Sushi Mitsuya

I had the $ 300 set menu here and thought it was truly worth it. Medium-​fatty tuna was a highlight. Besides the incredibly high quality of the fish, rice, and vegetables, I thought the level of service was outstanding. The owner YY talked with us for a while and I came away impressed with the attention to detail (even down to remembering which customers are right-​handed and which are left-​handed!). Will definitely come back.

Best sushi and sushi lunch sets in the CBD. The lunch sets keep it a good value and the quality on individual sushi/​sashimi beats spots nearby for lunch. Never been for dinner.

I’ll readily admit that the temptation to compare Sushi Mitsuya to other more illustrious sushi restaurants was a strong one. With their menu options priced at $ 300, $ 200, and $ 130, Sushi Mitsuya definitely isn’t a casual sushi restaurant, yet not is it in the same price class as the Shinji, Sushi Ichi, or Sushi Hashida.
Conscious of this, I stepped into Mitsuya telling myself to expect less than Shinji… yet hoping beyond all hope to have found a restaurant punching above its weight class.
Mitsuya is not that restaurant.
My brother and I both took the $ 300 set while my mother took the $ 200 set. After we were finished, we proceeded to Gyoza King where we each had a plate of gyoza and shared some sides. Considering you’re paying $ 300, the least I’d expect is to leave full. Even more shockingly, when the chef asked if we were full and responded no, he asked us if we’d like anything more… we ended up asking for a negitoro maki, and a kohada sushi. They charged us for those items.
Unabashed that our requests for ‘more rice’ in the sushi items went relatively unheeded, completely unfased that they had just served up a $ 300 dollar meal that wasn’t enough for both people that ordered it, they charged us $ 25 per negitoro maki and $ 8 for the kohada sushi.
Wow.
I suppose I’d really sum it up this way:
If you were going Mitsuya and wanted to order the $ 300 omakase menu, don’t. Go to Shinji and order the $ 300 set there instead. It’s much better value. The quality of the food is better, the ambience is better, and most surprisingly, you’ll actually be fed more. I have never left Shinji feeling hungry. Just a touch peckish maybe. But never hungry.
If you were going to order the $ 200 omakase menu… I can’t say DON’T with as much convinction, but I would still recommend going to Shinji and ordering their $ 220 sushi only menu. It’s better quality, and you’ll probably be hungry after trying either one anyway.
But. But but but but but.
If you’ve never had an edomae-​sushi omakase type experience before, Mitsuya would offer you a broader range of food at the $ 200 price point. You’d be able to try a few cooked food items, some sashimi, and of course, sushi.
So… don’t get me wrong. It’s good quality sushi, the rice is fragrant (though our chef, Sean, was incredibly stingy with it), the fish very fresh. It’s not bad sushi, not by any means. Many of the items, like the white uni, were absolutely delicious.
But at the $ 300 price point (which is what I paid today, pretending that I didn’t order the a la carte items) Sushi Mitsuya is poor value.
A lot of the dissatisfaction also has to do with our sushi chef, who moved in a very inefficient manner, wasting a lot of time putting something down, picking it up, putting it down again, cutting tuna, then cutting ika, then going back to cut tuna… and made us mildly concerned since he was opening cupboards and doors in between cutting raw fish and making sushi (all sans gloves of course, which is expected), and using the same cloth to wipe his cutting board, his knife, his chopsticks, his hands, and his forearm. Watching him was very off putting for people that appreciate good kitchen practices.
Basically I would never, ever go back because there’re better places out there. And I’d rather spend $ 300 on good value, than $ 200 on poor.