At Wasabi, you eat food with your eyes first: Mumbai's famous Japanese restaurant turns 20

Recently, Wasabi by Morimoto, the famous Japanese restaurant at Mumbai's iconic Taj Palace and Towers turned 20. To celebrate, Masaharu Morimoto - the founding chef known for serving authentic Wasabi and delectable Japanese cuisine in Mumbai and New Delhi - was in the city to lay out a specially crafted Omakase menu as a way to mark the celebration. 

Omakase in Japanese translates roughly to 'I am leaving it up to the chef’. Wasabi has a special place in his heart, also because it is the second restaurant of his career, which began with the founding of his large and successful Philadelphia restaurant in the US way back in 2001. "I'm often asked why I didn't open a second one anywhere else in the world but in India, the answer lies in love. If we hadn't loved each other, Taj and I, we wouldn't have sustained for 18 years." 

Known best as the sushi chef who made it big as the 'Iron Chef' on Japanese TV, and trained as the executive chef of the first Nobu in New York with the eponymous Nobu Matsuhisa (a legend in the area of Japanese cooking), Morimoto is known to have championed the idea of modern Japanese cuisine. His expert play with sharp Japanese flavours and spices combined with his love for sushi and ramen, and taking from ingredients that are distinctly Western like olive oil and dairy products, have made him a favourite among all those he served, right from President Barack Obama to Bollywood celebrities back home, who we are told are regulars at the Taj. 

"I always tell my team that works with me on the 'Morimoto brand,' 'never say no'. Even if someone asks you for ketchup, say yes. And then think about how you could improvise on the ketchup, which is a pet peeve at most high-end restaurants, and give something better than that." 

As we gather around a table of ten, that looks out to a beautiful view of the Gateway of India, the chef is seen sashaying in and out of the kitchen and caroming into the dining area to greet guests. "I want to stay a chef for as long as I can. Even now, I spend most of my time in the kitchen," he tells THE WEEK. Signature dishes such as the Black Cod Miso, White fish carpaccio, Toro Tartare, pork Kakuni and Kinmedai soup are examples of how chefs at Wasabi have aced the game of incorporating local preferences into its menu. 

If one were to ever ask the chef to recommend, he'd say, quite nonchalantly, "everything". He adds, "I made the menu myself with so much love and sweat, you cannot ask me what is best. Everything on my menu is the best." 

Muskmelon brandy jelly (right) Bocchan kabocha croquette

We are seated for a longish eight-course Omakase on a languorous Saturday afternoon as the world whizzes by. Food arrives. Chopsticks are provided but forks come to the rescue. As plates upon plates of beautiful food is placed in front of us for a meal that goes well past two and a half hours, we take more than a moment to look at it. After all, the way the food is laid out reflects an aspect of a chef’s craftsmanship that can be just as crucial as the ingredients in the dish. Plating, says those who've worked with Morimoto, is a crucial aspect of his culinary skills. "He makes sure the plating is just right. Even a little leaf placed as a garnish and a visual treat must be perfect." 

One example of this was the salad course we were served, which the server said was a dish Morimoto had created for dinner hosted by President Obama for Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House. In an attempt to symbolise US-Japanese friendship, the chef created a salad of vegetables sliced longitudinally with bits of meat in a fancy Japanese cellophane packaging tied with a thin golden ribbon. It looked beautiful as if you were unwrapping a gift. But the salad, which came with ranch dressing seemed more American than Japanese. It tasted okay, like any salad one would expect to taste with a rich dollop of dressing. But not in Japan. This also explains the close to 30 years that the chef spent in America, ever since he started there at Nobu in New York. 

The salad came as the third course – after the entree which was a platter of about eight to nine gourmet foods from a mushy and juicy melon to pumpkin jelly, avocado tartar, tofu, beautifully placed duck meat and belly tuna with wasabi on top. It was just the perfect start to what all was coming. The sushi was the highlight of the lunch and we were served a whopping five different varieties of it all in one platter. 

Immaculately dressed in a white shirt, black trousers and a long flowing jacket, the chef didn't look a day over 60. With his hair neatly tied back and a smile on his face at all times, nobody could say that he was on a punishing schedule that would go on for hours into the night. 

The fat belly tuna that came resting on the tummy of a ripe and gooey Japanese muskmelon was delightful. The main course was pan-fried Sea bass with mushrooms cheese vegetables, pickle jalapeno sauce and ginger shoots, artichoke deep-fried mushrooms was largely okay and did not exude any different taste that was peculiarly Japanese. But, what set things apart for us was also that Rehan, the server, would give us fresh wasabi freshly rolled in front of us, and that added an instant spice to our sushis and the courses that followed. The rock lobster formed the fifth course; however, when asked for a vegetarian option instead, I was in for a bit of disappointment. All I had to make do with was potatoes and cheese. That also explains why Morimoto is known for his Wasabi menu and the vegetarian options on the menu do not really appeal to those who'd have eaten under renowned Indian chefs. Here, it pays to be a non-vegetarian. 

But the chef himself prefers vegetarian meals. And that too, just one big meal at 4.30pm every day. Nothing filling before and after that. He just had banana yoghurt and small vegetables for breakfast and that also because he has to take the medicine for high blood pressure. "After lunch at 4, nothing, only plain water. Last time I lost 10 kilos and I've stopped alcohol completely." This is ironic because he is aggressively selling his new line of Sake - alcohol made from fermented Japanese rice. 

At Wasabi, Morimoto often tells his patrons, "Always trust your server's recommendations. Each and every one of them know the menu in and out." 

Morimoto and his wife, who is many years younger to him, travel extensively. They don't have kids; but a dog. He says he never cooks anything at home. "Zero," he says animatedly. "When we married in 1979, she was a terrible cook. She could not cook anything and I could cook everything. Over time, she learnt and is better than me now." 

The omakase set we enjoyed at Wasabi was like moving in a plane, with its slow ascends that go on and on with the appetizers then, a cruising altitude when the raw and sharp wasabi hits the nasal sinuses...here the flight only goes straight up. There is no descend. Here you eat food with your eyes first.