sushi chefs work. And amazed I was. What keeps my girlfriend coming back to this place is their Texas Hybrid Roll which consists of your choice of tuna or salmon wrapped with rice paper, avocado, and scallions. The sauce that comes on the side ofthe roll is what she digs. We ordered 2 right off the back as well as a Spider Roll. For myself, I just made my life easier by ordering the Sushi/Sashimi combo. It was comprised of 7 pcs of sushi, assorted pcs of sashimi, and about 3 pcs of a sushi roll. All was very good and delightful. The only thing that i would complain about is (which isn't anything big at all) that I wished the chef would have explained or pointed out what fish was what that were on the plate. Service was good. Before we left, I asked kindly for a hot green tea to-go (so I can fight to stay awake for the long drive home). Our waitress was nice enough to put it in a kids cup for us (I'm assuming they don't have styrofoam cup). My girlfriend was happy that she got her Texas Hybrid Roll fix after five long years. I left with a content belly. We'll definitely be back next time we're in town!!
(5)
Alex T.
Best sushi in Austin! I got toro, jumbo sweet shrimps, monkfish livers, etc.. sooo goood. I aslo got a road runner roll. It was alright. Sake kama was good and last but not least the tempura ice cream is amazing! Friendly service too :) Definitely will be back.
(4)
David J.
Excellent Sushi. Highly recommend the sushi bar for those who prefer chef interaction.
(5)
Jonathan N.
Recommendations: -Texas Hybrid (salmon) -Avocado Kama (recommend no sharing) -Tuna Tataki -Big Southerner -Fu Manchu (very strong drink) I've been going here for years and this is my absolute favorite sushi restaurant in Austin (been to Uchi, Uchiko, Qui, Sushi Junai). This is the best place to go to for traditional Japanese food and the service has always been great. All the recommendations above are what I HIGHLY recommend from countless times of eating here and trying different things.
(5)
Abril D.
The best traditional sushi in Austin. The food is impeccable. They master both traditional and experimental. Also, their staff is incredibly well trained and polite. Best traditional sushi in Austin!
(5)
Beau B.
Good, friendly service. Very fresh very tasty sushi. I don't usually go for citrus on my fish but the sliced lime adds a nice pop of brightness to the sushi without overpowering it.
(4)
James C.
In town for business; I google "best sushi in Austin" and this is the result...I trek out there on a Tuesday night (it is a bit of a journey from south Austin) and I get seated at the bar right away. First thing I notice is that unless they know you, you don't actually interact with the sushi chefs. I find this strange. I order, and I find that you get one piece per order. They are ok sized pieces of fish but I'm used to two pieces of the same size per order. I also had a couple of the signature rolls that were ok, not bad but not great. Basically I got about half as much sushi as I'm used to for twice the price I'm used to paying. The fresh fish was tasty and fresh and the rolls were nothing to take back to my local sushi place that I done even actually order at anymore; they just bring me things they know I like. Next time I am in town I will try someplace else.
(3)
Mimi W.
Good food but expensive. I don't think it taste better than other restaurants that serve sushi. The noise level is horrible. Most of our conversations consisted of "what?". I couldn't hear the waitress very well and the other workers couldn't hear or see us. I did like our server, but some of the other workers need to step it up. I think a hostess tried to refill water and ran out with a pitcher, she said she would be back. She was a liar. The other half of the party didn't get any water. I had to drink other people's water. I raised my hand and called for other workers to refill my water. With the noise level noone could hear me and since it dark as hell, noone could see my hand. Yea, I raised my hand like a student. I would choose other restaurants before returning. The prices were high and the service made me feel neglected.
(4)
Matt S.
What a pleasant dining experience. Possibly the best sushi I've ever had in my life. Had the Gyu Tataki and Avacado Kama for appetizers - holy sh*t balls, just amazing. The avacado kama was so creamy and flavorful and oozed with rich, buttery goodness. And, the thinly sliced beef was delicious as well. For rolls, we got the Big Southern and the Rock N Roll. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Especially the Big Southern. Pure bliss...period. Also the fatty tuna and yellowtail sashimi were ridiculously fresh and melted in your mouth. Just a wonderful experience all around...A+
(5)
Ty N.
Had the chance to try this restaurant for the first time tonight and I must say I am really impressed. Can't believe I just now discovered this hidden gem. For appetizer, order the Avocado Kama, Mutsu Kasuzuke (sea bass), Gyu Tataki, and Age Tofu. Entree wise anything fish is going to be great. They're fresh and not smothered in mayo or some type of sauce like many Japanese restaurants around. For dessert, try the Tiramisu. Your taste buds won't be disappointed. Sit at the sushi bar for a great view!
(5)
Sandra M.
Wow. That is the only word I can think of when it comes to this restaurant. After going to Japan on vacation, I was ruined. I could not eat any sushi in the states without saying "ugh. This has no flavor.". With such disappointment, I never thought it would be possible to eat sushi again. Then, a good coworker told me about this place that his wife, who lived in Japan, loved. My boyfriend surprised me with dinner reservations here and we had so much sushi, miso soup, and saki that I should have been rolled out of the restaurant. Everything I ate was so flavorful and tasted so fresh. The sake menu was ridiculous and the wait staff was so helpful in finding the appropriate sake. The decor made you feel like you were at a Japanese Farm House restaurant. All the wood, the sushi bar, and the decorations transport you to Japan. I am definitely coming back here.
(5)
Kristina O.
Our local friends took us here for dinner and I was beyond impressed. I loved the authentic Japanese feel to this place. We ordered 3 rolls and an order of the pot stickers. I had the Hawaiian roll. Which was tuna, avocado, cucumber and sesame seeds. The tuna was melt in your mouth buttery fresh. My husband had some tempura fried craw fish roll with a delicious cilantro sauce. He said it was the best roll he has ever had. We split the California roll with tempura flakes. It was pretty much the best California roll I have ever had. That says a lot because California rolls are pretty standard across the board. The wait staff was very friendly, efficient and fast. We really enjoyed ourselves and will most definitely be back when we visit.
(4)
Minerva L.
The rolls are super tiny compared to California. I didn't feel any heat, they do not use real habanaro peppers, only japalenos. Despite that, they were pretty good. Just get the ones with the caviar. Big Souther - 5/5 - The ink squid was really good. Earthy taste and the sauce was amazing, my favorite! Texas Road Kill - 4/5 - The salmon is really good, not bad with the sauce and flavor. 34 Special - 4/5 - Not bad, the caviar really makes it taste good. South Sider - 3/5 - Had it with unagi, it was good, but didn't like the rice paper wrap. Texas Hybrid - 2.5/5 - Really didn't like the rice paper, just makes it heavy and not that great. Generally, most sushi restaurant do not have anago, but this place does. They have two kinds, sweet and salty lime, I tried the salty lime, it was 'so-so'. The anago is not fresh, so it was really dry. Avocado Kama - 4/5 - Can be heavy, but I never had a baked avocado, so it was interesting. The spicy mayo sauce played well with it. I didn't like the shrimp too much. Gyu Tataki - 3/5 - Don't really like raw beef, and the fact I knew it was raw made me not want to give it that many points. The flavor profile was good because of the saltiness with the acid. Nice lime fresh flavors. I came right when it opened and got a table. I heard it can be really packed. The service was great with removing plates and giving us water. Tempura Ice Cream w/ Bourbon sauce - 4/5 - Really good with the sauce, but it was a bit sweet. Overall, I love the shell and the taste of all the flavors combined in one bite. It's a must try if you never had deep fried ice cream. YOU MUST get the BOURBON sauce! Worth the extra two bucks.
(4)
Liz O.
We went for lunch. Ordered several pieces (tuna, yellowtail, escolar, salmon) and two rolls (rock n roll & Elvis). The fish quality was excellent and the pieces were cut a little larger than most places. The rolls were boring and both had romaine lettuce in them which was not mentioned on the menu. There wasn't any interesting rolls on the lunch menu. Traditional decor and somewhat dirty bathrooms. I think it's a little overpriced; 60+ for lunch with no alcohol. I probably won't go back. I prefer Uchi, Lucky Robot, and most of the downtown sushi places over this one.
(3)
Darren B.
I really enjoyed my first visit here a few weeks ago. When I got there I was told the wait was 40 minutes and it was really busy. I don't know how this happened because I don't remember slipping anyone a $20, but we were seated within 5 or 10 minutes. The service was excellent and I loved the atmosphere. If I didn't know I was in Austin, I could be fooled into thinking I was in a sushi house in Japan. The nigiri we ordered were my favorite, especially the salmon (the one on special). It was melt in your mouth delicious. The lobster nigri was great too. The rolls were good as well. I'm a sucker for good quality and I truly feel they take their sushi seriously here which I respect and will keep me coming back. It ain't cheap here, and I was in Vancouver recently and had sushi of the same quality for a 1/3rd the price, but to get sushi this fresh in Austin, it is worth it. I look forward to future visits!
(4)
Janice L.
Okay I see the disappointment with reviewers/Yelpers lately so I wanted to add my two cents. First off, you know big competitor Uchi(overrated)? Tyson Cole? Well he trained underneath the mastermind here at Musashino himself, which you can see behind the sushi bar often working his tail off! Respect!! See my not so sneaky, "Smoky smile" picture lol. I've been eating sushi here since 2006 when I first moved to Austin from Houston. Since then, I have never found a sushi place to top Musashino. Appetizers: Avocado Kama Avocado Kama EVO Bakudan mussels (I miss the oysters from back then ): ) Tuna tataki (squeeze the lime) Sushi: Rolls: Ozzy II Texas Hybrid with your choice of tuna or salmon Black widow Nigiri- Seared Bin Toro- mouthgasm! Suicide- just do it if you can handle a small bit of heat ;) Otoro- it's kind of like a delicacy. See if they have it that night. Pricy per piece but order it for the experience & to say you've tried the most desired piece of tuna-belly. Uni-buttery, delicious, creamy goodness Tobiko, masago (small fish eggs) or Ikura (Nemo-sized fish eggs) w/ quail egg on top- nom! In love heart eyes emojis!! Ama ebi!! Do it! Dip that shell in some soy sauce and eat it all! Like shrimp chips Finish off with an order of warm, sizzling, tender yet crispy and smoky Unagi. Then dessert time. Please, listen to me. I will tell Santa to put you on the naughty list this year if you don't. TIRAMISU!!! Their spin of traditional, heavy Italian dessert is quite light, fluffy & genius!!! Coffee beans are edible. Food deserves a 10+ out of 5. To me. Customer service a 4.3. Sometimes you catch the attitudes of the asian waitresses but most times they're lovely but could be slow to clear plates or maybe I eat too fast? Ambience- not much here. Just enjoy your sushi! :)
(5)
Brittany R.
I can honestly say I've never been in and out of a Japanese restaurant so quickly. That's awesome except for the fact we wanted a date night and we walked in and out within 30-40 min max. Our server, Sarah, was very attentive and there was another young woman that came by a couple times to clear plates. Ordered a California roll, spicy crawfish, and chicken teriyaki. I would recommend all of them. Presentation was amazing. My food was so pretty! I give them 4 stars for being so damn quick and a little on the expensive side with no happy hour. I can see why though. They probably want to turn the tables over quickly to make that money.
(4)
Sonie S.
The sushi here seemed very unique in terms of ingredients used. I had never had rice infused with squid ink before, but the black rice gave the sushi a nice, different look. The other ingredients involved were very flavorful too. The atmosphere is very cozy and pretty without feeling like it's too upscale. The location was a bit hard to find for us only because there was no big sign with the name on it. Instead, we saw a sign for a Chinese restaurant that's upstairs from Mushashino so we kept driving past it. So once you see the Chinese name, you're at the right place. Just stay on the bottom floor.
(4)
Joanna C.
I feel bad giving this place a 2, but with such an awful dining experience paired with ok sushi, the best I can do is round to 2.5. Helpful note to first timers: There is no signage. It's located on the first floor of a Chinese restaurant (we passed by this twice). The decor and ambiance is really nice - one star for that. More importantly - the sushi. It's good, but not great. BUT you get nice pretty big slices which is what saved this review. The escolar and yellowtail was delicious and fresh. Salmon was meh which was a little sad because that's always a favorite. Unfortunately, the rice was heavy on the vinegar which tended to overpower the sushi. It's a delicate balance - when done right you get the best sushi rice ever - but tonight they didn't quite get that balance and were a little heavy handed. The spicy tofu salad was good. If the sushi was perfect, that would have bumped up this review and maybe helped us forget the lack of service, but unfortunately it didn't. And I don't mean just inattentive service - I mean there is hot steaming tea you served from a broken cup (broken in the bottom) coming toward me like a flash flood and you run to the other side of the restaurant because using the dish towel normally used to wipe down tables is more important than making sure I don't get drenched. Thankfully, my boyfriend was a little quicker. He grabbed the napkin from the closest empty table to make sure the waterfall of tea didn't land on my lap and I didn't eat dinner wearing wet pants. Between the flash flood incident, the wait to place our food order (it was not a busy night, we had to flag down the hostess to get our waitress), and the fact that you can't order veggie tempura with just sweet potatoes (which they serve), it was just the trifecta of a bad dining experience. I was really looking forward to eating here and finding a great sushi option in Austin, Sadly, this won't be it.
(2)
Amanda W.
My mom used to work at this restaurant and ever since she introduced me to them ive been in love. The teriyaki and every thing here is great. I love the chicken karagge the most along with the teriyaki chicken with rice. I actually prefer the lunch over the dinner cause the portions are larger and theres more japanese comfort food options. The ozzy roll is my favorite cause i like the fish eggs that burst in your mouth when you bite into the roll. Overall the place is pretty expensive though and you will need to order more than one roll in order to fill yourself up but this place offers a wonderful dining experience.
(5)
Stephanie P.
This place has always been a favorite of mine but has been overshadowed by Uchi and Uchiko. In my humble opinion the quality of food here is just as good. I also love the fact that there are no signs to mark this restaurant. I know, sucks if you're trying to find it but it gives that feeling of exclusivity. Yes, I like the feeling of being VIP only if it is just for an hour. Every single dish was amazing. (Not exaggerating). We got the tuna tataki and beef tataki (gyu tataki) for apps. Gyu tataki is a must order. The filet mignon is melt-in your-mouth perfection. We got the sushi/sashimi combo which is 10 pieces of nigiri and sashimi for $35. Not bad. The rolls were pretty awesome also. I recommend the road runner and the Marilyn mon-roll. There's something about the temperature of the rolls that made it really awesome. Sounds extremely nerdy, but they were slightly above room temp which made the rice really soft and made the coldness of fish stand out. Makes a difference, trust me. Service was knowledgeable and friendly + they take reservations = I'll be back.
(5)
Son N.
Japanese feeling, great fresh sushi, awesome sushi chefs when at the bar marred by rude hostess who can't treat me like a human being. This place had a good vibe to it. Friendly faces, great food but jeez I'm a bit irked by a hostess that can't tell me to move herself. I picked a nice spot at the bar but I guess I can't sit in certain spots? Is it strange for someone to stand a foot away from you and instead of asking you to move a seat down, she orders the server to get me to move? I've never been so annoyed. My theory is to treat people like people and usually things go well. I know I wore my biker gear and all but I'm still a person - talk to me like one. In any case, aside from the rudeness - I had the fatty tuna and fatty albacore as well as a couple of rolls. These were very delicious! I may have ordered a bit more but felt un-welcomed even though the server was nice and the sushi chefs were fantastic. I may come here again but if I am treated as a second class citizen just because of my biker gear - I'm sure other top notch sushi spots will take me as I am. Summary: great food, great chefs and servers, hostess was having a bad day? I just can't explain how people can't treat you like a human being. 3 stars as food can only carry a place so far.
(3)
Dave M.
We went on a Friday evening and it was very busy. Had to wait 1/2 hour for a table, but it was worth it. I ordered a bento box for $30.00 and it was very well worthi it A great mix of food and some left overs to bring home. The Philadelphia roll was also very tasty. I would come back here when I travel back to Austin! Still in town for a week and a half, I returned to Musashino Sushi two more times before flying out of Austin. I would highly recommend this place. I tried the rainbow roll which was excellent!
(5)
Grant K.
Yep went back tonight for Mother's Day dinner, and Musashino reaffirmed why I gave them 5 stars the first time. For those yelps that say they give bad service, do every sushi lover and employee of Musashino a favor and go to PF Changs if you want that stupid, cheesy, script-based service. OG sushi places like this don't want your business anyways. This place rocks.
(5)
Dave Y.
There is plenty to love about this place, including quality ramen that makes for an excellent lunch option, but make no mistake about it: this is THE place in town for traditional nigiri. I never walk out feeling unsatisfied, but I always feel a little regret that I can't fit everything I want into a single meal. It's always worthwhile asking about the specials. They're likely to have quality toro and/or Norwegian salmon and/or fatty albacore. But the best starting point is one of the sushi specials. You can always add on other pieces you want a la carte. You start with a nice little salad (although they always go too heavy on the ginger dressing), followed by a simple, clean miso soup with a soothing, medicinal quality. As with any good sushi joint, part of the mission is providing quality cuts of fish, highlighting their natural virtues, and largely staying out of the way. That's what you'll get with the hamachi (and even more so, the hamachi kama), the sake (particularly the sake toro), the uni, the roe (both ikura and tobiko), and the seared escolar, which has an almost juicy character. But they also do some pretty special things with garnishes and flourishes: * The smoked mussel with spicy mayo is very good, but the spicy scallop (also with avocado) is sublimely creamy and full of pleasant flavors. * The garnish gives the albacore a vegetable-like initial taste that serves as a nice preamble to the distinctly rich, oily finish. * If you want to sense their talent, try the saba with plum sauce. The sauce itself is a little potent -- like plum cough syrup -- but it gives way to an amazingly controlled and complex series of flavors: the pleasantly salty, meaty flesh turns sweet, buttery, and even a bit metallic at the end. * The hotate can be quite surprising. They don't always garnish it the same way, but I've had it with a slice of lemon (rind included) and it was explosively, but not ruinously, spicy: almost like a jolt of electricity in my mouth. The heat was something between the nasal heat of wasabi and the tongue heat of pepper, yet also something altogether unique unto itself. * Both the unagi and the anago are reliably warm, sweet, meaty, and yummy. The latter is probably a bit nicer than the former, but you can't go wrong with either. * The ankimo is served in a thick, dense pate style. It's almost like peanut butter in its richness. * The tamago is large, dense, sweet, and pastry-like, yet also seafood-y (but clean-tasting). Value-wise, it's one of the best pieces on the menu, and I recommend you finish with it as they tend to do in Tokyo. If you're in the mood to splurge, the omakase is a heck of a meal. I came in with a painfully empty stomach and left with a painfully full one. In between was a lot of extremely pleasant food. Warning: be careful with the shima zushi. They seem to include it with all the specials, and it's garnished with an inconsistent quantity of jalapeno (not only in amount of pepper, but in how many seeds those pepper slices contain). Sometimes I find the heat balanced with the fish, other times it not only overwhelms the flavor, but leaves enough chili oil on the tongue to suck the nuance out of subsequent pieces. You may want to save this for nearer the end, or take some of the peppers off.
(4)
Hayden C.
My girlfriend and I came here for our 3rd anniversary on a Sunday around 7. We were immediately sat at a nice little table near the wall. First thing I noticed was how loud it was. A baby was screaming bloody murder for about 10 minutes as we looked over the menu. Our waitress came over and was trying to tell us about the specials but it was so loud we couldn't hear her. We ordered and all of the sushi came out VERY quickly(seriously about 5 minutes for the first rolls). I'm no sushi veteran so I will just say that I really enjoyed the food and leave it at that. All of the things we tried were great, and none of it was "fishy". About halfway through the meal my girlfriend discovered a little grasshopper-like bug in her water glass... We asked for another glass and didn't make a big deal out of it. The waitress was really kind and told us that the manager was arranging a special surprise for the end of the meal. Pretty nice. We finished our sushi and then a couple was sat next to us wearing their DIRTY WORKOUT CLOTHES. SLEEVELESS SHIRTS, SWEATY SHORTS. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I know it's not as "fancy" as Uchi but give me a break. I'm glad I was done eating because looking at a grown man's hairy armpit isn't my idea of appetizing MUCH less romantic... The waitress then brought us a free dessert with our check! It was great. ALSO the manager had comped our bottle of sake! Extremely generous surprise which more than made up for the bug incident. Overall I enjoyed our dinner here but I don't know that I will come back for a date night... If I hadn't been forced to stare at a sweaty half naked man during my meal, my review would have been 4 stars easily.
