Masu Izakaya

When it comes to nose-to-tail eating, the chicken is the oft-ignored middle child of the meat family. Entire cookbooks are dedicated to making the most of the pig, from head to trotters, while lovingly illustrated posters map out every edible part of a cow. Chooks are rarely considered beyond their schnitzel, wings and drumstick potential. It's the protein on restaurant menus that tends to be ignored by "adventurous" eaters.

Unless, of course, you happen to be in the narrow alleyways of Tokyo, where rows of yakitori-ya (Japanese skewer bars) serve char-grilled sticks of different parts of the bird. Singapore-born John Lee knows about the addictiveness of these smoky skewers. So much so that despite having graduated with an economics degree, the 30-year-old managed to convince the chef of his favourite local Japanese restaurant to join him to open their own yakitori restaurant in Sydney.

The result is Masu Izakaya, a cosy drinking house on the fringe of Chinatown that honours all parts of the chicken. The yakitori menu works like an anatomical chart and encourages a "point and order" system. Along the way, diners may pick up a few new Japanese words such as kawa for skin (yes, you can get skewers of crispy chicken crackling) and momo for dark chicken meat. Bonjiri is the discreetly named chicken tail, or what your inner five-year-old may prefer to think of as chicken butt.

Yakitori bars have been popping up all over Sydney. Like Surry Hills' Chaco Bar and Tokyo Bird (and to an extent, Crows Nest's newly opened En Toricya, an offshoot of the Cammeray original), all share the ambient hole-in-the-wall vibe reminiscent of "salarymen" hangouts in Tokyo.

Masu is a slightly more spacious take on the set-up. Downstairs is dedicated to charcoal grilling, with three chefs behind the grill during dinner service, when the barbecue is fired up. Upstairs, with most of the seating, is where small plates, sushi and salads are made.

Being a bigger restaurant also means a more expansive a la carte menu than its small bar counterparts. The two-pager has small plates such as buttery corn on hot plate, okra tempura and a range of sushi and sashimi for those who aren't partaking in the poultry party.

Don't get distracted by the side offerings. Instead, focus on the myriad left-of-field dishes, especially the offal-ly parts not easily found on other menus. To ease in slowly, start with the caramelised tsukune or chicken meatball. Served with a raw egg yolk and a sweet, oniony home-made dipping sauce, it resembles a Lebanese kofta stick and is just as moreish. The secret to the fluffy texture is in the meatball mix – the chef blends ground chicken, cartilage and ground pork to create the light consistency. 

Then dive into the more unusual offerings such as crunchy cartilage, served with a generous pinch of pepper and a squeeze of lemon. It's fun to eat and easy to share with friends who are wary of the more challenging cuts. Offal lovers will enjoy the salty, butterflied hearts, or the gizzards grilled to perfection. Our surprise favourite is the chicken neck. Carefully carved from the chicken and served skinless, it's a gamey part of the bird most places wouldn't have the time or dedication to offer.

The thing with yakitori, as Lee likes to say, is that it's drinking food. One of the biggest reasons he opened Masu is so he can curate his second biggest love – sake. With about 30 varietals from all over Japan on offer, you'll go home not only with a bilingual poultry vocabulary, but a taste for the salarymen's after-work life.

THE LOW-DOWN
THE PICKS Tsukune (chicken meatball); mushroom stuffed with chicken meatball;  nankotsu (cartilage); sunagimo (gizzard; negima (chicken and scallion); seseri (neck); little neck clams cooked in sake.
THE LOOK Modern izakaya with a cosy vibe.
THE SERVICE Friendly and helpful staff but orders can be lost and service patchy when busy.