Enter The Blue, a new eatery in Bandra that offers you authentic Japanese and Thai eats with a fine-dine quality at a price that doesn't bring tears to your eyes
Tuna Akami Sashimi, Pad Thai, Salmon Nigiri, Chicken Gyoza
Tuna Akami Sashimi. Pics/Shraddha Uchil
Gone are the days when we would splurge at a high-end Asian eatery and make do with home-cooked dal and rice the rest of the month. Enter The Blue, a new eatery in Bandra that offers you fine-dine quality at a price that doesn't bring tears to your eyes.
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Chefs Seefah Ketchaiyo and Karan Bane, who've both previously worked at Four Seasons, Worli, co-own The Blue. Expectedly, the pair helms the kitchen at the eatery, which seats no more than 16 people.
Pad Thai
Rice to meet you
Ah, sushi. That seemingly simple yet polarising Japanese dish, the making of which takes years to master. Luckily, some city eateries do the job well enough so we don't have to attempt making it at home. The Blue counts among these establishments, and it helps that, for once, we don't have to pay through our nose for quality sushi.
Salmon Nigiri
Bane is the sushi master (and master of everything Japanese served at the restaurant), and his creations are guaranteed to convert even non-believers. While we're trying to pick our dishes, he walks out to help us decide. And it's not just us. We notice that despite it being a busy night, both chefs make it a point to approach every table for a quick chat.
We begin with the sashimi, which is the best way to judge how seriously a place takes its raw fish. The Tuna Akami (Rs 550) is jewel-red, fatty and melts on contact, and the Hokkaido Scallops (Rs 800) burst with sweet ocean flavours. Even the Salmon Nigiri (Rs 350) is flawlessly executed, from the rice to the chunk of orange salmon sitting atop it. It's clear the seafood is incredibly fresh, a factor essential to creating good sushi.
The Japanese menu goes beyond sushi — we also get a Chicken Gyoza (pan-fried dumplings; Rs 350). They are accompanied by a lemon-and-chilli dip so zingy that it makes our taste buds do a little dance.
Chicken Gyoza
Tongue Thai'd
The Thai section of the menu is peppered with comfort food like Red and Green Curry, Kao Soi (a northern Thailand equivalent of the Burmese khow suey), and Tom Yum. The petite Ketchaiyo, on a visit to our table, informs us that her mother prefers to grind the chilli and curry pastes using mortar and pestle, refusing to settle for the bottled variety. It does not get more authentic than this.
One bite of the Pad Thai (Rs 350) and we're pole-vaulted to Bangkok's Khao San Road, where makeshift kiosks serve the noodles right out of the sizzling pan in which they've been enthusiastically tossed. The flat rice noodles here are lightly seasoned and mixed in with bean sprouts and a fluffy omelette, and come with condiments on the side. We also get fat, juicy prawns added to ours for an additional Rs 100.
The dessert menu makes us whoop with joy, because although not extensive, it features authentic desserts, such as luscious Matcha Soya Pudding and refreshing Tub Tim Grob (water chestnuts in coconut milk). We opt for the Banana Tempura (Rs 250), in which crunchy, warm banana fritters meet vanilla ice cream, and sticky caramel sauce is offset by sour strawberries. Find us anything else that marries these textures and flavours, and dinner is on us.
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