Strictly Samurai Season

“Edo”
ITC Royal Gardenia, Bangalore, 080-2211 9898
Meal for two without alcohol: Rs 2,800 plus taxes

y the time you leave this recently opened Japanese food restaurant at the ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel, you begin to wish that you had been reborn as a kimono-clad courtesan at the service of a Japanese shogun, or warlord. Or maybe the shogun himself, lying on a pale golden bamboo mat, being served a bowl of sake, or rice wine, while sampling the sex organs of a sea-urchin, or “uni”, all nicely wrapped in a parcel of sticky rice.

The menu reflects the beauty of that particular period in Japan’s history when the samurai or warrior class rose to power in the early 17th century.

The decor, on the other hand, is austere modern. Behind the glass pane against which the Japanese chefs perform is a Zen-like backdrop of granite rock with water dripping down. The counters are also of polished stone, the mats of green bamboo, but the lights and fixtures are bright and functional.

The Mizo soup arrives with the palest of white fish and strands of seaweed. Each course is a work of art, the belly of tuna, a baby yellow tail, grilled eel, cuttlefish, tiny octopi, scattered with salmon roe, jewelled bites of sushi and curls of pink horse-radish, sweet ginger shards, tade or a peppery leaf, frilly edge perilla leaves and purple hanako florets that offset the taste of sweet-water fish. Take note of this: every mouthful is an adventure.