(3)
Michael M.
Cock roach. As soon as our food arrived a cock roach appeared on the table right next to my plate - presumably it was on the underside of the plate.
(1)
Happy O.
You get me, I like that about you! The innovative nature of the sushi there is nothing short of amazing. If you are into the traditional sushi, yeah you will find it here. If you are the adventurous type and like to experiment then you have come to the right place . The Black Widow with the squid ink infused rice is spectacular. The suicide salmon is so simple, yet so tasty I have to have it every time I go there. The Road Runner is well it makes me want to run over there right now to get some of its habanero infused caviar salmon squid ink infused goodness. The edamame is solid, the miso soup is quite delicious and the service there is spot on. The only time I am unhappy with this place is when they are closed.
(4)
Brian W.
I recently revisited this great restaurant, after being away for about a decade. I really missed it! What a great experience. The ambiance is great. Food is incredible. The wait staff provides the perfect amount of friendly service, without getting in the way. I can't wait to go back and try more items on the menu. It won't take me another decade to return!
(5)
Alexis D.
The restaurant is nothing fancy and you won't find any eclectic dishes such as fish served with fruit, saki cocktails, etc. but you will find very fresh traditional sushi. The smoked salmon nigiri is the best as is the smoked edamame. Definitely my go to place when I am craving simple, good sushi! Service is also really good.
(5)
William S.
Fire the white guy sushi chef. This guy was terrible in every single way. He talked crap about waitresses at the restaurant saying they were b*tches and kept saying, "I am so tired of f*cking working. I hope we get off early." That's the last thing a customer wants to hear. He was bringing out the worst in other chefs too. He was also the first to finish his cleaning and was drinking sitting with the waitresses. Meanwhile, everyone else was working. What the heck!?! The food was subpar for musashino too. I often compare it to uchiko and today that was WAY OFF! Musashino for years has been an institution for sushi. Tyson Cole of Uchi cut his teeth there before moving to Japan. This place has a history of producing excellence. That is why this was so frustrating.
(3)
Dominic V.
Its good, but sushi in texas isn't like sushi on the west coast...sorry.
(4)
Dee W.
Seriously, when people ask me where to go for sushi, this is my first answer -- with no hesitation.
(5)
Jess B.
My stars are for the delicious foods. The service is waaaaaaay to slooooooow. Even after sitting down it was 10 more minutes before a server approach the table. Go here if you got much time to burn. 45min wait, ja! More like 1hr 20mins.
(4)
June P.
I love this place! Despite of Uchi / Uchiko getting all the hype these days, this place remains my favorite traditional sushi place. We had a couple of appetizers - avocado Kama and this beef tartar looking thing. They were good but I've had better appetizers at contemporary places such as KUU and Uchi. For nigiri, we had bluefin otoro, sweet shrimp, and escolar. Each and every bite was FANTASTIC!! Never had sweet shrimp so delicious with perfectly crispy shell and head even cleaned in a way that you can eat the whole thing!! Bluefin otoro was beautiful as expected at $18 per piece. Tempura ice cream was delicious as well. Overall, this is a great place if you want to stick to traditional Japanese menu items.
(5)
Miranda W.
I am a huge fan on Mushashino...my favorite thing to get there is the Suicide Salmon. It is to die for!
(4)
JoAnna H.
It can get very pricey especially if you're ordering nigiri and sashimi. The quality of the fish is one of the best in austin. It's a good date spot. The lighting is always super romantic time haha. My faves are the ami ebi, ankimo appetizer and uni. I've always experienced good service at Musashino. Overall, one of my favorite restaurants in Austin.
(4)
Doryan R.
Holy moly, how is it that I've never been here until now?! Probably money. Yeah, it can get pricey. But honestly, for the quality of the food and service, it's totally worth splurging for. Saturday night, my friend had a sushi craving, insisted on paying, and insisted on Musashino. I was not about to argue. We wrangled her youngest kiddo, who insisted he didn't like sushi, and were promptly seated over at the side bar. Service: Hot towels!? You've gotta be kidding me! That's a heck of a way to start your experience! We had a waitress who was pretty on top of things, and if she wasn't around, there were plenty of helpful, smiling young ladies running about who offered assistance. Good job, team! Drinks: Decent wine list, full bar, didn't try the sake this time around. Food: Dang. So, this young man who "doesn't like sushi" and was going to order a fried chicken dish discovered some of the more metal names of maki rolls on their menu. Before you know it, we had ordered an Ozzy Ozbourne and a Black Sabbath roll, and we had to fight him to get our own pieces. Great flavor combos. After that, and an amazing seabass app, we ordered our weight in nigiri, and he ordered some as well, specifically stating, "Ooh! I wanna eat the baby octopus!" And he did. I think we've got a winner. I like that they inform you of which sushi is made without a need for soy/wasabi sauce, and I also like that when I ordered their Otoro she made sure I knew what the market price was per piece. They also offer additional sides of other sauces you can order for some of the more delicate fish. Their ponzu goes well with some of these, in my opinion. The Hamachi Kama, Suicide Salmon, and Spicy Scallop were all lovely. The Escolar (both smoked and seared) was off-the-hook delicious (smoked was better, imo). The makerel was just too salty for me. The Otoro? O. O....toro... Good lord, that stuff is amazing. As we left, the hostesses informed us that we were the most entertaining table of the evening. I couldn't tell if it was the jaunty hat, the young man eating his first baby octopus, or the part when I stood up too fast, knocking my stool over, picking it up where it hit the table with the other end, turned around and took a quick bow. I suppose it could've been any of those things...
(4)
Beth J.
I have been here multiple times, but recently went with a friend for dinner. We sat upstairs at the bar for drinks before dinner and the atmosphere was great. But the dinner was amazing! Really the best sushi I've had in quite awhile. We had the chef choose selections of nigiri for us and although I have no recollection of exactly what I ate, the memory of how fresh and tasty it was is what stays with me! Wow...I wanna go here every night. Unfortunately my budget won't allow that. :( Will definitely be back as much as my paycheck allows.
(5)
Nicole E.
First off, don't be fooled by the Chinatown sign outside ... it's the right place. We drove around it a few times before giving up and thinking we were eating Chinese for lunch. Everyone at lunch today was blown away by how fresh and tasty the sushi was. One friend said it was the 'best sushi in Austin' and while I haven't tried every sushi place in the city I have to agree it's on my top list. There were plenty of options, friendly service and fresh fresh sushi - what more could you ask for. I will be returning!
(5)
Kim H.
My favorite sushi restaurant in Austin! Try the Road Runner with soft shell crab and the South Sider with yellowtail! YUM!
(5)
Shiba C.
I've been a loyal Musashino customer since moving to Texas and every meal here had been a 5-star experience. Tonight was so, SO disappointing... I always order the Super Deluxe, but tonight I was given the Sushi Deluxe (16 pieces of expensive fish vs 9 pieces of cheap/moderate fish). When I brought it to my waiters' attention, he was apologetic but did not offer to fix the situation in any way shape or form. Bringing me whatever I wanted would have fully fixed it, offering something compliments of the house would have been fine, but nada. How nice of him to mention all the nigiri pieces that were missing from my meal and suggesting that I could order them separately. But this would have ended up costing me ALOT more than if I got the Super Deluxe. And never mind that the Super Deluxe comes with a roll that costs around $10 and not 2 pieces of Futomaki. Service issues aside, the rice tonight was way over-seasoned and was so mushy that it does not deserve to be adorned by such beautifully fresh pieces of fish. Speaking of fish, the cuts tonight were much smaller than usual. Given these two issues, I restored to not paying another $20 on sushi to get a full meal, and just wanted to leave. The fact that I was seated at the remarkably uncomfortable and awkward "side-bar" only accelerated my desire to GTFO. That was seriously the most disappointing meal I've had in recent memory. And the fact that I paid $30 for 9 pieces of mushy sushi and still left hungry was insulting. I'm seriously not sure if I'll be back, ever...
(1)
June P.
This is the best sushi place in Austin for sure. Most of their menu are authentic Japanese, precisely Tokyo style (Edomae sushi). This is the restaurant, to where I bring my Japanese friends, and they all loved this place. Not cheap at all, but very artsy and tasty. They also have awesome vegetarian sushi plate. Some rolls are veggie friendly too. My mother-in-law never eats raw fish, but she can find something she likes too (like Teriyaki chicken).
(5)
Wendy F.
Amazingly fresh sushi, great service, and inventive ways to prepare fish. I absolutely enjoyed the visit.
(5)
Lindsay S.
Oh my Heaven. It is on the pricier side however it is definitely worth it. I'm from Florida so finding true sushi (not fusion) that is fresh is hard. For one, you know the place is awesome when you walk in and the customer majority is Asian... It's true. We had the Sushi Deluxe platter, Texas Chainsaw (secret menu,) roadrunner roll, Texas Hybrid roll, the Shrimp Tempura Udon noodle soup, and the Gyu Tataki appetizer (OUTRAGEOUS, a must get order.) We also had an order of Mochi which was delicious. Everything I would order again however, I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu. Another thing to know is they do not split checks so if you go with a big group I would suggest using the crowd funding application, Tilt. Tilt allows the person who takes care of the check to post a picture of the receipt and invite all parties that were there into the group so everyone can just payback one person based on what they ordered. Great application for restaurants who do not cater to large parties who desire separate checks.
(5)
Madilyn M.
Better atmosphere than Uchi and the quality of fish is superb. The unique rolls are filling and delicious. Musashino is a consistently wonderful sushi experience. Very Austin, very delicious. Thank you Musashino!
(5)
Danielle W.
Musashino's is an old Austin staple. With so many new sushi joints popping up all over the place, this one is a tried and true Austin haven for sushi lovers. The best spot for fine-dining sushi in my opinion. It's located off of Far West, so you don't have to deal with the increasing headache of fighting downtown traffic and parking. The ambiance and decor is by far my favorite in Austin. It has an old, Japanese inspired interior that is beautiful and cozy, so enjoyable and pleasing to the eye you will want your dinner to last for hours. Perfect for a nice date night. The food is just incredible, very traditional (or more so than most other sushi joints). The have a very large assortment of sushi and sashimi. They offer nigiri dressed in all sorts of ways, like the samarai salmon, with thai peppers, or hamachi with jalapeno. You can't find that at most places in Austin. They have every type of sushi for a true sushi fanatic, from Ankimo to Uni, Aji and Baby Yellowtail. Everything is incredibly fresh and delicious. Rolls include traditional style to their house specialty's. Another wondeful feature they have is black rice infused with squid ink, definitely worth trying. It has a different flavor than regular sushi rice, and they pair it well in their rolls. My favorite roll with this rice is the Black Widow, with soft shell crab and habenero masago. If you want something from the kitchen try the lobster tempura, it is legit! It is basically a whole lobster tail cut up and tempura fried, so succulent with the perfect amount of tempura coating. For dessert, I always get mochi because they are one of the few places in town that has good mochi, I am almost positive they get it from Bubbies (I think that's the name) in Hawaii. Most places just have the cheap, freezer-burned mochi not worth ordering. I could go on and on and on about how amazing their food/sushi is, but you should try it for yourself! There is no possible way you will be disappointed!
(5)
B C.
If this is your favorite place for sushi it just means you need to travel more, rookie.
(3)
Jessica H.
Freshest sushi in Austin, also most authentic options. (While still offering great rolls) The menu is huge. There's something for the sushi-sashimi lover or the less adventurous Japanese diners. They have a parking lot, service is good, food is FAST and delicious. The escolar kushiyaki is good. The tuna tataki is great! The Texas road kill is great for spicy roll enthusiasts. You can't go wrong here!
(4)
Daniel P.
This may be one of my first posts but I'm not a first to the service and food industry and I can tell you that the staff does not handle things properly here. We called ahead at 7PM and made a "reservation" for 8PM. We showed up at 7:45PM and we were told that our "wait" for our "reservation" would be an hour! An HOUR...are you kidding me!? So much for making a reservation... We were told by management that there was "nothing they could do"... so, needless to say I will NEVER be visiting this establishment again!
(1)
Jannie T.
Let me first say that this place is a little hard to find. Google Maps put us right in front of a restaurant with a Chinatown sign on it. After going inside, we found that Musashino is located on the first floor. So tip to others, just go inside and head down the stairs. I visited this evening w/my family (5.5ppl). The wait was roughly 30mins for a Friday evening, which wasn't bad. The hostess was nice and our server was attentive. We tried three appetizers: avocado kama, gyu tataki and the shrimp tempura. Highly recommend the avocado kama - the deliciousness of crab over avocado with that sauce, omg, it literally melted in my mouth. For dinner, I ordered the evil knevil roll and the Texas chainsaw roll, the later not on their menu but was suggested to us by the server. The evil knevil roll was good, but it would have been better without the lemon jest. The Texas chainsaw was very flavorful, and I would order it again. The family had a sushi deluxe, shrimp tempura dinner, una ju bento, and the shokado bento. All the dishes were plentiful with meats, especially the bentos. We ended the night with tempura ice cream and green tea ice cream - I say skip the green tea ice cream. Enjoyed my dinner and would certainly return.
(4)
Angela W.
After trying so many sushi places in Austin and giving up hope on some of them, we decided to stick with Musashino FOREVER. Fish is always fresh, friendly staff, and we are completely in love with the ambience and decor. Don't get their curry, I can easily beat them with mine but let's focus on the food that made us leave our couch and drive out! Sushi, nigiri, and sashimi! This place is the real deal, look no further Yelpers!
(5)
Dea E.
The food is extraordinary, the chefs amazing. The service sucks as it does in most Austin restaurants.The waitresses are unfailingly rude to me each time I go but I put up with it anyway. Adore the food and I go strictly for that.
(3)
Steve G.
Don't let all the glowing 5 star ratings fool you. This place serves the smallest portions at the most expensive price I've seen in Austin. I've been in Austin for 20 years and this place is familiar with Austinites. I hesitated to go back knowing their reputation back in the 90s which included health concerns and continued preferential service from their wait staff to favorite customers (if you weren't one, then you waited a long time for your food) on busy nights. I ordered a selection of the popular rolls, specials, and off-the-menu. Yes, most Austin sushi places are high priced for the value, but this place epitomizes it for the inconsistent quality. The higher quality fish ordered were so small, they must think we're stupid. We're not. Every reputable sushi place in Austin can offer you more. It's been around so long in the same building, it's no wonder they keep the place as dark as possible (no it's not the ambience they're creating).
(1)
Graham F.
Best sushi in town. Trust me. There's nothing better in Austin. Or maybe even Texas. Go now. I'm serious. If there were six stars I'd give it.
(5)
Snow C.
Oh wow-the new menu is incredible. Lucky recommended the Road Runner roll and it is yummy yummy good. My new favorite...hands down! Can't wait to go back and order more items off the new menu if they are anything like the Road Runner roll. Of course my old favorites such as the gyu tataki and avocado kama are still on the menu but I am anxious to see what other delightful treats Musashino has in store for me on my next visit!!
(5)
Alice L.
I tried the Chicken Katsu Curry here. It was very good! It was not cheap at $17, but the katsu was fried nicely (not too greasy or rock hard), so it was worth it. I also enjoyed the seaweed salad as an appetizer. It was seaweed plus various greens, an eclectic little bowl.
(4)
Rachel S.
Like others have said, it's not the easiest to find. Look for the Chinatown sign or else you'll drive past it. Musashino is on the 1st floor of the building. The atmosphere is dark, but it's really busy for Saturday night dinner. Once you're seated, it's fast service! Five sushi chefs and one sashimi chef speedily churn out orders. We got our sushi before my miso soup cooled down. The sashimi is served nice and cold. All the fish tastes really fresh. Yeah, it's pricey, but if you're wanting really good fresh sushi, this place is worth the splurge. Oh yeah, bonus: they give you the check with a fresh cut orange. yum yum.
(5)
Kenneth R.
Not that good. The lunch special comes with a brownish riced filled piece of pure grossness included and their salad dressing options are limited to one that overpowers the veggies. The interior feels dated and sharing a restroom with another restaurant upstairs is.. strange.
(2)
William H.
Fantastic sushi. But expensive. Everything was fresh. Expect to pay north of $15 per 7 or so piece roll. They will not split the cheque.
(4)
Rebecca L.
My visit to Musashino was prompted by an email from an airline dining rewards program informing me that I only had a couple of days left to earn 3 miles/$ spent. Of course I had to take advantage of that. Being in a long distance relationship, you can use all the frequent flier miles you can get. Also, I had been reading reviews of Jiro Dream of Sushi and it had me dreaming of sushi also. I've read a lot of complaints about the service, but my server Vivian was so great. She actually reminded me a lot of my friend A, who is outgoing and really friendly. I had a glass of plum wine which was cloyingly sweet, similar to a dessert wine. I probably won't get that next time. I had to try the Ankimo Kobachi appetizer, because I wanted to know what monkfish liver tasted like. Surprisingly, it tastes like salmon, and not like liver at all. It's got a pate-ish texture but smoother. I would recommend it. It's three pieces for $9.50 and comes in a little bowl with ponzu sauce and some citrus. I thought it was delicious. I ordered five pieces of nigiri: uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon caviar), hotate (Japanese scallop), escolar (white fish), and spicy smoked mussels. The pieces were kind of big. It's poor etiquette to eat a piece of sushi in more than one bite, so I did my best to cram each piece in my mouth. I felt like I was playing chubby bunny with sushi. It's an expensive game, lemme tell ya. Out of the five nigiri I ordered, I'd have to say I liked the ikura the best. The caviar just sort of melted in my mouth. It was way better than cod liver oil, which is what I was expecting it to taste like. The uni wasn't bad either, but it was a little gritty. Overall, I enjoyed great service, and high quality food. I think I like going out to dinner by myself. It's definitely half the hassle....
(4)
Jeff P.
ROACH CITY!! Nuff said. I thought I'd give this place a break but the last time it was just unbearable! Giant roaches on the walls. No, not small ones - these are the 3-4"ers we're talking about. Oh and they fly too. Now that I've gotten that off my chest....lets get to the food :) It's very good but they're always "out of the good stuff" (read: saving it for the next day) The waitresses (other than Sarah and a couple of others) are just plan RUDE and unpleasent........but the roaches? I mean come on! This is just sick. Makes me want to puke. How hard is it to pay for a pest service? Heck 4 Sushi plates could pay for that in one month. Good GOD!
(1)
James M.
WHY did you stop doing takeout? Sometimes eating in the restaurant is not going to happen but calling in and swinging by to pick up was a wonderful thing. Why no more?
(4)
JE A.
Run, don't walk here for dinner. If you're looking for a no-frills sushi joint, musashino is your place. They have the best and freshest fish anywhere in Austin. Service is excellent and drinks are strong! We especially enjoy talking with the sushi chefs - they are very knowledgeable and friendly. Recommended: suicide salmon nigiri, tuna tataki.
(5)
Romy G.
This place is really good. Sit at the bar.
(4)
Dirk D.
The sushi place I've been looking for. There is no food more authentically Japanese nor more steeped in tradition. And with that said, it is stunning how much fiddling this classic food has suffered in America. Do you think you would find ingredients like "spicy-mayo" in Japan? And while Musashino's indeed has these American inspired rolls, my appetite craves and judges a sushi slinger on their simplest creations: Nigiri, Sashimi, Miso, etc. I ordered the Chef's choice nigiri, and what I got was quality fish married to perfect sushi rice, kissed with wassabi and a sweet umami glaze. My eyes may have rolled into the back of my head, and warm morphine-like tingle buzzes through my body. Perfect. I sat at the sushi bar with my date, because I like to give my eyes something to fix on while I eat and I find the conversation more intimate when you can sit next to a person and can speak toward their ear. The aesthetic pleased me, with a traditional bamboo styled bar and cloth banners decorating with an attractive asian print. I loved my meal and dining experience. A criticism, I didn't care for the music selection -- I'd choose something more Japanese traditional to add a unity to the food and interior styling, however the music ultimately wasn't distracting and droned the light din of the restaurant.
(5)
Nick B.
This is by far my favorite sushi place in Austin!!! I have been here on at least 10 different occasions. Prices are reasonable and the sushi rolls are delicious. I would eat here every day if I could afford it. Thank you Musashino for a great experience every time that I come in!
(5)
Brittney B.
Delicious! Maybe this place is hit or miss with the service because we had an amazing experience all around. The waitstaff was informative and friendly and the food.....well, you just have to try it to understand! I we had a crab stuffed avocado, seaweed salad, ozzy roll, some other roll with black rice and a plate of nigiri. We also had various hand rolls. Everything was delicious! The seaweed salad was really dressed up, they add radishes, asparagus, and other stuff. Yummy! I can't wait to come back!
