Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts

Thursday 3 January 2019

The latest entrant in the Asian cuisine space in Chennai, is a restaurant from the stables of Mr. Mahadevan. However what makes this new restaurant unique is the fact that this is their first pure vegetarian restaurant. Although Chennai is not new to stand-alone vegetarian restaurants, a vegetarian restaurant focussing exclusively on Asian cuisine is a difficult find. I myself found it difficult to comprehend how could they pull it off as meat & egg is such an integral part of the cuisine they offer. However, I was amazed at the amount of research that was done by the Chefs engaged by them from Japan, China, Malaysia and of course our own Chef Ramkumar, the man behind Benjarong and Va Pho. Every dish spoke for itself and at the end of the meal, I never felt the lack of meat options as the flavours in the dishes served more than made up for it.

The evening begun with a selection of interesting beverages from their menu – Lemongrass Cooler, Mandarin and Basil Spritzer, Nutty Milo & Virgin Bailey. The first two were light on the palate providing a refreshing start to the evening while the latter two served as a runner throughout the evening. My favourite amongst them was the Nutty Milo, as it had the flavours of a peanut butter infused Milo milkshake. I can gladly gulp a few glasses down easily.
(Beverages)
The appetizers begun with a selection of ‘Kushi Yaki' and ‘Kushi Age’. ‘Kushi’ is Japanese means skewers while ‘Yaki’ means grilled and ‘Age’ means deep-fried. You can order the Kushi’s in a combination of 3/6/9 skewers with a selection of vegetables based on your preference. We had a combination of Button Mushrooms, Broccoli, Tofu, Cherry Tomato, Baby Corn, Potato and Bell Peppers. Seasoned with just salt, the Kushi Yaki were cooked to perfection and tasted excitingly fresh. The Kushi Age was equally lip-smacking with the batter being amazingly light on the palate. Both the platter were served with an assortment of dips including Miso Mayo, Wasabi Mayo & Kushi Yaki sauce for the Kushi Yaki while it was Ton katsu sauce, Yellow Mustard & Mayonnaise for the Kushi Age. On top of the assorted vegetables, we also ordered for two of their ‘House Special Kushi Yaki’. The first being a combination of bell pepper & corn kernels along with Tongarashi Mayo & Kushi Yaki sauce while the other was Iceberg lettuce and veg protein wrapped in Nori sheet.

(Kushi Yaki)
(House Special Kushi Yaki)
(House Special Kushi Yaki)
Next up was the ‘Crispy Corn Pie Tee’, which were cute little baskets filled with crispy corn kernels. This was followed by some ‘Spinach Dumpling’ with a lovely filling of spinach, veg protein, carrots and a spinach infused dumpling sheet. Next in line was the ‘BBQ Bun’, a bao filled with veg protein, shitake mushrooms, green pea in a BBQ sauce, a ‘Glutinous Rice Siew Mai’, simple dumpling filled with sticky rice, carrot, mushrooms and pea, and finally the ‘Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf’. With the steamed section done, we now moved on to the savour some of the other starters including the ‘Pandan Paneer’ which is a clone of the famous ‘Pandan Chicken’ from Benjarong. In addition to this, we also had ordered  a portion of ‘Eastern Wedge Water Chestnuts’, ‘Honey Chilly Lotus Stem’ and ‘Szechwan Shitake’ to indulge to our craving for the Indo-Chinese cuisines that strives within us.
(Spinach Dumpling)
(Glutinous Rice Siew Mai)
(BBQ Bun)
(Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf)
(Eastern Wedge Water Chestnuts)
(Pandan Paneer)
To beat down the starters, we went in for a ‘Ramen salad Hokkaido style with Roasted Sesame sauce’. The cold salad provided the perfect cleanse for the main course that was followed. We went for the Chef’s highly recommended ‘Chanko Nabe with a Miso Broth’. The dish was brought to our table and placed on a portable burner to ensure the broth was at the right temperature to be served. The Udon noodles and the vegetables in the broth made it a perfect one meal dish. Another main course that we ordered was on the other end of the spectrum in terms of complexity. The ‘Bamaa Curry Rice’ was a Northern style Thai red curry with coconut milk served along with a portion of steamed rice. It was a perfect finisher with good levels of spice. To bring closure to a sumptuous evening, we went ahead with just one portion of ‘Sesame Balls’ for dessert. Recovering from a cold, I resisted the urge to savour the dessert as the sesame balls were deep-fried and served with a portion of vanilla ice-cream. 
(Ramen salad  - Hokkaido style with Roasted Sesame sauce)
(Chanko Nabe with a Miso Broth)
(Bamaa Curry Rice)
With a great price point, Eastern Wedge is a must visit for vegetarians looking to get a taste of authentic Asian cuisine. Located at Poes Garden on 2nd Street, Kasturi Rangan Road, a meal for two would cost about ₹1200.

