Harima, Bangalore: Multiple visits

 Harima is located on the fourth floor of Devdutt Plaza on Residency Road and is one of the few Japanese restaurants in Bangalore. As a vegetarian, it is nice to be able to go to a Japanese restaurant and have a choice (this is a nice thing about going to all restaurants in India!). The décor is very quintessentially Japanese. Nice and neat. A general seating area, a small enclosed area (no longer so) and an area with sunken seating. The viewing area for sushi bar no longer exists. 

We have been to Harima a few times now, and enjoyed the food everytime. It takes a slightly adventurous palate to enjoy Japanese food and one must get out of the “masaledaar” state of mind and try and focus a little more on texture and subtle tastes.

We almost never order soup and also avoid the greens in broth as they absolutely lack taste, but there are many who enjoy those and they are very healthy, so don’t write them off on my opinion. Standard vegetarian fare at a Japanese restaurant includes the usual Teriyaki Tofu (fried tofu with Teriyaki sauce; a brown, slightly tangy sauce) and a bunch of vegetarian sushi rolls, which would be stuffed with anything from cucumber, ogobo (pickled root), asparagus, avocado, tofu, eggs, mayonnaise and a combination of the above among a few others. If you haven’t had rolls before they come with wasabi (crushed horseradish), like a spicy mustard and pickled baby ginger. If you haven’t been introduced to it before, please don’t make the mistake of trying a large quantity at once (unless you want your sinuses cleared…forever!). Alternatively, if you are anything like me, convince your guests that it is a light chutney and then sit back and enjoy! Finally, for the routine fare make sure you order the Yasai (vegetable) Yaki Soba (soba=noodles) nice lightly flavoured noodles (also topped with mayonnaise; optional!)

I usually enjoy a warm or cold saki when I visit Harima. It is a nice, lightly flavoured rice wine which comes in a small carafe with small sipping glasses.

Once you are done with the usual stuff and are feeling a little more adventurous, feel free to try out some okonomiyaki (a dish from Hiroshima) which is a pancake usually made of daikon (a type of radish), but here seems to be made of cabbage, topped with teriyaki sauce and mayonnaise (yes, sounds disgusting but it’s not really that bad). Follow this up with some donburi, a rice containing broth.

For dessert, don’t miss the green tea and wasabi ice cream, certainly something for the adventurous palate. If you are lucky, they would have managed to get the red bean confit, which goes really will with the ice cream.

All in all, a good vegetarian Japanese experience with pleasant service and a nice quite lunch environment.

Overall:

Food: *** ½

Ambience: ****

Overall: ****

Price: ****