(5)
Wes D.
This is one of my favorite 2 places to go for sushi along with Tomo and I have tried many in Austin. My favorite items here are the two squid ink rolls. They are spicy but if you like some heat they are both excellent. One is called the black sabbath roll and I'm forgetting the name of the other at the moment.
(5)
Morry M.
My girlfriend and I were really in the mood for some legit traditional sushi. We got the mackerel and yellow tail rolls, and they were indeed legit. They were so fresh and the back of the menu has a description of where the fish comes from (spoiler alert: it's not from Texas). The rolls were pretty small, but I guess that's price you pay when you want authentic. There isn't a sign for this restaurant, but it's on the bottom floor of that big Chinatown restaurant that you pass everyday on Mopac.
(4)
Rachel P.
I can't believe I've never written a review for this place considering I've been going here for years. I have always loved Musashino, their selection is amazing and their fish always seems to have the freshest flavor in town. I grew up on the coast and was spoiled on freshness so Musashino has always been a favorite, everything is delicious. However, it's been about a year since I've been here so I wasn't sure what to expect. I've been trying a lot more places, trying to get out of my rut of eating at the same place all the time. I went with 4 other girls for a birthday and per usual the food was amazing. The only thing that was lacking was the service. First off, this might be something that they have to do, due to the size of the place but I always seem to be the person that the waitress stands next to and takes orders for the table, and hands everyone else their meals/drinks etc. over my head. This just doesn't seem right for a nice restaurant. Everytime we wanted to order more or needed refills we had to stop whoever we could find walking by to make that happen. Then at the end of the meal, the waitress started clearing everything and picked up my sake and spilt it all over me, the table etc. and then just walked away. It was all over my lap and caused a big sticky mess. I couldn't even find her again to ask for another napkin or anything. This just seemed unacceptable to me for a $200+ tab. I was also surprised that they factored in the tip on a table of 5. That's probably their policy but didn't seem like that big of a group to do that too. However, definitley explains their lack of service if they're already getting their 18% regardless. Step it up Musashino, you're better then that.
(3)
Michelann Q.
I'm pretty much lunch only at Musashino these days. They had taken the Katsu Donburi off the menu for a while, but it is happily back. The big surprise, however, is the ramen. In light of the ramen craze, I decided to check out their special ramen, the Kuro Tan Ramen. It is fantastic. A delicious, rich broth, succulent slices of briskit, shreds of ginger, perfect noodles. It is not to be missed, if you're on the Ramen Addict Train as I am.
(4)
Joseph S.
Best sushi, at least by my vote. And people talk about how expensive this place is, but it's not. These are also the same people who will go drop $200 at Uchiko for half the food. The atmosphere is traditional Japanese, and it's a perfect date environment. The tables are small, but that's what makes the restaurant charming. I didn't even know this place existed (it's right below Chinatown restaurant) until my friend took me here. The sushi kitchen is really close to all the tables, so you can basically see exactly what is going on the entire time. Beautiful presentation every time, and great selection of sake. Most importantly (at least for me, since all I ever eat is raw fish), the fish is fresh. I haven't found a place in Austin that has fresher fish, period. People may disagree with me, but I am NEVER disappointed when I eat here. The Avocado Coma is amazing. You have try it, even if you don't like avocados.
(5)
Sondra S.
If you had asked me a week ago, I would have given this place a 5 star review. The food is amazing, the fish is very fresh, and everything is pretty traditional in the best possible way here. What changed my mind was the roach that waltzed across the sushi bar 2 feet from my face and amongst the ginger and wasabi dishes when we were there a few days ago. This was at 8pm when the place was slammed with people. When I approached the manager about it, he gave me some halfhearted excuse about "well, we've been spraying," which tells me that they have had a problem and can't get a handle on it. I'll go back in a year or so when they have hopefully figured out their insect problem. I'm hoping that I can get over my heebie jeebies about the place by then.
(1)
Michael Q.
Went here for dinner with my wife and it's been our go to spot for sushi here in Austin!!! The food is pretty authentic and the service is on point. The sushi is super fresh and it definitely is worth the price. we went here for our first date and we keep coming back!!! The rolls are really good and it has a great selection of rolls for the roll lovers. We really love the sashimi it's so fresh and it kinda melts in your mouth!! We always get the sashimi deluxe plus another roll. I love the seaweed salad and the tofu appetizers you can't really go wrong with those two appetizers. I have recently started to get the temaki rolls (hand rolls) and two or three of those with an appetizer makes a meal!!! Definitely would keep going there, it's a great little spot and a good date spot. If your date wants sushi bring them here!!!
(5)
Ron U.
I'm a Japanese food VIRGIN, there I've said it out loud and now the WHOLE world knows. Now that I have that off my chest. I was always curious about sushi but never knew anyone who had carnal knowledge of what and how to order for a scardy-cat like me. Our friends took us there and started out with the avocado kama, then spider rolls and once they saw we were enjoying the cuisine they went TORA,TORA,TORA! I must say we were blown away with the attention to detail the chef's took with the food then here comes Arthur the manager and the next thing you know we've got a cold bottle of saki........... GREAT service by the waitresses, she was there like ninja when we needed her. Can't wait to go back and try the food again. Thanks, Sccobie-doo and Jan (you know who you are).
(5)
Mike Y.
The sushi is nothing to rave about. The fatty tuna was sticky and did not melt in the mouth like it should. The rolls were nothing special especially given they got backed up and took way too long to get the rolls made. (They did apologize for the delay) I enjoyed the yellow fin tuna and king salmon nigiri though. I was little annoyed by the staff trying to take our plates with food still on them. I was really expecting fantastic sushi based on the reviews and 1 hour wait time on a Tuesday night.
(3)
Kevin H.
I think the jury is still out for me on this place. We made the journey up from South Austin and was told 15-20 min. We waited up stairs at an entirely different restaurant, I think it was Chinese. We ended up waiting for 45+ min before inquiring with the hostess to be told our table was ready, I have a feeling we were forgotten about. Wait staff was a bit absent, had to ask other random servers to grab our waitress a couple of times. Food was good, not Uchi good but above the average for most South Austin spots, however it was also expensive. I might go back if I'm in the area and craving some sushi and have hours to kill, but I won't make the commute again.
(2)
Dana L.
Probably the most authentic sushi place in Austin. Grilled eel is really good. When they have the fatty tuna, try it. It is delicious!
(4)
Travis B.
Incredible sushi and authentic Japanese experience without the wait and hype of Uchi.
(5)
Mitchell D.
First off, it's hidden with no real sign as to where it is. Strike one. Two, I decide to grab a table while I wait for other friends to join - however, they do not sit incomplete parties (on a weekday?!). Three, I ask if I can grab a drink at the bar to wait for said friends and they redirect me to another restaurant on top of the sushi bar. Not pleased and not eating here even though the food might be great.
(1)
Kathryn S.
One of the best date nights I have ever had. The service was top notch, the atmosphere was open yet intimate and the food was incredible. We had the filet mignon sashimi appetizer, the salmon cheek and squid jerky followed with a sashimi/sushi combo plate. The only tip I would give about the food would be to watch out for bones in the salmon cheek, other than that everything was phenomenal. The squid jerky paired with the Sapporo on draft was an unexpected treat and a must try for anyone who has not had the pleasure of experiencing it!!!
(5)
R W.
I don't expect to be pampered, but for the price, I expect at least minimal acceptable service. After being seated, three of us had to share a menu. After asking several times, they returned each time to take our order. We found our own menu at the front. Understandable if they are busy or short on menus. While waiting on food, we ordered water and saki of choice by someone else at our table. It was the small portion. According to the waitress, was good for four small portions. It barely accommodated half of two small saki cups. We received our salads and soups within due time. One person's plate came to the table. A while longer two of our rolls showed up. More time passes and the other two plates arrive. Still no fresh wasabi as asked twice. But I did get a bill placed in front of me. Ignoring the bill for some time, favoring to eat, the waitress returned, apologized for dropping off the wrong bill, meant for another table. Returning with our bill a minute later. No upsell for dessert, drinks, or other rolls?! You just lost easy money! The food, while excellent, did not last long. It kept me up all night until it was involuntarily purged from my system. Disclaimer: I love sushi, especially raw fish. This also is not my first time to Musashino. Severely disappointed. Will not be returning.
(1)
Daniel B.
This is the best sushi in Austin. It's a little pricier than your Sushi Zushi's and Piranha KIllers and so on, but the quality here is unrivaled. At Musashino I felt like I got what I paid for. I hate the idea of going to Uchi and paying a fortune for Japanese-inspired fine dining nonsense that you wouldn't find anywhere in Japan. If you want high quality, authentic, clean, fresh, gorgeous Japanese sushi, and a quiet atmosphere, there's really no better place. PS: I've read some reviews that didn't like that the wait staff is inattentive/doesn't come check you often enough, but for me personally that was a big plus. I don't consider it appealing when my water is filled 75 times throughout my meal.
(5)
Suzie Q.
This is very good sushi - worth the price. The place is great and the staff is amazing. My only complaint is that the sake prices are really high. I would definitely go again.
(4)
Anita C.
5th times a charm! Right? I've had the ramen twice (it was also my first introduction to ramen) and I was surprised and disappointed both times. Maybe it's my personal preference/expectations of Chinese-style noodle dishes, but the ramen has a very interesting taste that needs getting use to. To me it tastes burnt or smoky. Now, the 5th time around, I enjoyed some dishes that were right on the mark. The Avocado Kama is delicious with it's mix of avocado, crab, and special magic sauces. My two favorite rolls were unique ones: the Evil Knevil and the Good Time. Both had unique tastes and fresh and tasty ingredients. I'll come if invited by friends but I'll will try to sway them elsewhere first. Musashino has potential but hasn't won me over yet.
(3)
Ann K.
Although it's not as famous as Uchi, this is some of the best sushi in Austin. It's a bit more traditional than Uchi -- you're not going to see so much fusion food, and the fish will speak for itself. I appreciate this simplicity. If you can afford it, the Omakase (chef's choice) is amazing. My friend ordered this and shared with me a bite of blackened cod. It had a nice, slightly sweet glaze, and just melted in your mouth. It was a dish I remember years later, it was that good. They also have the usual selection of rolls and sashimi. If you love sushi and don't mind spending a little for a fancy dinner, try this place out!
(5)
Aileen N.
This place remains at the top of my list for Sushi (tradition nigiri and sashimi). It is expensive, but my tummy's always been happy after I left. If you end up coming while its busy, there is a bar upstairs for you to hang out while you wait. Be prepare to spend is all the warning I have for you!
(5)
Misti C.
Anything, I mean anything, with the squid ink infused rice - amazing. This place is kind of off the grid for great Austin sushi spots, but deserves to be named among the best. The restaurant has a cool vibe and is fairly quiet. A good date spot because there aren't any specials I've found, but the sushi is above par. Uchi usually gets all the raves but Musashino's is just a good of quality - without the hype and central location. If you're in Northwest Hills and crave sushi, or can make the drive you won't be disappointed.
(5)
Holly N.
Really felt like I was in Tokyo or something when I walked in. Small place so I'm sure wait gets long when it's busy. Definitely NOT a good place to bring big groups! The avocado kama was delicious. Kind of hard to scoop out though. The miso soup tasted like it had a soy sauce soup base. The Texas hybrid roll was really good, I especially liked the hybrid sauce it came with! It had lots of fish eggs inside. Remember that it's rolled with rice paper so if you don't like that ask to substitute. The Black Widow roll was also good, but I wasn't a huge fan of the squid ink rice. My friend really likes it though. We asked for spicy mayo sauce to dip it in. Surprisingly my friend and I were both full by the end of the meal (we had edamame and she also had 3 pieces of raw fish), we didn't even finish everything!
(4)
Brooke A.
This is a fantastic place for sushi located just north of downtown. The building holds both Musashino and Chinatown. Musashino is on the first floor, but there is a cute & cozy little bar upstairs to the right of the Chinatown entrance where you can grab a drink while you're waiting for your table to be ready. The sushi at Musashino is so fresh. I enjoy sitting at the sushi bar and asking the sushi ninjas for recommendations. I must say the spicy edamame is incredible, but watch out, that smoke flavor definitely creeps up on you and will make your mouth water. I tried uni for the first time and despite my adventurous food nature, this was just one dish I'm not likely to order again. The texture just was a little too weird for me. I did love the smoked mussels covered with a delicious mayo-like sauce & the road runner roll is undeniable! The rice is soaked in black squid ink and makes it extra moist & delicious!
(5)
Melanie F.
This place has ruined all other sushi for me. I've never had better sushi before. it sounds really weird, but try the squid jerky and have some sake with it. Everything is well worth the price. It was fun to sit up at the bar, too. To top it off, they brought me a good chunk of tiramisu (Yeah, I don't get it either) with a candle and sang happy birthday in Japanese.
(5)
Isaac B.
Amazing quality of fish here. Hands down the best traditional sushi place I have ever had(and iv tried sushi in France, Chicago, New York, Denver, etc). Uchi is amazingly good as well but is more if you are looking for a wow factor with your dinner. if you are looking for that classic traditional sushi, this is the place. Also this place actually does get the 1st choice fish selection in austin(even before uchi). Also this so where Tyson cole(uchi owner) worked before opening uchi so you know it's good!!
(5)
Liv W.
Good sushi... Just not great sushi. This places generally caters to the masses in that it's very mainstream, if you aren't a sushi fan then come here. All their fish seemed bland including the uni (my fav). It's definitely worth it to try but be prepared to spend some cash.
(4)
Wontongirl C.
Went for lunch and tried the chicken katsu curry. It was delicious and had the right amount if spice. The portion size is huge so I ate half and saved the other half for lunch the next day. I need to go back and try their sushi. Our waitress was nice as well.
(4)
Mindy H.
I would never have found this place on my own. You drive by and you just think that you are passing a whole in the wall American Chinese restaurant. However, the real estate agent when driving through the neighborhood took time to pull into the parking for this restaurant to show me the specific door to enter on the first floor, under the main China town restaurant. There are no signs outside indicating that this is the home of Musashino, and told me that if I love sushi I HAD to go here. It has been open for 20 yrs., and many of the well known sushi chefs throughout Austin started and trained under the owner of this restaurant. I made a point to put this restaurant at the top of my to do list. I finally was able to keep my promise and check this place out the other night. Upon entering the restaurant I felt as if I was transported back to some of the establishments I had eaten at during my trip to Japan. You can only make reservations if you are a group over 4 people, so we went early as we were a group of 2 and sat at the sushi bar. If you can, the sushi bar is definitely the place to be. I think that my experience wouldn't have been so amazing if I wasn't sitting at the bar. The sushi chefs were very friendly and knowledgeable, and provided fantastic recommendations on the menu, and ensured that there was no dairy in the food I was ordering. It was also great to watch the 4+ chefs working away at their beautiful creations. You could tell that they took great pride in their work and quality of the ingredients being used. The chef let us know that the owner drives everyday to the airport to get their shipments of fish. Plus, there are certain things they won't let you order to go as they just wouldn't taste good by the time you get home. It was very hard to choose something, as there were so many yummy looking options. Plus, they have an extensive wine and Saki menu. Instead of ordering a large amount of food upfront, we slowly took our time and ordered as we went (another bonus of being at the sushi counter), and enjoyed our conversation with the sushi chefs. Everything we ordered was fantastic. You could really taste the quality of the fish, and the flavor of the rolls never overpowered the actual fish itself. Loved the authentic feel and quality here. They even have real fresh wasabi you can order.
(5)
Heather D.
Best sushi I've had so far in Austin. Fave rolls so far= Evel Knevil, south sider, and roadrunner. Just gorgeous rolls, beautiful flavors. I almost didn't want wanna write this review so I can keep this gem to myself and not expose to more people but it's just too darn good!
(5)
Michael L.
Went to Musashino. It was relatively empty. I went especially wanting the Avocado Kama after seeing the pictures here. We got seated fairly quickly and got our iced teas. About 15 minutes later after seeing wait staff walk by, nobody took our order, so we walked out. I even got more upset when we weren't even comped for the drinks and bad service and time wasted on our evening. To make matters worse, the manager never came out to apologize...
(1)
Meggen D.
This is an update. The first time I came to Musashino, I went just for the ramen...and it was one of my first ramen experiences, so I didn't have much of a point of reference (aside from the 10-cent salt-ridden blocks from the grocery store). I have since returned, oddly enough not for ramen (again...it's out of my lunch radius), but instead I've gorged myself on sushi and nabeyaki udon. I can honestly say that I misjudged this place. They serve the freshest fish...I think the only place I've had fresher is in Hawaii...for obvious reasons. The sushi is immaculate. And they're definitely serious about it. There's an instruction page for eating sushi. Since eating here, I've changed my sushi-eating technique everywhere, actually. Musashino has cultured me! The nabeyaki udon is amazing. It's comprised of a light, clear broth with hearty udon noodles, nori, shrimp tempura, and an initially raw egg (that poaches in the soup on the way to your table) all served in a small cauldron. It's perfect on a cool evening. I'm of the opinion that the combination of a few quality pieces of nigiri or sashimi and the udon is the perfect meal...and it's not too terrible for your body or your wallet. Next time, I'll make it a point to go during weekday lunch so I can re-review the ramen!
(5)
Caleb C.
really the only complaint I have is pretty minor, my food and my gf's food did not arrive at the same time. Also the rolls I had ordered early came after rolls I had ordered later. Presumably it all came out as it was ready, and that could be argued to be a plus. The actual quality of the sushi was some of the best I've had, if not the best. I also have no complaints about the service.
(5)
Sandra j.
So fresh and delicious!!! Sit at the bar to see the chefs in action The good: Quality of fish Flavors Speed of food arrival The OK: Agedashi Tofu was OK. It was good, but not delicious.
(5)
John D.
Sushi is a beautiful thing. Done right and it's poetry in motion. Tonight was a special night for us so we thought we give the place a shot. Had a couple of drinks while we waited for our spot at the sushi bar. After waiting a little we were seated at the sushi bar. Ordered uni, snapper, Anagi, unagi, blue fin sashimi and salmon sashimi. Overall great flavors. Deducted 1 star for the salmon and snapper because a place like this should be using better salmon. Pale in color and lacked flavor. Snapper was a little old due to the fishy finish in flavor. Tuna was very clean and fresh so was the uni. Saki was nice and cold. To finish we tried the tiramisu- yes tiramisu at a sushi restaurant and it was some of the best we have had. Overall we spend about 250 and it was worth the experience. Little pricier than most places though.
(4)
Steven N.
Musashino is just as good, if not better than uchi. Phenomenal quality fish.
(5)
Van T.
It is okay. But not the best sushi for this price point in terms of quality and quantity. We went there for lunch. I thought it was over-priced and the service was rushed. They have all the standard fish and rolls, but if you are going to spend some cash on sushi you might as well go to Uchi or DK. If you want to not spend as much on sushi and still get a good meal, then go to Hanabi.
(3)
Ryan M.
The menu is extensive, the sushi is pretty good although I wouldn't say it's the best in Austin, but it's definitely in the top 5. We had some incredible escolar skewers. The sushi was tasty and tasted fresh. And the restaurant itself has a cool atmosphere. Had a very enjoyable dinner.
(4)
Deanna W.
Def one of my top 3 choices in Austin so far (Besides Tomo & Sushi Zushi). Great service and amazing rolls! I enjoyed having extra items on the side of the rolls so you could all sauces or spice it up! It was fun sitting at the bar and seeing the different rolls come out. We kept ordering more when we saw another roll that looked good. (But they all look good! haha)
(5)
Luke B.
Wife ordered shrimp tempura appetizer and Evil Knieval sushi. I ordered vegetable sushi. After long wait, shrimp tempura came and it looked great. My wife got one bite and then waitress grabbed the plate from table. The place was so noisy that we did not hear an explanation. Waitress brought us edemame and apologized for long wait. Next, got my salad and miso soup that came with my meal. The miso was ok. The salad was maybe a half cup of lettuce with a very thin slice of cucumber. After another long wait, my wife's temura shrimp came. Two tiny shrimp and maybe three vegetables with something fried that we could not identify. Her sushi and my sushi finally arrived. The portions were an insult. The vegetable sushi was very small pieces of vegetables wrapped around teaspoon sized rice. No seasoning in sight. They did not even refill my tea. $55 and we left hungry. The first shrimp tempura that came to table looked good. The only reason that we could discern for this place being busy is that it was Sunday night and the other sushi places were closed. We will not go back.
(1)
kim-jamy n.
