Tucked away in the corner on First Floor of the famous Galaxy Mall in Sector-15, Gurgaon is the ever so exclusive restaurant serving Authentic Japanese cuisine, by the name of ICHI-ZEN. This outlet has been operational and serving Japanese delicacies since 2013 in Gurgaon.
Ichi-zen is a part of the subsidiary of famous HONDA group and goes by the name of HKI (Honda Kaihatsu India Pvt Ltd) which was established in 2011. The group takes care of anything “Japanese” in India (Food, Culture etc).It has its registered office cum Head office in Gurgaon, & its Branches , Restaurants , Canteens , Food Corners at Gurgaon, Bhiwadi, Greater Noida (Tree-house Hotel) , Bangalore, and Ahmedabad.
The restaurant is supplying “BENTO BOXES” (similar to a Deluxe Indian Thali) to the YAMAHA group since 1.5 years, at their Gurgaon office. They also supply authentic Japanese food from their Base kitchens in Bhiwadi to all the major japanese conglomerates in & around this area.
AMBIENCE: The restaurant interiors are very soft and welcoming, just like the nature of Japanese people who are themselves very calm and composed. Authentic curious and paintings engulf the customers into the world of Mini-Japan. With dim-lighting and smell of food one almost feels to have landed in the right place for authentic food.
The restaurant has ample & spacious seating with a total cover of 60+ seats which changes configuration from Lunch to Dinner depending upon the time. They have 3 independent seating areas known as PDA – Private Dining areas one with Lower seating while the other 2 with high seatings. Each room can accommodate approx 8-10 people and occupied by Corporates or smaller groups in Lunch and Dinner.
With a Bar that is placed very near to the entrance, one can select from the famous Japanese alcoholic drinks like Soju of Daruma brand, to Japanese Wine which is almost impossible to find at this side of the town. They also have a whole collection of Sula Wines which one can select from to enjoy with their food to suit their palate. Generally, white wine goes well with Japanese food which has very subtle flavors of the cuisine.
JAPANESE CUISINE : We Indians have a very myopic view when it comes to Japanese cuisine. We generally associate it with only Sushi and Wasabi as these are now more prevalent and available in our Fast Food subcontinent. Japanese Fine Dine contains many dishes and unlike us Indians their food revolves more around meats like Pork (max), Prawns, Squid, Fish and then Chicken. They are in love with Sea-food and most of their food is plated pointing upwards signifying that the food is completely fresh.
To remain as Authentic as possible ,the restaurant sources most of its raw material from Japan, well as much as they can. The ones locally sourced are of the highest quality. Ex Pork served here is only Belgian Pork, Prawns served here are of Black Tiger, & comes in the form of a cold block from the famous Prawn importers in India.
AUTHENTIC FOOD: We were welcomed by our Host of the day : Mr. Ajay Sharma who has been with the company for more than 3 years handling their entire Hospitality side of business of the group along with the Head Chef and Owner Mr.
Onion and Tomatoes in Paste : We started off our meal with the Onions and tomatoes in a ever so tasteful paste…it acted like a palate cleanser before exploding our mouths with different Japanese ingredients….sort of reminded us of our own Onions and Chutney combo…
TEMPURA PRAWNS WITH SAUCE: Tempura battered fried Prawns and beans along with some veggies were an ultimate delicacy, since the prawns are of highest quality the size and texture were simply perfect…to be dipped in this broth of fish extracts it tasted absolute divine…
TOFU: For vegetarians, tofu which is made from soya is the healthier form of a dish….it was tasteful, and somehow melted in my mouth…since it was pan fried and seared the sauces seeped right into the center and was tasting quite nice…with 4-5 pieces it could go very well as a vegetarian starter…
PORK CHOPS: The highlight of the day was the ever so soft, succulent, well made pieces of pork chops that came in a stick with a sauce & topped with green onions and sesame seeds…the 3 sticks came with oh-so tasty pieces that had right amount of fat and meat to balance the taste and the texture…a must try if you ever visit this gastronomical outlet…
FRIED CHICKEN: As advised to us, not to be confused with KFC chicken…this dish constituted deep fried pieces of chicken to be tried with a new kind of Mayonnaise and cabbage as condiments… the taste was nice but it did not hit my palate with something new or authentic…taste wise it was normal and something which I can give a miss while coming here….
