The Place Sushi and tempura sound like a perfect combination and Mizuki Japanese restaurant located on level five of Ngee Ann City has the best of both worlds. Opened since 2017 in Singapore, beyond the Japanese looking entrance of Mizuki is a zen world where pebbled path leads diners to either the sushi or tempura counters, helmed by a sushi master from Osaka and a veteran tempura master. 

The name Mizuki means open mind or peaceful, and the interior of the restaurant exudes that state of mind the moment I stepped in. I love the partitions which divide the sushi and tempura counter space which features traditional handcrafted Japanese koshi (wooden lattice) screens with cloud-like motifs. 

On one side, there is the 9-seater black marble tempura counter; while the other side is a 9-seated sushi counter complemented by a striking golden and maroon wall feature. There are also three private rooms available for four to eight diners. 

The Food The menu at Mizuki used to be a pure sushi or tempura course, though it recently introduced a new combined sushi and tempura course menu which combines signature and seasonal dishes from each chef, regardless of where you sit. It is the best of both worlds in my opinion, since the most recent tempura only omakase I had in Singapore was at Tentsuru. 

I had the sushi and tempura course menu Ajisai (S$268++), where you can expect appetiser style dishes, sashimi, cooked seasonal dish before a series of individual tempura pieces and nigiri sushi, and ending with a kakiage (prawn and vegetable fritter) soba or don (rice) and dessert. 

Appetiser 
The meal started off with a trio of appetisers where I had sliced tuna topped with grated yam, grilled fish and fried mochi. My first time having mochi this way, and it looks like a mini prata just from its texture. 

Sashimi 
One of my favourite courses in an Omakase, I had a trio of sashimi – Botan Ebi, Kinmedai and Chu-toro. Every piece of the sashimi is fresh and thickly sliced, and I was looking out for an extra piece but to no avail. It also comes with slices of seasonal fresh radish vegetables from Kyoto. 

5 Pieces of Tempura 
The tempura counter is helmed by Chef Jeff who has 15 years of experience (previously from Tenshin). Chef Jeff calibrates a traditional batter of cake flour, egg yolks and cold water which is prepared several times daily where the batter is light and crisp. 

Condiments are served for the tempura such as lemon, sea salt and green tea salt, along with radish and tempura sauce. 

Here are the tempura items I had: 

Uni 
The signature seaweed tempura spots a generous slab of Bafun Uni along with fried mint leave, topped with caviar no less. Nice and creamy texture of the Uni which is a nice contrast to the crisp texture of the seaweed, along with a tinge of mint after taste from the mint leaves. Oishii. 

Ebi 
The Ebi course features Kuruma ebi (Japanese tiger prawn) where the prawn head is edible as well. The batter is very light, where the prawn head is extremely crispy and best enjoyed with a pinch of salt. 

Shark Fin 
Definitely not your usual tempura ingredient. 

Meitake Mushroom 
This is easily one of the best mushroom tempura I ever had. “Maitake” means dancing mushroom in Japanese, and the mushroom here is juicy even as it is coated in the tempura batter. One of the rare types of mushrooms I ever come across, it is so good. 

Anago 
My last tempura course is Anago, also known as salt-water eel. 

Seasonal Cook Dish 
Right before the sushi act, I had a seasonal dish of Seiko kani – steamed and deshelled Hokkaido female snow crab with roe. Expect generous heaps of snow crab and crab roe from Hyogo prefecture along with cubes of dashi jelly. 

Premium Nigiri Sushi 
Moving on to sushi, behind the sushi counter is Osaka-native Chef Kawakami Hiroaki who has 18 years of Japanese culinary experience. Chef Kawakami uses a combination of white vinegar and aged red vinegar for his shari (sushi rice), which is delicious. 

Here are the series of sushi pieces I had: 

Flounder 

Nodoguro 

Otoro 
The fatty tuna is torched and applied generously with soy sauce. This is full of umami. 

Uni 
Luscious and copious amount of Bafun Uni, incredibly fresh. I was literally on a high when I saw the Uni box.

The last act of the Omakase is a choice of either the Kakiage (prawn and vegetable fritter) Don or Kakiage Soba. The Rantee and myself decided to try once each for the rice and soba, where both options are equally good. 

Desert is a mix of fresh seasonal fruits from Japan, all I need after a full meal. 

Rants Nothing in particular.

Will I Return Again? Great meal I had at Mizuki. The ingredients are incredibly fresh, tasty and the whole dining ambience is zen. If you love tempura and sushi, this is one Omakase to head to. 

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

Make your reservations instantly at Mizuki here.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 4.5/5
Ambience: 4.5/5
Overall Experience: 4.5/5

Mizuki 
391 Orchard Road 
#05-32 
Singapore 238872 
Tel: +65 6734 6308 
 
Opening Hours 
Tuesday to Sunday: 11:30am to 3pm, 6pm to 10:30pm 
Closed on Monday 

Ranted by The Ranter