Wasabi by Morimoto

Amuse bouche.

Delicious, fresh salad. A rarity in India.

Kaiseki Zen Lunch Set featuring miso soup, assorted sashimi and tempura, grilled salmon in tamari, pickles and grated daikon. 

Ice cream trio with fresh fruits.

Tofu "cheesecake", tuile and fruit compote.

Wasabi by Morimoto
The Taj Mahal Hotel
1, Mansingh Road
New Delhi

Notes:
B and I were so unfortunate to have a trip to Kolkata cancelled and thus had a long weekend to spend in Delhi. What better way to make up for the lost points on the vacation account than to load up on Japanese goodies? We thus opted for lunch at Wasabi by Morimoto, sister restaurant to the Wasabi restaurant in Mumbai, which has been one of India's few representatives on San Pellegrino's World's Best Restaurants List. We opted for a Kaiseki Zen lunch set and two glasses of white wine, and were quickly served an amuse bouche of cold soup as well as a fresh, crisp salad, dressed with a perfect amount of dressing. Very simple but quite exotic considering the lack of raw foods in Indian cuisine. The lunch set arrived and it was gorgeous. The quality of the sashimi was pretty exceptional, and I am not surprised that it is flown in from Tsukiji every day. The tamari-glazed and grilled salmon was so rich, fell apart in perfect flakes, and was slightly raw in the middle. Perfection. The tempura was light and crisp and the accompanying pickles were just right. We therefore decided that we could not leave without desserts. The trio of ice cream was delicious and interesting flavors of e.g. yuzu and spearmint, while the tofu cheesecake was a bit heavy but certainly tasty. All in all, this was not a cheap lunch - it set us back around 7000 rupees, but it can be done cheaper. Like in most Indian hotels wine is not cheap (and the selection not impressive either), but the lunch set is just 1700 rupees, which I think is an excellent deal. Highly recommended.