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

In Amritsar, a new restaurant, Shiso, is championing Asian cuisine with teppanyaki and yakitori delights on its elaborate menu

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.

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.

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.