Mumbai: Wasabi by Morimoto marks 22 years at Taj Mahal Palace

Within a month of Wasabi by Morimoto opening at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace, chef Masaharu Morimoto changed half its menu. The early lesson was a practical one: many diners wanted vegetarian food, and he had to find a Japanese way to serve it.

Morimoto drew on shojin ryori, the vegetarian temple cooking associated with Japan’s Buddhist monks, to reshape the offering. Twenty-two years later, vegetarian dishes remain part of a menu better known for sushi, sashimi, shrimp tempura with spicy sauce and black cod miso.

The chef visits Mumbai once every two years and stays in regular contact with the Japanese chef running the kitchen. He sets the menu, trains staff and personally approves imported suppliers. Fish for sushi and sashimi is flown in from Japan each week, as he says local waters do not provide fish suited to sushi.

Wasabi’s early customers included Japanese expatriates in Mumbai; Morimoto says its diners are now largely Indian and international guests familiar with Japanese food. His approach remains firmly traditional: “Fusion, for me, is confusion.”