Restaurant Review: Masamune Japanese Restaurant in Florida

It has become a weekly ritual for my family and I to eat at Masamune Japanese Restaurant, in Deerfield Beach, Fl. Something about the place keeps us coming back week after week, sometimes even up to three times in a given week. We have come to the conclusion that it is due to a fusion of the fresh, ice-cold sushi, the family-like ambience created by the friendly staff, and the overall laid-back Asian look of the restaurant attributed to the bamboo decorations and artificial Japanese pond.

Right off the bat, what makes a restaurant great, is the food they serve. The menu is pages long accompanied with pictures. If you sit at the bar, you can watch the sushi chefs chop away and make your food at amazing speeds, with the pressure of never-ending tickets spat out by the ticket machine. The plates come in all different sizes, colors, and shapes, with my favorite being the traditional wooden sushi board. The sushi and sashimi is aesthetically pleasing, with the chefs going the extra mile and adorning plates with carvings of oranges with faces, small wasabi figurines, and delicate strings of carrots. But what you eat is what counts.

Sushi, sashimi, hand rolls, uni, squid cooked in all ways possible, and tempura dishes line up on the menu. Since the restaurant is a mile away from the beach, it makes sense why the food is so fresh. There really isn't a way to describe the taste of the food, because good, amazing, and finger-licking good are simply opinions. That's why you have to go yourself and fall under their sushi spell.

The chefs, they grow on you, especially if you sit at the bar. They are a form of entertainment themselves, greeting the guests upon entering the restaurant. One's name is Kevin, an American college boy who kind of shadows what Mikey and Hung do. Mikey is originally from Thailand and seems to be the ring leader of the sushi bar, specializing in the rolls. Hung is Korean and takes charge of the raw fish. The trio together makes us laugh for hours talking about everything and involving everyone who is sitting at the bar.

The waitresses, especially Michelle, are very relaxed and comfortable with the guests and do everything as quickly as possible to accommodate everyone and make sure they have what they need. Drinks come to the table in a matter of seconds upon ordering them, and the food comes out fairly quickly, compared to chain restaurants such as PF. Chang's and The Cheesecake Factory.

The whole "look" of the restaurant is "chill" and very romantic with dim blue lights around the sushi bar area and soft Japanese tunes in the background. A waterfall at the entrance runs down a crystal panel from the ceiling into a small pond. The entrance is also lined with artificial boulders and the walls are decorated with scenery from Japan and the "Catch of the Day" fish on a wooden panel.

After going several times, the restaurant becomes "home" to many people, on account of all the familiar faces I encounter every time I go. Many times I have been at the bar and customers come up to the chefs and praise them with "That was the best sushi I've ever eaten," and "Excellent food." Located about 11 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, it is strategically at the crossroads of Hillsboro Blvd and US 1, minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. My recommendation? Just go, you won't regret it.