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Friday 27 March 2015

The first thing that hits you at the thought of dining in a Japanese restaurant is the thought of Sushi and raw a.k.a cured meat. But on the contrary there also exists a different avatar of the Japanese cuisine namely the “Teppanyaki” which will suit the Indian palate more. This style involves using a girdle to cook the food. Wiki says that “The word teppanyaki is derived from teppan (鉄板), which means iron plate, and yaki (焼き), which means grilled, broiled, or pan-fried”. Folks in Chennai are lucky in a way as India’s first stand-alone Teppanyaki grill restaurant opened here. Named “Teppan”, they have been catering to Chennaities teppanyaki needs over the last couple of years.

Having had my first teppanyaki experience in the middle east many years ago, was truly excited on hearing about Teppan opening and visited them on their first week itself for a truly fabulous experience. Was surprised when I learned that they were having a “Makizushi” festival. One thought that ran through my mind was that how can restaurant that is already well renowned for Japanese cuisine have a dedicated festival for a staple dish. This intriguing thought was set aside the moment we saw the menu as the amount of research that has gone in to designing this festival was clearly evident from the offerings that were as part of this “Makizushi” festival.

The menu was clearly divided into three sections, namely ‘Gunkan Maki’, ‘Te Maki’ & ‘Maki’.If you are wondering what these are then to put them in perspective the ‘Gunkan Maki’ is a variant of sushi that comes in big portions such that two pieces can satisfy even the biggest appetite while the ‘Te Maki’ is a cone shaped sushi equally big in portions. The ‘Maki’ is your regular sushi roll. 
(Tempura Wasabi Mayo salad)
(Palate Cleanser drink)
(Gunkan Maki)
For the evening we ordered the ‘Tori Soboro’ and ‘Kanishake’ from the Gunkan Maki section. The ‘Tori Soboro’ was a Chicken version of sushi that was seasoned with tongarashi and wrapped with sushi vinegar rice and nori. Being my first chicken sushi, I somehow felt that it did not do justice as there were confusing flavours that did not pair with each other. This re-instated my belief that sushi should never be made with anything other than seafood. The ‘Kanishake’ on the other hand was one of the best sushi’s of the evening. It was made of tempura fried crab stick tossed with spices and wrapped with sushi vinegar rice and sliced salmon. This was just mind boggling.
(Te Maki)
(Te Maki)
(Maki)
The next up was ‘Shake Sarada’ and ‘Karai ebi’ from the Te Maki section. These were humongous cone shaped sushi. ‘Shake Sarada’ was a marinated salmon wrapped in nori with avocado, lettuce, cucumber and vinegar rice while ‘Karai ebi’ was a prawn sushi seasoned with mild spicy mayo and tongarashi, spring onion, tobiko and again hand rolled with sushi vinegar rice and nori. Both of them were equally good with a subtle flavour of the meat owing to the enormous proportions of the accompaniments. From the Maki section, we ordered for some ‘Furai maguro Maki’ and ‘Takayama Maki’. The former was a seasoned tuna sushi with cream cheese, avocado then rolled with sushi vinegar rice and nori and finally deep fried with breadcrumb. This was truly outstanding as one can feel the heat of the deep fry yet savour the freshness of the sushi all at one go. The ‘Takayama Maki’ was a tempura fried sea bass with carrot, avocado, spicy mayo, rolled with sushi vinegar rice and nori then topped with tuna, sea bass and spinach. This too was equally good but my bet is on the ‘Furai Maguro Maki’.
(Tempura Fried Prawns)
(Fried Rice)
With the heroes of the festival dealt with, we decided to order for another dish which was a hard recommendation from another foodie, the ‘Tempura fried prawns’. My oh my!!! Hands down, this is the best tempura fried prawns I’ve ever tasted. It was as light as it can get while being the crispiest it can get too. It is already in my must taste dishes in Chennai list. Just to bring closure to the evening’s meal, we had some sautéed vegetables, chicken and a fried rice that was prepared right in front of us in the teppanyaki style.
(Dessert Platter)
(Wasabi Ice Cream)
One we were done with the savouries it was time for the desserts. Having savoured fresh produce all through the evening, I really wasn’t in the mood for desserts even though I’m a dessert freak. But one stop at the dessert counter and it all changed. In a short while I found myself in the company of an amazingly silky coffee chocolate mousse, a soft and crunchy nutty brownie, a delectable pie and a well-balanced Wasabi ice cream. Glad I didn’t miss the desserts as they brought about a perfect curtain closure to the amazing evening of sushi.

Teppan is located on TTK Road above Benjarong and a meal for two should cost about ₹ 2500.

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