Tsuru

As a result of all these frequent outings with the Boyfriend, I actually have a backlog that isn't laziness induced? Not sure if like or dislike. As a self professed pair of introverted gamer nerds, we'd rather be indoors, working on our fish tan and playing games, instead I'm forcing us outside with normal people eating food, I could make at home.

This is our ideal date

Anyway, I went to a massage at Dr Massage in West End. It was my first remedial massage ever, and my first one now that my fancy private health insurance has been activated. I've never had it before and I desperately needed a good massage. I was so absolutely sore in the left lower quadrant of my back and on the left side of my neck, I could feel my neck spasming as I looked to cross the road. I probably couldn't bend over to do up my shoelaces, thankfully I'm the kind of lazy slattern who just slides her sneakers onto her feet.

Shoe of choice right here. So comfy

I went into the place, thinking the tiny Chinese masseur wouldn't do a thing to me, since I'm a big girl who was taller than her by a good head and shoulders and probably outweighed her by about a solid 25kg. Boy, was I wrong. She spoke minimal English and was pretty much silent except for asking me if I had any sore spots on my body and then went to town on me.

I'm pretty sure she was finding the minuscule gaps between my spinal vertebrae and proceeding to dig her elbow in the space and using her body weight to enhance the space, or that's what it felt like. I was almost in tears after the first few minutes, I kept telling myself I had to keep going to feel better! After maybe 10-15 minutes, I gave up and when she asked if I had any pain, I said a little. This happened three times. My usual pain response during massage is normally to giggle uncontrollably, but that time I just kept arching my back up and tensing up before forcing myself back down on the table.

Then a funny thing happened, I fell asleep for an unknown length of time. I felt like I had been passed out for longer than the hour long massage I had booked. I felt like I had the most refreshing sleep ever, and I even noticed I had drooled a bit. I had only woken up because she had swapped to massaging the left side of my body.

Once she was done, which felt like an eternity later, so much so I was sure they had misheard me and given me a two hour long massage or something. She left the room to allow me to get dressed and I nearly fell off the table with how stiff I was. I was lucky I managed to grab the table and slow down my still painful collapse to the floor. I staggered up the stairs and paid for my massage and stepped into the sunlight.

That feeling was like stepping out of a dark cave, where you've been wandering in the darkness for days if not weeks, into the sunlight. I couldn't see, I had no idea what day, month or year it was or even what the weather was like. Its a similar feeling to when you wake up after falling asleep on public transport and startle up to the terrifying feeling of, oh god where am I, where the fuck is this place.

Moments after I reorientated myself, my Boyfriend called me and asked where I was. We decided to meet up for lunch and this time he was deciding. He even had somewhere in mind! Imagine my surprise when we ended up going to Tsuru! I've actually been here before a few years ago when I was finalising stuff for my house.

Its a very cute little cafe on Melbourne Street leading into West End, its beside a whole bunch of eateries but it has a very loyal following, mostly of business people but still a following! Its got a small shop front full of fat, authentic and very interesting sushi rolls as well as a little dining area out the back for people wanting a sit down meal. Their Takeaway menu and their Dine in menu.

Store front :)

They have a fridge full of different sake and they have a spot at the front counter where they can keep your sake for up to a month I think from visit to visit.

The view of most of the alcohol plus the kitchen

The bar!

I really like the decorations for some reason. Their origami was so cute.

I read somewhere that the owner of this store made all this?

Most of the things had captions on them

Origami cranes!

My Boyfriend ordered miso soup. Ehhhh, I never think miso soup is anything special, he thought it was good though. Served hot but not hot enough to cause burns. There were little cubes of tofu in there as well as sliced green onions. He got annoyed at me because I kept taking photos of him while drinking his soup cause of how ridiculously long his eyelashes are.

Miso soup!

He ordered the tempura prawn udon. He had ordered it previously and reordered it again. While he liked the all the separate elements of the dish, the soup was well seasoned and clear as water, the udon was deliciously soft and chewy and the tempura was crisp and crunchy. However, he hated all the hidden bits! The tempura vegetables! I think there was tempura carrot, pumpkin and sweet potato, all of which he hates, so I ended up eating it all. I don't really agree with how they served this dish however, I'm always of the option you should serve the tempura on a separate dish. That way, the customer can decide whether or not they want to dunk the tempura into the soup/sauce, what's the point of putting crunchy things into something that will make them instantly soft?

Tempura Prawn Udon Soup!

I ordered the yakizakana with Tasmanian salmon, a grilled piece of Tasmanian salmon served on a bed of cabbage, pickles, rice and doused with a teriyaki sauce. The salmon was gorgeous, I have been craving salmon for weeks so this was just what I wanted, flaking off as soon as I jabbed it with a chopstick, pink in the centre with a nice charred outside. The house pickles were good, nicely sour with a great crunch although my Boyfriend declined to even try one. I fed him bits of salmon when he ran out of tempura to eat.

Yakizakana :)

Atmosphere: 6/10. Super cute, a bit dark in the back but nice and cool and the kitchen were very quiet. 
Service: 6.5/10. Our waitress was lovely, but nothing special. She was very prompt with our menus, food and drinks.
Food: 6/10, not a fan of their teriyaki sauce and I always seem to pick that dish, otherwise I'd probably rate them higher. 8/10 says the Boyfriend on the other hand, he thought it was really good and delicious.