New Japanese menu at Joss

Sushi
And four joss sticks
Celebrate four glorious winters

Feeling Haiku-esque? Satisfy your poetry-craving soul with a visit to Joss, chef-owner Farrokh Khambata’s South-East Asian restaurant. His regular menu may have delighted the city’s gastronomes since late 2004. But the new specials, created in tandem with Japanese Master Chef Hisa (formerly of Wasabi at the Taj), are almost lyrical.

The six-course spread is perfect for days when you want to nourish your spirit. Start with a seaweed-and-vegetable clear soup that will surprise you with its very Indian triphala tang (called ’sansho’ in Japanese). Appreciate the visual poetry in the carefully constructed mains — Aubergine and Tofu for vegetarians, or delicate Chilean Sea Bass with Sweet Soya Ginger Sauce. Try hand-rolled Temaki with salmon and cheese or fried sweet potato in spicy mayonnaise. Wrap your tongue around delicious Maki rolls with fillings like eel, cucumber or pickled radish.

The Trendy Taster couldn’t get enough of the Mini-Ikura Don: Orangey-red globules of salmon roe on a bed of sushi rice that reminded her of the Japanese flag as each mouthful was a sunburst of intense flavour on her tongue.

After that, dessert was extraneous. The poetry flowed freely.

Joss: 30 K Dubash Marg, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai; Tel: 66356908/66334233; Prices: Veg set menu Rs 1,100, non veg Rs 1,850 per person, sushi from Rs 550 onwards.