Mirror Tried: Sushi on fire at Colaba

Mirror Tried: Sushi on fire at Colaba
SoBo’s new Jap eatery wants to look beyond the gourmand with deep pockets.

Another week, another Japanese restaurant. What makes Saizen, Colaba’s latest waterfront eatery different though, is that along with a spread of Jap dishes, chef James Biak, who earned a reputation at the dear, departed Tetsuma, also unabashedly turns tradition to please the Indian palate.

The idea, we learn later, is to offer Mumbai a non-exorbitant Japanese experience that appeals to all, not just sticklers.

Having observed the local palate as event managers, sisters and avid cooks Radhika and Archana Agarwal - who’ve co-founded the restaurant with Delhi investors Ankit Rawat and Pradeep Goel, have designed some of fusion recipes themselves. “Since many vegetarians can’t stomach the fishy scent of seaweed, we substitute the seaweed wrap with cucumber chiffonade,” says Archana.

A light sweet and-sour Quinoa salad (Rs 380) that’s dotted with cucumber, carrots, Edamame and sprinkled with sesame seeds is her personal contribution to the menu.

The Ginger pork (Rs 550), one of the few dishes christened with an unpronounceable Japanese name - Buta No Shogakaki - is a delicately-flavoured dish that allows you to fully savour the fine, imported bacon. Though they offer local beef and meats for those dining on a modest budget, they offer imported beef, pork, eel, Hamachi or Yellowtail too.

Vegetarians should try the char-grilled, woodsy Maitake (Rs 980). Served flambéed, the “To Die For Sushi”, a crab meat and freshwater eel maki roll (Rs 1,500) is exactly as they’ve dubbed it. But while the sweetness it derives from a gently drizzled sauce is appreciated here, the same topping, in excess, on the Chicken Okonomiyaki (Rs 600) makes the Japanese pizza too sweet.

The show-stopper however, arrives on a shiny red boat: Mochi filled with Green Tea and Dulche de Leche ice-cream (Rs 450). With a plump casing and creamy icecream, these Wagashi dumplings seems to summarise exactly what the proprietors wanted to achieve with Saizen, “the very best.”