The Japanese are among the most solution-oriented people in the world, with the most unique and mind-blowing solutions to everyday problems. For example, if you’re someone who is socially inept or just enjoys eating alone, no worries; there are many restaurants in Japan with single-seater booths that accommodate solo diners. If you’re tired after work and just want to unwind with your colleagues and not think about work, then the Japanese bar culture has you covered with the concept of Izakayas.
Izakaya is a traditional Japanese pub/bar specially designed for after-work drinking, offering a wide variety of Japanese and international dishes. Drawing inspiration from this unique culture, Chef Parvez Khan brought Sozo Izakaya to life, Mumbai’s first self-serving Japanese restaurant.
“My inspiration stems from my travels to Tokyo, Japan, where the vibrant street food culture captivated me. I wanted to bring that dynamic spirit to India, creating a place where people can enjoy Japanese cuisine without the formality of fine dining,” opines Chef Parvez, co-founder and head chef, in a heart-to-heart with the Free Press Journal.
“Our vision is to revolutionise Japanese dining by combining modern efficiency with the art of traditional culinary practices, all while ensuring a value-driven experience for our patrons,” he adds.
As you walk into the restaurant, you are welcomed with a traditional “Japanese living room” setup, which embodies minimalism, comfort, and tranquillity. A striking red wall framing a window gives a glimpse into the kitchen, where the real magic happens. Last but not least, the most talked-about attraction of the joint is the self-order kiosk. It offers an array of Japanese culinary delights and lets the customer make the payment through cash/card or UPI. It features a touch screen for easy navigation, allowing diners to customise their selections and choose from a variety of items. Currently, it isn’t functional, but, will soon be fixed.
From Donburi bowls to Baogers, the menu has something or the other for everyone. The indecisive diner in me wanted to order everything on the menu. Clueless and more confused than almost all the customers present, I and my colleagues gave up and approached the staff for some recommendations.
For starters, they suggested we should go for the Crispy Daikon cake and Veg Dynamite sushi roll. The cake was mildly sweet and savoury, with a hint of earthiness from the daikon radish, served with wasabi mayo and crispy garlic on the side. The texture was firm yet slightly chewy, with a crispy exterior as it was pan-fried.
Veg Dynamite, sushi roll On the other hand, Veg Dynamite, a sushi roll made from sticky yet firm sushi rice, has avocado and cucumber, topped with sriracha mayo, cream cheese and, rock corn, was an amalgamation of distinctive and unique flavours.
We also tried the Shrimp Dynamite. However, unlike its veg counterpart, the sriracha mayo and cream cheese in the sushi roll completely overshadowed the main ingredient- the shrimp.
After we devoured all the starters, leaving no crumbs behind, our mouths were definitely not ready for the carnival of unique flavours brought on by the ramen bowls. The chicken Tokyo Shoyu ramen, the star of the show, had a soy-based broth cooked for almost 8 hours. This is perfect for someone who doesn’t enjoy the typical bland taste of Shio and Shoyu ramen.
Kyoto Tantanmen ramen Next, we had the chicken Kyoto Tantanmen ramen. Infused with 18 different Indian spices, the colourful ramen bowl was a delight to our taste buds.
We didn’t just stop there. If the ramen bowls and the starters were the main events, the Baoger and the Donburi Bowls are where Sozo Izakaya displayed hints of complexity and innovation.
Take the SOZO Chicken Smash Baoger that we tried, for example. Crispy and flavourful, it served its purpose as the perfect lovechild of a bao and a burger.
The Teriyaki Donburi is a traditional Japanese rice bowl topped with sauteed purple cabbage slaw, pickled cucumbers, charred corn, nori, scallions and sesame. The in-house sweet and spicy Teriyaki sauce enhanced the overall flavour of the dish.
After all the slurping and gluttoning, we decided to cleanse our palettes with a beverage. Although we had the intention of trying their peach iced tea with popping boba, it wasn’t available. So we chose to settle for the Apple-Cinnamon Kombucha, which was refreshing. However, the Matcha Frappe with strawberry boba and the Belgian mocha frappe with coffee boba that we later ordered didn't live up to their name and hype.
To commemorate our Japanese culinary adventure at Sozo while sipping on our kombuchas, we must have taken a thousand selfies against the backdrop of the beautiful Zen garden in the back. The moss, small shrubs, and carefully trimmed trees and plants evoked a sense of peace and tranquillity within us.
