Edo, ITC Hotel

Whoa! When did this open? How come no one told me about it?

That was my reaction, when I first walked into Edo. I’ve been living in Bangalore on-and-off for the past two and a half years and there were times when I longed for some good sashimi. Yes, of course there are other Japanese restaurants in Bangalore, oh heck, sushi is even served at some “oriental” restaurants in town, but more than often, the raw fish served tastes bland or fishy and sometimes even mushy.



Edo has a bi-weekly shipment of the best and freshest quality goods flown in from Japan, so yes, you can be sure it's not cheap to eat here. As I let the piece of toro melt in my mouth, I heard my guilty conscience reminding me of how much carbon footprint was created just so I (and you) can savor this little sliver of perfection.

Sushi is just a piece of raw fish on top of some compacted rice, right? No. It’s more than that. I heard that it takes years of daily practice of rice cooking AND fish-slicing before one can be titled a “sushi chef”. So, Mr. Sushi Chef of Edo, I hope you stick around, like forever, and not just to train the staff.


Edo interiors and Mr. Sushi Chef.

So, how did I know the fishes served here were fresh? I put my nose close to the uncut fish and sniffed. All I smelled was a slight hint of the sea. This smell shouldn’t be confused with “fishy”, which often means the fish has already lost its freshness. Another important thing about sushi is its rice. It should be sticky but not soggy, firm but not hard. Edo did it perfectly.


Some edamame to start.


Nigiri sushi and sashimi platter. We picked our own fish.


Wasabi root - not the prettiest-looking but is such a great compliment to sushi and sashimi.


Our waiter grating fresh wasabi.


Freshly grated wasabi.


Soft-shell crab rolls.


Spicy tuna rolls, which turned out to be not that spicy.


Prawn tempura, so very crispy on the outside but strangely soft on the inside. I say strange because fresh prawns are usually firm, not soft, when cooked. Nonetheless, it wasn't greasy and tasted perfect when slightly dipped into tentsuyu sauce.


We also ordered a few things from the robatayaki section of the menu. Traditionally, customers sit around the grill and pick and select vegetables and meat or fish to be grilled.


Grilled miso-marinated chicken.


Grilled garlic.


Hot soba noodles with seaweed.


Chanko Nabe - is a sumo wrestler dish cooked and served in a hotpot. Super yum!


Complimentary desserts from Edo. (L-R) Baby macaroons, white chocolates and matcha (green tea) cookies.


Edo claims to have the largest collection of sake and shōchū in Bangalore.


Also available is a wide variety of Japanese whiskey. My friends from New York City will be very pleased.

Overall Ratings:
Po's: 9.5/10
"A"'s: 9/10

Would we return?
Definitely. A says, "it was really f*&#ing good".

Address:
ITC Royal Gardenia, No.1, Residency Road, Bangalore
Phone: 080 22119898

Phobidden Fruit

Merry Christmas Eve everybody! Apologies for the long silence, I've been away in the Americas selling, packing and moving. I can safely say that Bangalore is now my new permanent home.

While I was in living in New York City, if I wasn’t out and about with friends, I’d stay home and order-in a bowl of steamy “pho” (pronounce "fuh", is a kind of Vietnamese noodle dish) and savor it until the last strand of rice noodle was gone. So when “A” and I found Phobidden Fruit, a Vietnamese restaurant while driving down 12th Main in Indiranagar, I was ecstatic! I didn’t wait too long to check out the food.

For restaurant atmosphere and level of tastiness, I’ll give them a thumbs-up but in terms of authenticity, the foods were lacking a few distinct ingredients, fish sauce is definitely one of them.


Papaya salad - tasty, but it's not your typical papaya salad. The fried shallots were overpowering and the papaya tartness was missing.


Vietnamese springrolls - also pretty tasty, however, instead of using thin rice noodles as a filling, they used rice. In New York, I'd cringe, but since I don't have much of a choice in Bangalore, I happily ate four pieces.


Springrolls with rice filling.


Siu Mai - huh? Is this even Vietnamese?


And last but not least, my bowl of pho. The ingredients and condiments were fresh but is it similar to the phos I had in New York and Hanoi? Not even close. The chicken pieces, instead of boiled are fried. The noodles, instead of silky smooth has a grainy texture. And lastly, the most important piece of the equation to a perfect bowl of noodle soup; the broth, is lacking the deep flavor you get from simmering protein and its bones for a very long, long time.


Table condiments - (left jar) pickled carrots and radishes. Pickled radishes tend to have a very pungent smell, so if you're not big on pungent, don't open this jars.


Restaurant Interiors


Restaurant Interiors

Overall Ratings:
Po's: 7/10

Would we return?
Probably during my next noodle-soup-crave.

Address:
12th Main (a few doors from Corner House)
Indiranagar, Bangalore

Phone: 080 4125 5175

Cuite au Feu de Bois in Nice, France

My friends Hel and P-Em took us to this hole-in-the-wall in old Nice town. The food was a Nicoise specialty and the pancake-like bread was cooked in a wood oven. The bread is usually eaten alongside deep fried foods like fried stuffed zucchini flower, fried stuffed zucchini, fried battered sardines and fried minced pork.

I can't say I'm in love this food because to me, it was a bit bland and lacking some moisture and texture. The deep fried foods were warm but not crispy and I found myself searching for some sort of sauce to dip my fried foods in. Maybe I was just spoilt after spending the past 6 months in India, eating freshly fried pakoras with spicy chutneys.




Stuffed zucchini flower

Stuffed vegetables

Pancake-like bread made in the wood oven.

Pissaladiere, a local "pizza" usually topped with sauteed caramelized onions and olives.

Apple tart.

Rating: Worth trying

Le Saut du Loup in Paris

Of all the days we could have gone to the Louvre, we decided to visit it on a Wednesday and it was closed. So instead, we went to the sister museum; Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Even though the museum was significantly smaller in size compared to the Louvre, we managed to spend too many hours there and by the time we were done, it was way passed lunch time and we were famished. So, here's Le Saut du Loup, a restaurant located in the same building as the museum.


Seared scallops with little pasta.

Pan roasted fish (I think it was bass) with snow peas.

Tiramisu reinvented.

Space food, Washington D.C.

I was in Washington D.C. last week and visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I loved exploring the space gallery in the museum and was especially interested in the food the astronauts ate in space.

I've never tasted any space food but "A" mentioned that he had tried freeze-dried ice cream (also known as space ice cream) and thought it was horrible. It was like artificially flavored water that dissolves from an uncomfortably cold icy-powder block, without any kind of texture.

Here are some photos taken at the museum of food carried during the first space shuttle mission in 1981. These are made out of wax, of course.

Bofinger restaurant in Paris

I read somewhere that Bofinger is the oldest brasserie in Paris and we can tell from the art nouveau interiors and how the restaurant operates that it has been around for a while, but considering how old and classy this place is, it's not as pricey as we thought it'd be.

Bofinger interiors.


Escargots; one of my favorite foods to eat in France. I know, eww... snails, but let me tell you, it's not what you think at all. It has a chewy texture and it's usually doused with olive oil and garlic either to mask or enhance a certain seafood-y taste. Delicious and highly recommended.


Langoustine; one of the must-eats while in France. Very mild seafood taste and less meaty compared to crabs but doesn't have the muddy taste of a crawfish.


Seared lamb, fois gras and fruits.


And for desert, the very traditional floating island; meringue floating on crème anglaise or vanilla custard topped with toasted almond slices and caramel.

Address: 5-7 rue de la Bastille; 75004 Paris