Ukiyo @The Ritz Carlton

Ukiyo is a hip Japanese restaurant located on the 2^nd floor of the Ritz Carlton hotel in Pune. It has indoors as well as outdoors seating areas with the outer areas having a loungy feel with louder music. The ambience is elegant yet trendy with the place exuding a warm appeal. My friend and I sat outdoors on high chairs where the night was pleasant although it got a little bit chilly later on (so carry a sweater or shawl).

The food was quite outstanding and if you’re looking for a fine dining experience full of flavour, this is the place to come to.

The quality of the seafood is excellent. For starters, we had the Tuna carpaccio pizza with ponzu mayo and truffle which was bursting with flavour on a paper-thin crust and which I would thoroughly recommend. It was perhaps the best dish at the restaurant for me.

The samurai sushi roll with Aburi style salmon, Portobello, asparagus and yuzu miso sauce simply melted in the mouth.
The Hamachi i.e. the Yellow tail nigiri was an exquisite experience on the palate.
The Shrimp Tempura roll with avocado, cucumber and spicy mayonnaise was crispy and well cooked.
We also had the Lamb Chops with tobanjan sauce which were moist and delicious and paired well with the drinks.

My friend’s gin and elderflower cocktail called Onami was made perfectly and is one of the restaurant’s most popular drinks. The Tuscan red wine that we had by the glass was gorgeous being dry, medium bodied with balanced acidity levels with notes of cherries and tobacco.

For the main course, try the Black cod miso and jalapeño and the soy braised pork belly. These dishes were fantastic and a must try. Actually, I would probably order everything I ordered again off the menu except for the dessert – I would probably try a different dessert. We had the Baked Hokkaido which is a sesame ice cream sponge cake with Japanese whisky flambé. This was the only item that didn’t reach the high expectations set by the rest of the indulgent meal.

Lastly, the service was completely on point and our server Chinmay was cordial and very well informed about all the dishes. At the outset, he also asked us if we had any allergies prior to taking our orders which always bodes well. We met the Manager Shri who ensured that we had a pleasant and seamless experience. The service was also timely and we didn’t have to wait excessively for anything which is always a plus. Overall, a very good effort and this restaurant has officially replaced Koji as my favourite for Asian food.

Other Images

The entrance

The inside seating area

The view from our table

Shizusan

Shizusan is an Asian haven in the middle of the busy Phoenix mall in Pune. Located on the ground floor, this restaurant serves Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai cuisines. That’s quite a mouthful! The ambience is casual and homely.

My friend and I had a slight issue at the start when a waiter offered us steel chopsticks and we asked for the disposable wooden ones. The waiter rudely refused to provide them to us saying that only food deliveries received the wooden chopsticks. On insisting, he told us he would have to speak to the manager and after doing so, we were finally provided with the requisite chopsticks! The rest of the staff however was very sweet and helpful.

We started with the Phuket’s Som Tom salad comprising green papaya, carrots, roasted peanuts, cherry tomatoes, chili, fish sauce and tamarind dressing. It was citrusy and fresh with the right amount of spice.

It is pertinent to mention that there were quite a few things unavailable off the menu such as the Watermelon salad. There was no alcohol available as the restaurant had to renew its liquor license and even diet Coke was unavailable (although they did have regular coke). In these times, it is essential to offer customers the diet option. The Edamame, Petit Pois and Truffle oil Dim Sums (what the restaurant is known for!) were unfortunately also unavailable so we went for the Mushroom Duo Sui Mai dumplings which were a disappointment.

The Tuna truffle Nigiri was delicious and the Shrimp tempura was delectable. Likewise, the Korean spicy prawn rice and the green vegetable Thai curry were quite balanced and tasty. Overall, I received a mixed bag of dishes and so this restaurant rates as a 3.9/5 on my scale. It’s a solid place to get a good meal between all the hectic shopping.

Koji @The Conrad

To be honest, Koji is one of my long-time favourites, but this January, I had a less than exemplary experience at this restaurant located within the Conrad hotel in Pune. I went for dinner with my family. The ambience of the place as usual was uplifting, with massive chandeliers invitingly lighting up the elegant indoor dining space. Light music played which added to the general upbeat mood.

We ordered Appetizers –
– Signature spicy lotus root crisp which are a must try here
– Eggplant karage with diced onions and shredded Thai chilli where you could taste the freshness of the eggplant beneath the flour covering of the dish
– Signature Crispy tofu which was actually a tad soft and silken
– Sichuan tossed crispy potates which was a good filler and
– Crispy Lamb in tobanjan sauce with vegetables which was nice and crisp and well cooked.

As you can see, all our appetizers were of the fried variety so not altogether a healthy start to the meal, but nevertheless it was a good effort.

For the Nigiri, I quite liked the concept of having four different types per portion and accordingly ordered the Maguro (Red Tuna), Sake (Salmon), Shimisaba (pickled mackerel) and the Tako (octopus). The rice in the Nigiri unfortunately came apart in all instances in my dish when lightly brought in contact with the soy sauce. The seafood was average.

I ordered the Koji “Signature” Carpaccio comprising Hamachi (yellowtail) with emulsified truffle and ponzu sauce. I was hugely disappointed to not be able to taste any truffle on there. The ponzu overpowered the dish completely although the yellowtail was sliced beautifully and had a lovely texture. At this point, the Chef heard about my not liking the dish and came to our table to kindly offer to do it again for me but I declined. I had asked the waiter how big the dish was and he said it was 3 pieces, but the dish turned out to have 8 pieces so it was a little big for just me to eat (my parents and brother don’t do raw fish).

I must mention here that the waiter did not know what carpaccio meant and thought initially that it was a sushi roll. He had to go to the kitchen to get the right information and even then he was off on the number of pieces in the dish. It would be helpful for the restaurant to train its staff to be on the ball when it comes to knowledge of the dishes on their menu.

I would recommend the Signature Koji smoked salmon roll and the California roll with crabstick, avocado and cream cheese (I always ask for extra flying fish roe on the side and they deliver). The Kung Pao chicken is also recommended.

We also ordered for mains the Sichuan Noodles with burnt garlic, spring onion and vegetables to go with the Pakchoy, Snow Peas and Brussels Sprouts in the Yellow bean sauce. The Brussel sprouts somehow unbalanced the dish and could have been replaced with something else, perhaps, broccoli. I didn’t try this dish but the feedback received was that the yellow bean sauce could have been made better as it felt more like a paste consistency-wise as opposed to a sauce.

Other Images

The mocktails at Masu

The Signature Carpaccio

The interiors