• Fri 20 Nov 2009

mitsuno japanese restaurant - 16 glenferrie road malvern 3144 9576 2151

i've lived and worked in japan in past lives so i have a reasonable clue when it comes to japanese food. while some restaurants try to take their cuisine and run it through the aussie blender (yoowan'aneggontop?), the good ones only try to be who they are. japanese food was never made to be served in the entre - main - dessert format. they have distinct food types like raw fish, noodles, rice dishes, hot-pots and nabe dishes (also known as just chuck-it-all-in-the-pot dishes). when you try to 'entre-main' it (yes i made a new verb), it just doesn't work.

then there's the student food. oh yeah, japan has that, too. it's a better class of junk that we serve to the future world leaders over here but it is cheap and bulky. everything a growing student needs. my favourite - gyoza - is the food of the gods if you're skint or short of a good job. and if you can link that nicely with beer you've covered 2.5 food groups!!

lost my train of thought there. what has all this got to do with mitsuno? well, mitsuno encourages sharing. and not just random 'here, you can wear my underwear whenever you like' kind of sharing because that would just be disturbing. japanese food is made for sharing. order two or three servings of tofu and share it around. pick a plate of chicken wings and toss one to everyone. sharing - nice. all good so far.

the funny thing was, apart from our table of joviality, mitsuno was entirely empty. on a saturday night. it was bit baffling because we were being as jovial as possible. some more than others but that's another story entirely. either mitsuno is a well kept secret - and that just isn't very good for a restaurant business - or, well, i have no fucking idea. and i will punch the next fucker who says 'ah, yeah but the gfc, mate'.

the meal was excellent and the prices much better than getting fleeced in the city. take your family, take your friends, enjoy real japanese food. i know what i'm talking about or i at least sound convincing.

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