Seafood is having a good time in Hyderabad as if it’s a major part of the diet. Nitin Bhardwaj, executive chef at Taro — Pan-Asian Restaurant & Bar doesn’t want to bore you with the details, because it would take him longer to explain than it would take you to eat that bite. Our most recent meal at the diner confirms that Hyderabad remains a glorious sushi asset.
Before long, sushi shed its status as an immigrant food to become a novelty — the culinary accessory of a certain lifestyle — and then, slowly but surely, an inextricable part of the city’s food culture. Now we have supermarket sushi, vegan sushi, and fusion sushi.
We have stunning caviar omakases and dragon roll specials, so plump and ornate they’re eaten with steak knives. We have handmade rolls filled with cream cheese cut in anonymous ghost kitchens and sushi kits to make at home and with very good seafood. At Taro, scanning its new Festive Menu, we learn that rice was transformed into saporous sushi dishes.
The chef expresses seasonality through a mind-boggling and ever-changing diversity of seafood, never entitling just one type or a single cut. Specialising in Japanese food for the past 23 years, Nitin knows what you want, and sometimes even what you don’t know you want yet. The ambience was warm, with dim lighting casting a cosy glow over the diners, and the clinking of glasses creating a harmonious melody in the background.
First up, the Asparagus & Avocado Katsu Roll, a veggie delight that combines the crunch of asparagus with the creamy goodness of avocado. The Mt Fuji Sushi Roll came next, a picturesque dish that captured the essence of Japan’s iconic peak — owing credits to its Inari tofu, braised shitake mushroom, asparagus, salad leaf, tempura flakes, crispy rice, wasabi peas, almond flakes and in-house veg furikake topped with sriracha mayo and tare sauce.
With anticipation building, we tasted the Rock Corn Tempura Sushi, its sweet crunch sending our taste buds into overdrive. But the real showstopper was yet to come — Crispy Duck Sushi Roll. The rich aroma of duck filled the air. Next, the Wasabi Prawn Tempura Roll made our mouths water in anticipation.
And then, a surprising twist — the Spinach Tempura Roll, a dish that combined the earthiness of spinach with the extra of tempura, was expertly crafted before our eyes — crunchy spinach and avocado roll, topped with creamy avocado salsa and miso parmesan cheese.
`1,500 upwards for two. At Jubilee Hills. — chokita@newindianexpress.com @PaulChokita