Japanese restaurants in India rarely go beyond the usual Sushi and the Teppanyaki counter.The few that do cost a bomb. This did not bother me much, till exposure to travel television brought with it greater knowledge of Japanese cuisine. The Yatai stalls of Fukuoka grilling Yakitori skewers, the Ramen alley of Sapporo, and the precision of Soba cooks jumped out of the telly and went straight for my belly. Needless to say, Japanese cuisine was the next object of my wasteful use of high-speed internet at the workplace.
One aspect of the Japanese food scene that particularly caught my attention was the Izakaya. These are places where the Japanese get together for after-work drinks and they also serve some great food, mostly grilled stuff like Yakitori and Gyoza. A google search on the word 'Izakaya' threw up a surprise result. A Japanese restaurant in Delhi apparently went by the name. The website was still under construction, so on it was to 'burrp' and 'zomato'. The reviews were great and the place seemed authentic enough without being a rip-off a la Wasabi.
Trips to Delhi keep happening for some reason or the other - weddings, stopovers on trips to the north or just to eat (yes, that too has happened). Well, there are no prizes for guessing what I went to Delhi for in the last week of October 2011. And no, it wasn't the first Indian Grand Prix. It was the other thing, and that's all there is to say about that. Anyway, the day after the 'fiasco', it was time to salvage the trip with some (hopefully) great Japanese food. That plan almost got canned, thanks to an unusually long time spent at a spa (not me) and getting lost (twice) on the way to Vasant Kunj (again, not me).
3.30 pm is usually past closing time for most restaurants, but Izakaya was cool enough to make an exception for us. For that and the 'Irasshaimase' that greeted us at the entrance, I was already liking the place. The red and black interiors have a part-tradtional Japanese and part-conventional seating and the well stocked bar is also quite visible. I generally don't like restaurants in malls and thankfully, the decor at Izakaya does its best to take the being-in-a-mall feeling away.
Yakitori is what I wanted to start with and unlike other places which just served grilled chicken cubes dipped in tare sauce, at Izakaya there is variety. We went for Yakitori Hatsu, which is chicken heart yakitori. Liver, skin, chicken leg and chicken meatball were the other types. The pieces were tiny but the grilling and tare marination was perfect. And to top it, the waiter got a spice mix to season the Yakitori. As if the tare sauce wasn't enough.
Sushi came next and here too, Izakaya comes out all guns blazing. Maguro (Tuna), Tempura and Sake (Salmon) are the common varieties of Maki Sushi available at most Japanese restaurants. Izakaya offers more choice and we went for the Unagi (Eel) Maki. Nigiri Sushi was not on the menu, but on asking, the waiter said it could be prepared on request. We were mighty pleased with the Maki and so we got ourselves some Salmon Nigiri. Neat job with both the Maki and the Nigiri and it's worth a mention that the waiter was of great help in explaining the mixing of the wasabi and the soy sauce for taste to us novices.
To wrap up the meal we ordered Yaki Gyoza (fried meat dumplings) and Yaki Udon (stir fried wheat noodles).While the Yakitori and the Sushi were the stars of the meal, Izakaya managed to not disappoint with what came after.What deserves a special mention is the service at Izakaya. Ambience and service are two things I don't give much thought to, in my mind they're mostly hygiene factors. But the waiter at Izakaya has to get a 10/10 for his troubles during our time there. Not only was he prompt with suggestions from the menu and off it, he also helped out with seasonings and side dishes we were totally unfamiliar with.
Kudos to Izakaya for raising the bar as far as Japanese cuisine in India is concerned. Several new places have opened since then and how long it takes to top this one remains to be seen!
The website still doesn't say much but here it is: http://www.izakayaindia.com/
For menu (incomplete) ratings and reviews: http://www.zomato.com/ncr/restaurants/south-delhi/vasant-kunj/izakaya-2885
One aspect of the Japanese food scene that particularly caught my attention was the Izakaya. These are places where the Japanese get together for after-work drinks and they also serve some great food, mostly grilled stuff like Yakitori and Gyoza. A google search on the word 'Izakaya' threw up a surprise result. A Japanese restaurant in Delhi apparently went by the name. The website was still under construction, so on it was to 'burrp' and 'zomato'. The reviews were great and the place seemed authentic enough without being a rip-off a la Wasabi.
Trips to Delhi keep happening for some reason or the other - weddings, stopovers on trips to the north or just to eat (yes, that too has happened). Well, there are no prizes for guessing what I went to Delhi for in the last week of October 2011. And no, it wasn't the first Indian Grand Prix. It was the other thing, and that's all there is to say about that. Anyway, the day after the 'fiasco', it was time to salvage the trip with some (hopefully) great Japanese food. That plan almost got canned, thanks to an unusually long time spent at a spa (not me) and getting lost (twice) on the way to Vasant Kunj (again, not me).
3.30 pm is usually past closing time for most restaurants, but Izakaya was cool enough to make an exception for us. For that and the 'Irasshaimase' that greeted us at the entrance, I was already liking the place. The red and black interiors have a part-tradtional Japanese and part-conventional seating and the well stocked bar is also quite visible. I generally don't like restaurants in malls and thankfully, the decor at Izakaya does its best to take the being-in-a-mall feeling away.
Yakitori is what I wanted to start with and unlike other places which just served grilled chicken cubes dipped in tare sauce, at Izakaya there is variety. We went for Yakitori Hatsu, which is chicken heart yakitori. Liver, skin, chicken leg and chicken meatball were the other types. The pieces were tiny but the grilling and tare marination was perfect. And to top it, the waiter got a spice mix to season the Yakitori. As if the tare sauce wasn't enough.
Sushi came next and here too, Izakaya comes out all guns blazing. Maguro (Tuna), Tempura and Sake (Salmon) are the common varieties of Maki Sushi available at most Japanese restaurants. Izakaya offers more choice and we went for the Unagi (Eel) Maki. Nigiri Sushi was not on the menu, but on asking, the waiter said it could be prepared on request. We were mighty pleased with the Maki and so we got ourselves some Salmon Nigiri. Neat job with both the Maki and the Nigiri and it's worth a mention that the waiter was of great help in explaining the mixing of the wasabi and the soy sauce for taste to us novices.
To wrap up the meal we ordered Yaki Gyoza (fried meat dumplings) and Yaki Udon (stir fried wheat noodles).While the Yakitori and the Sushi were the stars of the meal, Izakaya managed to not disappoint with what came after.What deserves a special mention is the service at Izakaya. Ambience and service are two things I don't give much thought to, in my mind they're mostly hygiene factors. But the waiter at Izakaya has to get a 10/10 for his troubles during our time there. Not only was he prompt with suggestions from the menu and off it, he also helped out with seasonings and side dishes we were totally unfamiliar with.
Kudos to Izakaya for raising the bar as far as Japanese cuisine in India is concerned. Several new places have opened since then and how long it takes to top this one remains to be seen!
The website still doesn't say much but here it is: http://www.izakayaindia.com/
For menu (incomplete) ratings and reviews: http://www.zomato.com/ncr/restaurants/south-delhi/vasant-kunj/izakaya-2885
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