Visited.. 19th August 2017
OK, so this is the new kid off the block! The kid is new, fresh, full of energy and raring to go. The owners do a round of the tables, speaking to the diners, trying to connect, suggest courses, extract feedback after a course is done and generally make an attempt to make the dining experience a pleasurable one!
Well, I did like what the new kid had to offer during our first visit. The place used to be rented earlier by another restaurant and I couldn’t but help make a mental comparison of the inside decor of the current with the old. The owners of the previous restaurant had done up the place in bright shades of red and yellow with the walls being adorned with colourful posters and a clarinet style decorative lamp shade. Shorn of these posters and the clarinet lamp shade, the decor now appeared a little minimalistic and bare though by no means unattractive or un-appealing.
We had gone to the place with a specific aim of trying out the Japanese cuisine. The Miso soup that we ordered initially turned out to be a drab affair with the endearing seafood taste, so characteristic of a typical Miso soup, missing completely. Then we ordered some salmon sashimi, which however seemed to have retained all its freshness and hence was delicious in taste. The Thai red curry was next and though I thought the chef could have added a little more spice to the red curry and thickened the gravy a little bit more, the aroma emanating from the steaming white rice and the flavour of coconut milk of the gravy made up for any misgivings that I may have initially harboured.
In summary, if I had to describe the dining experience at Just Asian it would probably suffice if I mentioned the fact that I look forward to explore this place more in the coming months. There’s certainly the convenience bit for us because it’s distance from our house can be covered in 10 minutes even if we walked at a pace at which the tortoise had started the race with the hare. The brother – sister owner duo have already talked us into getting the discount card made and we certainly intend to make use of it in the coming days. There’s also something more than the convenience bit and the discount bit that would make me go back. It’s that honest eager to please attitude of the owners that has endeared me. I would therefore go back, on another day, to have a hearty conversation with them on matters relating to charity, something that they mentioned was their passion, over some good assorted sashimi platter.
Pic– Salmon sashimi platter. Would have been a better visual delight had it been paired with serving  chopsticks, instead of the fork & spoon combo!
Straight From My Heart 