I'm going to give Musashino three stars because when I went back for dinner last night, their service pissed me off. Our server was sub-par to say the least. I had to ask the hostess to take our order, fill my drink, get my check. Why should I go to a nice restaurant, pay a decent amount of money (hello, i should have just went to Uchi) only to have a cruddy (insert expletive here) service. Oh and I looked to the table across from me and their server accidentally dropped a plate of scraps on a kid. They need to re-train their staff.
(3)
Lisa N.
Overpriced food, average sushi, gnats (that's why it so dark in there), and a menu shortage. Not sure what all the hype is about?
(1)
Edgar A.
no words to describe this epicness of a restaurant. just try it people. its amaizing, flavorful, and FRESH!!!
(5)
Jonathan A.
We had the Good Time Roll, the 34 Special, and the Black Sabbath, each was awesomely flavorful and unique! Very authentic feel in this place. Waiters are very responsive, always refilling drinks and soy sauce. An absolute treat! I do feel this place pressures the guests to try to spend more at every opportunity (on deserts, drinks, etc.) but there's nothing a quick "no" can't solve!
(5)
Kris U.
One of two of my favorite sushi places in town. I highly recommend starting with the shrimp tempura appetizer. If you like rolls, give the Texas Road Kill (with tuna) a try for a creative and delicious twist on the traditional spicy tuna roll. But don't miss out on the best part, the nigiri. Check in with your helpful server to find out what the "market" specials are for the day and their recommendations, and you're sure to have a sensational experience!
(5)
Lizzie S.
Five stars for wonderful and knowledgable service, excellent and generous cuts of fish, creative yet not complicated rolls (no philly roll on the menu, you know what I mean), several kinds of hand rolls, and a nice selection of liquors, wines and sakes. There were 6 in our party and we tasted many things on the menu, everything was very good. I love that my green salad leaves were baby kale with that perfect pureed ginger dressing. I am not going to lie, it's a little spend. Nigiri comes in sets of one rather than 2. I was nevertheless impressed and would eat ay Musashino again anytime I am in town.
(5)
Edison C.
Musashino's vibe when you walk in the door sorta reminds of me that bar in Patan, Nepal where Marion drinks the big guy under the table in Raiders. Except there isn't any cigarette smoke, it's all Japanese food, and the sign outside says "Chinatown". (There's a Chinese restaurant directly on top of the Japanese one, upstairs.) Well maybe not. Maybe it's more Blade-Runner-minus-the-flashing-lights-and-Decker. It's possible I'm just sleep deprived. Either way? both films had Harrison Ford doing heroic shit in 'em. It's loud in Musashino. Don't expect any quiet murmur in here if that's what yer looking for. Consider bringing a bottle of something to break over somebody's head, though, because I think it would be in line with the crowd noise. Don't get me wrong, it's not like this place is say, Treasure Island or J.Black's. The servers and waitpersons are all very nice, and prompt. And it's not too dark, so you won't be eaten by a grue. But the 4-star is for the food. It's quite good, and I didn't even have 'real' sushi - I only had the cooked stuff, not counting the seaweed salad. All good. In addition to being a place serving fine foods, Musashino is also: an all-stations train service in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) between HachiÅji and Fuch-Hommachi in Tokyo and ÅŒmiya in Saitama Prefecture. a city , which has received acclaim as one of the best places to live in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. Population: approx 134,000 Just so ya know.
(4)
John K.
This is the restaurant for the sushi purists in Austin. For those who eat sushi and sashimi for the taste of raw, fresh fish this is the place to go. If you want creativity and fusion flavors, Uchi and Uchiko are better places. I ordered a sashimi deluxe. I was impressed by the quality of the fish, particularly the smell, firmness and texture. On the night I went, the fish was quite fresh. They give you a fair assortment of both pricy and cheaper fish: maguro, hamachi, etc. The time to visit a sushi restaurant is a Friday or a Saturday since restaurants order their weekly allotment of fish for the weekend. Do NOT visit sushi restaurants on Wednesdays or Thursday since you most likely will be eating fish that has sat in the fridge for almost a week. Now, this place is a fairly authentic Japanese restaurant, but as many of the other reviewers have noted, the waitresses, while Asian, do not know how to offer proper Japanese service. They tried to hurry us, a cardinal sin. This fact about the waitresses is widely known and people should collectively show their displeasure by tipping accordingly.
(4)
John J.
The best authentic sushi place in town, bar none.
(5)
Bike S.
Always a top-notch experience at this restaurant! The sushi is of the highest quality and the staff is great.
(5)
Arnold J.
Hands down the best sushi restaurant in Austin to those in the know. As someone who has lived in Tokyo and currently resides in Seattle, I stil think Musashino has the freshest fish, most flavorful rolls, and an amazing assortment of special items that you won't find in other sushi dens. After almost three years away from Austin, my trip back had us visiting Musashino on a late Saturday evening. We had the last reservation for the night. The food was as great as I had remembered, and we especially dug the jalapeno flavored soy sauce and the spicy crab (seasonal and typically off-menu). Smokey (the owner) was busy as usual in the kitchen, but came out to say hi to our party of six. A superb evening of food with an unmatched atmosphere continues to make this place my favorite place for sushi!
(5)
Vincci L.
This place used to be my favorite sushi spot (I would go at least once a week). However the last few times I came for dinner, really have not been impressed by their sushi. Don't get me wrong, the sushi is still good. I love their shima zushi, and chu-toro when it's available. The uni is good, although I've had some no-so-fresh ones before. Would I eat here again? Yes. But it's not worth the drive for me when there are so many other sushi places that offer just as good / if not better quality sushi and they are closer.
(4)
Didi H.
Gyu tataki....very soft and tender beef marinated with ponzu sauce.. Best in town tasted so far. Comparable with upscale sushi restaurant in Torrance, CA. Really Authentic. Tuna tataki.....interesting sauce full with flavor, tuna well seared on the surface and fresh taste inside. Really fresh no fishy smell at all. Very impressive. Toro / bule fin tune / fatty tuna sushi - really well treated with correct grain, tender, buttery and melt into mouth. Simply delicious. All the raw fish sushi they served ......fresh, fresh, fresh, and fresh!!!
(5)
Adam S.
I am pretty hard on J-restaurants (see my other reviews) because I lived in Japan for most of my adult life. Musashino is the best I've found in Austin so far. I had the "bento box" which I found generous in portion size, with a wide variety of flavors and preparations. It was also pretty authentic, with not much "faux-Japanese" that you find at many J-restaurants in the states. The only reason it doesn't get five stars is that J-food in Austin is just not that good, with the exception of a couple of noodle places. Also I can't get used to the exorbitant prices J-restaurants (including Musashino) charge. High prices are understandable for super-fresh, expertly prepared sushi (which most sushi at U.S. J-restaurants is not), but overcharging for common ingredients prepared in an average way just because "it's Japanese" is just preying on peoples' ignorance.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : No Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : No Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Intimate Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Ashley T.
My favorite sushi restaurant in Austin...and possibly Houston and Dallas too. Been coming here for years! What makes them the best is the flavors and quality of food. Everything is good. If I wanted to list everything Id just copy and paste their menu here. lol Go to their website for full menu AND photos.
(5)Christine O.
Whenever I want sushi, this is the spot!
(5)Eric M.
Disclaimer: It would be exceedingly difficult for me to be unbiased in this review because I've been going to Musashino nearly every week for 15 years...long before Yelp was even an idea. However, I see several misguided reviews here on Yelp so I feel the need to chime in. If you are seeking truly exceptional Tokyo-style sashimi, nigiri, and maki there is only one place to go in Austin, and that place is Musashino. Frankly, I almost hesitate to write a review because Musashino already does such great business that you can often expect an hour or more wait on weekends. While I don't want it to get over-crowded, I definitely want the best for Smokey and the gang as they've been such a big part of my Austin life for so long. I took my wife there on our first date and year later proposed to her there. So, take my review for what it is...a long time friend and fan of Musashino setting the record straight. Now, what makes Musashino so good? The fish, the talent, the ambiance, and the fish. Oh yea, and the fish. Fish - Let's start with the fish. Most sushi restaurants get their fish from standard foodservice supply companies. They have the typical yellowtail and salmon but nothing exotic. Better sushi restaurants have specialty seafood suppliers shipping from the coasts. These might occasionally have toro (bluefin fatty tuna) and better shellfish selections but nothing from Japan. Finally, the very select few..the best of the best will have a lot of their fish broker-selected from the Tokyo fish market and overnighted to the restaurant on a regular basis. There are only a handful of places in the country that do this and there are two are here in Austin that I know of. Musashino and Uchi. Most upscale sushi places you go in NYC, SF, LA, Chicago will have toro, but rarely will they have several grades (toro, chutoro, otoro..) at once. You can find all of them every weekend at Musashino, as well as exotics like giant clam, japanese scallop, shima-aji, spanish mackerel, arctic char, and much more. YES, this fish is going to be more expensive..OF COURSE it is. It comes from the best supply in the world. Talent. There are lots of talented sushi chefs in Austin. Uchi is mentioned a few times in these reviews and as I just said they get fish direct from Japan as well. Tyson Cole created Uchi after his six years of apprenticeship at...guess where...Musashino. Cole is very talented and he learned and developed much of that talent from Musashino's proprietor, chef, and sushi master Takehiko Fuse (friends call him Smokey). Cole was smart to turn his style away from traditional Tokyo style sushi and do more trendy fusion style. Smokey meanwhile continues to serve the very best sushi in Austin in both traditional and creative styles. Smokey's right hand man and sushi rockstar these days is Kazu, another amazingly talented and creative sushi chef. Trust me..Smokey and Kazu and the rest of the crew at Musashino know what they are doing. Ambiance. If you are looking for flashy neon, bad Korean techno, glass and steel...you should look elsewhere. Musashino is traditional Tokyo style from the teak wood sushi bar to the pufferfish lamps. Smokey has created a warm and inviting environment that honors the traditions of sushi. Musashino has been successful for decades because it is like a comfortable home for the best sushi in town. How do I compare Musashino? Well, in the 90s I lived in Dallas and San Francisco and found the best of the best sushi I could. Business has taken me to Japan half a dozen times over the years and I searched out the best sushi I could find there as well. I can honestly say that Musashino is as good or better than any I have had in the States, and on par with the best neighborhood places in Shinagawa, Ginza, or Shibuya. So go to Musashino. Expect a wait...it's worth it. Get your pager, go upstairs to the bar they share with Ronald Cheng's Chinatown, and have Henry make you a fantastic cocktail or pour you some cold Onigoroshi. If you know sushi, you already know to sit at the bar and talk with the chefs to get the best Omakase experience you can. Put your trust in Kazu and Smokey. You will not be disappointed. Just don't tell too many people like I just did :)
(5)Amanda R.
I'm so sad, I just didn't get the hype for this place! We ordered the sushi-sashimi sampler and two rolls to try to get a full view of their offerings. The sushi was definitely fresh but the rolls were pretty unimpressive--average in flavor, and a bit overstuffed with rice rather than fish. The worst thing to me here is the price! Cost more than traditional rolls at places like Tomo and Kome (and not nearly as tasty!) and actually cost as much as the special rolls at Uchi/Uchiko but nowhere near as good. The atmosphere is fine--I think they keep it kind of dark to distract from the fact that the place needs a facelift. Service was great and the staff was really nice. It's not awful by any means but I'm definitely sticking with Tomo and Kome for now!
(3)Tony B.
Musashino...is that Japanese for Foodgasm? Oh, how I love this place! No sign, so every time I go I feel like i know something that nobody else does. Of course, that's not true...but I like to think it is. I've been for the sushi and such, but this is for the ramen. During lunch they become somewhat of a ramen house...and that pleases me greatly. Going to high school in Japan allowed me the pleasure of experiencing the steamy sardine can ramen shops of Harajuku and Shinjuku, leaving me with an addiction, that until recently has not been fed until venturing to Musashino! My selection was the Hakata Ramen. The rich broth is made by cooking pork bones at high heat for a lengthy period until the marrow is released...creating a sublime milky, velvety broth...drool...The chewy noodles and ample veggies could have easily made this bowl of happy feed two. Two normal people! Being half Asian, I know that to not finish would be an insult. (At least that's what I tell myself when I overindulge) Waddling out fat and happy...I vowed to return and conquer their noodle selection. One happy massive bowl at a time!
(5)Anna B.
Old man & the sea Taught me to like it raw. "Sushi, grasshopper." Musashino taught Austin to love sushi. It also played finishing school to several of Austin's finest sushi chefs (Tyson Cole, e.g.). In the roaring '90's, I did my part to help the high tech boom and dropped a lot of coin on a lot of fish here. It was notoriously busy. The wait could be two, sometimes three hours. Which was ok because they also had a great selection of sake. I have eaten, although not always liked, every kind of raw fish imaginable. Time passed, and sushi joints proliferated. There is cheap sushi, hip sushi, expensive sushi, sushi to-go at the grocery, etc. Sushi got caught in the tornado of market adoption and went mainstream. I hadn't been to Musashino since Smoky was head chef and Tyson was next in line. And that, my friends, is a very long time ago. So I was excited when a work colleague suggested Musashino for lunch. I hadn't even realized they were open for lunch! I got their Sushi lunch combo, which came with a small salad, miso, three pieces of sushi (maguro, sake, hamachi), and a California roll for $12.95. A pretty good deal. The miso was...unique...compared to others I've had. It had a vaguely smokey, almost toasted flavor. Not bad, just...odd. Salad had a nice, semi-spicy ginger-y dressing, which was the most interesting thing about it. California roll was rolled in tempura flakes, which was a nice change from the usual sesame seeds or masago. And the sushi was divine. My friend had a rainbow roll, which looked amazing. And a large bowl of some kind of ramen. She was expecting something smaller, and ended up taking the majority of it home in two take-out containers. (It was that big.) She declared it "ok," and pointed out the half boiled egg that looked a little gray. Probably due to the broth, but presentation is so key to a sushi place that it needs to extend to all dishes. So, the rating I am giving is for my experience alone. (I would guess she would give it three stars.) But I have to confess: I miss the Musashino from the '90's. I miss Smokey. And Tyson. And sitting up at the bar, chatting with the chefs and sampling new and strange things I've never had. Hip doesn't have to be new. Musashino is worth checking out because THIS is where it all started, grasshoppers.
(4)Yelper S.
A different approach than the Uchi franchise which is nice and there are some unique offerings. Interior could use some updating.
(4)Upss P.
So good. So fresh. So worth it. Good sized portions. Freshest sashimi ever. Great service. We got complimentary soups and dessert just because we had to wait a little. Its a little difficult to locate. Its inside the chinatown downstairs. But it is anyways super crowded and has waiting. So it seems people find their way to good food.
(5)Joe K.
This is a good place to eat at if your in Austin. The place isn't super fancy but the lighting and decor makes it cozy. I did not care too much for the rolls but the sashimi was amazing especially with the fresh wasabi. All the appetizers were delicious too
(4)Rose B.
I've been looking for sushi in Austin to like for two years. I finally found a place. While I can't afford it all that much I really enjoyed it each time I've been. I'm not a roll person I like fish by itself or fish on rice and everything here I've had is very fresh and it's great that they have variety. I came here once with a large group and the food was pre-ordered so I didn't have a choice and it was mostly rolls which as I already stated I don't love but those were really amazing as well. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is sometimes they don't have as large a variety of fish or they run out of fish (which probably isn't their fault but I was disappointed not to be able to get my favorites) Overall I really love this place. Service is excellent too!
(4)Ben S.
Best sushi we have had in Austin. Amazing service and very fresh fish. We had mostly sashimi and it was delicious served with fresh wasabi. We will be back.
(5)Frank D.
RIP Musashino. This was our favorite sushi bar for several years, but last night was pretty lame. For starters our waitress came over and gave us a rapid fire overload of information about the saki list. She must have spoken for several minutes w/o taking a breath. That out of the way, we ordered several of our old standbys and several nigiri sushi that sounded interesting. The nigiri arrived first, with the announcement that they were out of the sea bass, with no suggestions of a substitute or assurance that it would be removed from our bill. A dump and run, if you will. The rolls arrived shortly after, and while the presentation was nice, they were mushy and lacked any flavor. Our meal was barely a cut above the pre-made sushi you can get in most supermarkets these days. As I mentioned, we used to look forward to going to Musashino, but this will likely be our last visit. Yes, Tyson Cole came here to learn the art of sushi, but things have changed radically since our last visit. A friend whose judgement we trust said that the head chef had recently left, which could be the reason for the change in quality. After this experience, we will be on the hunt for a new sushi bar to frequent in Austin.
(2)Joy N.
This place is hands down my favorite sushi in Austin. The fish is always fresh, and it is the best place to get traditional nigiri and sashimi. I always order whatever tuna special they have that day, smoked escolar, and the perfectly spicy suicide salmon nigiri. We normally go every couple of months for a special dinner, and most recently we went with a party of 10 for a birthday. Even though it in not the best place for large parties (their biggest table seats 10), the dinner was a success - everyone loved their food! The servers are always friendly and all smiles from my experience, which is an added bonus. The atmosphere is fairly traditional which I appreciate. Definitely give it a try if you crave traditional japanese sushi!
(4)Jessalyn C.
Gyu tataki and south sider roll.. all you need to know!
(4)Katrina D.
I've been in search of a good Japanese katsu curry place in Austin ever since eating at Coco Ichibanya in LA... and with Musashino I think I've found it!! :D The chicken katsu was crispy and well-breaded and the curry itself was hot with just the right amount of spice -- enough to know it was there but not too much that it overpowered the overall flavors. The consistency of the curry was creamy and gravy-like, which is what I like (versus soupy), and there weren't any vegetables in the curry (I think there might have been tiny pieces of onion). The dish is pretty expensive ($17) compared to other places, but you get A LOT, and I ended up having leftovers even after splitting the dish with a friend. It's better quality and taste than other places anyway, so I'm fine paying the price. We also tried the chashu (pork belly) appetizer, which was my friend's favorite part of the meal. The meat was so tender and so well-flavored, I kind of wish they would serve this with rice as a dish itself. (Or maybe they do and I just didn't see it on their super huge menu!) It was a bit pricey ($15) for the amount you get, but it's a nice restaurant and they can do that. The third thing we ordered was unagi nigiri. The unagi here was one of the top-quality I've had, and I would have ordered more if I hadn't already ordered a crap-ton of other stuff already. I could probably just eat a whole plate of these and still want more. It wasn't super fatty or drenched in sauce to hide the low-quality of the meat, and it was cooked so it was just the right texture :) Although the restaurant was super loud, it's not too surprising considering how many people were in such a small space. And it's honestly no wonder there were so many people here -- it really is a great restaurant. The service was quick and very friendly, and the food was all really good :) I will DEFINITELY be returning here for more curry, and (if I'm feeling rich) to try more of their sushi menu!
(5)Cyndi G.
Maybe this isn't the best sushi in the world, because we're inconveniently not placed near an ocean, but for my money, this IS the best sushi in Austin (Sorry Mikado, consistency) Prices are good, sashimi is sliced thickly, and they serve the best tuna in town. Going on Tuesdays is a good plan (truck delivery) and recently, I had the freshest, best tasting yellow tail since I "learned" sushi, 30 years ago on Santa Monica Blvd. My favorites here are the seaweed salad (fresh, not too sweet), the avacado kama (OMG, wear elastic), spicy spider roll (best spider in the city) and of course the honking big rainbow roll (like the buffet of sushi). The ginger is always fresh, the sushi chefs are friendly and the place is so cute. Never too loud, and always low key in vibe. The waitresses tend to swing widely in skill, but oh well. As a bonus, they make the coldest Cosmopolitan in North Austin. I'm a fan
(4)Dave P.
Id like to start this review with the fact that I'm not a huge fan of sushi ( it kinda sux lmaoo). However even the non sushi lover can find dishes to satate their taste pallates. I had the eel over rice and it was pri good. The eel was the the right amount of chewy with really nice taste to it. We also had so much sake the waitress lost count on our bill ayyyy lmaooo. The service was pretty good except for the time they tried to bring out my entree, opened the box to reveal only a box of rice lolololol. The only knock here is the price of the food. I think charging over $10 for don Katsu is an atrocity against fried pork LOL.
(4)alicia k.
Still dimly lit and traditional in decor, I was really hoping that the restaurant, who provided the jump start for some famous Austin chefs, including Tyson of Uchi, was better. The sushi was more traditional and the fish was good quality, however, we found the rice to be on the sweet side. The bento box was just not very good. The salmon was candy sweet and chicken teriyaki was dry. Overall, it's ok to stop in for a bit, but I didn't feel like they stand out in any way from any other Japanese place (we miss Daichi and Soto in Cedar Park!) Service for us seemed rushed. Our order came out at different times and even before we put down our utensils, someone was already taking our plate away. This was out first time back in years and I don't see us coming back anytime soon.