PAN FRIED VEGETABLES: The vegetarians have very limited options here, and this being one of them…vegetables were quite fresh and tasteful…from button tomatoes, babycorn, green onions, tofu, peas, cucumber, onions, capsicum, certain leaves were pan seared to perfection with sauces to compliment the taste…being a meat lover I was quite impressed with flavors of the dish…recommended for all vegetarians visiting this outlet…
MISO SOUP: The staple soup of the Japanese cuisine is the Miso soup, it is used as a Base in many dishes and is one flavorful item…it was nice in taste but for me it will take some more time to understand the true authenticity and importance of this soup in the overall cuisine…
VEG MANCHURIAN: This is one dish that sums up the entire Indian-chinese fast food market…as one can see, it was a nice dish presented and plated well…the taste was average to nice and something that one can avoid as there are soo many other vegetarian flavorful dishes on the Menu to try from here…
SUSHI TEMPURA: The presentation, and plating was something I really liked and admired…the only issue was the size, the bigger the size the more dry it becomes in your mouth as generally its to be had in one go…so I dipped it in Soya, touched Wasabi on the sides and tried, the taste was very nice…a bit dry but very nice…must try when visiting…
Samkon Maki: Essentially a Salmon Sushi which is blow torched at the top, the process is called Abhuri..topped with mayo and orange cavier (fish eggs)…came along with radish decorated flower and wasabi paste…it was nice but the fish did not give out its own distinct taste was my opinion…
PORK 144: Pan fried pork strips with onions and soy sauce…it was a main course dish which can go nice with noodles and rice both…the quantity was good for 1-2 people and came with Mayonnaise, salad leaf and tomato piece as condiment…
MEAL IN A BOWL: A nice dish in a bowl…a complete meal….with a large portion fit enough for one person as a meal….contains any one large piece of Meat, 1 full egg, burnt garlic pieces, noodles, spring onions, sesame seeds, and whole lot of Soup to fill our stomach…recommended for lunch as its easy to eat and consumes way less time…
Tompeyaki Egg Roll: Probably the only dish in the Menu which I could not have more than one piece…may be I was not conditioned as an Indian to acknowledge the taste…it was essentially egg rolled with meat pieces as in this case it was pork put on top of sticky rice and topped with spring onions, and whole onions…taste was unique and it did not gel very well with me…I think it is too authentic for me :)!!
CONDIMENTS : The entire food comes with light & sweet Soya Sauce along with a Japanese concoction of Masalas which honestly we could not decipher properly…It was as explained to us that its kept to get some chilly-ness into their otherwise relatively bland food…
FOOD VERDICT :
Best Dish : Pork Chops on Sticks
Suggestions (if any): There needs to be more variety of Fish dishes in the Menu, the Sushi needs to be a little smaller in size as generally they are to be eaten in one bite and the larger the size the more dry it will become,
Chefs Secrets : The meats especially pork is first marinated for 4-6 hours and then warmed in pans before being served to get the tenderized meat and the glazed look before being finally plated to the customers. Chef themselves make the Black Pepper sauce which is being used in many dishes here, that gives the smoky and nutty flavour to the dishes. Apart from a firm control on the quality of ingredients the cooking process is also controlled to maintain the authenticity.
DRINKS : We were advised by our host to try their Saki and Soju (Daruma brand) which came in both Warm and Cold forms…The Saki was was nice and easy to the palate and had taste of rice in it, but Soju in both cold & warm form was quite the potent of the lot…we could only try a sip each and did not venture too much into this domain since we wanted no compromise on our food…
KITCHEN STAFF : The kitchen is headed by the CEO and owner himself Mr. who takes full efforts to check and maintain the Authenticity of the brand. The Indian Head Chef is Chef Naresh Kumar Sharma who hails from the HP side of India. He has worked with Chef Saby and Olive Saket and etc and manages the team of 15 people inside the kitchen. The Service staff is mostly manned by Lady stewards who are well versed with English and do their jobs very well.
ICHI-ZEN FOCUS ON THE LOCAL MARKET : The focus of the restaurant is now to target the Rich, upclass, travelled individuals who can understand and appreciate the cuisine in entirety. Uptil now the whole restaurant has been running on Captive Japanese Corporates who frequent the outlet for the food. As of now , the restaurant has only done promotions in Japanese magazines and direct foreign corporates but intends to enter the Indian market starting from this month…
We suggested that they might need to update and add some dishes in their existing Menu which is incidentally written only in Japanese…small changes like more types of Vegetarian dishes, more types of Fish dishes, may be more types of Noodles basically to suit the palate of us Indians…We have also been invited to try the New Menu once it has been finalized with the team to give our views on the same…
Websites
- Group Information (HKI, India)
- Zomato
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