Harima - The Land of Sashimi, Sushi, Nigiri, Sake & Wasabi

Harima - 4.5/5.0 (Only because my perfect restaurant hasn't been created as yet.)

Dher aaye pur durust aaye (Came late but came energetic). That's right, its been a while since my visit to Harima (4th Floor, Devatha Plaza, Residency Road, Bangalore) but the flavour still tingles my tongue everytime I think of this heaven. I am ... a 'Detox Vegetarian', which basically means I turn vegetarian atleast once a year for a period of atleast 6 months. But when it comes to Japanese food, I can't help but break the rules. This rule-breaking would title me a Bengali Brahmin (nope, I am not Bengali), which would make me a fish-eating vegetarian.



Harima is 'The (note the use of the word in all its glory) Only Authentic Japanese Heaven' in Bangalore. Heaven because each time you put fractions of your serving in your mouth, you make satisfactory noises like no other (ummmmmmm). Raw fish in all its glory.

Some Japanese food basics:
Sashimi is thin slices of raw fish (or other seafood) prepared in delicate ways, usually served as an appetizer with dipping sauces.
Sushi is an assortment of cold vinegar flavoured rice, topped with sashimi and other ingredients of choice, rolled in nori (seaweed).
Nigiri is sashimi rolled around sushi rice.
Sake is a Japanese alcoholic drink brewed from rice.
Wasabi is made from the roots of Japanese horseradish and has a very strong flavour (believe me when I say 'very' strong).

Sashimi, sushi, and nigiri are usually served with a combination of soy sauce and wasabi. Now, here is where Harima weilds its experience - the sauce given to you along with the dish will have the right mix of wasabi and soy sauce (just right to suit the Indian pallette). You would be better off letting the experts decide on this mix, because the first time I was allowed to customise it for myself, thinking wasabi was like green chutney, I used a little too much of it. Lesson learnt the hard way, just to tell you that excessive use of wasabi could knock all your senses out for a good 15 min. It's the strongest chutney your tongue would have ever touched. I have a theory that a ladoo sized wasabi put in your mouth in a single intake could render a person unconscious (anyone want to take me up on that).

When you are at Harima, just go ahead and pick any item off the menu, all of them taste just fabulous. The decor of the place is 100% Japanese. They have gone to the extent of providing you with an option of getting seated on cushions placed on the floor (just the way the Japanese do it in Japan). I am told that Japanese Toyota officials often dine here. Harima also specialises in the world famous Bento (Japanese packed lunches).

If you are headed there, better make sure you bow to the Rajasthani dressed as a Samurai with a fake plastic sword at the entrance. For this is one Samurai who knows no Japanese. Haiyaaan ;-)

Most Wanted

Win a bottle of Red Wine FREE !

Ok, so its been more than 4 weeks now and my search for the ISO standard Wine Glass refuses to come to an end. After 24 glassware stores, 12 general stores (big ones mind you) and 4 malls later, that perfect glass still seems to elude my fingers. It seems as though Bangaloreans don't really want to enjoy their wine. This is inspite of a prime vineyard (Grover Vineyards) just at the outskirts.



For the uninitiated, the glass needs to be of that specific shape for the enhancement of the wines' features. Each wine is judged by the four human senses : Sight, Smell, Taste, and Touch. More on this in a future blog. Needless to say, most wines are swirled before putting your lips to the elixir. This swirl is performed in order to check for the amount of alcohol (in most cases there is) or for the presence of sugar syrup (absent in present day wines). If a thick viscous trasparent liquid sticks to the sides of the glass after the mandatory swirl, it shows the presence of alcohol. Depending on the viscosity, the alcohol content can be determined. Getting back to the topic, the shape of the glass ensures the wine does not spill during the swirling process.

As I send this blog out to the digital world, I am hoping that another Bangalorean would come across this blog and help me find this most wanted entity. You guys know where to reach me. All the best, Oh! I almost forgot about the reward: Anyone who could help me locate that perfect wine glass would be entitled to a free bottle of Red Wine. Any takers?

