We Try Plano's New All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Spot (We'll Be Back)

Located at the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Sushi Masa is known for its all-you-can-eat – or AYCE, as it calls them – lunches and dinners. The idea of all-you-can-eat sushi could be a deterrent to some, but when it comes to this place, believe us when we beg you not to let it. The price for everything that was included was unreal, and it didn't sacrifice taste or quality in the slightest.
Before tax and tip, the AYCE lunch price is listed as $19.99 and the AYCE dinner, which we tried, cost $34.50. The main difference between lunch and dinner is that the latter includes desserts and your first beer or glass of house wine, but if that’s not your flavor, it includes unlimited refills of tea or fountain drinks as well.

Though Sushi Masa says its AYCE meals are its signature, it offers a-la-carte dishes as well if you’d rather go that route. The staff were friendly and attentive, and the interior is gorgeous. The lighting is dim and warm with mostly booth seating, giving it a romantic and cozy feel.

Regarding the restaurant’s overall vibe and decor, the juxtaposition between the wooden wagon wheel benches reminiscent of plenty of Texas steakhouses, bamboo accents and faux cherry blossom trees was our favorite. We’ll admit that we’re suckers for any kind of large interior floral or botanical installation of any kind.
A glass of the house cabernet, priced at $6 but included in the cost of the AYCE dinner, had no business being as good as it was.

To eat, we started with an abundantly plated avocado salad, served with the restaurant’s house ginger dressing and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. We also grabbed an order of edamame which was … well, edamame. Steamed and dusted with coarse salt, it’s a staple you can hardly ever go wrong with. The real kicker here is that it was served in its own little wicker basket, which we found too precious.
Next up was the pepper tuna sashimi topped with a wasabi sauce, and we enjoyed it so much that we ordered a second round. Though we were tempted to order a third helping of this item alone, we wanted to leave plenty of room to see what else the restaurant had to offer, ordering the mango salmon instead.

For our makimono rolls, we tried the Little Tokyo roll, which our server said was one of their favorites, as well as a snow crab roll and a sweet potato roll. The sweet potato roll was simple, with its only ingredient being tempura sweet potato and a sweet sauce drizzled over top, but it was one of the highlights of the meal. How we’ve gone all this time loving sushi and never knowing that we needed sweet potato in our rolls all along, we’re not sure, but we’re never going back to that life.

The Little Tokyo roll, with kanikama crab, shrimp, avocado and cream cheese, was tempura fried and had the perfect ratio of crispy to creamy, pairing well with the sweet and spicy sauces that topped it. We could see why it was one of our server’s favorites. The chicken katsu, also part of the AYCE, was sliced thin and perfectly crispy. It was kind of like magic and we didn’t want to stop eating it. The only thing that could’ve made it better was if they served it with a Japanese curry sauce, but it was more than delicious without.
Finally, we ordered the tempura cheesecake for dessert. An entire slice of deep-fried cheesecake, it was super indulgent, especially at the end of such a large meal, but we didn’t regret it. It was reminiscent of what a dessert version of a crab rangoon might be, with the cheesecake inside having become melty from the heat of the fryer to a heavenly degree. The restaurant really has its creamy-to-crunchy ratio down pat, to be sure.
And as we said before, there will be many next times here for us, and we're so happy to welcome this new-ish addition to Plano.

Sushi Masa, 6101 W. Park Blvd., Plano. Daily, 11 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.