Eat Affordable But Authentic Japanese Food At The Blue In Bandra West

Affordable Japanese food has made its way to the city with The Blue in Pali Hill, Bandra. We explore why you can go here to explore the cuisine without cursing yourself for overspending.

A small establishment in the lane that has the likes of Mini Punjab, Butter Chicken Factory and the newest kid on the block, Umraan, serving up loaded North Indian cuisine, a Japanese establishment could feel out of place. But, The Blue stands out with its signage – you spot it from a distance.

The place is tiny in size but big on taste, we say. The decor is limited to a few showpieces and a Nobu’s cook book placed neatly on a shelf. The colours are soothing and the vibe is a mix of ‘we’re serious about our food but we won’t intimidate you with chopsticks’. You know, pressure can be a pain at Jap restaurants.

Run by two chefs who specialise in Japanese and Thai respectively, they work meticulously over the counter. You can tell by the whiff of Jasmine rice and chilli. Starting with a classic, the miso soup {INR 250 for vegetarian} was pleasant, albeit Indianised just a tad. We didn’t mind that.

We moved on to a plate of chicken okonomiyaki {INR 350} that got our appetites going for the green Thai curry with jasmine rice {INR 400}, The curry was light and didn’t coat our stomach lining with coconut milk. Since Japanese food is majorly water-based, the Blue follows the pattern and keeps the textures on the lighter side. Don’t miss their use of seaweed – it’s perfectly cooked and provides for a flavour that is endearing to the taste buds.

You can either opt for something fizzy with your canned stuff, but we won’t recommend that. Instead, go for their Thai juices {butterfly pea juice, Thai cold coffee, Thai milk tea and others}.

If you want to eat Japanese food without the fanciness {you know, having to dress up just to go out and eat}, hit up The Blue. Just good food, no airs.