In its second innings, the Japanese fine dining Guppy by Ai in lodhi Colony is a much younger and relaxed version of its earlier mall lounge avatar. Navneet Mendiratta comes back happy with the quality of food served and price points
It was the Wasabi twist to a Margarita by the Guppy by Ai bartender Jagtar Singh at a bartending competition held in the city recently that held the recall value for me, strong enough to go check out this new Japanese fine dining space in lodhi Colony. The place it turned out is as refreshing as the drink that was on offer the other day, both in terms of place, décor and food.
Referred to as the second innings for Ai, the Japanese fine dining that lost out to the loud noise of the big mall in south Delhi, Guppy is a much younger and relaxed version of the earlier lounge avatar. And just right for the sleepy locality that it is housed in with no parking hassles to combat before you get to your food.
I was ushered past beautifully painted old-world shutter style doors and into a quirky space done up with bright and colourful cartoons inspired by Manga and Anime styles from Japan. little trinkets such as a flowerpot on the table are hard to miss, as are painted chairs in bright colours (sometimes mismatched), that instantly brighten up your day. Yes, it comes across as a happy place to have a meal with family and friends with your cell phone in shutdown mode.
“We just let the creativity ooze, both in terms of décor and food,” said chef Vikram Khatri, as I complimented him and AD Singh for the pleasing sight. At the same time he insisted that while Sabina Singh went all experimental on the interiors, in food they decided to stick to the traditional. “Ai, which is Japanese for love or sharing with love, is truly that,” he said. “So while we have brought more vibrancy to Japanese food, it goes beyond sushi and sashimi. We have introduced a lot of fried food, which comes as a surprise to most of our patrons,” he added.
My first order was a Guppy house salad comprising of crunchy vegetables and bamboo shoots in karashi mustard dressing. Refreshing and crisp, it made me happy to have started on a healthy note, just what I like about Japanese food. “It’s great to see that the Japanese food has found feet in India,” shared Khatri who did a little trip down the memory lane on how he specialised in Japanese food, (which is before he earned his Olive Beach fame). “Tokyo at The Ashoka shut down in 2000 and that is when I joined the industry, to be more specific Sakura at The Metropolitan or Nikko as it was known then. I must admit Japanese was not my first choice. But, two days into it and I knew this was my calling,” he shared.
Next he sent a hot bowl of miso soup in traditional Japanese bowl to the table. It was a thick, fermented soy bean paste soup in dashi with tofu, wakame and spring onions. “Competition had done good to Japanese food in India,” he continued. “The popularity is on the rise and you see many fine dining spaces trying to break the stiffness about the price while maintaining the quality of the cuisine,” he added. For starters I chose an assortment of crisp vegetable harumaki (exotic vegetable phyllo rolls, oven baked, served with yuzu miso sauce), two variations of gyozas prawn and mushroom (both pan fried, served with chilli ponzu soy sauce) and Guppy signature pork belly (slow braised pork belly, glazed with soy honey, served with mustard miso sauce).
Chef Khatri has given the harumaki (or spring rolls) a contemporary twist by using phyllo pastry and that makes all the difference. The gyozas, both variations, were juicy and great pot stickers.
But it is the Guppy signature pork belly that won my heart. Now, this one’s a must for all porkaholics. It just melts in the mouth with the soy honey and mustard doing a tango on the taste buds.
In the sushi section, Guppy offers as many as eight to 10 sushi rolls, some done in inside out style. Much as I was tempted to try, I skipped the sushis to jump straight to the main course — Guppy signature black cod (baked miso marinated black cod, served on a hot stone). And trust me this one was pure delight. The hot stone did perfect justice to the juicy fish — here crisp and there soft.
For those who love their meal in a bowl, chef strongly recommends the chashu ramen noodles. These are homemade egg noodles in a pork and soy broth, simmered over fire for 72 hours and served with boiled egg, pork crackling, spinach, seaweed and corn. “Ramen noodles are Japanese take on Chinese noodles,” he laughed off the ownership debate, “We get our Ramen noodles from Japan,” he reiterated to vouch for the authenticity.
Around me it was interesting to note the groups getting bigger and the conversation very light and friendly. “Asian food is meant to be shared on the table, so we have kept our portions generous. People like to order a few appetisers and share among them,” he noted. So did I, promising myself to come back in a bigger group. Given the quality of food and price points (which is highly affordable), I’m sure many Japanese food lovers would too. let’s hope it stays this way.