Mizo: Peruvian Heat Under a Fabric Ceiling in Ashdod

A plate of tuna de tigre lands on the table, the fish pale and glossy in a pool of leche de tigre, with avocado cream, sweet corn and a thread of olive oil. The first spoonful is sharp with lime and quietly spicy, and the second makes you reach for the rest of the menu. Overhead, a stretch of fabric ceiling runs the length of the room, gongs and wooden partitions break the space into pockets, and the bar sets the tempo for the evening. This is Mizo on Max Nordau Street, a Nikkei restaurant that has arrived in Ashdod with a larger ambition than a sushi counter.

Nikkei is the cuisine that grew in Peru from the end of the nineteenth century, when Japanese immigrants settled there and began cooking with local ingredients. The idea is easy to taste and hard to execute. From Japan come the precise cuts of raw fish, the careful handling of sushi rice and the discipline around temperature. From Peru come chilies, corn, lime, cilantro and a taste for sour and spicy sauces that wake the palate. Mizo builds its whole identity on that pairing, and the menu is organized in clear chapters: raw fish and beef, baos, wok, robata grill and sushi rolls.