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Japanese dining in India finds its ikigai
Summary
Passionate chefs, intrepid bartenders and mature diners make way for inventive Japanese. Sushi tacos, anyone?
Japanese food has come a long way in India. Mature diners who know their pan-cooked teppanyaki from grilled robata seek more, while young chefs are eager to master the fine craftsmanship of Japanese cooking. This has led to a steady rise of Japanese-forward restaurants, bars and experimental menus across metro cities. Apart from dishing out much-loved sushi, gyozas and ramen, these places are offering inventive fare and fusion dishes to make Japanese food accessible like never before.
Mumbai has, for example, recently seen several new openings inspired by Japan’s clean flavours and nuanced techniques. Take the case of the month-old Tamari, an intimate, casual restaurant in Bandra. The classic sushi has been reinvented in the form of sushi tacos, which involves first baking the nori sheets and then generously filling them—almost like a deconstructed sushi. Owner Travis Braganza says the idea was to build a fun, casual dining spot with accessible price points ranging from ₹450 to ₹700 for a dish, “That’s the gap we saw for Japanese food," he explains. Tamari also offers ramen bowls, where the broth is cooked for over nine hours for an umami-rich flavour, poke bowls and okonomiyaki or savoury pancakes.
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The soon-to-be-launched restaurant, Donmai, in Worli is innovating with classics too. “We’ve tried to honour age-old Japanese techniques, and work with flavours that will appeal to the modern diner," says founder Ish Patil. “For example, we’ve reimagined chazuke—a traditional dish where green tea is poured over rice. We’ve used matcha instead, for a distinct yet familiar flavour profile."
The city also saw the recent launch of a self-ordering izakaya or casual Japanese-style bar, SŌZŌ, helmed by chef Parvez Khan, who previously worked at Wasabi by Morimoto, at the Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai. For Khan, inspiration struck on a recent trip to Tokyo. He had the idea of making the cuisine more accessible to diners, despite Japanese food resonating strongly with the Indian palate due to the emphasis on flavour. Some of the dishes on their menu are a baoger, a cross between a burger and a fluffy bao, along with donburi bowls, typically featuring rice, protein, vegetables and sauces.
Previously, restaurants would limit their offerings to popular items such as sushi, sashimi and tempura. Now they are choosing to focus on a tightly-curated menu of a few dishes. Naru Noodle Bar in Bengaluru is one such example, where ramen is the star. It quickly gained fame for its heartwarming flavours and wholesome ramen bowls. Chef-founder Kavan Kuttappa says he started with the intention of doing a hyper-focussed place not just because of his love for ramen, but also because it is one of those dishes which doesn’t deserve to be lost in a multi-page menu at a restaurant.
Further afield, Inja in Delhi does innovative Indian-Japanese dishes with chef Adwait Anantwar at the helm. Adrift Kaya in Delhi is modern izakaya with a menu curated by the famous chef David Myers. One of Chennai’s most popular premium hang-out spots, Koox – Rooftop Asian Grill & Bar, continues to reinvent itself by launching Japanese-accented menus through the year.
So, what has led to this surge in popularity of Japanese fare? For starters, the cuisine has always had immense global appeal. Chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar, founder of Bengaluru’s Bento Bento, says Japanese food has become much more trendy in the last couple of years. “We no longer get a knee-jerk reaction from people who equate all Japanese food with raw fish. For example, we have onigiri or rice balls in flavours such as tuna mayo and chicken karaage as well as contemporary ones like pork belly and kewpie mayo," she says.
She goes on to explain that if Chinese cooking involves high heat and is heavy on sauces and spices, Japanese is on the other end of the spectrum. “The cooking is slower and you’re using techniques like braising, which allows for the quintessential lightness associated with Japanese food." Recently, she curated a Studio Ghibli-inspired pop-up menu that paid homage to the popular Japanese animation studio, which was a hit with diners.
Miso in my cocktail
The love for Japanese flavours is making its way into mixology as well. Delhi’s newest bar, Call Me Ten, is modelled on the communal spirit of Japanese izakayas, offering an omakase-style concept for diners. The focus is largely on food and cocktail pairings, which customers can even personalise. Dishes like avocado carpaccio pair well with cocktails like Tiretti Bazaar, which features wasabi-infused gin and mishti doi, the popular Bengali sweet dish. Ingredients like shiitake and miso aren’t just used in dishes but also in their cocktails, packing umami in a glass. Another signature cocktail features ingredients such as carrot and ponzu, paying ode to clean, sophisticated Japanese flavours.
Similarly, the pan-Asian restobar chain, Foo has just launched the third volume of its Blacklist cocktail menu, named Art of Japan. Akash Singh, beverage manager at Pebble Street Hospitality, points out the aim is to use ingredients creatively, such as sencha tea-infused sake, homemade sakura liqueur, red kidney beans or pickled ginger (gari) for complex flavours. “Just like omakase-style dining, where the chef’s skills take centre stage, we’re seeing this with cocktails too, allowing guests to appreciate the attention to detail," he says.
From the looks of it, the popularity of the cuisine isn’t waning anytime soon. Rather, chefs are busy creatively imbibing the cuisine’s light, diverse and nuanced characteristics. “Some people are doing pop Japanese food, some are influenced by Japanese techniques, while others are into fusion food. I think the biggest contributor is that Japanese food is globally seen as aspirational. That’s been the case for over a decade, and the wave has finally reached India," notes Dastidar.
Arzoo Dina is a Mumbai-based food and travel writer.
