Gaijin — Restaurant in Mumbai

One of the newly opened places in Khar linking road. One of the places in mumbai for a definite visit. This Japanese place is a very nice fine dine restaurant with good food. The owner is usually there and he, himself is a very welcoming guy with a bright smile. On weekdays, the place is usually less crowded but on weekends it is better to book and go. Coming to the food, we had ordered a couple of stuff…

Tenderloin Katsu vs Yaki: it was one of the finest starters. The tenderloin was nicely cooked and katsu was crispy with a nice texture. The taste was good and a treat for non vegetarians. Chicken Gyoza: another fancy dish with an amazing taste. The gyoza was nicely cooked crispy and it was poured with edamame purée Gaijin royale: amazing maki roll with prawns, avocado, salmon, crab and more. It was a good dish and something fancy Spicy prawn & avocado: another maki roll but this time it was okaish. It could have been better. With a very usual taste this sushi is something very regular. Chicken katsu curry: one of the dishes for katsu lovers. 4 pieces of crispy chicken with yellow gravy and butter rice. Again a very regular dish but a good option to go if you want to go with a rice option Tuna: this was a complimentary dish which was provided by the founder to us with a little caviar on top. It tasted well. Yuzu: a traditional dessert which is not sweet in taste but sour. With a taste of citrus, this dessert is a difficult choice for people’s taste bud. It has a creamy curd texture with crispy gyoza sheets and white chocolate ganache. A difficult choice of dessert. I personally did not enjoy it. Cocktail: I forgot the name of it. The taste of it was nice, the only thing I really found it weird was.. when I asked the server to give the drink without ice, they just randomly decreased the size and quantity. Instead of giving in a normal glass they usually give, the gave it in a smaller glass. That is the only thing I felt was weird. The price and the quantity wasn’t matching at all.

Note: they also provide caviar at an additional cost.

Staff: the staff is nice but I felt they need more knowledge about their menu.

Ambience: The place is nicely done. It’s a Mordern space with wooden furniture and hints of blue everywhere. They have an indoor space along with a few tables outside as well.

Pricing: as per a Japanese restaurant, the pricing is slightly high.

I would definitely recommend this place to visitor with...

My honest restaurant review on my experience at Gaijin.

Being a big foodie with a palette open to new flavours and experiences, Gaijiin did not disappoint. Their take on Japanese was quite interesting. The white and green asparagus was very good, the lamb ribs were excellent and the prawns robatayaki also stood out. While flavours of the salmon roll were good, I found it to be extremely large with far too much rice and salmon packed in, almost like picking up two pieces of a regular salmon roll and trying to eat them together. Good taste but a mouthful to eat. The pork noodles were excellent and a must try.

Moving on to the desert, those unfortunately didn’t impress. Out of the 3 deserts that our group of 5 ordered to share, none of them stood out as exceptional. The only one that is worth mentioning is the Orange desert with Cointreau.

Lastly, a special mention to the service which was great, and the staff, extremely attentive.

However, all the good that the twists in flavour brought to the palette, was taken away by the cost. Don’t get me wrong, the quality of ingredients was top notch, the food was indeed excellent and Bombay as we know is an expensive city today. But 5,000 a head for a meal which involved only 4 alcoholic cocktails in our group of 5, I was quite shocked! Having dined at top restaurants in this city, some of them matching international culinary levels, this cost per head was completely unjustifiable. Some fantastic meals at other restaurants with culinary twists, like The Bombay Canteen and Americano, which have been at the top of their game for years, a good meal with multiple plates and at least 2 cocktails thrown in, cost much less!

So yes, you should try the food here for its twist in flavours, but be ready to break the bank when...

Hands down, the best authentic Asian restaurant in the city.

I'm not a fan of Asian cuisine but this place surprised me in more ways than one. The food is extremely tasty and I couldn't keep my spoon down for a moment. Every item on the menu is a hit, so no specific recommendations and will suggest you to experiment with your choices. You won't be disappointed.

Drinks are absolutely out of this world. The cocktails: their distinctive flavors directly from the cities of Japan will definitely knock you out. We tried Mt. Fuji (the best of the lot and the presentation deserves a reel of its own), Kombu Breeze (slightly bitter but still rich in taste), Hana No Yuki (creamy with musk melon flavor), Sakura Sunset, In a Pickle and Koji Presso (authentic coffee flavor). The ambience is soothing with Japanese-themed light instrumental music in the background.

If you are visiting on a weekend, I'll recommend to arrive around 12 pm when the restaurant opens. It's much quieter to absorb the atmosphere and let it sink in. It's the most trending restaurant in that area so the place gets very...