Barely days after opening their latest outpost in Powai, Kofuku has successfully created a space for itself in the heart of the corporate world and the expats residing in the area. On a weekday, even as the building where it is nestled was still under construction, there were quite a few takers for authentic Japanese food at this award-winning restaurant.
Featuring its signature Japanese sitting style called Izakaya alongside the regular seating arrangement, the 100-seater restaurant also boasts an outdoor dining space with a live Korean grill on each table to cater the Koreans in this neighbourhood. We settled for their traditional sitting, which also allows some privacy and soon we were served an array of traditional Japanese dishes.
The first item that reached our table was a dumpling platter featuring Crystal Dumpling, Truffle Edamame Dumpling and Gyoza Chicken Dumpling. While the former two were steamed dumplings, the latter was pan-fried. We liked our dumplings and moved on to the salad, which turned out to be our favourite dish that evening. We had placed an order for Horenso Salad, which is blanched spinach in Goma (sesame seed paste) dressing. Topped with a crispy potato chip, it was perfect to T. The creamy texture and nutty flavour of the sesame seeds combined with spinach won us over.
We moved on to try their Sushi, which is prepared live on their sushi counter, allowing guests to observe the making of sushi. We settled for Avacado sushi, which didn’t disappoint us even a bit. Next item we tried was Korokke, which is like Japan’s version of Mumbai’s vada sans masala. With a filling of mashed potato, corn and cheese, it was rather bland and so was Yasai Tempura Moriawase, which is like vegetable pakoras made from brinjal, sweet potato, onion among other vegetables. We finished our meal with Mochi ice cream, which came to us in Mango and Vanilla options, covered in a thin sheet made of rice flour and potato starch, it was a pleasant surprise for our taste buds.
Want more? There is a private karaoke room, which can accommodate a group of about 12 people. If you along with your group wants to have a karaoke night, you can move to that room at no extra charges. Besides, Kofuku is also planning to launch a live pick and buy counter, allowing customers to buy Japanese ingredient which the restaurant imports.
Our verdict: Go to Kofuku to indulge in some authentic Japanese food and when you are there, do try their Horenso Salad, Edamame Dumpling. And, chuck late evenings, you must visit this place during the day or early evening hours and sit outside to enjoy the beautiful view of the hills.
Price for two: Rs 4,000 with alcohol