Robatayaki, often shortened as Robata, is a Japanese technique of grilling, quite similar to barbecue, in which food items on skewers are slow grilled over charcoal. Usually Robata consists of grilled vegetables, meat and seafood and is relished world over now. It typically began in the North of Japan and its history is very old. In those days, people used charcoal to make tea, by digging a pit in their living rooms, hanging a chain from the ceiling and leaving tea-pots etc to simmer. Later on this method was used for cooking other food items as well and specially the fishermen started keeping hot charcoal with them whenever they went for fishing, to enjoy a hot meal. Robata as a process started from that time.
Bringing the authenticity of those flavours and times, with the obvious improvements, Chef Suprabhath Roychowdhury along with his team came up with this idea of Robata Grill festival at Kylin Experience, Holiday Inn, Mayur Vihar. The sheer joy of watching the live grill was so overwhelming and I thoroughly enjoyed the flames engulfing the meat from time to time and the aromas emerging were enough to make my mouth water.
As we sat down to relish the meal, we discussed the history of Robata, as I mentioned above and listening to this conversation was as intriguing as the meal. The menu consisted of Sole Fish in Yuzu Mustard Sauce, Tenderloin with Korean Sauce, Lava Black Bean Chicken, Jumbo Prawns in Hot Pepper Sauce, Lamb Satay, Lemongrass Chicken Satay, Pork Belly in Teriyaki Sauce, Vegetable Skewer, Leek & Mushroom in Spicy Basil Sauce. Minus the prawns and tenderloin, which I don’t prefer, I tried all the dishes, and all were nicely prepared.
Sole Fish, Chicken Satay and Vegetable Skewers, I liked the most. I found the mushrooms a little too salty for my choice and also one thing that I didn’t prefer much was, that after a point, almost everything tasted little similar. I feel that the flavours need to be a little more strong for them to stand out from each other. Nevertheless its an experience worth it, and I am sure you will enjoy. After trying a couple of desserts and a hearty meal and long conversations, we set out back home, creating memories forever.
