The wind whispers its welcome, and the universe conspires to give us an experience of Kaze, simply brilliant. (For the uninitiated, Kaze, pronounced Kazay, means wind in Japanese). It’s a rainy afternoon, and we are sitting on the 21st floor gazing into the city and its unhindered skyline. We look on dreamily, across the glass walled new Pan Asian swank address in town. Wow. Location, location, location, we are told is key. And Kaze surely is! This 21st floor is unmistakeably the best place to have a tipple and nibble! A spectacular terrace, long winding bulb spurting bar, a sake and sushi bar, and fine dining, all make for the whole experience of Kaze Bar and kitchen that opened its doors in the city on Lavelle Road’s high rise.
Ugendar and Sakshi Sagaraju, who started Bangalore Brew Works, have been busy as they hopped onto the Pan Asian wok bandwagon, munch on Udon, sip a Sake, chopstick on sushi, and titter about life as a landscape of rain, wind and Bengaluru accentuates the experience.
The ! This is by far the best space to wine and dine on top of our world.
The idea was to bring contemporary Japanese with a twist for local populace and serve Pan Asian with five star tenets… The consultant corporate chef is Umesh Kapoor, who trained under Morimoto, and is ex-Wasabi. The man helming the kitchen is Suman Ale who earlier worked at Shiro Delhi. “We are a fine dine space with a sushi sake bar, a lounge serving a modern take on Japanese with Peruvian influences. An adaptation inspired by Zuma in Dubai and London,” says Sakshi.
The ambience and décor by Anshul Chodha is minimal but classy, we particularly loved the bottle chairs, dining chairs with 'Mad Hatting' animals, and the warm hue of candles. Have the Kaze signature cocktails, all Orient inspired, made by, we were told Om, who used to be at Virat Kohli’s South American restaurant Nueva in Delhi…
The Days of Sakura came in a gilded goblet, perched on a golden stand, with fruit and ice overflowing sweet and light. The Three Minutes in Thyme, was an art installation, on a bed of grass, green, with a reading light, a set in itself! It was delicious, though over the top. We prefer minimal.
There are 21 reasons why you should step into the viewfinding haven Kaze. It is the highest restaurant and bar in the city, will be the highest microbrewery soon as well. Perfect for a sundowner.
We started our meal with delightful Korean Baby potatoes, with Gochujuang chilli sauce… tangy, sweet and spiced. The Kaze cheese bourek was perfect, crunchy on the outside, and creamy inside, dipped in sweet chilli. There is a flourish of presentation. The sushi and dimsums came fresh, steamed parcels of yum. The California Maki was alright, dipped in soy, though more wasabi, please, we like the kick. Ok. The mixed vegetable dimsum was glazed, light and delish. A slightly thinner parcel would be nice. We loved the prawns har gao, and the coriander chilli, chilli bean and spice sauces.
Next came the lamb, a bit chewy, in a chilli Hoisin sauce. We munched on chicken salt and pink pepper - moist and juicy. The prawn cake was delicious, with a sriracha sauce, a bit salty, though.
For mains, full up, we had Gohan, or Japanese fried rice, which was flavourful and very wholesome in taste with its dashi tenets. We also gobbled the pork green curry - light, flavourful with jasmine rice.
The sushi spread offers salmon, scallops, a hamachi carpacchio apart from varied sashimi, nigiri and hosomaki (thin rolled sushi) etc. Quite a sumptuous menu.
In the mains, we spotted black cod, yellow tail, salmon roe which were interesting, and rustic curries like masaman, rendang and there is also cuttlefish, scallops in dimsums, baozi and gyozas.
We sipped infused Kafir lime water, perfect refreshers. And what’s a Jap space without the use of matcha, so do order the matcha Swiss role with hazelnut chocolate. We had a black sesame icecream… was interesting, though a bit crystallised. And the best was this Japanese dish of all things honeyed Shibuya honey toast. Delightful spread of toasty bread and fruits in a bread box with honey drizzle. Fab.
The prices are on the higher side, given its soaring address. And the consultant chef bit is a downer because we have seen places plummet when there is no full time creative genius behind it. Sakshi says local chef Suman Ale is brilliant. Its Pan Asian with a twist, And a spin on Japanese. The taste could be better for a place so exclusive, to truly do justice to its spectacular windy haven on the 21st floor. But go you must, no other ambience comes closer!
Kaze Bar and Kitchen
Address: 909 SKAV, 21st floor, Lavelle Road, Bangalore
Table for two: Rs 2,500 for (approx.) excluding alcohol
From 12:30PM to 1AM
Cuisines: Asian, Japanese, Thai, Pan Asian
