There’s an exciting addition to the city’s gastronomical scene. Shizusan Shophouse & Bar replaces Anita Dongre’s store AND at High Street Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel. Shizusan is now part of Mumbai’s Southeast Asian cuisine obsession. The restaurant has been conceptualised by Bellona Hospitality, the same team behind 212 All Good and Bar Bar.
A visit to the two-storied red ‘shop house’ brings us face to face with a postcode stamp, wooden windows and white chrysanthemums. The restaurant is housed in a section of the former Phoenix Mills that used to be a warehouse and respite home for workers. It’s also a space that doesn't lend to structural changes, though the reworked design has managed to create a modern shop house, with a tapas bar on the ground floor. An abacus stairway leads you upwards into a space that’s flooded with natural light during the day.
Chef Paul Kinny, dressed in a denim chef’s coat, looks confident as he keeps an eye on the floor, ensuring service is smooth sailing. The tables are packed with hungry customers on the day of our visit, and we cool down with an iced geisha tea (Rs. 165). The cool drink has the goodness of Chinese kukicha tea, fresh floral notes of rose petals and tangy berries, and an earthy finish of bamboo shoot with a kick of ginger. We peruse the mocktails section, which has nostalgia delights like the Milo milkshake. We quite enjoy the tangy and chilled OK Lah (Rs. 175), with orange and kefir lime. The cocktails, too, have a touch of Asian ingredients. The hattori hanzo (Rs. 575), gets a natural blue hue from the butterfly pea flower tea, but tequila overpowers every other taste when we take a sip. The G&C (Rs. 425) is a refreshing gin drink with lemongrass and cucumber.
For starters we begin with the edamame petit pois dimsum (Rs. 295), which has a comforting earthy punch of truffle oil. The pulled chicken bao (Rs. 295) has an Asian BBQ sauce, and is on the sweeter side, thanks to the caramelised onions and slaw. The vegetable kung pao (Rs. 275), on the other hand, is packed with the punch of garlic sauce, and the crunchy texture of fried cashew nuts. We polish off the flaky Balinese ikan bakan (Rs. 625), seabass steam-wrapped in banana leaf and grilled, which has a distinct flavour of the Malaysian condiment sambal belacan. The ginger is pungent, yet doesn’t overpower the red chilli rub. Salmon pairs up with cream cheese and asparagus in the Philadelphia maki roll (Rs. 645), and is garnished with tobiko, bright orange fish roe. The maki veg roll (Rs. 545) has a crunchy tempura and laced with a fiery with the Sriracha sauce.
Two items leave us floored: the Taiwanese aromatic miso milk (Rs. 265) and the okonomiyaki (Rs. 295). The miso soup opens with the zing of ginger and earthy notes of seaweed on our palates, calmed by the smoothness of milk, sweetness of spring onions and softness of silken tofu. ‘ Okonomi ’ means ‘how you like’ and ‘ yaki ’ means ‘grill’. We love the crispy cabbage pancake with carrots and tempura flour, topped with okonomi sauce that lends a beautiful umami, finished with a drizzle of a light Japanese mayo. Although we are stuffed with appetisers, we sail on to the main course. We rapidly consume sautéed cubes of kung pao red pumpkin (Rs. 445) with button onions and the gochujang bori bop (Rs. 475) the traditional Korean hot pot that’s assembled at our table. To assemble the gochujang bori bop, the server places beef strip on a bed of egg rice, and pours the Gochujang sauce onto the rice mound. The charred rice has a delicious crunch and the accompanying Korean red chilli sauce hits the right notes.
For dessert, we crack the crust of the crème brulee (Rs. 295) topped with a Chinese five spice. Hints of Sichuan pepper, star anise and cinnamon notes, accompanied by fennel and black pepper hit the palate, followed by a creamy custard. We love the Asian version of the French dessert. The Manila halo halo sundae (Rs. 295) has lavender, coffee and vanilla ice cream, condensed milk, topped with sweet corn, red bean jelly and rice crisps. While we enjoy some of the elements, the dish doesn’t come together for us. The Singapore kaya bread pudding (Rs. 295) throws up chocolatey notes of Maltesers finished with the freshness of a coconut jam glaze, but we wish the pudding was not so dry. Stuffed to satiation level, we offer our tummies some solace with a cup of little Buddha green tea (Rs. 165), lightly flavoured with chamomile, pineapple and sandalwood.
Shizusan, High Street Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel, 7045004138; 12 p.m. to 12 a.m.
