PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAMisuzu’s is compact, intricate with its several separate dining spaces, and gorgeous, just like the red lanterns that light up the trees surrounding street-side diners here. It’s always packed, thanks to the quality of both the food and the price point, and though you’re expected to turn up on time for your booking (or else), once inside the service is top hole and the atmosphere is bustling but comfortable. Splashes of red and green brighten up the otherwise gracefully subdued decor creating an agreeably subtle canvas against which the staff whiz around, up and down stairs and around corners like Alice’s white rabbit, in an effort to keep all bases covered.
On the menu you’ll find all the usual suspects: plump sashimi and sushi; shards of capsicum, spring onion and green beans in a light tempura batter accompanied by a sweet dashi dipping sauce; satiny gyoza stuffed with chicken; and sweet teriyaki beef atop organic rice (brown or white – you choose) or soba noodles. Vegans and vegetarians are well catered for here and both might opt for sea veggies with noodles, if it’s on offer. Close your eyes as you sup this soup and you could be enjoying a seafood broth, but instead your noodles swim not with the fishes but with slippery wakame, nori, kaiso and konbu seaweed instead – each offering a different and interesting taste and texture.
John Weldon, January 2008
