Hanami Summer Menu
Japan’s Hanami festival celebrates the ephemeral season of cherry blossoms. Guppy by ai, the most celebrated Japanese restaurant in Delhi, recreates the magic of the Hanami Festival (25th April to 30th May) through its dishes by introducing a special menu that captures its essence. Known for his culinary expertise, Chef Vikram spearheads the kitchen at Guppy by ai.
Away from the sweltering heat of Delhi, the food journey started with cold sweet Corn and Avocado soup, enriched with soy milk. The soup is served with salt and a slice of lemon, which adde a distinct texture to the soup. It is truly refreshing.
The menu has been thoughtfully curated with soups and salads as special vegan dishes. The 3 melon salad with Yubari, musk and watermelon looks simple yet the umeboshi plum dressing makes it truly delicious. Umeboshi are fermented pickles made from young, barely ripe ume, a sour Japanese fruit that’s a cross between an apricot and a plum.
Japanese food would be incomplete without Sushi and Sashimi. For me, the highlight of the menu is the Mango and Avocado Cream Cheese Roll. Made with Alphonso mango, cream cheese, tanuki tempura fritters and kimchi, the roll is unique and flavoursome. The roll also has a similar variant with tuna. Another king size roll was the Hanami thick sushi roll combined with black and white rice with sakura dembu, tuna, salmon, crab, yellowtail and cucumber.
In the cold noodles – the 3 different variants are cold hiyashi tantanmen (home-made ramen noodles, served chilled with sesame flavoured pork broth, spicy ground pork meat and fresh vegetables), Hiyashi tanuki cha saba (chilled green tea flavoured buckwheat noodles, topped with tanuki tempura fritters, wasabi, grated radish served with a soy flavoured dashi broth. The Hiyash tanuki cha saba is the only vegetarian option in the noodles menu. The third option is Hiyashi somen (Japanese, thin angel hair wheat noodles topped with crab sticks, prawns, seaweed, cucumber and melon, served chilled with a ginger flavoured dashi broth).
The Hanami cocktail menu has excellent refreshing cocktails like Sendai a mix of vodka, fresh kiwi, fresh melon and lime. Plum Blossom made with sochu, umeshu fresh plum and lime and Umetini with ingredients like sake, umeshu and gold leaf.
The food journey ended on a Mangolicious note a dessert with fresh Mango, liquorice and coconut ice-cream!
Address- 28, Main Market, Lodhi Colony, New Delhi
Timings: 12 to 3.30 and 7pm to 1am
Lunch for two: Rs. 1300
Dinner for two: Rs. 1800
For Reservation – 01124690005 / 6, +919650185005
Websitehttp: guppybyai.com
