Japanese born celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto, famous for his appearances in several seasons of Iron Chef and for his restaurants. He started his career in Hiroshima where he was trained to become a sushi and traditional Kaiseki chef. He sold his first restaurant in Hiroshima and moved to the United States in the mid nineteen eighties. It did not take long for Masaharu Morimoto to become a well-known chef in the States and in 2001 his own Morimoto restaurant was opened in Philadelphia. Today Masaharu Morimoto owns several restaurants like Wasabi by Morimoto that is the best Japanese restaurant in India.

Wasabi by Morimoto is located in The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and was reopened in December 2009 after a complete renovation due to the hotel’s severe terrorist attacks in 2008. Masaharu Morimoto has devised the menu together with the Taj group’s Head Chef Hemant Oberoi and it has resulted in a much wider vegetarian selection due to the location of the restaurant. Around eight million inhabitants of Mumbai are vegetarians so the wide and delicious selection of vegetarian dishes is obvious.

London based artist Petr Weigl is responsible for the restaurant’s new décor with a sushi bar and there are excellent views from window tables of the Gateway of India as well. It is a busy and crowded restaurant that is not too spacious to say the least, but the fresh wasabi and the impeccable service easily make up for the noise level that might be perceived as annoyance to some.

The popular original menu has been left untouched with addition of 14 dishes including new sushi, salads, cold dishes and Japanese curry as well as twelve new variations of sake that also have been added. Our favourite among the dishes is the Kobe beef green tea tiramisu. The quality of the ingredients served at Wasabi by Morimoto is excellent and in addition to the must order, braised black cod, you should also go for a oyster foie gras and rock shrimp tempura. All sashimi and maki and nigiri sushis are exquisite so just order as long as you have room for it.

There are 28 varieties of fish that in most cases are flown in to Mumbai from all over the world together with Japanese ingredients and additional seafood. Wasabi by Morimoto is not a restaurant to go to for people caring too much about their carbon footprints, but for everyone else. We have been to Wasabi by Morimoto many times without any disappointments. The waiter gives you some of the world’s best fresh wasabi and then you are stuck. You will return to Wasabi by Morimoto every time you are in Mumbai.

Written by Andy