One of my favourite restaurants in Bangalore and probably the only place I turn to for Japanese food is now open for lunch. Hurray ! Time to celebrate with the Obento Experience. A set lunch, a sake bomb and we have a perfect Luncheon At Edo!
A meal at Edo (located in ITC Gardenia) always leaves me happy and satisfied. A meal at Edo is one which is a treat to all senses and still satisfies the soul with some great food. The kaiseki meal at Edo a few years ago still holds it’s place in my top 10 meals ever I think. But these delightful meals were limited to dinner and then Luncheon at Edo happened. Edo is now open for lunch with it’s Obento meals. It really was sweet music to my ears considering Edo is so far from home that dinner is always slightly tougher to plan.
A bunch of us were invited to try out the Obento meal at lunch. Obento is essentially a bento box meal. A meal which is served in a lacquer box with partitions for different dishes and is becoming hugely popular as a way of eating. Bento meals are convenient and yet offer the variety that makes the meal a pleasure to eat. The other brilliant plus point Bento meals have is that they are quick which works perfectly for lunch. When you are inbetween work meetings or may be even having a work meeting.
We started our meal with one of my favourite custom at Edo – the Sake Bomb. A fun (and the one that makes one high and how) where a small bowl of sake is placed over chopsticks balanced on a glass of beer. Then everyone does a countdown which is almost musical – Ichi, Ni, San and fists are banged on the table making the bowl of sake drop into the beer glass and voila you have a nice strong drink.
After the chatter which was a result of friends on table and a sake bomb, we were presented with the Obento meal which came in a pretty tray and bowls instead of a box. A little fancier version of Bento, it is Edo after all. The meal can be customised to your taste, if you are allergic to something and surely do want to eat a thing on menu, Chef Kamlesh as always is happy to adjust for you and put that on your Obento tray. The tray we were served had – sushi, sashmi ,pickled vegetables – Oshinko, Zensai – the spectacular crab salad that is one of my favourite at Edo.
There was also one of the best Miso soup I have had, served in pretty kettle. Perfect soup served with morsels of seaweed and tiny cubes of tofu, there wasn’t anything you could fault with in that one.
There was Chawanmushi, the Japanese style egg custard which I think is an acquired taste. I had a fellow diner who loved it and reserved it for the last and some who left it in the bowl after a couple of bites. I like it with a spoon or so of Soya sauce. The tempura of prawns and zucchini blossom was gorgeous. A tempura is a delight to eat if done well, light crispy batter in juicy and just cooked prawn and the one at Edo was just brilliant.
The meal also had udon noodles which I thought were slightly misplaced, may be to please the we need some carbs Indian mentality but on the whole I had a great meal. The only crib (probably a tiny one) I might have with Edo is that they have been serving the same menu forever. But still that doesn’t stop me from going back there again and again and now I have another reason to go there. It is open to lunch
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