Kylin Premier

Critic´s Review

• Food: 3 / 5
• Service: 3 / 5
• Decor: 3.5 / 5

-By Marryam H Reshii

YUZU MISO SCALLOPS & GIANDUJA MOUSSE

Not all mall restaurants look like clones of one another. Kylin Premier, which is in a mall, for example, looks even better than the original, in a high street location (Basant Lok). It is worth visiting the half-finished mall as much for the vast parking space that it offers right now as for the superb terrace atop the restaurant. Neither the restaurant interiors nor the terrace gives it away as a mall outlet. In fact, in time, lift 1B will take you from the basement parking and deposit you just outside the restaurant on the 3rd floor. And if you hurry to Kylin Premier, you will have the benefit of the finest weather we are likely to enjoy in a very long time!nnThe handsome interiors are a perfect backdrop for the oriental menu. It's long and you'll need patience to plough through it, but do take the time because there are gems hidden in it. Best among them is the Beijing seafood clear soup (Rs 245). Perfectly cooked prawns, nuggets of fish, vegetables, egg drop, shiitake mushroom diced and carrots in a supremely flavourful stock make the perfect soup.nnThere are two pages of sushi, but one wonders why they bother. It would work in their favour to keep the sushi menu short and simple. That way, there's little margin for error. The dragon roll (Rs 675) that I ordered turned out to be a full uramaki roll, with a filling of juliennes of tofu and avocado wrapped in nori, outside which was rice. One hallmark of Kylin is that its sushi rice is far more seasoned (with vinegar, salt and sugar) than anywhere else in the city. It was eye-catching and fun to eat, because the whole roll was cut into bite-sized pieces but kept intact and then draped with a decoration of finely sliced salmon, tuna and avocado and drizzled over with flying fish roe. The nigiri that I ordered (Rs 275 for 2 pcs), on the other hand, was a sad and sorry lot. The salmon was fine, but the tuna had obviously been stored at the wrong temperature and had become unpleasantly water-logged. As for the prawn, it looked bedraggled and not fit for consumption in a sushi where appearance is all. On the plus side, Kylin's maki rolls are for those who are not comfortable with eating uncooked fish and who find sushi too bland.nnThe teppanyaki grill is really where the restaurant is likely to shine. Everything from caramelised tofu (Rs 445 with miso soup and rice) that had a lovely smoky flavour to yuzu miso scallops (Rs 345 for 100 gms) that were cooked to perfection - soft on one side and well-done on the other to tenderloin teriyaki (Rs 645) with a blend of balsamic vinegar and teriyaki sauce are all innovative, tasty, flavourful combinations for today's diner who is looking for new yet familiar tastes.nnThe finest of the dishes was chicken kharashi with miso sauce (Rs 495), that elevated the national bird of Delhi to neverseen-before heights: kharashi turned out to be a Japanese mustard with a sharp bite, and was left as a top-note in a skillfully cooked dish.nnDon't miss the gianduja mousse: hazelnut flavoured chocolate, sprinkled sparingly with five spice powder. It's a masterpiece.