In a nutshell:
A culinary afternoon that ended with sheer joy for our tastebuds and for us – very unusual that every dish was good to great.

Address & other details:  Wasabi by Morimoto

Meal for 2: 1300o onwards

Cuisine type :  vegetarian & non vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster.

Short description – in case u r in a hurry:

We had dined at Wasabi by Morimoto years back in Delhi and we had very fond memories of that evening.

So when we thought of making our day special, we decided to visit Wasabi at Taj Mahal hotel, a heritage hotel in front of Gateway of India.

In fact the view from the window near us was of the Gateway of India and the Arabian Sea.

The restaurant is in the first floor and there is an option of climbing the bright coloured stairs or taking a glass elevator.

The dining hall had high ceilings and huge arches.

It had a longish sushi bar near the entrance.

There was a live Teppanyaki counter where people cud sit and dine.

In addition there were tables with 4 seating and a round table in the corner.

As mentioned above, the food gave us immense joy – one of those unique occasions when all go very good.

The menu card had good descriptions of all dishes.

Our host was excellent – he suggested some dishes with confidence and that made a difference.

Detailed description – in case u hv the time to NJOY reading:

Japanese green tea superbly refreshing. Bitter sweet aroma. Perfectly brewed. Sencha

We ordered Assorted sushi and sashimi platter. For the uninitiated, sashimi is a thin cut of very fresh fish / seafood or meat eaten raw, at times by dipping into Japanese soy (soya bean sauce) or wasabi. Gari (Japanese pickled ginger) is also eaten with this to spice up.

As we waited for the platter to come, our host came and served us freshly grated wasabi ( a green coloured paste of Japanese horseradish that is pungent and hits the nasal track more than the mouth / tastebuds).

We enjoyed Most of the sashimis as it is, without the wasabi or Japanese soy. We had the relatively blander ( in terms of flavor) with the wasabi and / or the soy. That way we enjoyed the flavours and textures better.

Dashimaki it was like a egg based slightly sweet layered omelet. We have had this in Japanese restaurants before. It was in the shape of cubes. I liked eating it with the Japanese soy and freshly grated wasabi.

All the sushis were nigiri (raw meat/ seafood placed atop a elongated dollop of rice), except two which were in the form of roll. Rice in all the sushis were salted and tasted good on their own.

 

Jack fish sushi was relatively bland as compared to others. There was a wasabi layer between the fish and the rice. It was however good to eat with soy and wasabi. Rate it 3/5.

Jack fish sashimi was nice. Rate it 3/5

Fluke wings sushi was again on the blander side – not much to talk about on the flavor or taste. Rate it 3/5

Fluke wings sashimi gets a 3/5. We liked eating it with soy.

Fatty tuna sushi was just toooooo good. We cud see the marble effect – layers of fat in the cut. As we bit into it, the fish had all over full bodied flavor, was super soft and had an unforgettable texture. The taste was excellent too. Rate it 4.95/5

Fatty tuna sashimi – gets a 4.95/5 , just like that, no wasabi, no soy. Incredible.

Salmon sashimi was again robust flavours, great taste. Loved eating it just as it is. Rate it 4.75/5

Salmon sushi was lovely once again. The fish part was as good as the sashimi and the rice part was excellent as well. Loved it and rate it 4.75/5

 

Tuna sashimi was very good. It was? As expected, way low on flavours as compared to salmon. Rate it 4/5. Enjoyed it as it is and also with soy, gari and wasabi.

Tuna sushi was very nice. The rice part was very good to taste. Rate it 4.25/5

Scallop sashimi was marvellous. Full of flavours and awesome to taste. A soft ball of chewing joy I wud say. Rate it 4.75/5

Scallop sushi was excellent as well. Rate it 4.75/5

Spicy salmon roll was outstanding. The rice was loosely bound, but was sticking together. The flavours of white and black toasted sesame was excellent. The salmon , was excellent. Overall it was just outstanding. Rate it 4.95/5

Squid sushi was nigiri. It was brittle-chewy as expected. Rate it 4.25/5

Crab sashimi was very nice. It had a sweetish tinge to it and had the full flavours of crab. Enjoyed it as it is. Rate it 4.25/5

Eel sushi the fish was cooked. Layery juicy fish full of flavours. The fat layer in the fish burst into an intense thick juice as soon as we bit into the fish. 4.95/5

Salmon roe sushi – mind blowing awesome just too good, bursts inside the mouth, mouthful of flavor that stays and just too good to taste. 4.95/5

Prawn sushi – the prawn was not raw and it had a nice sweetish tinge. It captured the flavours of the prawn very well. Rate it 4.5/5

Chilean sea bass , in black bean sauce, shaved scallion, ginger hot oil. The sauce was full of juices of fat of the fish and flavours as well fish was flakey and juices wud burst inside the mouth as soon as one wud bite. The black bean paste was grainy, and just too good. Flavours of fish and black bean expressed themselves well. Rate it 4.95/5

Lamb chops sichimi yaki black shichimi morel sauce was a revelation. The lamb shanks were full of flavours, they were juicy, texture was perfect, chewy and soft. The meat inside was still pinkish. Just loved it.

Flavours of marination were all over. The sauce was too good. The mashed potato was outstanding to eat as it is. It was tight texture but creamy at the same time. Rate the dish 4.95/5

For Dessert we had Kuro goma Mille feuille with fresh caramel Hokkaido chocolate ice cream. It was layers of outstanding Mille feuille with creamy YUMM layers. The chocolate ice cream was dark and I do not remember many restaurants serve such ice creams in india. Rate it 4.5/5

Needless to say, we wud revisit but this time around we wud order the Sushis and sashimis a la carte.

Look forward to exploring more of the main course as some of the other items looked just so attractive.