Hello Guppy, an all-day Japanese cafe, that opens at BKC later this week, hopes to turn the concept of Japanese cuisine on its head, to lend it a fun and playful vibe
Chef Vikram Khatri (left) and AD Singh. Pics/Milind Saurkar
Don't you have to remove the price tags from the television sets?" AD Singh asks his manager. The managing director of Olive Group of restaurants, has just returned from a trip to New York, and has only now set his eyes on the finished product. Jetlag doesn't seem to have dimmed Singh's enthusiasm. Dressed in a crisp white shirt teamed with a light blue linen blazer, he admits that the final countdown to the launch date is usually the best.
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The interiors of Hello Guppy
We've taken a centre-table at his latest offering, Hello Guppy, a Japanese café and bar in the Godrej BKC building, right next to the freshly opened Toast & Tonic. It's our photographer's idea that we sit in the centre, so he can capture the expanse of the place. While we'll come to the food (the real superhero of the space), let's look around the space that opens on Wednesday.
The Ramen Burger
Fashion designer turned interior decorator Anshu Arora Sen has fashioned light fixtures from red trumpets and dial phones; robots and walkie talkies are wall art and disco balls have grown bunny ears. There a bright yellow Pikachu doll suspended from the ceiling. The bar, done up in sleek steel and white tones, gets an uplift with a string of orange floats. Cutlery plays along with geometric, polka dots and starry designs. While the space is smartly designed to offer a casual and affordable introduction to Japanese food, we must admit, the cuisine does intimidate us bit.
Mango and Raspberry Parfait
"Contemporary Japanese is not a cuisine, it is a vision, pioneered by chefs Nobu Matsuhisa of Nobu and Rainer Becker of Zuma. We expect the office crowd during the day, and so, have created a quick-service lunch menu. In the evenings, we hope to attract people who love Japanese food. The space has been designed to create two different experiences," he says.
We spot executive chef Vikram Khatri shuttling in and out of the kitchen. He sets us on a flavour trail with the Spicy Salmon Miso Soup (Rs 209). Seaweed, silken tofu and flaky salmon floats in fermented soy bean paste, and infused in Bonito dashi. It's a salty seafood stock. "People ask me how am I so lean, being a chef? I tell them it is the Japanese food," he laughs. There is a certain hesitation regarding Japanese cuisine in India, he says. "That's because we didn't grow up experiencing it. It's perceived to be all about raw food and high-end restaurants," says Khatri, who sources his black rice and bamboo rice from Shillong.
AD narrates an anecdote. "I organised a meeting at Guppy, that launched in Delhi in 2013. With great trepidation, the board members, mostly vegetarian, tried the food, and loved it! They wanted to roll out the brand on a big scale," says the restaurateur.
A server, in a super hero apron and polka-dot shoes places the vegetarian sushi roll (Rs 310) on the table. Stuffed with soft avocado, crunchy cucumber and moistened with cream cheese, we love the taste of sweet black rice topped with sesame. We also try the Tenderloin Tataki (Rs 369) comprising thin strips of rare tenderloin, topped with white onion, a deep citrus soy garnished with spicy dikon radish and garlic chips. A burst of flavours awaken the umami. We then dig into the Chicken Tsukune Ramen Burger (Rs 490) made popular by a New York chef, Keizo Shimamoto — Ramen noodles pressed into a lean disc to replace the bun. The patty is marinated chicken covered in cheese, on which sits a fried egg that oozes sunshine when you cut into it. It is served on a bed of tomatoes and sake braised onions. Messy, but irresistible, we dunk each bite into a spicy kewpie mayonnaise and pickle.
Last April, New York chef Darren Wong debuted the "raindrop cake" at weekly food market Smorgasburg. Khatri gives the translucent jelly drop made of agar agar, a passion fruit twist, topped with edible flowers. The drop looks a bit flat, but it has that refreshing fruity jelly flavour. We cut the sweetness with the white and dark chocolate soil served on the side. This one's got the makings of an Instagram hit. Our favourite though is the Mango and Raspberry Parfait (Rs 240), with its layers of chocolate soil, cream pattiser and a lemony home-made yuzu ice-cream.
While the food hits the right spot, we miss the performance cocktails. That's for another day, as the bar is yet to pour its first drink. For now, the verdict is this: Yes, Japanese food can be fun, and you don't need martial skills to appreciate it.
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