INJA : Kabuki on the plate
I have various theories of how the INJA menu came to be. Did a Japanese girl win the chef’s heart? Is the coaxing of a tamarind sauce in the Japanese ponzu style in the Tuna & Pomelo Chaat, a hidden culinary serenade? Perhaps these fantasies are not worth a chew. But what is, is the multi-course food, strong on fish and buff—my preference—that chef Adwait Anantwar, who has curated the menu, and his assistants roll out at the Indo-Japanese restaurant, the latest fusion story in town.
Conceived during the lockdown and located at the end of a cul-de-sac in New Friends Colony, it is very clear from the start that what they are after is not hybridity for hybridity’s sake but the marriage of different Indian and Japanese flavours and textures that make it all come together in a harmonious way. INJA represents a debut venture in India for the Dubai-based restaurant group, Atelier House Hospitality. It is in collaboration with the company’s local partner in India, Manav Thadani, founder and chairman of Hotelivate.
Lunch at INJA is served in a fine-dining ambience with its interiors a blend of Japanese elements such as natural stone, lamp lighting, and bonsai , to which were added Mughal artefacts, indigo fabrics and lime wash materials. That blending is also well represented on the plate.
I opt for a menu of starters and a main dish. The Tuna & Pomelo Chaat (Rs 1,800), made with tuna and topped with the citrusy pomelo ‘teardrops’ was accompanied by a Shiso leaf tempura and tamarind ponzu. The combination is nice but somehow it leaves me cold. What follows is a cracker. Palak Paneer Sarada (Rs 1,200) may have arrived on the table looking like an installation of shreds of packing material piled on a plate, but is an explosion of taste.
It is made of baby spinach, paneer tempura, curry mayo, crispy sweet potato, kizami nori (shredded nori strips) and bubu arare (tiny rice crackers). “In Nagpur, my hometown, the concept of fine dining didn’t exist when I was growing up. Whenever we went out, we ordered palak paneer. Indians are used to eating it with rice, I thought I should have it on a menu like this.
Here the rice element is the bubu arare and instead of a garlic tadka, the dish has garlic flakes,” says the chef. The menu is certainly made with a sense of play. “The next dish will blow your mind,” says chef Anantwar. Turns out he is right. The Hokkaido Scallops Panta Bhat (`3,550) — fermented rice on which sit torched scallops slicked liberally by the chef with kombu oil, with some vigorous shake and stir of the spoon, is performance art as well; all this would have meant nothing had the dish not been top notch. But I can imagine the eyerolls my grandmother would have made had she been anywhere near the table and spied what was being charged for it.
“It’s a humble dish taken to a gourmet level,” says the chef. Hokkaido scallops are, in fact, prime commodity worldwide, especially after the Marine Stewardship Council’s accredited the practice of catching them a globally sustainable fishery in 2013.
The Buff Tataki Pyaz Kalonji Chutney (`990) — seared local buff tenderloin, caramelised onion and onion seed chutney, sweet onion ponzu and puffed bhang jeera is another standout item. One should, however, point out the complete absence of desserts on a curated menu. A Castella Cake or a Doriyaki would have perfectly rounded up the meal.
Address: 77, Mathura Road, Friends Colony West, New Friends Colony. Open all days except Tuesdays, 7pm-11pm; Saturdays & Sundays, lunch 1pm-4pm.