When I was younger, I had avidly read P.L.Deshpande’s ’’Poorvaranga’’ - a travelogue by him and he had described Japanese cuisine in humourous and vivid detail. Hence, I was eagerly waiting for a far-east asian restaurant and when Tian opened in a nearby suburb (Juhu) - near the Juhu Supreme Shopping centre, I rushed to check it out. Here are the details....
Summary
I tried the Japanese food only and it was average (for people who like bland tastes). For people who only like spicy, I am afraid that they will be very disappointed.
Quite authentic cuisine.
The service is quite bad (no customer attention), the lift was not working etc.
Good ambience.
There is one redeeming factor - the ’’sake’’ - the Japanese rice wine - TRY IT.
Food
The food is average - nothing very good. I would say that you could come here once just to experience the cuisine. But, if you are already into Japanese cuisine, this might be a disappointment. This place is for the novices like me.
I liked the Chicken Tempura - Chicken pieces, coated with sweet rice batter and deep fried. The horseradish sauce (I think its called wasabi sauce) is very good.
We also had the traditional ’’sticky’’ rice which my husband and I both love. This rice is great with Japanese/Chinese food and this is one of the few restaurants which has it.
I really loved the ’’Saake’’ (pronounced saakay) - which is a warm Japanese rice wine - served in a special container to keep it warm. I think I will go once more for only this.
The portion sizes are average.
Ambience
The ambience is very good and they have taken pains to create a Japanese atmosphere (with the screens et al.).
The tables by the window have a good view and are romantic. There is one very romantic table, behind a screen :)
Service
The service is very average, and you have to ring the bell (a small cute tinkling one kept on your table) many times (or finally you lose your temper and yell) before someone looks at you.
These might be teething troubles....
The day I went, the lift was not working for quite some time.
Reservations/Parking etc.
I dont know about the reservations but there is parking space and since we went early we had no problems with a table or the parking.
Price Range
Definitely expensive.
All in all, I think I would recommend the place for one visit - to try out the Japanese cuisine. Not a place to visit often - quite costly and not very good service.