I’m delighted when I return to a restaurant I haven’t been to in a long while to find that they make my favorite dishes just the way I remembered. Now that that’s established, during my university days, Mizuya used to be one of my go-to places with N for eat-in sushi and sashimi with a side of udon and raw octopus in wasabi. Their prices and servings were reasonable and the quality was good.
So, when I found myself free one afternoon, N and I decided to visit Mizuya. It was quite a warm day, so N and I hit their beverages menu for our favourits: the Capricornus (left) and the Pisces (right). The Capricornus is a blended ice with kiwifruit, passionfruit and apple sauce, while the Pisces is passionfruit and pineapple juice drink. N and I used to be fascinated by the taste of the Capricornus because it resembled something we couldn’t quite place. But these two drinks this time were a disappointment. The Pisces was was only two-thirds full, and the Capricornus separated into juice and foam after just 10 minutes, which it never used to do regardless of how long it took us to eat. You can tell from the photo on the left, which was taken right after it was brought to us, that it’d starting separating even before it got to us.
Now, my university days weren’t that long ago – it’s only been four months – but everything at Mizuya had changed. Not only were the drinks not as we remembered them, but half the menu was missing – literally, and more selfishly, they no longer served udon or octopus in wasabi.
But, they still had their sushi and sashimi sets, which were what we were after.
Both sets used to come with deliciously chewy udon, but not anymore. Both sets did, however, now come with miso soup, and the sashimi set also came with a bowl of rice. Neither N and I thought that made up for the udon, especially considering the prices had also gone up. The quality of the food had fallen – the miso soup with the stingiest one or two bits of tofu skin and seaweed, while they’d left the skin on all the pieces of sashimi, which were also missing the usual two scallops. Nevermind that I don’t actually like raw scallops, I just don’t like getting less food but paying more.
After that disappointing experience, N and I have written Mizuya off as our place to satisfy our Japanese food cravings. It’s a pity.
Mizuya is located at Basement, 614 George St, Sydney NSW 2000.