On the Roll

There’s something cooking in Sector 26 — once a forgotten corner of the city,it has emerged as an upper crust dining zone with back-to-back restaurants spoiling one for choice. The newest to open doors is Tao,which means the Way or the Path in Japanese,and pegs world cuisine as its USP. Curious,we plan a lazy afternoon lunch.

Once inside,we find ourselves looking at a sophisticated setting that spans two floors,the ambience accentuated by spiral notes on the ceiling,the gurgling water on one wall and edgy lighting.

With high expectations,thanks to the décor,we settle down in a cozy private dining nook and open the menu. Kuldeep Gupta,the owner and well-known restauranteur,informs us that though Tao offers a spread of world cuisine delicacies,it is essentially oriental in nature. There are choices in Chinese,Indian,Thai and Mediterranean vying for attention. but it’s the Japanese fare,essentially

sushi and teppanyaki,that has us hooked. A first for the city,we are eager to try the sushi and there’s quite a bit on offer.

For those who haven’t dug into raw fish yet,Tao offers easy-on-the-palate versions. We opted for Nigiri (Rs 560) which arrived looking beautiful — the platter comprised six oblong mounds of sushi rice topped with thin slivers of salmon,accompanied with a light dressing. Full marks for flavour and presentation. Though Tao is a new eatery,the fragrant lemon coriander soup has already acquired a reputation. We recommend that it be teamed up with the sushi.

In the main course,you can take your pick from Indian favourites,fare from the Middle East,or Dubai chicken,Moroccan chicken skewers,Gulf prawns,Kebab-e-Koobideh and Shawarma. There’s also a large enough range of dimsums to make you promise that you’ll be back soon.

We follow up the sushi with teppanyaki. For the uninitiated,teppanyaki cuisine uses an iron griddle to grill food.

Our choice was fish with chilli garlic dressing which arrived promptly and steaming hot. The fish had a fiery temper and every mouthful was a body blow,but of the kind that makes you reach out for more.

After the assault of the fish,it was with a sense of relief that we found that the dessert options were equally mouthwatering. The chocolate rolls with ice-cream we dug into were the perfect way to end a satisfying meal.

In order to keep the spotlight on the food,even the music at Tao — tunes from across the globe—is kept subtle. “We are gearing up to open our bar and lounge for New Year’s eve,” says Gupta,who is planning to take Tao to Mumbai and Delhi soon.

Meal for two: Rs 1,500 Location: SCO 43,Madhya Marg,Sector 26,Chandigarh Contact: 0172-5001717,5001919