Golden Spoons Review: Mizu Asian Bistro and Bar

(CNS Foodie): Asian food is some of the most satisfying food to eat. The sauces, textures and use of fresh ingredients are enough to make my mouth water at the thought of the perfect combination. I’m happy to say that I’ve found a few dishes at Mizu which confirm those feelings. Although the restaurant has fairly standard Asian dishes on the menu, they are done well.

I hadn’t been to Mizu, which is located in Camana Bay, in probably over a year but as we (the beau and I) like to make the midweek hump a little easier, we figured it was perfect for a quick reset with dinner and drinks. I’d all but forgotten how much I loved their interior. It’s dark but regal with the use of modern Asian-inspired light fixtures emitting a golden glow and flare from red sequin pillows that beautifully reflect the light. Wood and mirror details are everywhere and the dragon painting on the back wall of the sushi station really helps to complete the look.

We walked in and were quickly greeted by a manager, who escorted us to our seats with our food and drink menus. We then had our waiter (who also seemed to be making our cocktails) take over. We got a jimador cocktail called That Drink ($12) and a mezcal called Flower in Bonsai ($12). They weren’t the greatest but were full of potential. I think that the measurements may just have been off with the wrong notes being the stars. I missed the smokiness of the mezcal and both drinks seemed more like they were on their way to becoming some version of a rum punch; still drinkable but certainly not what I thought it’d be.

Now on to my favourite part…the food.

To help set the tone of dinner we started with Thai style calamari ($10) and beef tataki ($12). The calamari was probably my favourite. It was warm, sweet, tangy and a little spicy, just the way it should be. There was a nice crunch from the light breading the chef used and the sharpness of the nam jim sauce was a great addition. The tataki was very tender and contrasted nicely with the crispness of the glass noodles. This dish wasn’t the tastiest, but it was prepared well and may just have needed a little salt and pepper to help make it pop.

Although my partner and I normally share everything at dinner, we on occasion have gone our separate ways. This was such an occasion. He decided on nasi goreng ($16) which is essentially a fried rice with different meats and a fried egg on top. Mizu’s take on this Indonesian favourite combines chicken, prawns and pineapple along with garlic chilies and the ever important, fried egg. I decided to have a couple of bites to see what it was like since I’d never thought of combining pineapple to fried rice before. This dish was savoury, slightly sweet with a dash of heat and I was surprised at how well all the flavours blended together. Overall, it was a decent dish but it’s something I’d probably only order after a night out.

The real star of dinner was my Okinawan style pork belly ($19). I admittedly was hesitant at first to order it as I’m always sceptical of pork belly. All the fat makes it an easy dish to ruin. Thankfully, my better half coaxed me into ordering this dish and I found a new reason to visit this restaurant.

In the middle of a bowl of salty soy-sake sauce, on top of soft but crunchy bok choy, and with a soft-cooked egg nestled on its side carrying about a teaspoon of Japanese mustard, were these amazing cuts of tender pork belly. The fat was rendered perfectly. So perfect in fact, I could pull the pieces apart with my chopsticks. They were thick, juicy and bursting with flavour that just melted for me. As I sat happily enjoying every mouthful I almost forgot the side of white rice it was served with. Honestly, it didn’t need it anyways, but the rice was still a welcome addition as I spooned the broth-like-sauce on top to soak up a bit.

The portion sizes were semi-large and to squeeze in dessert, we got about half of each main to go. We ordered the caramel cheesecake ($10) and the crème caramel ($8). Decadent is a great word to describe both dishes.

The cheesecake was creamy and very dense with a lovely salted caramel sauce drizzle and thick crust. It could’ve done with a little less crust and maybe a little crunch as the cheesecake itself was already so smooth and dense, but it was still nice.

Crème caramel is really a fancy way of saying flan. This one was served with a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream on top, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and drizzled with more of that salted caramel sauce. This custard was creamy, sweet and slightly salty from the caramel. I am actually a purist when it comes to flan or anything similar, in that I crave the classic watery caramel sauce it used to be served with and nothing else. So, I gave my ice cream to my partner (after a few sweet bites), embraced the salted caramel sauce, and went to town on my dessert. I loved the toasted coconut as its mild flavour brought a much-needed change of texture to the dish.

Dinner was all around lovely, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was conducive to “date night” allowing us to converse while enjoying a meal in relative privacy. Our waiter was attentive throughout the night. Once I caught him out of the comer of my eye coming over to check on us and upon noticing that we were having a moment, he slowed and waited a few seconds until the moment had passed. I’ll be back again.

The total bill for two was $113.85, which included 15% gratuity.

Mizu Asian Bistro and Bar website

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Tags: Asian food, Camana Bay, Mizu Asian Bistro and Bar

Category: Dinner, Golden Spoons Review