(3)Clara S.
As a sushi lover I can say I was in HEAVEN. Took a little drive to get here but if I could I would definitely come here every day holy cow. Let me share with you my experience: Roadrunner roll: I ordered this with salmon. The fish was excellent, and the presentation was fabulous. I was not a fan of the hybrid mayo on the side though. 34 special roll: this was also delicious, I ordered it with tuna. The jalapeño soy sauce was pretty good, but I like my traditional soy sauce and wasabi mix. Otoro: my friend said he's had better, but this was my first and so I loved it. Fatty and tender and fantastic. Overall, service was excellent- our waiter was so nice and knowledgeable about sushi and fish. Ambience was beautiful- I felt like I was in Japan. The house Cabernet Sauvignon was also a good pairing to the sushi. SUSHI LOVERS COME HERE NOW.
(5)Annalise P.
I'm late to the game (late, but charming and tipsy) for a review of musashino. And I'm sure that all the other reviews rave on and on about the quality of the rolls, or the selection of sakes- but what stood out most to me was the service. One might be deceived with the waiters all in t-shirts that this is a casual operation- but this restaurant trains their waiters to have eyes on the back of their head. Drop your chopsticks? Someone is there with new ones. Finished your plate? It's picked up within seconds. All the food is perfect here, but the stellar service was the icing on our cake!
(5)Scarlett Q.
It was busy and we had to wait, but it worth waiting for 45 minutes. We got a black sushi roll with shrimp tempura,4 pieces of sushi a la carte, and a deluxe bento box with tempura, tamagoyaki, salmon and chicken teriyaki, sushi and roll. The seared sashimi sushi were very good.
(5)Emery N.
Favorites include avocado kama, ankimo kobachi, gyu tataki, and the spicy spider roll! :) my favorite sushi place in Austin!
(5)Wanting H.
This is definitely one of my favorite traditional sushi restaurants. The main reason is because their high quality and fresh sushi and sashimi. I love their bento box because it provides so many different options and for only $28!! The price here is indeed more expensive than other regular restaurants. The bento box offers wide variety of dishes and definitely can feed two people. They also provide good quality sushi and dishes. My friend loves their sashimi and sake. I like their bento box the most for its price and the amount of food. Also, their sushi rolls are all very good. This place provides more traditional Japanese sushi and other plates than most of sushi restaurants.
(5)Marie H.
Went with a girl friend. INCREDIBLE sushi quality, best I've had so far. Price was a little high, but is what you would expect. I like that we got a soup and a salad included in our sushi combo. Like others have said before me, our server was a little rude. She never responded to anything we said, or made eye contact, but we still got everything we asked for. Whatever! Food was so good we barely noticed.
(4)Lesley W.
Musashino, you made me feel a bit sad. Granted, you are still one of the top places in Austin to get fresh fish, but now that I've been to other certain sushi restaurants of your caliber in Cedar Park, I guess my eyes have been opened a bit. You are still more central to most Austinites, and a fun place to get some delicious sushi, but your service and price made me take off my rose-colored glasses for a while. The service here was acceptable, at best. We arrived at 9 pm (an hour before closing) feeling like we knew what we wanted and could get in and out in an hour. It wasn't very busy, but it took several minutes for the hostess to come to the front. She sat us, and we were greeted, got our drinks, and then an eternity later, we finally got to order. I was frustrated because it was close to closing and I didn't want to be there past closing (I have weird anxiety about this - it makes me feel so rude I want to melt into my chair and die). Before our food even came out, she came over to tell us it was last call. I think it was 9:30. So, you can see where the problem is here. 9:30 and still no food, but I am expected to know if I want any more. Great. Finally, we get our Sashimi Moriawase (sashimi for a group and bowls of rice if you want), which was not as beautiful as some other places I have seen it in um, cedar park cough Soto. I was a bit disappointed, but all in all it is an amazing value for fresh fish and you don't have to make any decisions. I was incredibly impressed by the albacore, wow! Best I had ever eaten. I actually never had liked it much before. My biggest problem of the night was that the server didn't tell us what the types of fish were that we received. I feel like that is the cardinal rule of sushi. I even asked her to come back and tell me, and she said one of them and walked away. I was pretty bummed! We also got the Road Runner roll, which was WOW one of the best rolls I've eaten ever. Musashino really kicks ass with their sauces.The road runner is perfectly spicy, and very stunning because it has black squid ink rice with habanero caviar. So food-wise, I was a happy camper. Except that while eating said food that took so long to get to me, they started closing up shop. We weren't even the only ones in there. They were sweeping, talking loudly, doing receipts, and even the kitchen staff walked through with cigarettes in their mouths to go smoke outside. One of these offenses may not rub me the wrong way, it was just the sheer ignoring of the fact that we are still trying to enjoy the $100 of food we ordered. Also, we didn't even get any water or service after the bill was dropped off with our last roll. Ugh, it's so disappointing, but there are just so many great sushi places in Austin, and when I'm dropping $100 on food, I have a certain expectation of service level. I ended up feeling a bit remorseful and that I could have spent my money better elsewhere. So, service was a 2 (for the level of restaurant this is) and the food is still a solid 5. That leaves me with a 3.5, which I round down because of the high prices. Sorry Musashino, I feel like we could have had a great life together :(
(3)Julie V.
First off, Musashino is located in the basement of Chinatown for any first timers. It was very busy with an hour wait on a Friday night so make sure to make a reservarion. It is extremely loud too so if you plan for a low key dinner where you can talk without yelling you should find another restaurant. However, if you plan to sit and socialize at the bar this is a perfect spot for you. The restaurant is small but the ambiance and bamboo decor really liven up the atmosphere. The wait staff was friendly enough but nothing special to write home about. We had a few items recommended to us off the menu and ended up ordering the tuna tatake app, escolar sashimi, road kill roll, good times roll and the crab stuffed avocado. Hands down the fresh escolar sashimi was the winner. The tatake and avocado were good, just bland for me. The two rolls were just whatever. I had to dip them in their homemade Sriracha-like sauce to add some extra zest. I will say everything we devoured seemed to be very fresh, nothing smelled or tasted fishy unlike many sushi places in the Austin area. I will probably go back and try new items to see how the second go turns out.
(3)Quyen B.
It's really a 4.5 star review, but I'm rounding up for the Texas Chainsaw roll that I can't get anywhere else (not even close to it). This roll is not on the menu, but you can ask for it. It is salmon, tuna and shrimp wrapped in rice paper sprinkled with masago and a thin slice of key lime with every piece, all in a light fish sauce. It is steep at $17 for the roll, but worth every bite to me. The other item I come here for is the tempura ice cream (vanilla ice cream) with coffee beans. They have a good selection of nigiri, rolls, and hand rolls. I love tako (octopus), sake (salmon), hamachi, and unagi nigiri. Have not had a bad piece of sashimi/nigiri here. Spider handroll is good (soft shell crab). Their other popular item is the avocado kama, which in my opinion is better than the one at Uchi. They close on Mondays and most of the major holidays. Come early to avoid the wait during dinner time.
(5)Kimberly K.
I've heard that Musashino is up there with Uchi and Tomo for many so I re-visited it on my own recently and sat at the sushi bar for a quick bite. The atmosphere has a vintage-y, old school asian feel to it and is big but darkly lit to so it feels intimate. I like it but I still prefer Tomo and Uchi and their respective, more creative and modern menus with an emphasis on daily specials. The rice here was moist and sweet but maybe too flavorful for me and a bit too much of it with my sushi fish. It certainly does the trick and is a wonderful option for classic sushi. service was prompt and friendly!
(4)Alex R.
This place was absolutely amazing! The sushi is as authentic as you can get and I even got lemon chicken and it was the best I have had in a long time! I would recommend this for a special occasion or just a nice dinner. Can't wait to go again!
(5)Clare B.
I came here for lunch a few times with some colleagues, including a chef that seemed pretty tight with the crew here so, thanks to him, we got a little preferential treatment during our visits. Since I've only done omakase here, I was fortunate enough to try just a little bit of everything. The fish here is exceptionally fresh and the sushi chefs are masters, garnishing each dish subtly to play up different flavors. This is a high-end sushi experience in a very traditional non-pretentious setting. It's fairly dim and feels relatively private, so a great place to dine in solo. I've had ramen here as well which was solid, albeit a little sprouty. And when I say sprouty, I mean every single bite will be packed with crunch from the amount of sprouts in the soup. I think I'll request to have those on the side next time. Overall, very highly recommended.
(5)Sara R.
The best sushi I've ever had! It's the kind of sushi you'll eat and never want any other sushi ever again. I love love this place, it honestly melts in your mouth Yummy yum yum
(5)Brendan C.
Got the sushi deluxe and the spider hand roll. The hand roll was delicious! But, I take issue with the rice here. The rice wine vinegar they use may either be too sweet or too heavily applied. Also, the rice's temperature was too low. The sweetness of the rice overwhelmed the flavor of most of the fish on the sushi plate . I hear good things about the curry, and when I tried a bit - thought it was alright. Maybe I'll get that and 2 handrolls next time. Happy eating!
(3)Ashley C.
This is and has been my all time favorite restaurant for 10 years and still going strong. It is the best sushi in town. I know I know... Everyone says that about every sushi restaurant. first you have to start off with the avocado Kama as an appetizer I highly recommend trying this. The Texas hybrid roll is my favorite... Spicy and delicious! The restaurant is small but nice because it's never so loud that I can't hear myself think. I'm hungry now for musashinos... Yummy yummy
(5)Marc C.
What we got: Sashimi Moriawase, Avocado Kama, Smoked Escolar, Spicy Scallops, Chainsaw (roll), Road Runner, and fried ice cream First off, AMAZING. The Sashimi Moriawase is an assortment of 20 pieces of sashimi. It had 4 pieces each of salmon, tuna, escolar, yellow tail, and shima zushi. The pieces were fresh and tasted absolutely amazing. No need for soy sauce or anything else for that matter. The avocado kama was an avocado filled with shrimp and crab. I definitely recommend you order that for an appetizer. It's enough to sample for 2 people, but ideally you would want your own. The smoked escolar was probably one of my favorites. Served on rice with capers on top. Despite it's size, it had tons of flavor. The spicy scallops were my girlfriend's choice and her personal favorite. It is served with avocado and a special sauce that was mild at most. The two rolls we chose, chainsaw and roadrunner, were both tasty and very unique. Overall this place is a 5-star joint. The place is cozy and I would imagine that it gets pretty packed/busy due to it's small size. We were here on a Tuesday night and there were a good amount of people at the restaurant. The service was great and fast too!
(5)Tara Z.
Best Sushi I have had in a really long time.
(5)Tiffany T.
Best days to go is right when the new shipment of fresh fish arrives, which I believe was Monday and Thursday (call to make sure). They usually run out towards the end of the week. We went on a Sunday and there were some things we ordered that were out, such as the New Zealand Salmon & Sea Urchin. This is a hidden gem inside Chinatown (Not to be mistaken with the N. Lamar one). The waitress was extremely helpful in suggesting what to order as well as answered all our questions about each dish. We ordered the Avacado Kama, two orders of Bakudan mussels (it was that good that we ordered a second!) & grilled squid as appetizers: delicious! The portions here are small, pricey, BUT it's about the quality. Fresh variety of fish that melts in your mouth! Check out the pictures I posted: the presentation of each dish looks (and is) appetizing. We ended the night with Tiramisu, mmmm! It was very fluffy and light!
(5)Rachel H.
I really liked this place!! We came here for a friend's birthday and there were probably three other birthday parties happening at the same time, so I guess this is the place to go if you are having a birthday. We had about a 45 minute wait in the bar upstairs and then were buzzed down to the main dining area! I ordered the black widow roll, which was a little taste of heaven. I can't tell whether the squid ink in the rice tasted like something, or if it was the fried taste from the fish...either way, it was super tasty. Our server was all business and you could tell he just wanted to make it happen! BF got the spicy spider roll, which was not as spicy as we felt it should be but was still pretty good, nothing to write home about. We really like the seaweed salad though! It had some cool stuff in it, not even really sure what all was in it. Some kind of cucumber and radish? Tasty! I usually don't do sushi because it's so expensive, but I'd say the prices here were fair. We'll probably be back if we want to make a night of sushi again! I could see this being a really good date spot!
(4)Loc N.
This place isn't bad but expensive. It's the price you pay to get the freshest/best sashimi in Austin. But then again that isn't saying much because being the best sashimi in Austin is like being king of the rats. It's charlie work. You're never going to beat what is offered on sea-fairing cities, but it is evident they do fly in their premiums. Service here is good, but it caters to Americans, aka asking to refill your drink every 2 minutes and constant interruptions. How do people dine like that? I bet the same type of person needs their hand held as they go to the bathroom. Clientele-wise there's a lot of honkies here and internationals. So chew on that for a bit. Honestly I think most people go here for the eye-candy, it's kind of like the hooters of sushi. I'll probably come back here for some quick sushi. My tastebuds are probably all jacked from being away from seattle for so long anyways.
(4)Vinh N.
Been coming here for a long time. A little less frequently since I had kids. Before kids we were here at least once a week. Smoky is awesome and his food is fantastic. Arthur the bartender rocks!
(5)Tam N.
My girlfriend loves Musachino. She talks about it all the time and been wanting to take me here to try it for the longest since she knows how much I love sushi. So, after a long day venturing around Austin and partying at Lake Travis, we made it here an hour before they close on a Sunday evening. Its been possibly five years since my girlfriend last ate here, so trying to locate the restaurant itself was a little more difficult then usual even though our gps led us to the location. The restaurant does not have a sign on the outside so I drove past it twice until we decided to pull into the parking lot and checked out a building with the sign that says "China Town," I believe. And wa-LA, we have arrived at Musachino. Upon entering I noticed the inside was dimly lit which made it a nice place for a date night. We opted to sit at the sushi bar. Its fun to watch the sushi chefs work. And amazed I was. What keeps my girlfriend coming back to this place is their Texas Hybrid Roll which consists of your choice of tuna or salmon wrapped with rice paper, avocado, and scallions. The sauce that comes on the side ofthe roll is what she digs. We ordered 2 right off the back as well as a Spider Roll. For myself, I just made my life easier by ordering the Sushi/Sashimi combo. It was comprised of 7 pcs of sushi, assorted pcs of sashimi, and about 3 pcs of a sushi roll. All was very good and delightful. The only thing that i would complain about is (which isn't anything big at all) that I wished the chef would have explained or pointed out what fish was what that were on the plate. Service was good. Before we left, I asked kindly for a hot green tea to-go (so I can fight to stay awake for the long drive home). Our waitress was nice enough to put it in a kids cup for us (I'm assuming they don't have styrofoam cup). My girlfriend was happy that she got her Texas Hybrid Roll fix after five long years. I left with a content belly. We'll definitely be back next time we're in town!!
(5)Alex T.
Best sushi in Austin! I got toro, jumbo sweet shrimps, monkfish livers, etc.. sooo goood. I aslo got a road runner roll. It was alright. Sake kama was good and last but not least the tempura ice cream is amazing! Friendly service too :) Definitely will be back.
(4)David J.
Excellent Sushi. Highly recommend the sushi bar for those who prefer chef interaction.
(5)Jonathan N.
Recommendations: -Texas Hybrid (salmon) -Avocado Kama (recommend no sharing) -Tuna Tataki -Big Southerner -Fu Manchu (very strong drink) I've been going here for years and this is my absolute favorite sushi restaurant in Austin (been to Uchi, Uchiko, Qui, Sushi Junai). This is the best place to go to for traditional Japanese food and the service has always been great. All the recommendations above are what I HIGHLY recommend from countless times of eating here and trying different things.
(5)Abril D.
The best traditional sushi in Austin. The food is impeccable. They master both traditional and experimental. Also, their staff is incredibly well trained and polite. Best traditional sushi in Austin!
(5)Beau B.
Good, friendly service. Very fresh very tasty sushi. I don't usually go for citrus on my fish but the sliced lime adds a nice pop of brightness to the sushi without overpowering it.
(4)James C.
In town for business; I google "best sushi in Austin" and this is the result...I trek out there on a Tuesday night (it is a bit of a journey from south Austin) and I get seated at the bar right away. First thing I notice is that unless they know you, you don't actually interact with the sushi chefs. I find this strange. I order, and I find that you get one piece per order. They are ok sized pieces of fish but I'm used to two pieces of the same size per order. I also had a couple of the signature rolls that were ok, not bad but not great. Basically I got about half as much sushi as I'm used to for twice the price I'm used to paying. The fresh fish was tasty and fresh and the rolls were nothing to take back to my local sushi place that I done even actually order at anymore; they just bring me things they know I like. Next time I am in town I will try someplace else.
(3)Mimi W.
Good food but expensive. I don't think it taste better than other restaurants that serve sushi. The noise level is horrible. Most of our conversations consisted of "what?". I couldn't hear the waitress very well and the other workers couldn't hear or see us. I did like our server, but some of the other workers need to step it up. I think a hostess tried to refill water and ran out with a pitcher, she said she would be back. She was a liar. The other half of the party didn't get any water. I had to drink other people's water. I raised my hand and called for other workers to refill my water. With the noise level noone could hear me and since it dark as hell, noone could see my hand. Yea, I raised my hand like a student. I would choose other restaurants before returning. The prices were high and the service made me feel neglected.
(4)Matt S.
What a pleasant dining experience. Possibly the best sushi I've ever had in my life. Had the Gyu Tataki and Avacado Kama for appetizers - holy sh*t balls, just amazing. The avacado kama was so creamy and flavorful and oozed with rich, buttery goodness. And, the thinly sliced beef was delicious as well. For rolls, we got the Big Southern and the Rock N Roll. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Especially the Big Southern. Pure bliss...period. Also the fatty tuna and yellowtail sashimi were ridiculously fresh and melted in your mouth. Just a wonderful experience all around...A+
(5)Ty N.
Had the chance to try this restaurant for the first time tonight and I must say I am really impressed. Can't believe I just now discovered this hidden gem. For appetizer, order the Avocado Kama, Mutsu Kasuzuke (sea bass), Gyu Tataki, and Age Tofu. Entree wise anything fish is going to be great. They're fresh and not smothered in mayo or some type of sauce like many Japanese restaurants around. For dessert, try the Tiramisu. Your taste buds won't be disappointed. Sit at the sushi bar for a great view!
(5)Sandra M.
Wow. That is the only word I can think of when it comes to this restaurant. After going to Japan on vacation, I was ruined. I could not eat any sushi in the states without saying "ugh. This has no flavor.". With such disappointment, I never thought it would be possible to eat sushi again. Then, a good coworker told me about this place that his wife, who lived in Japan, loved. My boyfriend surprised me with dinner reservations here and we had so much sushi, miso soup, and saki that I should have been rolled out of the restaurant. Everything I ate was so flavorful and tasted so fresh. The sake menu was ridiculous and the wait staff was so helpful in finding the appropriate sake. The decor made you feel like you were at a Japanese Farm House restaurant. All the wood, the sushi bar, and the decorations transport you to Japan. I am definitely coming back here.
(5)Kristina O.
Our local friends took us here for dinner and I was beyond impressed. I loved the authentic Japanese feel to this place. We ordered 3 rolls and an order of the pot stickers. I had the Hawaiian roll. Which was tuna, avocado, cucumber and sesame seeds. The tuna was melt in your mouth buttery fresh. My husband had some tempura fried craw fish roll with a delicious cilantro sauce. He said it was the best roll he has ever had. We split the California roll with tempura flakes. It was pretty much the best California roll I have ever had. That says a lot because California rolls are pretty standard across the board. The wait staff was very friendly, efficient and fast. We really enjoyed ourselves and will most definitely be back when we visit.
(4)Minerva L.
