A computer engineer who left his well paying job to become a Chef. Someone who worked with different award winning Indian restaurants before coming up with his own unique concept. A person who unabashedly claims that his mouth has no filters while narrating that his mom is a great cook but it was his grand mom who fuelled his passion for cooking since he had to fend for himself to get away from her unappetising cooking.
At just 32 years, Chef Adwait Anantwar, who hails from Nagpur is one of the youngest chefs experimenting with the much talked about restaurant INJA, portmanteau of Indian and Japanese cuisine. While some would call it fusion cuisine, I will describe it as a well thought through marriage between the clean flavours of Japan and robustness of Indian spices. It is a feat that seems easy on papers but is extremely tough to deliver on the plate. This is food that is not just Instagramable but pleases the palate and touches a happy chord.
Located at Manor hotel in Friends Colony, this 60-odd cover restaurant has Itajime Shibiri which is a Japanese board clamping of tie and dye done in Indian silk fabrics. Large brass plates are decorated along side subtly announcing Japanese and Indian techniques coming together.
I started with chaat – tempura, crisp shiso leaf that was topped with chilled tuna and pomelo chaat (Rs1800). The chatkaara in this chaat came from tamarind ponzu with the crunchiness of Jhakiya seeds from Uttarakhand. While my wife enjoyed the vegetarian version (Rs795) which was a take on tamatar ki chaat from Varanasi made with sun-dried tomatoes. I tasted this too. It was equally tasty, if not more, as my non vegetarian version.
Next was the most talked about dishes on the menu – Crab Kachori. This wasn’t just any crab! Made with King Alaskan crab that comes every week from Japan, it was stuffed in a thin but crisp kachori. It is Chef’s interpretation of a salad where he put avocado espuma (foam), gave touches of mango and furikake chutney and sprinkled it with spicy togarashi. Chopped seaweed gave it an umami while salmon roe provided that sultry earthy note. One bite is sure to transport you into heaven. At Rs4850, this Alaskan crab kachodi is the most expensive dish on the INJA menu. But I can guarantee that you wouldn’t have eaten something like this earlier. It’s vegetarian version is priced significantly cheaper at Rs1150.
For the spice lovers, papad and achaar okinamasu (Rs1150) has seabass tartare and mango pickle which is fermented and not preserved and served on mushroom rice papad. Caviar though mentioned on the menu was conspicuous by its absence.
However, the chef more than made up for it by adding uni sea urchin to Hokkaido scallop panta bhat (Rs3550). For the uninitiated, panta bhat is a Bengali dish made with cooked rice soaked and fermented in water. It is traditionally served with salt, chilli, onion and mashed potatoes. INJA’s version tops it with freshly torched scallops, kombu oil and pickled cucumber. My version was made extra special with uni which has the buttery, savoury and briny flavour. It is not easy to find uni even in the best of Japanese restaurants in India.
My wife and daughter enjoyed the simple flavours of gobhi 65 in a maki roll (Rs850) where crisp curry leaves have been used as tanuki to give it a maki experience. I loved the chilled buff tataki in pyaaz kalonji chutney (Rs895) which has onion three ways – sweet onion ponzu, caramelised onion and ofcourse the pyaaz kalonji chutney.
Along with the food, we ordered our cocktail- Mr Torii (Rs1450) named after the founder of Suntory, Shinjori Torii. This cocktail uses Toki, a whisky from Suntory stable, has a hint of vanilla, and bit of black pepper, balanced with cordial and big ice cubes topped with myoga dehydrated crisps. If this cocktail is an indication, we are looking at a very fine cocktail list as well at INJA. Sign of good times!
Chawanmushi is an acquired taste for Indians which is made with savoury egg custard. Over the years I have started to like this and in my opinion INJA’s lobster rasam chawanmushi (Rs3180) is exceptionally good. This is the best that I’ve ever had. With butter poached lobster tail in rasam masala and drumstick marrow, without the outer skin, it is a marriage made in heaven. While there are many more dishes on the menu that took my heart, this one is certainly not to be missed. Though I will give a disclaimer, try it only if you like Chawanmushi. Else it will be like trying sushi for the first time where most don’t understand the flavours initially.
My meal ended with Chawanmushi and my wife’s on zaru udon khasi curry (Rs950). This was a small portion of udon noodles with black sesame curry with crisps of zucchini, carrots and ginger. A nice main course though the quantity needs to be better to be treated as a main.
There are no desserts on the menu but chef did serve us one which paled in comparison in front of some really amazing dishes that we had. So apart from good desserts, INJA needs more options for vegetarians.
Can INJA reach the same scale and touch popularity of its erstwhile predecessor, Indian Accent, who started from the same venue? Only time will tell but it is a great start nonetheless.
Ratings (Out of 5):
Food: 4.75 | Drinks: 4.5 | Service: 4.5 | Ambience: 4.25 | Overall: 4.5
Meal for two with alcohol: approx ₹ 12,000.
Address: INJA Restaurant, The Manor Hotel, 77, Mathura Rd, Friends Colony West, New Friends Colony, New Delhi, Delhi 110065 | Phone: 81308-05333, advance reservation recommended
Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgement and care has been taken by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.
