Mitsuba, Not Mitsubishi

In a nutshell
Fudz: Mitsuba by Yurine Japanese Restaurant
Cuisine: Nihon
Code: Touristy, casual
Location: 6 Eu Tong Sen Street #03-88 Singapore 059817
Dial: +65 6227 0388 (So you can remember its unit number)
Interweb: https://www.facebook.com/Mitsuba0388 (So you can remember the number to call)
Email: NA
Damage: $40-$80, depends largely on your exquisite tastebuds and love for sake
Taste: Fresh and hitting almost close to 'home', which is the land of the rising sun
Ambience: Simple tables and chairs, leaving little to imagination.
Service: Forgot some of our orders in a table of eight and looked pretty much unapologetic. Servers converse more comfortably in Mandarin, which is totally fine but I don't know about people who don't speak the language. We don't go for non-Japanese servers who warble in Japanese tongues anyway.

The story
It started with a Whatsapp group chat created by IH.

Lunch or Dinner, the title reads. At Mitsuba.

I went through the list of chat participants. Hmm, hrm, hmmm, erm hmm, they are people I know... but we have nothing in common except that we work in the same department. No recent common project. No particular upcoming birthday from one of us. Nobody has a promotion at this time of the year. No one strike the lottery last weekend. We would have heard.

Still, I was afraid to ask why. Why us. Why a sudden lunch invitation at a... Mitsuba? It sounds like a company that sells pens. A rival of Mitsubishi, perhaps.

I was in a loop that I did not know what the loop was about. The only action left to do was to say 'yes!' with as much vigour as electronic texting can convey.

Like how stories go, mysteries unravel themselves when you have the courage to live through the passage of time. You don't have to do much. Someone in the high order will get tired of your ignorance and will hand the answers to you on a sushi platter.

If you have heard of Chef Peter Teo, I don't have to tell you why we went to Mitsuba. Back in the Wasabi-Tei days, we would return to the small squarish restaurant regularly for our weekly dosage of yummy chawanmushi and verbal abuse from Chef Peter. He knows the secret ingredients in those cute bowls of steamed eggs that make people come back for more... and understands that humans are masochistic by nature.

It's almost unfair to bring up his grouchy days now. Chef Peter is nothing like what he used to be, temper-wise. On the other hand, his sashimi servings are still the same as what they used to be - fresh and generous slices of raw fish goodness.

Sashimi that makes you shimmy

If you're a fan of sashimi, the above makes you a happy child for about 48 hours before you start craving for more again. For some of us, the effect wears off after 15 min and I'd suggest that you check yourself into a rehab.

The dope aka the chawanmushi

There are good and bad chawanmushi. There are exceptionally divine chawanmushi. Here is one. The piping hot steamed egg is flavourful and it melts like hot ice-cream over your tongue. The texture is so smooth, you roughly know how much hard work is put into a simple dish like this. $5 well-spent.

One half of my sushi and udon teishoku set.

The second half of the sushi and udon teishoku set, which is well... the udon.

I like raw sushi and I like udon. It did not take me too long to decide on the sushi and udon teishoku set, priced $24++. I had the best udon in my life at Melbourne so this did not come across as to die-for.

However, I am extremely happy with the sushi. I'm about to show you how large the fish slices are over the small dollops of perfectly vinegared rice.

Do not ask me to name the fish. I know there's the yellowtail, swordfish, salmon... and you can figure out the order yourself. I know you can.

I was very full after the chawanmushi and udon but I still tucked into these sushi with great relish. We don't have to always listen to our stomachs, especially when you're eating healthy food like fish.

I used to dislike wasabi. Now it gets exciting whenever I swallow a chunk that shoots some green puffs into my nostrils. I wrote this proudly in the list of Signs That You're Growing Up.

Japanese cucumber doused in sesame sauce

Part of a salmon set - salmon sashimi that are oilier than the slickest cowboy in the old west.

Gyozas or pot stickers - with cute 'hair' sticking out.

Salmon don - they almost put a whole salmon on the bowl but thought better of it.

Chirashi bowl

Overlooking the Singapore River

The window seats are a treat... but the rest of the restaurant is pretty dim.

On the whole, Mitsuba is a straightforward Japanese restaurant with no fuss, save for the swanky location. The prices are reasonable for the quality and quantity.

You can catch glimpses of the famous Chef Peter behind the sushi counter too. He looks well and we are glad that he has not given up on us yet.