The rolls are super tiny compared to California. I didn't feel any heat, they do not use real habanaro peppers, only japalenos. Despite that, they were pretty good. Just get the ones with the caviar. Big Souther - 5/5 - The ink squid was really good. Earthy taste and the sauce was amazing, my favorite! Texas Road Kill - 4/5 - The salmon is really good, not bad with the sauce and flavor. 34 Special - 4/5 - Not bad, the caviar really makes it taste good. South Sider - 3/5 - Had it with unagi, it was good, but didn't like the rice paper wrap. Texas Hybrid - 2.5/5 - Really didn't like the rice paper, just makes it heavy and not that great. Generally, most sushi restaurant do not have anago, but this place does. They have two kinds, sweet and salty lime, I tried the salty lime, it was 'so-so'. The anago is not fresh, so it was really dry. Avocado Kama - 4/5 - Can be heavy, but I never had a baked avocado, so it was interesting. The spicy mayo sauce played well with it. I didn't like the shrimp too much. Gyu Tataki - 3/5 - Don't really like raw beef, and the fact I knew it was raw made me not want to give it that many points. The flavor profile was good because of the saltiness with the acid. Nice lime fresh flavors. I came right when it opened and got a table. I heard it can be really packed. The service was great with removing plates and giving us water. Tempura Ice Cream w/ Bourbon sauce - 4/5 - Really good with the sauce, but it was a bit sweet. Overall, I love the shell and the taste of all the flavors combined in one bite. It's a must try if you never had deep fried ice cream. YOU MUST get the BOURBON sauce! Worth the extra two bucks.
(4)Liz O.
We went for lunch. Ordered several pieces (tuna, yellowtail, escolar, salmon) and two rolls (rock n roll & Elvis). The fish quality was excellent and the pieces were cut a little larger than most places. The rolls were boring and both had romaine lettuce in them which was not mentioned on the menu. There wasn't any interesting rolls on the lunch menu. Traditional decor and somewhat dirty bathrooms. I think it's a little overpriced; 60+ for lunch with no alcohol. I probably won't go back. I prefer Uchi, Lucky Robot, and most of the downtown sushi places over this one.
(3)Darren B.
I really enjoyed my first visit here a few weeks ago. When I got there I was told the wait was 40 minutes and it was really busy. I don't know how this happened because I don't remember slipping anyone a $20, but we were seated within 5 or 10 minutes. The service was excellent and I loved the atmosphere. If I didn't know I was in Austin, I could be fooled into thinking I was in a sushi house in Japan. The nigiri we ordered were my favorite, especially the salmon (the one on special). It was melt in your mouth delicious. The lobster nigri was great too. The rolls were good as well. I'm a sucker for good quality and I truly feel they take their sushi seriously here which I respect and will keep me coming back. It ain't cheap here, and I was in Vancouver recently and had sushi of the same quality for a 1/3rd the price, but to get sushi this fresh in Austin, it is worth it. I look forward to future visits!
(4)Janice L.
Okay I see the disappointment with reviewers/Yelpers lately so I wanted to add my two cents. First off, you know big competitor Uchi(overrated)? Tyson Cole? Well he trained underneath the mastermind here at Musashino himself, which you can see behind the sushi bar often working his tail off! Respect!! See my not so sneaky, "Smoky smile" picture lol. I've been eating sushi here since 2006 when I first moved to Austin from Houston. Since then, I have never found a sushi place to top Musashino. Appetizers: Avocado Kama Avocado Kama EVO Bakudan mussels (I miss the oysters from back then ): ) Tuna tataki (squeeze the lime) Sushi: Rolls: Ozzy II Texas Hybrid with your choice of tuna or salmon Black widow Nigiri- Seared Bin Toro- mouthgasm! Suicide- just do it if you can handle a small bit of heat ;) Otoro- it's kind of like a delicacy. See if they have it that night. Pricy per piece but order it for the experience & to say you've tried the most desired piece of tuna-belly. Uni-buttery, delicious, creamy goodness Tobiko, masago (small fish eggs) or Ikura (Nemo-sized fish eggs) w/ quail egg on top- nom! In love heart eyes emojis!! Ama ebi!! Do it! Dip that shell in some soy sauce and eat it all! Like shrimp chips Finish off with an order of warm, sizzling, tender yet crispy and smoky Unagi. Then dessert time. Please, listen to me. I will tell Santa to put you on the naughty list this year if you don't. TIRAMISU!!! Their spin of traditional, heavy Italian dessert is quite light, fluffy & genius!!! Coffee beans are edible. Food deserves a 10+ out of 5. To me. Customer service a 4.3. Sometimes you catch the attitudes of the asian waitresses but most times they're lovely but could be slow to clear plates or maybe I eat too fast? Ambience- not much here. Just enjoy your sushi! :)
(5)Brittany R.
I can honestly say I've never been in and out of a Japanese restaurant so quickly. That's awesome except for the fact we wanted a date night and we walked in and out within 30-40 min max. Our server, Sarah, was very attentive and there was another young woman that came by a couple times to clear plates. Ordered a California roll, spicy crawfish, and chicken teriyaki. I would recommend all of them. Presentation was amazing. My food was so pretty! I give them 4 stars for being so damn quick and a little on the expensive side with no happy hour. I can see why though. They probably want to turn the tables over quickly to make that money.
(4)Sonie S.
The sushi here seemed very unique in terms of ingredients used. I had never had rice infused with squid ink before, but the black rice gave the sushi a nice, different look. The other ingredients involved were very flavorful too. The atmosphere is very cozy and pretty without feeling like it's too upscale. The location was a bit hard to find for us only because there was no big sign with the name on it. Instead, we saw a sign for a Chinese restaurant that's upstairs from Mushashino so we kept driving past it. So once you see the Chinese name, you're at the right place. Just stay on the bottom floor.
(4)Joanna C.
I feel bad giving this place a 2, but with such an awful dining experience paired with ok sushi, the best I can do is round to 2.5. Helpful note to first timers: There is no signage. It's located on the first floor of a Chinese restaurant (we passed by this twice). The decor and ambiance is really nice - one star for that. More importantly - the sushi. It's good, but not great. BUT you get nice pretty big slices which is what saved this review. The escolar and yellowtail was delicious and fresh. Salmon was meh which was a little sad because that's always a favorite. Unfortunately, the rice was heavy on the vinegar which tended to overpower the sushi. It's a delicate balance - when done right you get the best sushi rice ever - but tonight they didn't quite get that balance and were a little heavy handed. The spicy tofu salad was good. If the sushi was perfect, that would have bumped up this review and maybe helped us forget the lack of service, but unfortunately it didn't. And I don't mean just inattentive service - I mean there is hot steaming tea you served from a broken cup (broken in the bottom) coming toward me like a flash flood and you run to the other side of the restaurant because using the dish towel normally used to wipe down tables is more important than making sure I don't get drenched. Thankfully, my boyfriend was a little quicker. He grabbed the napkin from the closest empty table to make sure the waterfall of tea didn't land on my lap and I didn't eat dinner wearing wet pants. Between the flash flood incident, the wait to place our food order (it was not a busy night, we had to flag down the hostess to get our waitress), and the fact that you can't order veggie tempura with just sweet potatoes (which they serve), it was just the trifecta of a bad dining experience. I was really looking forward to eating here and finding a great sushi option in Austin, Sadly, this won't be it.
(2)Amanda W.
My mom used to work at this restaurant and ever since she introduced me to them ive been in love. The teriyaki and every thing here is great. I love the chicken karagge the most along with the teriyaki chicken with rice. I actually prefer the lunch over the dinner cause the portions are larger and theres more japanese comfort food options. The ozzy roll is my favorite cause i like the fish eggs that burst in your mouth when you bite into the roll. Overall the place is pretty expensive though and you will need to order more than one roll in order to fill yourself up but this place offers a wonderful dining experience.
(5)Stephanie P.
This place has always been a favorite of mine but has been overshadowed by Uchi and Uchiko. In my humble opinion the quality of food here is just as good. I also love the fact that there are no signs to mark this restaurant. I know, sucks if you're trying to find it but it gives that feeling of exclusivity. Yes, I like the feeling of being VIP only if it is just for an hour. Every single dish was amazing. (Not exaggerating). We got the tuna tataki and beef tataki (gyu tataki) for apps. Gyu tataki is a must order. The filet mignon is melt-in your-mouth perfection. We got the sushi/sashimi combo which is 10 pieces of nigiri and sashimi for $35. Not bad. The rolls were pretty awesome also. I recommend the road runner and the Marilyn mon-roll. There's something about the temperature of the rolls that made it really awesome. Sounds extremely nerdy, but they were slightly above room temp which made the rice really soft and made the coldness of fish stand out. Makes a difference, trust me. Service was knowledgeable and friendly + they take reservations = I'll be back.
(5)Son N.
Japanese feeling, great fresh sushi, awesome sushi chefs when at the bar marred by rude hostess who can't treat me like a human being. This place had a good vibe to it. Friendly faces, great food but jeez I'm a bit irked by a hostess that can't tell me to move herself. I picked a nice spot at the bar but I guess I can't sit in certain spots? Is it strange for someone to stand a foot away from you and instead of asking you to move a seat down, she orders the server to get me to move? I've never been so annoyed. My theory is to treat people like people and usually things go well. I know I wore my biker gear and all but I'm still a person - talk to me like one. In any case, aside from the rudeness - I had the fatty tuna and fatty albacore as well as a couple of rolls. These were very delicious! I may have ordered a bit more but felt un-welcomed even though the server was nice and the sushi chefs were fantastic. I may come here again but if I am treated as a second class citizen just because of my biker gear - I'm sure other top notch sushi spots will take me as I am. Summary: great food, great chefs and servers, hostess was having a bad day? I just can't explain how people can't treat you like a human being. 3 stars as food can only carry a place so far.
(3)Dave M.
We went on a Friday evening and it was very busy. Had to wait 1/2 hour for a table, but it was worth it. I ordered a bento box for $30.00 and it was very well worthi it A great mix of food and some left overs to bring home. The Philadelphia roll was also very tasty. I would come back here when I travel back to Austin! Still in town for a week and a half, I returned to Musashino Sushi two more times before flying out of Austin. I would highly recommend this place. I tried the rainbow roll which was excellent!
(5)Grant K.
Yep went back tonight for Mother's Day dinner, and Musashino reaffirmed why I gave them 5 stars the first time. For those yelps that say they give bad service, do every sushi lover and employee of Musashino a favor and go to PF Changs if you want that stupid, cheesy, script-based service. OG sushi places like this don't want your business anyways. This place rocks.
(5)Dave Y.
There is plenty to love about this place, including quality ramen that makes for an excellent lunch option, but make no mistake about it: this is THE place in town for traditional nigiri. I never walk out feeling unsatisfied, but I always feel a little regret that I can't fit everything I want into a single meal. It's always worthwhile asking about the specials. They're likely to have quality toro and/or Norwegian salmon and/or fatty albacore. But the best starting point is one of the sushi specials. You can always add on other pieces you want a la carte. You start with a nice little salad (although they always go too heavy on the ginger dressing), followed by a simple, clean miso soup with a soothing, medicinal quality. As with any good sushi joint, part of the mission is providing quality cuts of fish, highlighting their natural virtues, and largely staying out of the way. That's what you'll get with the hamachi (and even more so, the hamachi kama), the sake (particularly the sake toro), the uni, the roe (both ikura and tobiko), and the seared escolar, which has an almost juicy character. But they also do some pretty special things with garnishes and flourishes: * The smoked mussel with spicy mayo is very good, but the spicy scallop (also with avocado) is sublimely creamy and full of pleasant flavors. * The garnish gives the albacore a vegetable-like initial taste that serves as a nice preamble to the distinctly rich, oily finish. * If you want to sense their talent, try the saba with plum sauce. The sauce itself is a little potent -- like plum cough syrup -- but it gives way to an amazingly controlled and complex series of flavors: the pleasantly salty, meaty flesh turns sweet, buttery, and even a bit metallic at the end. * The hotate can be quite surprising. They don't always garnish it the same way, but I've had it with a slice of lemon (rind included) and it was explosively, but not ruinously, spicy: almost like a jolt of electricity in my mouth. The heat was something between the nasal heat of wasabi and the tongue heat of pepper, yet also something altogether unique unto itself. * Both the unagi and the anago are reliably warm, sweet, meaty, and yummy. The latter is probably a bit nicer than the former, but you can't go wrong with either. * The ankimo is served in a thick, dense pate style. It's almost like peanut butter in its richness. * The tamago is large, dense, sweet, and pastry-like, yet also seafood-y (but clean-tasting). Value-wise, it's one of the best pieces on the menu, and I recommend you finish with it as they tend to do in Tokyo. If you're in the mood to splurge, the omakase is a heck of a meal. I came in with a painfully empty stomach and left with a painfully full one. In between was a lot of extremely pleasant food. Warning: be careful with the shima zushi. They seem to include it with all the specials, and it's garnished with an inconsistent quantity of jalapeno (not only in amount of pepper, but in how many seeds those pepper slices contain). Sometimes I find the heat balanced with the fish, other times it not only overwhelms the flavor, but leaves enough chili oil on the tongue to suck the nuance out of subsequent pieces. You may want to save this for nearer the end, or take some of the peppers off.
(4)Hayden C.
My girlfriend and I came here for our 3rd anniversary on a Sunday around 7. We were immediately sat at a nice little table near the wall. First thing I noticed was how loud it was. A baby was screaming bloody murder for about 10 minutes as we looked over the menu. Our waitress came over and was trying to tell us about the specials but it was so loud we couldn't hear her. We ordered and all of the sushi came out VERY quickly(seriously about 5 minutes for the first rolls). I'm no sushi veteran so I will just say that I really enjoyed the food and leave it at that. All of the things we tried were great, and none of it was "fishy". About halfway through the meal my girlfriend discovered a little grasshopper-like bug in her water glass... We asked for another glass and didn't make a big deal out of it. The waitress was really kind and told us that the manager was arranging a special surprise for the end of the meal. Pretty nice. We finished our sushi and then a couple was sat next to us wearing their DIRTY WORKOUT CLOTHES. SLEEVELESS SHIRTS, SWEATY SHORTS. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I know it's not as "fancy" as Uchi but give me a break. I'm glad I was done eating because looking at a grown man's hairy armpit isn't my idea of appetizing MUCH less romantic... The waitress then brought us a free dessert with our check! It was great. ALSO the manager had comped our bottle of sake! Extremely generous surprise which more than made up for the bug incident. Overall I enjoyed our dinner here but I don't know that I will come back for a date night... If I hadn't been forced to stare at a sweaty half naked man during my meal, my review would have been 4 stars easily.
(3)Michael M.
Cock roach. As soon as our food arrived a cock roach appeared on the table right next to my plate - presumably it was on the underside of the plate.
(1)Happy O.
You get me, I like that about you! The innovative nature of the sushi there is nothing short of amazing. If you are into the traditional sushi, yeah you will find it here. If you are the adventurous type and like to experiment then you have come to the right place . The Black Widow with the squid ink infused rice is spectacular. The suicide salmon is so simple, yet so tasty I have to have it every time I go there. The Road Runner is well it makes me want to run over there right now to get some of its habanero infused caviar salmon squid ink infused goodness. The edamame is solid, the miso soup is quite delicious and the service there is spot on. The only time I am unhappy with this place is when they are closed.
(4)Brian W.
I recently revisited this great restaurant, after being away for about a decade. I really missed it! What a great experience. The ambiance is great. Food is incredible. The wait staff provides the perfect amount of friendly service, without getting in the way. I can't wait to go back and try more items on the menu. It won't take me another decade to return!
(5)Alexis D.
The restaurant is nothing fancy and you won't find any eclectic dishes such as fish served with fruit, saki cocktails, etc. but you will find very fresh traditional sushi. The smoked salmon nigiri is the best as is the smoked edamame. Definitely my go to place when I am craving simple, good sushi! Service is also really good.
(5)William S.
Fire the white guy sushi chef. This guy was terrible in every single way. He talked crap about waitresses at the restaurant saying they were b*tches and kept saying, "I am so tired of f*cking working. I hope we get off early." That's the last thing a customer wants to hear. He was bringing out the worst in other chefs too. He was also the first to finish his cleaning and was drinking sitting with the waitresses. Meanwhile, everyone else was working. What the heck!?! The food was subpar for musashino too. I often compare it to uchiko and today that was WAY OFF! Musashino for years has been an institution for sushi. Tyson Cole of Uchi cut his teeth there before moving to Japan. This place has a history of producing excellence. That is why this was so frustrating.
(3)Dominic V.
Its good, but sushi in texas isn't like sushi on the west coast...sorry.
(4)Dee W.
Seriously, when people ask me where to go for sushi, this is my first answer -- with no hesitation.
(5)Jess B.
My stars are for the delicious foods. The service is waaaaaaay to slooooooow. Even after sitting down it was 10 more minutes before a server approach the table. Go here if you got much time to burn. 45min wait, ja! More like 1hr 20mins.
(4)June P.
I love this place! Despite of Uchi / Uchiko getting all the hype these days, this place remains my favorite traditional sushi place. We had a couple of appetizers - avocado Kama and this beef tartar looking thing. They were good but I've had better appetizers at contemporary places such as KUU and Uchi. For nigiri, we had bluefin otoro, sweet shrimp, and escolar. Each and every bite was FANTASTIC!! Never had sweet shrimp so delicious with perfectly crispy shell and head even cleaned in a way that you can eat the whole thing!! Bluefin otoro was beautiful as expected at $18 per piece. Tempura ice cream was delicious as well. Overall, this is a great place if you want to stick to traditional Japanese menu items.
(5)Miranda W.
I am a huge fan on Mushashino...my favorite thing to get there is the Suicide Salmon. It is to die for!
(4)JoAnna H.
It can get very pricey especially if you're ordering nigiri and sashimi. The quality of the fish is one of the best in austin. It's a good date spot. The lighting is always super romantic time haha. My faves are the ami ebi, ankimo appetizer and uni. I've always experienced good service at Musashino. Overall, one of my favorite restaurants in Austin.
(4)Doryan R.
Holy moly, how is it that I've never been here until now?! Probably money. Yeah, it can get pricey. But honestly, for the quality of the food and service, it's totally worth splurging for. Saturday night, my friend had a sushi craving, insisted on paying, and insisted on Musashino. I was not about to argue. We wrangled her youngest kiddo, who insisted he didn't like sushi, and were promptly seated over at the side bar. Service: Hot towels!? You've gotta be kidding me! That's a heck of a way to start your experience! We had a waitress who was pretty on top of things, and if she wasn't around, there were plenty of helpful, smiling young ladies running about who offered assistance. Good job, team! Drinks: Decent wine list, full bar, didn't try the sake this time around. Food: Dang. So, this young man who "doesn't like sushi" and was going to order a fried chicken dish discovered some of the more metal names of maki rolls on their menu. Before you know it, we had ordered an Ozzy Ozbourne and a Black Sabbath roll, and we had to fight him to get our own pieces. Great flavor combos. After that, and an amazing seabass app, we ordered our weight in nigiri, and he ordered some as well, specifically stating, "Ooh! I wanna eat the baby octopus!" And he did. I think we've got a winner. I like that they inform you of which sushi is made without a need for soy/wasabi sauce, and I also like that when I ordered their Otoro she made sure I knew what the market price was per piece. They also offer additional sides of other sauces you can order for some of the more delicate fish. Their ponzu goes well with some of these, in my opinion. The Hamachi Kama, Suicide Salmon, and Spicy Scallop were all lovely. The Escolar (both smoked and seared) was off-the-hook delicious (smoked was better, imo). The makerel was just too salty for me. The Otoro? O. O....toro... Good lord, that stuff is amazing. As we left, the hostesses informed us that we were the most entertaining table of the evening. I couldn't tell if it was the jaunty hat, the young man eating his first baby octopus, or the part when I stood up too fast, knocking my stool over, picking it up where it hit the table with the other end, turned around and took a quick bow. I suppose it could've been any of those things...
(4)Beth J.
I have been here multiple times, but recently went with a friend for dinner. We sat upstairs at the bar for drinks before dinner and the atmosphere was great. But the dinner was amazing! Really the best sushi I've had in quite awhile. We had the chef choose selections of nigiri for us and although I have no recollection of exactly what I ate, the memory of how fresh and tasty it was is what stays with me! Wow...I wanna go here every night. Unfortunately my budget won't allow that. :( Will definitely be back as much as my paycheck allows.
(5)Nicole E.
First off, don't be fooled by the Chinatown sign outside ... it's the right place. We drove around it a few times before giving up and thinking we were eating Chinese for lunch. Everyone at lunch today was blown away by how fresh and tasty the sushi was. One friend said it was the 'best sushi in Austin' and while I haven't tried every sushi place in the city I have to agree it's on my top list. There were plenty of options, friendly service and fresh fresh sushi - what more could you ask for. I will be returning!
(5)Kim H.
My favorite sushi restaurant in Austin! Try the Road Runner with soft shell crab and the South Sider with yellowtail! YUM!
(5)Shiba C.
