A Jewel Box Of Culinary Delights - Wasabi By Morimoto Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary In New Delhi

Wasabi by Morimoto at The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi recently celebrated its fifth Anniversary. We were invited to be a part of their celebrations and review the new menu launched by the restaurant to commemorate the occasion.

Wasabi By Morimoto, is the brainchild of the legendary Chef Masharu Morimoto, also known to many as the 'Iron Chef'. The occasion was graced by the renowned Chef Hemant Oberoi who has been instrumental in the success of the restaurant. 

You could hear the tinge of pride in Chef Oberoi's voice as he rested the crown of success of the restaurant on Chef Amit Chowdhury, Chef Masaki Kobayashi and their great team of chefs, who through their consistent hard work and efforts, were able to maintain the standard and quality of the restaurant, which was responsible for its high patronage by food connoisseurs.

Chef Hemant Oberoi also spoke about how Wasabi’s unique feature is the strength of its vegetarian menu, which has been crafted entirely by Chef Oberoi himself. On realizing that about 40% of their guests are either pure vegetarians or have religious restrictions due to festivals or some particular days of the week, prompted Chef Oberoi and his team to design an extensive vegetarian menu to tickle the palates of his vegetarian guests. Chef Oberoi remarked that Wasabi By Morimoto was by far the youngest restaurant in his career as a chef and how he had celebrated the 40th Anniversary of Shamiana, at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai and looked forward to celebrating 40 years with this restaurant too.

The new menu comprises of delicacies like Mushroom Pizza, Onion cups with Morel Sauce, Tenderloin Carpaccio, Ishi yaki unagi bop, Encased Inari, Salmon Wara Tataki, Ghost Tenderloin Sukiyaki to name a few. 

The Chef had exquisitely designed and crafted a six course menu for our lunch. What was remarkable was that each and every dish on the menu was outstanding. The simple and delicate flavors and the incredible freshness of the ingredients simply blew me away. Not only did they taste great but each plate looked visually stunning, garnished with edible fresh flowers making them look like a beautiful piece of art.

For a fish lover like me, it was food-nirvana.

We started with a visually spectacular, smoking cocktail Eighth Wonder being placed before us, which was a heady mix of Vodka and Litchi juice served over dry ice.

This was followed by Salmon Wara Tataki, daikon oroshi (which is Japanese radish) and crispy garlic. Beautifully presented, the dish looked pretty as a picture, shaped in a mosaic form and garnished with a bright yellow edible flower. It was served with salmon caviar resting on top which were glistening like golden pearls. One just did not feel like disturbing this creative magnificence.

Next came an assorted platter of Sushi and Sashimi. It had the finest servings of Nigiri Sushi, Maguro Sushi, Yellow Tail Sushi and Otoro(fatty tuna) Sashimi  served with pickled ginger and wasabi in the center 

They were extremely fresh with a melt-in-the-mouth silken smooth texture. If you enjoy the bold flavors of fish, then this sushi and sashimi platter is just what is ideal for you.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and managed to polish the whole plate off.

Fresh wasabi root, used as a condiment for sushi and sashimi, grated with a specially designed grater right at our table. There is nothing like fresh wasabi to give you the fiercesome kick in your head and open up your sinuses.

Crispy onion cup served with a rich morel sauce was served next. Nice and crispy, the onion was really mild in taste and the morel sauce served on top beautifully complemented the dish. The only problem I found that it was that it was that the onion cup was too big for one mouthful and I was found it a little difficult to cut through. 

Mushroom Pizza, were tiny tortillas served with fresh mushrooms. They were served on the base of an overturned martini glass which was a novel way of serving.

Spicy grilled angel shrimp were served with yuzu koshu sauce. Jumbo sized shrimps deep fried in a pancake like covering were delicious.  Given a chance, I could have happily munched on a couple more.

The Spicy grilled angel shrimp was served with green salad leaves tucked neatly in a cute little basket. The basket was paper thin and was to our surprise was made from dried fish.

For my choice of main course, I opted for Black Cod Miso.  Buttery, rich and silky, the fish was cooked to perfection.The fish was beautifully tender and moist with a hint of salt and sweet.

Lamp Chop Shichimi Yaki with Morel Sauce was served next. The Lamp chop served with shichimi (which is a Japanese seven spice mixture) was moist and juicy with the meat separating effortlessly from the bone. This was again a dish that really appealed to my tastebuds.

Next on the menu was Ghost Tenderloin Sukiyaki with mash potatoes and garlic soy.  The tenderloin dish had a candy floss covering on the top which disappears, rather melts away when hot sauce is poured over it. hence the name 'ghost' in the dish. The dish had thinly sliced grilled tenderloin on a bed of creamy  mashed potatoes. The tenderloin scored full marks on account of both taste and presentation. The Tenderloin Sukiyaki something that is definitely not to be missed.

We ended our meal perfectly with a Sakura Strawberry ice cream and Green Tea Cheesecake.

This was a meal after my own heart - one which I enjoyed till the very last morsel.

Thanks Chef Hemant Oberoi and Taj Mahal Hotel for a memorable afternoon.