Check out Amritsar’s experimental Asian diner with sushi and omakase counters — Shiso

On Amritsar’s culinary landscape, refreshing winds of change continue to blow. The advent of modern Asian kitchen and bar Shiso stamps a new trend on the food map of the city that is almost synonymous with kulcha and fish tikka.

While feasting on select dishes and drinks listed on its menu comprising three hardbound folders of food, beverage and cocktails, I am tempted to draw the parallels between the aesthetics of the restaurant’s interiors and its victuals. The red, central bamboo-rice-paper installation strung to the roof builds a fascinating contrast against the diner’s concrete grey and wood-brown walls. Below, it is an elevated banquette seating with sofas joined to form a rhombus. They branch out to more tables, chairs and sofas that fill the 4,500-square-yard space that can accommodate nearly 150 people. In its backdrop, there is a bar against a 15-foot-tall, tiered wall with shelves adorned with hundreds of liquor bottles. To its left are sushi and omakase counters.

The big-small start

I am perched near Shiso’s glass-walled entrance overlooking its spacious courtyard lined by gazebos. “It has been designed by Aayushi Malik of Aayushi Malik Designs, known for her work on Delhi’s Cosy Box, Chica, and Marieta. Shiso’s interiors blend Balinese and Japanese influences,” says Vansh Aggarwal, founder of Shiso, as I dig into duck tacos.

It is one of the 64 dishes on the small plates section of Shiso’s food menu that also has big plates and desserts. Made in a duck oven (a cooking appliance specifically used to roast ducks and other meats), which the restaurant’s chef, Honey Mishra, calls a “priced possession”, these succulent tacos have tobiko beads, five-spice roasted duck, beet slaw and lime crema.

The section includes 16 varieties of dim sums, three of tempura and cold rolls, and two of baos and sushi, but the teppanyaki (Japanese live kitchen) takes the spotlight. It serves four stir fry options in vegetarian and non-vegetarian (think shimeji, shiitake and king oyster or Asparagus and kale) that can be paired with three sorts of rice or noodles from dan dan udon to bulgogi gochu rice. There is yakitori (Japanese skewers from lava stone grill) too, offering five options, including mixed yasai, and shrimp and scallions.

For the not-so-adventurous foodie, the safe bets on small plates range from tandoori tikkas and prawns to smashed lamb burger and banh mi. As our palate sways to the symphony of flavours — with summer salad’s zingy punch, the crunchiness of prawn crackers, freshness of Thai betel leaf roll, mildly spiced nigiri and coriander-packed laphing — it is time for the main course.

Main point

Precise and brief, the big plates section (with 31 dishes) begins with one vegetarian and three meat-based dishes, the former being beet steak with goat cheese mousse and the latter has Kyoto roast chicken, grilled fish and Thai roast chicken. It is Vansh’s top pick. “This dish features chicken roasted in a Chinese duck oven, paired with an Asian-flavoured slaw and served in lettuce romaine as a wrapper. The combination of the tender, flavourful chicken with lettuce, tangy slaw and condiments like chili cashew sauce creates a delightful contrast in textures and flavours,” he says describing the dish.

It took him two years to start the restaurant with Aftab Sidhu, Honey Mishra, and Mankaran Johar as management partners. “We have roped in Gastronaut, a hospitality consulting and management company, who have set up over 70 restaurants pan India, including Burma Burma, Green Mantis, and Issa. It manages our day-to-day operations, menu changes, costing and report, staffing and training,” he adds.

While Vansh strongly recommends Malaysia’s national dish Nasi Lemak — coconut rice with lemongrass fried chicken and spicy cucumber salad — my liking for fish makes me opt for Malay salmon curry. I may have given the seafood pizza a try too, but it did not make it to the big plates that conveniently flaunted Italian delights, such as pizzas and pastas, amongst dal makhni, butter chicken, Awadhi lamb nihari and paneer pasanda.

Tricks and treats

Shiso has two kinds of beverages: ones that quench your thirst and other spirited concoctions to cleanse your palate and potentially all inhibitions. Dutch courage at an Asian kitchen with a Russian bartender comes with a whit of lost-in-translation hazard. So, we try the seven non-alcoholic offerings before sipping cocktails. The dramatic one is Purple Drizzle, containing blueberry, mint, elderflower, citrus and ginger soda, while the chill, mid-day zero proof drink is Coffee Orry marked with hints of coffee, orange and fizz. From the 20 cocktails, Trippy Fungi with whisky, walnut, mushrooms and maple takes a bow for the stamp of psychedelic art placed atop a chunk of ice. As Ivan Alekseev serves sake, he offers the restaurant’s in-house wines like pineapple and apple cinnamon on the table. “Most of these have sweeter notes and will compliment the robust flavours of the food,” he says.

To end the meal on a sweet note there are some six desserts, out of which I simply love the Kyoto Swiss Roll for its melt-in-mouth, sweet mango brulee and whipped cream layered between the tender sheets of decedent Japanese sponge cake.

Shiso offers lunch 12.30pm to 3.30pm and dinner 7.30pm to 1:30am and is closed on Tuesday; a meal for two costs ₹2,100 for two plus taxes. For reservations, call +91 7973959532