I've been a loyal Musashino customer since moving to Texas and every meal here had been a 5-star experience. Tonight was so, SO disappointing... I always order the Super Deluxe, but tonight I was given the Sushi Deluxe (16 pieces of expensive fish vs 9 pieces of cheap/moderate fish). When I brought it to my waiters' attention, he was apologetic but did not offer to fix the situation in any way shape or form. Bringing me whatever I wanted would have fully fixed it, offering something compliments of the house would have been fine, but nada. How nice of him to mention all the nigiri pieces that were missing from my meal and suggesting that I could order them separately. But this would have ended up costing me ALOT more than if I got the Super Deluxe. And never mind that the Super Deluxe comes with a roll that costs around $10 and not 2 pieces of Futomaki. Service issues aside, the rice tonight was way over-seasoned and was so mushy that it does not deserve to be adorned by such beautifully fresh pieces of fish. Speaking of fish, the cuts tonight were much smaller than usual. Given these two issues, I restored to not paying another $20 on sushi to get a full meal, and just wanted to leave. The fact that I was seated at the remarkably uncomfortable and awkward "side-bar" only accelerated my desire to GTFO. That was seriously the most disappointing meal I've had in recent memory. And the fact that I paid $30 for 9 pieces of mushy sushi and still left hungry was insulting. I'm seriously not sure if I'll be back, ever...
(1)June P.
This is the best sushi place in Austin for sure. Most of their menu are authentic Japanese, precisely Tokyo style (Edomae sushi). This is the restaurant, to where I bring my Japanese friends, and they all loved this place. Not cheap at all, but very artsy and tasty. They also have awesome vegetarian sushi plate. Some rolls are veggie friendly too. My mother-in-law never eats raw fish, but she can find something she likes too (like Teriyaki chicken).
(5)Wendy F.
Amazingly fresh sushi, great service, and inventive ways to prepare fish. I absolutely enjoyed the visit.
(5)Lindsay S.
Oh my Heaven. It is on the pricier side however it is definitely worth it. I'm from Florida so finding true sushi (not fusion) that is fresh is hard. For one, you know the place is awesome when you walk in and the customer majority is Asian... It's true. We had the Sushi Deluxe platter, Texas Chainsaw (secret menu,) roadrunner roll, Texas Hybrid roll, the Shrimp Tempura Udon noodle soup, and the Gyu Tataki appetizer (OUTRAGEOUS, a must get order.) We also had an order of Mochi which was delicious. Everything I would order again however, I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu. Another thing to know is they do not split checks so if you go with a big group I would suggest using the crowd funding application, Tilt. Tilt allows the person who takes care of the check to post a picture of the receipt and invite all parties that were there into the group so everyone can just payback one person based on what they ordered. Great application for restaurants who do not cater to large parties who desire separate checks.
(5)Madilyn M.
Better atmosphere than Uchi and the quality of fish is superb. The unique rolls are filling and delicious. Musashino is a consistently wonderful sushi experience. Very Austin, very delicious. Thank you Musashino!
(5)Danielle W.
Musashino's is an old Austin staple. With so many new sushi joints popping up all over the place, this one is a tried and true Austin haven for sushi lovers. The best spot for fine-dining sushi in my opinion. It's located off of Far West, so you don't have to deal with the increasing headache of fighting downtown traffic and parking. The ambiance and decor is by far my favorite in Austin. It has an old, Japanese inspired interior that is beautiful and cozy, so enjoyable and pleasing to the eye you will want your dinner to last for hours. Perfect for a nice date night. The food is just incredible, very traditional (or more so than most other sushi joints). The have a very large assortment of sushi and sashimi. They offer nigiri dressed in all sorts of ways, like the samarai salmon, with thai peppers, or hamachi with jalapeno. You can't find that at most places in Austin. They have every type of sushi for a true sushi fanatic, from Ankimo to Uni, Aji and Baby Yellowtail. Everything is incredibly fresh and delicious. Rolls include traditional style to their house specialty's. Another wondeful feature they have is black rice infused with squid ink, definitely worth trying. It has a different flavor than regular sushi rice, and they pair it well in their rolls. My favorite roll with this rice is the Black Widow, with soft shell crab and habenero masago. If you want something from the kitchen try the lobster tempura, it is legit! It is basically a whole lobster tail cut up and tempura fried, so succulent with the perfect amount of tempura coating. For dessert, I always get mochi because they are one of the few places in town that has good mochi, I am almost positive they get it from Bubbies (I think that's the name) in Hawaii. Most places just have the cheap, freezer-burned mochi not worth ordering. I could go on and on and on about how amazing their food/sushi is, but you should try it for yourself! There is no possible way you will be disappointed!
(5)B C.
If this is your favorite place for sushi it just means you need to travel more, rookie.
(3)Jessica H.
Freshest sushi in Austin, also most authentic options. (While still offering great rolls) The menu is huge. There's something for the sushi-sashimi lover or the less adventurous Japanese diners. They have a parking lot, service is good, food is FAST and delicious. The escolar kushiyaki is good. The tuna tataki is great! The Texas road kill is great for spicy roll enthusiasts. You can't go wrong here!
(4)Daniel P.
This may be one of my first posts but I'm not a first to the service and food industry and I can tell you that the staff does not handle things properly here. We called ahead at 7PM and made a "reservation" for 8PM. We showed up at 7:45PM and we were told that our "wait" for our "reservation" would be an hour! An HOUR...are you kidding me!? So much for making a reservation... We were told by management that there was "nothing they could do"... so, needless to say I will NEVER be visiting this establishment again!
(1)Jannie T.
Let me first say that this place is a little hard to find. Google Maps put us right in front of a restaurant with a Chinatown sign on it. After going inside, we found that Musashino is located on the first floor. So tip to others, just go inside and head down the stairs. I visited this evening w/my family (5.5ppl). The wait was roughly 30mins for a Friday evening, which wasn't bad. The hostess was nice and our server was attentive. We tried three appetizers: avocado kama, gyu tataki and the shrimp tempura. Highly recommend the avocado kama - the deliciousness of crab over avocado with that sauce, omg, it literally melted in my mouth. For dinner, I ordered the evil knevil roll and the Texas chainsaw roll, the later not on their menu but was suggested to us by the server. The evil knevil roll was good, but it would have been better without the lemon jest. The Texas chainsaw was very flavorful, and I would order it again. The family had a sushi deluxe, shrimp tempura dinner, una ju bento, and the shokado bento. All the dishes were plentiful with meats, especially the bentos. We ended the night with tempura ice cream and green tea ice cream - I say skip the green tea ice cream. Enjoyed my dinner and would certainly return.
(4)Angela W.
After trying so many sushi places in Austin and giving up hope on some of them, we decided to stick with Musashino FOREVER. Fish is always fresh, friendly staff, and we are completely in love with the ambience and decor. Don't get their curry, I can easily beat them with mine but let's focus on the food that made us leave our couch and drive out! Sushi, nigiri, and sashimi! This place is the real deal, look no further Yelpers!
(5)Dea E.
The food is extraordinary, the chefs amazing. The service sucks as it does in most Austin restaurants.The waitresses are unfailingly rude to me each time I go but I put up with it anyway. Adore the food and I go strictly for that.
(3)Steve G.
Don't let all the glowing 5 star ratings fool you. This place serves the smallest portions at the most expensive price I've seen in Austin. I've been in Austin for 20 years and this place is familiar with Austinites. I hesitated to go back knowing their reputation back in the 90s which included health concerns and continued preferential service from their wait staff to favorite customers (if you weren't one, then you waited a long time for your food) on busy nights. I ordered a selection of the popular rolls, specials, and off-the-menu. Yes, most Austin sushi places are high priced for the value, but this place epitomizes it for the inconsistent quality. The higher quality fish ordered were so small, they must think we're stupid. We're not. Every reputable sushi place in Austin can offer you more. It's been around so long in the same building, it's no wonder they keep the place as dark as possible (no it's not the ambience they're creating).
(1)Graham F.
Best sushi in town. Trust me. There's nothing better in Austin. Or maybe even Texas. Go now. I'm serious. If there were six stars I'd give it.
(5)Snow C.
Oh wow-the new menu is incredible. Lucky recommended the Road Runner roll and it is yummy yummy good. My new favorite...hands down! Can't wait to go back and order more items off the new menu if they are anything like the Road Runner roll. Of course my old favorites such as the gyu tataki and avocado kama are still on the menu but I am anxious to see what other delightful treats Musashino has in store for me on my next visit!!
(5)Alice L.
I tried the Chicken Katsu Curry here. It was very good! It was not cheap at $17, but the katsu was fried nicely (not too greasy or rock hard), so it was worth it. I also enjoyed the seaweed salad as an appetizer. It was seaweed plus various greens, an eclectic little bowl.
(4)Rachel S.
Like others have said, it's not the easiest to find. Look for the Chinatown sign or else you'll drive past it. Musashino is on the 1st floor of the building. The atmosphere is dark, but it's really busy for Saturday night dinner. Once you're seated, it's fast service! Five sushi chefs and one sashimi chef speedily churn out orders. We got our sushi before my miso soup cooled down. The sashimi is served nice and cold. All the fish tastes really fresh. Yeah, it's pricey, but if you're wanting really good fresh sushi, this place is worth the splurge. Oh yeah, bonus: they give you the check with a fresh cut orange. yum yum.
(5)Kenneth R.
Not that good. The lunch special comes with a brownish riced filled piece of pure grossness included and their salad dressing options are limited to one that overpowers the veggies. The interior feels dated and sharing a restroom with another restaurant upstairs is.. strange.
(2)William H.
Fantastic sushi. But expensive. Everything was fresh. Expect to pay north of $15 per 7 or so piece roll. They will not split the cheque.
(4)Rebecca L.
My visit to Musashino was prompted by an email from an airline dining rewards program informing me that I only had a couple of days left to earn 3 miles/$ spent. Of course I had to take advantage of that. Being in a long distance relationship, you can use all the frequent flier miles you can get. Also, I had been reading reviews of Jiro Dream of Sushi and it had me dreaming of sushi also. I've read a lot of complaints about the service, but my server Vivian was so great. She actually reminded me a lot of my friend A, who is outgoing and really friendly. I had a glass of plum wine which was cloyingly sweet, similar to a dessert wine. I probably won't get that next time. I had to try the Ankimo Kobachi appetizer, because I wanted to know what monkfish liver tasted like. Surprisingly, it tastes like salmon, and not like liver at all. It's got a pate-ish texture but smoother. I would recommend it. It's three pieces for $9.50 and comes in a little bowl with ponzu sauce and some citrus. I thought it was delicious. I ordered five pieces of nigiri: uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon caviar), hotate (Japanese scallop), escolar (white fish), and spicy smoked mussels. The pieces were kind of big. It's poor etiquette to eat a piece of sushi in more than one bite, so I did my best to cram each piece in my mouth. I felt like I was playing chubby bunny with sushi. It's an expensive game, lemme tell ya. Out of the five nigiri I ordered, I'd have to say I liked the ikura the best. The caviar just sort of melted in my mouth. It was way better than cod liver oil, which is what I was expecting it to taste like. The uni wasn't bad either, but it was a little gritty. Overall, I enjoyed great service, and high quality food. I think I like going out to dinner by myself. It's definitely half the hassle....
(4)Jeff P.
ROACH CITY!! Nuff said. I thought I'd give this place a break but the last time it was just unbearable! Giant roaches on the walls. No, not small ones - these are the 3-4"ers we're talking about. Oh and they fly too. Now that I've gotten that off my chest....lets get to the food :) It's very good but they're always "out of the good stuff" (read: saving it for the next day) The waitresses (other than Sarah and a couple of others) are just plan RUDE and unpleasent........but the roaches? I mean come on! This is just sick. Makes me want to puke. How hard is it to pay for a pest service? Heck 4 Sushi plates could pay for that in one month. Good GOD!
(1)James M.
WHY did you stop doing takeout? Sometimes eating in the restaurant is not going to happen but calling in and swinging by to pick up was a wonderful thing. Why no more?
(4)JE A.
Run, don't walk here for dinner. If you're looking for a no-frills sushi joint, musashino is your place. They have the best and freshest fish anywhere in Austin. Service is excellent and drinks are strong! We especially enjoy talking with the sushi chefs - they are very knowledgeable and friendly. Recommended: suicide salmon nigiri, tuna tataki.
(5)Romy G.
This place is really good. Sit at the bar.
(4)Dirk D.
The sushi place I've been looking for. There is no food more authentically Japanese nor more steeped in tradition. And with that said, it is stunning how much fiddling this classic food has suffered in America. Do you think you would find ingredients like "spicy-mayo" in Japan? And while Musashino's indeed has these American inspired rolls, my appetite craves and judges a sushi slinger on their simplest creations: Nigiri, Sashimi, Miso, etc. I ordered the Chef's choice nigiri, and what I got was quality fish married to perfect sushi rice, kissed with wassabi and a sweet umami glaze. My eyes may have rolled into the back of my head, and warm morphine-like tingle buzzes through my body. Perfect. I sat at the sushi bar with my date, because I like to give my eyes something to fix on while I eat and I find the conversation more intimate when you can sit next to a person and can speak toward their ear. The aesthetic pleased me, with a traditional bamboo styled bar and cloth banners decorating with an attractive asian print. I loved my meal and dining experience. A criticism, I didn't care for the music selection -- I'd choose something more Japanese traditional to add a unity to the food and interior styling, however the music ultimately wasn't distracting and droned the light din of the restaurant.
(5)Nick B.
This is by far my favorite sushi place in Austin!!! I have been here on at least 10 different occasions. Prices are reasonable and the sushi rolls are delicious. I would eat here every day if I could afford it. Thank you Musashino for a great experience every time that I come in!
(5)Brittney B.
Delicious! Maybe this place is hit or miss with the service because we had an amazing experience all around. The waitstaff was informative and friendly and the food.....well, you just have to try it to understand! I we had a crab stuffed avocado, seaweed salad, ozzy roll, some other roll with black rice and a plate of nigiri. We also had various hand rolls. Everything was delicious! The seaweed salad was really dressed up, they add radishes, asparagus, and other stuff. Yummy! I can't wait to come back!
(5)Wes D.
This is one of my favorite 2 places to go for sushi along with Tomo and I have tried many in Austin. My favorite items here are the two squid ink rolls. They are spicy but if you like some heat they are both excellent. One is called the black sabbath roll and I'm forgetting the name of the other at the moment.
(5)Morry M.
My girlfriend and I were really in the mood for some legit traditional sushi. We got the mackerel and yellow tail rolls, and they were indeed legit. They were so fresh and the back of the menu has a description of where the fish comes from (spoiler alert: it's not from Texas). The rolls were pretty small, but I guess that's price you pay when you want authentic. There isn't a sign for this restaurant, but it's on the bottom floor of that big Chinatown restaurant that you pass everyday on Mopac.
(4)Rachel P.
I can't believe I've never written a review for this place considering I've been going here for years. I have always loved Musashino, their selection is amazing and their fish always seems to have the freshest flavor in town. I grew up on the coast and was spoiled on freshness so Musashino has always been a favorite, everything is delicious. However, it's been about a year since I've been here so I wasn't sure what to expect. I've been trying a lot more places, trying to get out of my rut of eating at the same place all the time. I went with 4 other girls for a birthday and per usual the food was amazing. The only thing that was lacking was the service. First off, this might be something that they have to do, due to the size of the place but I always seem to be the person that the waitress stands next to and takes orders for the table, and hands everyone else their meals/drinks etc. over my head. This just doesn't seem right for a nice restaurant. Everytime we wanted to order more or needed refills we had to stop whoever we could find walking by to make that happen. Then at the end of the meal, the waitress started clearing everything and picked up my sake and spilt it all over me, the table etc. and then just walked away. It was all over my lap and caused a big sticky mess. I couldn't even find her again to ask for another napkin or anything. This just seemed unacceptable to me for a $200+ tab. I was also surprised that they factored in the tip on a table of 5. That's probably their policy but didn't seem like that big of a group to do that too. However, definitley explains their lack of service if they're already getting their 18% regardless. Step it up Musashino, you're better then that.
(3)Michelann Q.
I'm pretty much lunch only at Musashino these days. They had taken the Katsu Donburi off the menu for a while, but it is happily back. The big surprise, however, is the ramen. In light of the ramen craze, I decided to check out their special ramen, the Kuro Tan Ramen. It is fantastic. A delicious, rich broth, succulent slices of briskit, shreds of ginger, perfect noodles. It is not to be missed, if you're on the Ramen Addict Train as I am.
(4)Joseph S.
Best sushi, at least by my vote. And people talk about how expensive this place is, but it's not. These are also the same people who will go drop $200 at Uchiko for half the food. The atmosphere is traditional Japanese, and it's a perfect date environment. The tables are small, but that's what makes the restaurant charming. I didn't even know this place existed (it's right below Chinatown restaurant) until my friend took me here. The sushi kitchen is really close to all the tables, so you can basically see exactly what is going on the entire time. Beautiful presentation every time, and great selection of sake. Most importantly (at least for me, since all I ever eat is raw fish), the fish is fresh. I haven't found a place in Austin that has fresher fish, period. People may disagree with me, but I am NEVER disappointed when I eat here. The Avocado Coma is amazing. You have try it, even if you don't like avocados.
(5)Sondra S.
If you had asked me a week ago, I would have given this place a 5 star review. The food is amazing, the fish is very fresh, and everything is pretty traditional in the best possible way here. What changed my mind was the roach that waltzed across the sushi bar 2 feet from my face and amongst the ginger and wasabi dishes when we were there a few days ago. This was at 8pm when the place was slammed with people. When I approached the manager about it, he gave me some halfhearted excuse about "well, we've been spraying," which tells me that they have had a problem and can't get a handle on it. I'll go back in a year or so when they have hopefully figured out their insect problem. I'm hoping that I can get over my heebie jeebies about the place by then.
(1)Michael Q.
Went here for dinner with my wife and it's been our go to spot for sushi here in Austin!!! The food is pretty authentic and the service is on point. The sushi is super fresh and it definitely is worth the price. we went here for our first date and we keep coming back!!! The rolls are really good and it has a great selection of rolls for the roll lovers. We really love the sashimi it's so fresh and it kinda melts in your mouth!! We always get the sashimi deluxe plus another roll. I love the seaweed salad and the tofu appetizers you can't really go wrong with those two appetizers. I have recently started to get the temaki rolls (hand rolls) and two or three of those with an appetizer makes a meal!!! Definitely would keep going there, it's a great little spot and a good date spot. If your date wants sushi bring them here!!!
(5)Ron U.
I'm a Japanese food VIRGIN, there I've said it out loud and now the WHOLE world knows. Now that I have that off my chest. I was always curious about sushi but never knew anyone who had carnal knowledge of what and how to order for a scardy-cat like me. Our friends took us there and started out with the avocado kama, then spider rolls and once they saw we were enjoying the cuisine they went TORA,TORA,TORA! I must say we were blown away with the attention to detail the chef's took with the food then here comes Arthur the manager and the next thing you know we've got a cold bottle of saki........... GREAT service by the waitresses, she was there like ninja when we needed her. Can't wait to go back and try the food again. Thanks, Sccobie-doo and Jan (you know who you are).
(5)Mike Y.
The sushi is nothing to rave about. The fatty tuna was sticky and did not melt in the mouth like it should. The rolls were nothing special especially given they got backed up and took way too long to get the rolls made. (They did apologize for the delay) I enjoyed the yellow fin tuna and king salmon nigiri though. I was little annoyed by the staff trying to take our plates with food still on them. I was really expecting fantastic sushi based on the reviews and 1 hour wait time on a Tuesday night.
(3)Kevin H.
I think the jury is still out for me on this place. We made the journey up from South Austin and was told 15-20 min. We waited up stairs at an entirely different restaurant, I think it was Chinese. We ended up waiting for 45+ min before inquiring with the hostess to be told our table was ready, I have a feeling we were forgotten about. Wait staff was a bit absent, had to ask other random servers to grab our waitress a couple of times. Food was good, not Uchi good but above the average for most South Austin spots, however it was also expensive. I might go back if I'm in the area and craving some sushi and have hours to kill, but I won't make the commute again.
(2)Dana L.
Probably the most authentic sushi place in Austin. Grilled eel is really good. When they have the fatty tuna, try it. It is delicious!
(4)Travis B.
Incredible sushi and authentic Japanese experience without the wait and hype of Uchi.
(5)Mitchell D.
First off, it's hidden with no real sign as to where it is. Strike one. Two, I decide to grab a table while I wait for other friends to join - however, they do not sit incomplete parties (on a weekday?!). Three, I ask if I can grab a drink at the bar to wait for said friends and they redirect me to another restaurant on top of the sushi bar. Not pleased and not eating here even though the food might be great.
