Pan-Asian Restaurant Umame To Open In Churchgate

There’s good news and bad news for Joss fans. While the now-shuttered restaurant will not be reopened, owner Farrokh Khambata is launching Umame, a new 4,000 square feet fine-dining pan-Asian restaurant that will serve many of the dishes on the Joss menu. Umame is slated to open in Churchgate, in the space previously occupied by Spanish restaurant and lounge Valhalla, on Tuesday, September 11.

The name Umame is a variation of “umami”, the fifth taste said to represent something that is pleasantly savoury but hard to define. The menu, Khambata said, will feature a large selection of small plates such as a variety of dim sum and dumplings, including gyoza with Wagyu beef; prawn and pork belly shumai with salmon roe garnish; har gau with enoki mushrooms and straw fungus; crispy prawn and chive cheung fun; and Singapore crab bun. The sushi and sashimi offerings will comprise those served at Joss plus additions such as spiny lobster tempura with red miso and nitsume sauce; spider rolls with soft shell crab and tobiko (roe of flying fish); maguro butsu (marinated tuna); and the Napa Valley sushi (avocado, cucumber, cream cheese and white sesame). Other menu highlights are the crispy duck with Mandarin pancakes; oven baked scallops served in a cream sauce; Iberian pork belly with a honey garlic glaze; and Massaman curry with New Zealand lamb, duck and water chestnuts. Joss fans will also be happy to know that favourites such as the whisky flambéed prawn; Oriental crab bisque; miso-crusted Chilean sea bass; black sesame cottage cheese; Balinese curry; and khow suey are part of the Umame menu.

The 120-capacity establishment will have an al fresco area that overlooks the Oval Maidan, while the indoor section will have a bar as well as a private dining room. The decor, Khambata says, will be “more contemporary” than Joss and bear no Oriental flourishes. “Umame will be a more refined version of Joss, in terms of both the decor and menu,” Khambata said.

Umame is slated to open on Tuesday, September 11, at 7pm. The restaurant will open for lunch from Wednesday, September 12.

Umame

LocationFirst Floor
Eros Theatre Building
M. Karve Road
Churchgate

Phone022 6111 0303/04/05

HoursDaily, from noon to 3.30pm and from 7pm to 1.30am