Wasabi Tei

Found a cosy little Japanese restaurant today - Wasabi Tei - at #05-70 Far East Plaza. The place is as small as you can imagine, run by a lady and the chef (presumably her husband).
They work quickly and efficiently in the middle of the shop, surrounded on three sides by counter seats. Occasionally, he would bark at her to get out of the way when he has some food to serve or when he wants to move somewhere. She, being the lowly and obedient wife, quietly obliges. Interesting... They are Chinese, not Japanese.

The place can only comfortably seat 18 people. So you can imagine the queue that would form. Our waiting time tonight was at least half an hour. But this place came highly recommended so we queued patiently.

Far East Plaza is not exactly the haunt of senior citizens and I was getting a little conscious that the people in the queue were just a tad young.

Anyway, to pass time, we both whipped out our books, read the menu pasted on the glass door and stared through the glass to check the progress of the lucky diners inside.

FINALLY, we got our seats. Yayy!! We were starving by that time. We ordered a Beef set, extra miso soup, Sake Sashimi, 2 california handrolls and cold tofu. We watched as the chef slams the plates down on top of the counter, mounds the wasabi on, shapes the sushi, slaps ginger on plates, and carefully slices the sashimi. Everything he does seem to have its own rhythm. I inadvertantly put an empty plate up on the counter and he told me brusquely not to do that... err, ok... *looks sheepish...

Good thing the place is small. They can just barely handle each seating of guests. Everyone was served with tea almost simultaneously. Then came the appetizers, and then the sashimi, cold dishes. The last to arrive were the grilled and cooked items.

We enjoyed the thick slices of salmon sashimi. The beef had too much cartilage but Mag kept whispering to me, "Just SWALLOW it!" So I swallowed.. :-( I've never swallowed so much beef cartilage in my life I think! The dinner was $36 for both of us, complete with grouchy chef and demure wife. I overheard that they sometimes have specials like fresh scallops or oysters. The grilled saba looks really good too.

Definitely a place to experience.