With fusion of Indian and Japanese cuisines, Sakura surprises both the sensualists and sweet-hearts. Abhishek Gurung savours some of the delicacies
Japanese food is not only about fine dining experience but also the elegant presentation of what you are gobbling. The looks can kill you is what they say, well in this case they will floor you. Sakura in Japanese means ‘cherry blossom’ and it sure stands by its name where food means serious business and there is no room for chaos. Japanese cooking is a riddle to Indian cooks but this new menu took us for a surprise.
The Sakura chefs at The Metropolitan Hotel express their love for food with great intensity and we got welcomed with a humble traditional green tea or ocha tea. Its warmth combined with the soulful Japanese music playing in the background really took us to Japan in three winks.
While the music blended with the ambience, gunkan was served, only this time it was infused with tandoori chicken, wrapped around the sticky rice, the chicken spread around our tongue with every bite, it allured and baffled us with its divine taste. After inducing with some more ocha we decided to try some Indo-Japanese fusion in the form of paneer teriyaki roll which was a combination of paneer rolled in between sticky rice and grilled leeks giving it that crisp. The outer layer was lightly brushed with soya sauce making the sushi heavenly. For some light snack we decided to try out the three gunkans and were introduced to it serially, we started off with the prawn one, it gave a soft and nurturing, tender, crisp and crunchiness on every bite. Avocado gunkan was light and fresh with sticky rice at the bottom, coming up with paneer one in combination with the sticky rice giving it a blend of mix culture.
The transfusion of different delicious delicacies was overwhelming and we were all set to try more and the mash of two entrée was just what we needed and not to forget gari is often served and eaten after sushi, and is sometimes called sushi ginger; it is used to cleanse the palate and served on every meal.
Dragon roll as the name says did not really make alive and kicking impression but had assorted veggies stuffed with cucumber, tuna, salmon with a fishy flavor to it. Wrapped in a nori the looks were fierce and neatly balanced with wasabi mustard garnish which can be blended with soya sauce to make a thick paste to gratify the meal. As time in Sakura went by, to sum up the day we decided to ask for what’s new and different for desserts, we were asked to try the green tea ice cream, the feeling was of wonder, the question on how would it taste but we readily accepted the challenge. Macha ice cream is quite popular in Japan and is served plain but is also used in Japanese sweets like Azuki and Dango. As the bowl landed on the table we started drooling over it. The ice cream tasted exactly like green tea except it was cold. It had this inescapable taste to it and there was no rush to accelerate. If closure is all you want after a long day, a visit to Sakura for nice wine and dine with Indian and Japanese fusion is all you need.