(1)Kathryn S.
One of the best date nights I have ever had. The service was top notch, the atmosphere was open yet intimate and the food was incredible. We had the filet mignon sashimi appetizer, the salmon cheek and squid jerky followed with a sashimi/sushi combo plate. The only tip I would give about the food would be to watch out for bones in the salmon cheek, other than that everything was phenomenal. The squid jerky paired with the Sapporo on draft was an unexpected treat and a must try for anyone who has not had the pleasure of experiencing it!!!
(5)R W.
I don't expect to be pampered, but for the price, I expect at least minimal acceptable service. After being seated, three of us had to share a menu. After asking several times, they returned each time to take our order. We found our own menu at the front. Understandable if they are busy or short on menus. While waiting on food, we ordered water and saki of choice by someone else at our table. It was the small portion. According to the waitress, was good for four small portions. It barely accommodated half of two small saki cups. We received our salads and soups within due time. One person's plate came to the table. A while longer two of our rolls showed up. More time passes and the other two plates arrive. Still no fresh wasabi as asked twice. But I did get a bill placed in front of me. Ignoring the bill for some time, favoring to eat, the waitress returned, apologized for dropping off the wrong bill, meant for another table. Returning with our bill a minute later. No upsell for dessert, drinks, or other rolls?! You just lost easy money! The food, while excellent, did not last long. It kept me up all night until it was involuntarily purged from my system. Disclaimer: I love sushi, especially raw fish. This also is not my first time to Musashino. Severely disappointed. Will not be returning.
(1)Daniel B.
This is the best sushi in Austin. It's a little pricier than your Sushi Zushi's and Piranha KIllers and so on, but the quality here is unrivaled. At Musashino I felt like I got what I paid for. I hate the idea of going to Uchi and paying a fortune for Japanese-inspired fine dining nonsense that you wouldn't find anywhere in Japan. If you want high quality, authentic, clean, fresh, gorgeous Japanese sushi, and a quiet atmosphere, there's really no better place. PS: I've read some reviews that didn't like that the wait staff is inattentive/doesn't come check you often enough, but for me personally that was a big plus. I don't consider it appealing when my water is filled 75 times throughout my meal.
(5)Suzie Q.
This is very good sushi - worth the price. The place is great and the staff is amazing. My only complaint is that the sake prices are really high. I would definitely go again.
(4)Anita C.
5th times a charm! Right? I've had the ramen twice (it was also my first introduction to ramen) and I was surprised and disappointed both times. Maybe it's my personal preference/expectations of Chinese-style noodle dishes, but the ramen has a very interesting taste that needs getting use to. To me it tastes burnt or smoky. Now, the 5th time around, I enjoyed some dishes that were right on the mark. The Avocado Kama is delicious with it's mix of avocado, crab, and special magic sauces. My two favorite rolls were unique ones: the Evil Knevil and the Good Time. Both had unique tastes and fresh and tasty ingredients. I'll come if invited by friends but I'll will try to sway them elsewhere first. Musashino has potential but hasn't won me over yet.
(3)Ann K.
Although it's not as famous as Uchi, this is some of the best sushi in Austin. It's a bit more traditional than Uchi -- you're not going to see so much fusion food, and the fish will speak for itself. I appreciate this simplicity. If you can afford it, the Omakase (chef's choice) is amazing. My friend ordered this and shared with me a bite of blackened cod. It had a nice, slightly sweet glaze, and just melted in your mouth. It was a dish I remember years later, it was that good. They also have the usual selection of rolls and sashimi. If you love sushi and don't mind spending a little for a fancy dinner, try this place out!
(5)Aileen N.
This place remains at the top of my list for Sushi (tradition nigiri and sashimi). It is expensive, but my tummy's always been happy after I left. If you end up coming while its busy, there is a bar upstairs for you to hang out while you wait. Be prepare to spend is all the warning I have for you!
(5)Misti C.
Anything, I mean anything, with the squid ink infused rice - amazing. This place is kind of off the grid for great Austin sushi spots, but deserves to be named among the best. The restaurant has a cool vibe and is fairly quiet. A good date spot because there aren't any specials I've found, but the sushi is above par. Uchi usually gets all the raves but Musashino's is just a good of quality - without the hype and central location. If you're in Northwest Hills and crave sushi, or can make the drive you won't be disappointed.
(5)Holly N.
Really felt like I was in Tokyo or something when I walked in. Small place so I'm sure wait gets long when it's busy. Definitely NOT a good place to bring big groups! The avocado kama was delicious. Kind of hard to scoop out though. The miso soup tasted like it had a soy sauce soup base. The Texas hybrid roll was really good, I especially liked the hybrid sauce it came with! It had lots of fish eggs inside. Remember that it's rolled with rice paper so if you don't like that ask to substitute. The Black Widow roll was also good, but I wasn't a huge fan of the squid ink rice. My friend really likes it though. We asked for spicy mayo sauce to dip it in. Surprisingly my friend and I were both full by the end of the meal (we had edamame and she also had 3 pieces of raw fish), we didn't even finish everything!
(4)Brooke A.
This is a fantastic place for sushi located just north of downtown. The building holds both Musashino and Chinatown. Musashino is on the first floor, but there is a cute & cozy little bar upstairs to the right of the Chinatown entrance where you can grab a drink while you're waiting for your table to be ready. The sushi at Musashino is so fresh. I enjoy sitting at the sushi bar and asking the sushi ninjas for recommendations. I must say the spicy edamame is incredible, but watch out, that smoke flavor definitely creeps up on you and will make your mouth water. I tried uni for the first time and despite my adventurous food nature, this was just one dish I'm not likely to order again. The texture just was a little too weird for me. I did love the smoked mussels covered with a delicious mayo-like sauce & the road runner roll is undeniable! The rice is soaked in black squid ink and makes it extra moist & delicious!
(5)Melanie F.
This place has ruined all other sushi for me. I've never had better sushi before. it sounds really weird, but try the squid jerky and have some sake with it. Everything is well worth the price. It was fun to sit up at the bar, too. To top it off, they brought me a good chunk of tiramisu (Yeah, I don't get it either) with a candle and sang happy birthday in Japanese.
(5)Isaac B.
Amazing quality of fish here. Hands down the best traditional sushi place I have ever had(and iv tried sushi in France, Chicago, New York, Denver, etc). Uchi is amazingly good as well but is more if you are looking for a wow factor with your dinner. if you are looking for that classic traditional sushi, this is the place. Also this place actually does get the 1st choice fish selection in austin(even before uchi). Also this so where Tyson cole(uchi owner) worked before opening uchi so you know it's good!!
(5)Liv W.
Good sushi... Just not great sushi. This places generally caters to the masses in that it's very mainstream, if you aren't a sushi fan then come here. All their fish seemed bland including the uni (my fav). It's definitely worth it to try but be prepared to spend some cash.
(4)Wontongirl C.
Went for lunch and tried the chicken katsu curry. It was delicious and had the right amount if spice. The portion size is huge so I ate half and saved the other half for lunch the next day. I need to go back and try their sushi. Our waitress was nice as well.
(4)Mindy H.
I would never have found this place on my own. You drive by and you just think that you are passing a whole in the wall American Chinese restaurant. However, the real estate agent when driving through the neighborhood took time to pull into the parking for this restaurant to show me the specific door to enter on the first floor, under the main China town restaurant. There are no signs outside indicating that this is the home of Musashino, and told me that if I love sushi I HAD to go here. It has been open for 20 yrs., and many of the well known sushi chefs throughout Austin started and trained under the owner of this restaurant. I made a point to put this restaurant at the top of my to do list. I finally was able to keep my promise and check this place out the other night. Upon entering the restaurant I felt as if I was transported back to some of the establishments I had eaten at during my trip to Japan. You can only make reservations if you are a group over 4 people, so we went early as we were a group of 2 and sat at the sushi bar. If you can, the sushi bar is definitely the place to be. I think that my experience wouldn't have been so amazing if I wasn't sitting at the bar. The sushi chefs were very friendly and knowledgeable, and provided fantastic recommendations on the menu, and ensured that there was no dairy in the food I was ordering. It was also great to watch the 4+ chefs working away at their beautiful creations. You could tell that they took great pride in their work and quality of the ingredients being used. The chef let us know that the owner drives everyday to the airport to get their shipments of fish. Plus, there are certain things they won't let you order to go as they just wouldn't taste good by the time you get home. It was very hard to choose something, as there were so many yummy looking options. Plus, they have an extensive wine and Saki menu. Instead of ordering a large amount of food upfront, we slowly took our time and ordered as we went (another bonus of being at the sushi counter), and enjoyed our conversation with the sushi chefs. Everything we ordered was fantastic. You could really taste the quality of the fish, and the flavor of the rolls never overpowered the actual fish itself. Loved the authentic feel and quality here. They even have real fresh wasabi you can order.
(5)Heather D.
Best sushi I've had so far in Austin. Fave rolls so far= Evel Knevil, south sider, and roadrunner. Just gorgeous rolls, beautiful flavors. I almost didn't want wanna write this review so I can keep this gem to myself and not expose to more people but it's just too darn good!
(5)Michael L.
Went to Musashino. It was relatively empty. I went especially wanting the Avocado Kama after seeing the pictures here. We got seated fairly quickly and got our iced teas. About 15 minutes later after seeing wait staff walk by, nobody took our order, so we walked out. I even got more upset when we weren't even comped for the drinks and bad service and time wasted on our evening. To make matters worse, the manager never came out to apologize...
(1)Meggen D.
This is an update. The first time I came to Musashino, I went just for the ramen...and it was one of my first ramen experiences, so I didn't have much of a point of reference (aside from the 10-cent salt-ridden blocks from the grocery store). I have since returned, oddly enough not for ramen (again...it's out of my lunch radius), but instead I've gorged myself on sushi and nabeyaki udon. I can honestly say that I misjudged this place. They serve the freshest fish...I think the only place I've had fresher is in Hawaii...for obvious reasons. The sushi is immaculate. And they're definitely serious about it. There's an instruction page for eating sushi. Since eating here, I've changed my sushi-eating technique everywhere, actually. Musashino has cultured me! The nabeyaki udon is amazing. It's comprised of a light, clear broth with hearty udon noodles, nori, shrimp tempura, and an initially raw egg (that poaches in the soup on the way to your table) all served in a small cauldron. It's perfect on a cool evening. I'm of the opinion that the combination of a few quality pieces of nigiri or sashimi and the udon is the perfect meal...and it's not too terrible for your body or your wallet. Next time, I'll make it a point to go during weekday lunch so I can re-review the ramen!
(5)Caleb C.
really the only complaint I have is pretty minor, my food and my gf's food did not arrive at the same time. Also the rolls I had ordered early came after rolls I had ordered later. Presumably it all came out as it was ready, and that could be argued to be a plus. The actual quality of the sushi was some of the best I've had, if not the best. I also have no complaints about the service.
(5)Sandra j.
So fresh and delicious!!! Sit at the bar to see the chefs in action The good: Quality of fish Flavors Speed of food arrival The OK: Agedashi Tofu was OK. It was good, but not delicious.
(5)John D.
Sushi is a beautiful thing. Done right and it's poetry in motion. Tonight was a special night for us so we thought we give the place a shot. Had a couple of drinks while we waited for our spot at the sushi bar. After waiting a little we were seated at the sushi bar. Ordered uni, snapper, Anagi, unagi, blue fin sashimi and salmon sashimi. Overall great flavors. Deducted 1 star for the salmon and snapper because a place like this should be using better salmon. Pale in color and lacked flavor. Snapper was a little old due to the fishy finish in flavor. Tuna was very clean and fresh so was the uni. Saki was nice and cold. To finish we tried the tiramisu- yes tiramisu at a sushi restaurant and it was some of the best we have had. Overall we spend about 250 and it was worth the experience. Little pricier than most places though.
(4)Steven N.
Musashino is just as good, if not better than uchi. Phenomenal quality fish.
(5)Van T.
It is okay. But not the best sushi for this price point in terms of quality and quantity. We went there for lunch. I thought it was over-priced and the service was rushed. They have all the standard fish and rolls, but if you are going to spend some cash on sushi you might as well go to Uchi or DK. If you want to not spend as much on sushi and still get a good meal, then go to Hanabi.
(3)Ryan M.
The menu is extensive, the sushi is pretty good although I wouldn't say it's the best in Austin, but it's definitely in the top 5. We had some incredible escolar skewers. The sushi was tasty and tasted fresh. And the restaurant itself has a cool atmosphere. Had a very enjoyable dinner.
(4)Deanna W.
Def one of my top 3 choices in Austin so far (Besides Tomo & Sushi Zushi). Great service and amazing rolls! I enjoyed having extra items on the side of the rolls so you could all sauces or spice it up! It was fun sitting at the bar and seeing the different rolls come out. We kept ordering more when we saw another roll that looked good. (But they all look good! haha)
(5)Luke B.
Wife ordered shrimp tempura appetizer and Evil Knieval sushi. I ordered vegetable sushi. After long wait, shrimp tempura came and it looked great. My wife got one bite and then waitress grabbed the plate from table. The place was so noisy that we did not hear an explanation. Waitress brought us edemame and apologized for long wait. Next, got my salad and miso soup that came with my meal. The miso was ok. The salad was maybe a half cup of lettuce with a very thin slice of cucumber. After another long wait, my wife's temura shrimp came. Two tiny shrimp and maybe three vegetables with something fried that we could not identify. Her sushi and my sushi finally arrived. The portions were an insult. The vegetable sushi was very small pieces of vegetables wrapped around teaspoon sized rice. No seasoning in sight. They did not even refill my tea. $55 and we left hungry. The first shrimp tempura that came to table looked good. The only reason that we could discern for this place being busy is that it was Sunday night and the other sushi places were closed. We will not go back.
(1)kim-jamy n.
I'm going to give Musashino three stars because when I went back for dinner last night, their service pissed me off. Our server was sub-par to say the least. I had to ask the hostess to take our order, fill my drink, get my check. Why should I go to a nice restaurant, pay a decent amount of money (hello, i should have just went to Uchi) only to have a cruddy (insert expletive here) service. Oh and I looked to the table across from me and their server accidentally dropped a plate of scraps on a kid. They need to re-train their staff.
(3)Lisa N.
Overpriced food, average sushi, gnats (that's why it so dark in there), and a menu shortage. Not sure what all the hype is about?
(1)Edgar A.
no words to describe this epicness of a restaurant. just try it people. its amaizing, flavorful, and FRESH!!!
(5)Jonathan A.
We had the Good Time Roll, the 34 Special, and the Black Sabbath, each was awesomely flavorful and unique! Very authentic feel in this place. Waiters are very responsive, always refilling drinks and soy sauce. An absolute treat! I do feel this place pressures the guests to try to spend more at every opportunity (on deserts, drinks, etc.) but there's nothing a quick "no" can't solve!
(5)Kris U.
One of two of my favorite sushi places in town. I highly recommend starting with the shrimp tempura appetizer. If you like rolls, give the Texas Road Kill (with tuna) a try for a creative and delicious twist on the traditional spicy tuna roll. But don't miss out on the best part, the nigiri. Check in with your helpful server to find out what the "market" specials are for the day and their recommendations, and you're sure to have a sensational experience!
(5)Lizzie S.
Five stars for wonderful and knowledgable service, excellent and generous cuts of fish, creative yet not complicated rolls (no philly roll on the menu, you know what I mean), several kinds of hand rolls, and a nice selection of liquors, wines and sakes. There were 6 in our party and we tasted many things on the menu, everything was very good. I love that my green salad leaves were baby kale with that perfect pureed ginger dressing. I am not going to lie, it's a little spend. Nigiri comes in sets of one rather than 2. I was nevertheless impressed and would eat ay Musashino again anytime I am in town.
(5)Edison C.
Musashino's vibe when you walk in the door sorta reminds of me that bar in Patan, Nepal where Marion drinks the big guy under the table in Raiders. Except there isn't any cigarette smoke, it's all Japanese food, and the sign outside says "Chinatown". (There's a Chinese restaurant directly on top of the Japanese one, upstairs.) Well maybe not. Maybe it's more Blade-Runner-minus-the-flashing-lights-and-Decker. It's possible I'm just sleep deprived. Either way? both films had Harrison Ford doing heroic shit in 'em. It's loud in Musashino. Don't expect any quiet murmur in here if that's what yer looking for. Consider bringing a bottle of something to break over somebody's head, though, because I think it would be in line with the crowd noise. Don't get me wrong, it's not like this place is say, Treasure Island or J.Black's. The servers and waitpersons are all very nice, and prompt. And it's not too dark, so you won't be eaten by a grue. But the 4-star is for the food. It's quite good, and I didn't even have 'real' sushi - I only had the cooked stuff, not counting the seaweed salad. All good. In addition to being a place serving fine foods, Musashino is also: an all-stations train service in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) between HachiÅji and Fuch-Hommachi in Tokyo and ÅŒmiya in Saitama Prefecture. a city , which has received acclaim as one of the best places to live in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. Population: approx 134,000 Just so ya know.
(4)John K.
This is the restaurant for the sushi purists in Austin. For those who eat sushi and sashimi for the taste of raw, fresh fish this is the place to go. If you want creativity and fusion flavors, Uchi and Uchiko are better places. I ordered a sashimi deluxe. I was impressed by the quality of the fish, particularly the smell, firmness and texture. On the night I went, the fish was quite fresh. They give you a fair assortment of both pricy and cheaper fish: maguro, hamachi, etc. The time to visit a sushi restaurant is a Friday or a Saturday since restaurants order their weekly allotment of fish for the weekend. Do NOT visit sushi restaurants on Wednesdays or Thursday since you most likely will be eating fish that has sat in the fridge for almost a week. Now, this place is a fairly authentic Japanese restaurant, but as many of the other reviewers have noted, the waitresses, while Asian, do not know how to offer proper Japanese service. They tried to hurry us, a cardinal sin. This fact about the waitresses is widely known and people should collectively show their displeasure by tipping accordingly.
(4)John J.
The best authentic sushi place in town, bar none.
(5)Bike S.
Always a top-notch experience at this restaurant! The sushi is of the highest quality and the staff is great.
(5)Arnold J.
Hands down the best sushi restaurant in Austin to those in the know. As someone who has lived in Tokyo and currently resides in Seattle, I stil think Musashino has the freshest fish, most flavorful rolls, and an amazing assortment of special items that you won't find in other sushi dens. After almost three years away from Austin, my trip back had us visiting Musashino on a late Saturday evening. We had the last reservation for the night. The food was as great as I had remembered, and we especially dug the jalapeno flavored soy sauce and the spicy crab (seasonal and typically off-menu). Smokey (the owner) was busy as usual in the kitchen, but came out to say hi to our party of six. A superb evening of food with an unmatched atmosphere continues to make this place my favorite place for sushi!
(5)Vincci L.
This place used to be my favorite sushi spot (I would go at least once a week). However the last few times I came for dinner, really have not been impressed by their sushi. Don't get me wrong, the sushi is still good. I love their shima zushi, and chu-toro when it's available. The uni is good, although I've had some no-so-fresh ones before. Would I eat here again? Yes. But it's not worth the drive for me when there are so many other sushi places that offer just as good / if not better quality sushi and they are closer.
(4)Didi H.
Gyu tataki....very soft and tender beef marinated with ponzu sauce.. Best in town tasted so far. Comparable with upscale sushi restaurant in Torrance, CA. Really Authentic. Tuna tataki.....interesting sauce full with flavor, tuna well seared on the surface and fresh taste inside. Really fresh no fishy smell at all. Very impressive. Toro / bule fin tune / fatty tuna sushi - really well treated with correct grain, tender, buttery and melt into mouth. Simply delicious. All the raw fish sushi they served ......fresh, fresh, fresh, and fresh!!!
(5)Adam S.
I am pretty hard on J-restaurants (see my other reviews) because I lived in Japan for most of my adult life. Musashino is the best I've found in Austin so far. I had the "bento box" which I found generous in portion size, with a wide variety of flavors and preparations. It was also pretty authentic, with not much "faux-Japanese" that you find at many J-restaurants in the states. The only reason it doesn't get five stars is that J-food in Austin is just not that good, with the exception of a couple of noodle places. Also I can't get used to the exorbitant prices J-restaurants (including Musashino) charge. High prices are understandable for super-fresh, expertly prepared sushi (which most sushi at U.S. J-restaurants is not), but overcharging for common ingredients prepared in an average way just because "it's Japanese" is just preying on peoples' ignorance.
(4)