Mission : Six Six Six

The Omen - 2.5 / 5.0
Mission Impossible III - 3.0 / 5.0

Well this week was all about the movies. It was just shoot, shoot, shoot (for those who don't know me, I am a Net Jockey cum Producer for Sify's Bangalore Live) until Wednesday (07 Jun 2006), after which I intended to get some "Inspiration Space". This means I get to watch 3 DVDs each day, which I effectively did. But this doesn't distance me away from the Silver Screen.

Just for kicks, a sweet friend and colleague - Black Tongue (real name not mentioned for obvious reasons) & I wanted to watch the remade version of The Omen on 6/6/6 at 6:06 pm in Inox (a popular multiplex in Garuda Mall, Bangalore). She was a little skeptical about the same, you know how women are when it comes to scary movies ... Oops I forgot to tell you why I nicked her Black Tongue - it's because whatever she utters, just comes true. Not that she can go onto winning a Lottery whenever she wants to, but more like she has a sixth sense that puts her in the right place.



Anyways, I was at the Inox counter at sharp 6:06 pm (weird !) and managed to make a few last minute calls to get the tickets, which I did. But here is the crazy part, the guy at the booking counter later told me that exactly 6 tickets remained unsold from F6 (6th row, 6th seat) onwards (ok! that's carrying it too far, the last part was just absolute rubbish). The remake was nowhere as good as its original and didn't have the much required consistency. The casting could have been better, the music was just a sham, the acting was pathetic (but the Doberman would get a 4.5/5.0) and the budgets were low. But hey!, what the heck, I would still give the movie a strong 2.5/5.0 - watch it if you really have time to strangle. Rest assured, the movie ticket would add to our souvenir collection.

But here's a sincere help out, MI:3 was a complete let down. Each sequel seems to be getting worse. They didn't have much money for the project and it shows. The stunts are not as exciting, the women aren't as great and there is a serious lack of high-end gadgetry. At the very best, it was an attempt at a 1980s James Bond flick. Watch it if your girlfriend's out of town, you don't want to stay home and your fingers don't want to respond to another video game. But I would honestly suggest a pair of binoculars to be more exciting than this movie. Being as generous as I am, I would give this movie a very hesitant 3.0/5.0 - only because the plot was inspired from a Dan Brown book "Angels & Demons". Watch out for Anti-God.

A few of the movies I got to watch on DVD and how they fared:
Syriana - 3.5/5.0 (Oscar Type)
Ball and Chain - 2.5 / 5.0 (Indian American)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - 1.5 / 5.0 (Action Mystery)
Taxi 9211 - 2.5 / 5.0 (Indian Funny with Rona Dhona ending)

If this week has taught me anything, it's that : When alone in depression, be more alone than ever. This would get you to realise that the state of depression is still better.

Here is a little trivia for you -
666 is a sign of luck in Chinese culture. The number 6 sounds like luck, so 666 is three-times lucky.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (phew!) is the fear of the number 666 - Number of the Beast.

Big Fun with the Big Co#$ ?

A comedian just seems to find material wherever he goes. The following poster was in the back of a Coke delivery van on Cunningham Road. Was the pun intended or was it just an innocent mistake. Does Ms.Rai know about this, because with the way her personal life is headed, Coke seems to be the only blow (read whistle) between her lips. *lol*

Blog Wild!

Finally, I got myself to re-blog. I am so convinced in the medium, to the extent of getting you all to believe that this medium could revolutionise the way we look at the world. In a conversation or a group discussion - expressions & ideas get suppressed (by the more vociferous), but in a medium such as this, no ideas need to be sidelined.

" ... spreading ideas is the single most important output of our civilization.", were the words of Seth Godin. We in the blog blog world are here, to just do that.



My blog shall be about - Bangalore (my Mecca), humour, adventure, the extra-ordinary, the sublimal, and "The Fine Life". I would request every visitor to leave a comment, no matter how trivial, and to keep coming back for more.