Head to Zen in Bengaluru for a special menu from Megu curated by chef Shubham Thakur!

How does one experiment with a cuisine that the country is just waking up to? How do you show your talents as a chef using a culinary style that is still relatively new to most gourmands across the country. Worse still, how does one get the average Indian foodie to conquer their fear of uncooked seafood or meat — a mainstay in several cuisines from the Far East? Chef Shubham Thakur, the renowned corporate Japanese chef and head chef of Megu at The Leela Palace New Delhi seems to have found a way — by creating exquisite looking dishes that beg you to dig into them only to discover that they taste even better! It should therefore be no surprise when we more than willingly decided to land up at Zen, the celebrated pan-Asian restaurant at The Leela Palace Bengaluru for a preview of the brand new special menu from Megu. How often, after all, would we in Bengaluru get to taste the creations of the award-winning chef without travelling all the way to Delhi?

Now, we’re all game for experimentation. But when it comes to contemporary takes on Japanese cuisine, you’re always worried about what the outcome will be. This perturbation was put to immediate rest when our first dish arrived on the table. The Shira Ae, Shubham’s very beautiful take on the Japanese salad, looked delectable with the focus on edamame and sesame adding an aesthetic to this elegantly crafted dish. The portion size being absolutely perfect, we were more than ready for the next set of dishes. Knowing fully well that we were absolute fans of the carpaccio, chef Shubham then placed two perfectly-plated luscious dishes in front of us — Tofu Carpaccio and Hamachi Carpaccio in a generous dressing of Oroshi Ponzu. The Italian hors d’oeuvre married beautifully into its Japanese translation and both the tofu and hamachi (Japanese amberjack or yellowtail) variants in the daikon radish ponzu sauce made for succulent bites on the warm weekday afternoon. While we suggest you pair this with sake, we chose to pay tribute to the Italian inspiration by sipping on chilled white wine and we must report, it wasn’t too bad.

The conversations had picked up by now and so had the humidity. This was weather made for our next indulgence — Blue Fin Tuna Tartare served with a Crispy Rice Cracker. A non-vegetarian tartare is always as good as how fresh the meat is and how well the chef is able to bring out the natural flavours in the protein. This dish exceeded our expectations and how — kudos to the chef! We decided to skip tasting the vegetarian variant, but one needn’t fret as the White Asparagus and Corn Tartare with Crispy Rice Cracker is also quite toothsome, we’ve been told.

Next up were the Miso glazed Eggplant in Sweet Miso for vegetarians and the Miso glazed Seabass in Sweet Miso for non-vegetarians. Both dishes were absolute winners both on presentation and in flavour. Using a miso glaze made all the difference and the contrasting taste notes and textures worked in favour of both the dishes. By now, we were too stuffed to try out the Charred Pumpkin with Kagero sauce (vegetarian) or the New Zealand Lamb Loin with Kagero sauce (non-vegetarian), but our co-reviewers relished the lamb and recommend it to any red meat lover with a penchant for East Asian flavours.

We decided to wrap up our meal after a short break and were very thankful that there was only one option — Yuzu Curd Tart with Matcha Ice Cream. After we managed to find access to our tummies reserved for desserts, we dug into the dessert and sighed. It was wonderfully refreshing, familiar and yet so different. The yuzu worked enchantingly in the curd tart, replacing the common lemon; while the matcha ice cream is something we’ve been seeing more commonly on menus, but cannot get enough of. We’d been eating for several hours now and the evening was fast approaching. Out of sheer gluttony, we decided to end this debauchery with a hot cup of coffee and while it seemed like a bad decision to begin with, it seemed perfectly alright by the time we were done.

INR 6,000 onwards. At Zen, The Leela Palace Bengaluru, Old Airport Road.

romal@newindianexpress.com
@elromal