ah valentine’s day – time for me and sampaafulhu to head over to sushi zu to celebrate like a pair of young lovers. sushi zu is hosting dinner but does that mean i will go easy on them?

at home, i am finally dressed for the evening in a crisp white shirt. and as i admire myself in the mirror samfa comes up behind me.

‘you’re not wearing that shirt are you?’ she says.

‘what’s wrong with it?’

‘it’s terrible,’ she says. ‘find something else.’

on the way over to the restaurant we pass by scrummy, a little hole-in-the-wall on the next corner of majlis. samfa likes their butter cakes a lot. i do mean a LOT. she gets me to go and buy them late at night.

‘you should mention the cakes,’ she says. way ahead of you, samfa.

anyway, being one to brag, i just HAD to let nadheemadhi know about my invite to everyone’s favourite japanese restaurant and she insisted on joining us. so she’ll be thirdwheeling as usual.

meanwhile, at sushi-zu, the service is flawless – we’re shown our seats and the server quickly takes our orders. but he doesn’t write them down.

‘will he remember?’ i ask samfa who shrugs and coughs. a nasty cough, that. plus she looks a bit hangry.
the place fills up bit by bit as we wait. a lot of young couples dressed up for the occasion in attire that will soon reek of fried rice.

‘look,’ says samfa. ‘there’s a single dad with his little daughter.’

i turn to them. the girl stands next to her dad and pulls up her hair so he can put a necklace around her neck. she returns to her seat and begins swinging her tennis-shoed legs like a happy kid.

‘why can’t you ever do something like that for me?’ says sampaafulhu.

you’re getting to eat at sushi-ZU because of me, i think but i don’t mention it.

anyhow, first to arrive is the miso.

‘something’s off,’ i say. ‘i want it to have more flavour. maybe it’s the seasoning.’

‘it doesn’t taste like anything,’ says samfa. ‘what’s become of the world?’

the server brings over the tuna tartare. but its thick covering of chopped garlic and what seems like bonito flakes makes it hard to taste the tuna.

in the midst of our disappointment, nadheemadhi strides in.

‘what’s going on? have you two been fighting on valentine’s?’ she says grinning.

‘man something’s happened to sushi-zu,’ i tell her.

‘oh no!’

the sashimi and tuna hosomaki arrive.

‘at least the sashimi is good, right?’ says nadheemadhi.

‘the unagi is wonderful,’ says sampaafulhu.

time for our mains. i ordered the salmon, samfa the unagi don, and nadheemadhi the braised beef.
the salmon is flaky, succulent, cooked to medium with a lovely pink centre. i let the two gals have a taste.

‘so good,’ says nadheemadhi.

‘well done,’ says sampaafulhu.

‘it’s actually medium,’ i tell samfa and she snorts.

then the lights go off, plunging the restaurant into darkness.

‘is this how they dim the lights for romance?’ asks nadheemaadhi.

the chefs continue making sushi in the dark in the light of a phone. pretty impressive.

when the lights come back on, sampaafulhu dives into her dish.

‘the eel is excellent, but the rice could use a bit more flavour,’ she says.

‘there’s too much salt in my rice and beef,’ says nadheemadhi. ‘it’s just too overwhelming.’

we order dessert, the mango coconut chawanmushi and the green tea lava cake. no complaints there. hard to find fault with the sweet stuff. overall though, our dinner lacks the usual sushi-zu finesse. hopefully it’s nothing they can’t iron out in the coming days. unless this restaurant too is marked by the awful curse that stalks all japanese restaurants that appear in greater male.

‘what are you mumbling into your phone?’ asks nadheemadhi. ‘are you writing your review.’

‘shut up and let me do my work.’

‘work,’ says samfa. ‘he calls it ‘work’.’

goddammit. can’t these two just be thankful i got them a meal here?