A brilliant meal deserves a long post. It deserves to be savoured, even when one is writing about it. Hence please bear with me as I share my experience at Kofuku, a new Japanese restaurant located in M3M IFC, Gurgaon.
I had previously visited Kofuku at Ansal Plaza Mall in 2018 and had a great experience (twice) with their food. Last year, I came across Kofuku at Goa but missed the opportunity to try it out as I got there after lunch hours. So, when I found out that Kofuku had opened near my home, I had to visit it. On a pleasant and rainy Saturday evening, instead of eating besan pakoda at home, I went with Rekha Rigo, Albert Rigo, Anil Kumar, and Aradhna Soni to indulge in some Japanese cuisine, including prawn tempura (which I like to think of as a Japanese version of our humble pakoda).
First thing first, I love the horigotatsu style tatami seating, which is a traditional Japanese seating style with western comfort. The seating allows one to hang their legs below the table, providing a personal space for each diner. The table includes a bell to call the server, if needed. Next I am impressed with the menu. It has illustrative explanations of each dish and photos for the uninitiated. The end of the menu has a glossary explaining the major styles of sushi, key ingredients, and more, which I found quite thoughtful.
However, I did notice that the menu had expanded to include many Chinese dishes and a separate Korean menu. This raised some concern for me since not many restaurants can handle such diverse cuisines expertly. But, to my delight, Kofuku did an amazing job with each dish.
We started with some complimentary starters, including a well-fermented spicy kimchi, potatoes in soy sauce, and radish. My wife ordered a few vegetarian starters, including rock corn tempura (Rs425), spicy edamame (Rs455), and wakame (seaweed soup; Rs285), which were so delicious that even us non-vegetarians couldn’t resist trying them.
The non-vegetarian dishes were equally outstanding. We tried prawn tempura (Rs775), tuna tataki (Rs855), grilled asparagus wrapped in pork belly (Rs675), and spicy Belgian pork belly (from Korean menu; Rs1275), all of which were worth their weight in gold. The soft, orgasmic murmurs at our table were proof that all of us were living our food dream. The memory of last night’s dinner is making me salivate even now!
Despite being quite full, we called for three main dishes – Japanese veg curry with rice (Rs655) for my wife and pork kakuni (Rs695) and buff bulgogi (Rs600) with steamed rice for us. We were so happy with the dishes that we didn’t mind when the servers missed serving us steamed rice. The bulgogi wrapped in lettuce and pork kakuni on their own were so delicious that we didn’t even need the rice. If I have to nitpick, I would have liked a piece of daikon radish in the melt-in-your-mouth texture of the braised pork. That humble vegetable in this aromatic and delicious broth can at times even give a tough fight to the pork.
None of us wanted to order dessert, but when Anil ordered a sundae (Rs420) with mixed fruits, mango pulp, jelly, bean paste, and ice cream, we couldn’t resist trying it. He almost licked it clean. The mochi ice cream (Rs420) was also pretty good, and it was a fantastic end to the meal.
As the restaurant got full, the service level slipped with delay in adhoc requests like ice for cola or cola repeat coming much later than expected. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, rice was missed in the main course. However, the food was the star of the show, and the service, while well-intentioned, could certainly be improved. The restaurant is awaiting an alcohol license, and we’ll definitely be back. At least it’s not one of those pretentious Korean/Japanese restaurants that make Indians feel unwelcome. Plus we did over-order and mostly expensive sea food or imported pork. At less than Rs1900/head including soft beverages, taxes and service charge, I feel their pricing isn’t over the board as well.
PS: Pls note we didn’t try any Chinese dishes this time and will definitely include them on our next visit
