Taikun restaurant has reopened its doors at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman after a short break and has a whole new look to go along with its new menu.
Both were on display at Taikun’s recent ‘nomikai’ – meaning drinks party or social gathering – to mark the reopening of the restaurant, with guests sampling Moon Orchid cocktails, consisting of vodka, sake, lychee, yuzu, aloe vera, pineapple and hibiscus, alongside an abundance of plates containing delicious piles of soft-shell crab, sashimi, nigiri and unagi.
While Japanese food and drink were very much the highlights of the evening, Taikun’s head chef, Ramesh Murugesan, says that there is more to his restaurant than sushi.
“Taikun is a Japanese fusion restaurant, and we know that most people think that Japanese food is all about raw fish,” he said, “but we also designed the menu with Caribbean ingredients and prepared in a Caribbean style. So, we have dishes with callaloo, eggplant and avocado and, because people in the Caribbean like food, which is cooked rather than raw, we have created dishes like shrimp tempura and used fried chicken in the sushi rolls, food which people love to eat every day.”
“We also use duck,” he added, “which isn’t really in Japanese cuisine, and we bring the Asian flavours with bao buns and oysters, infusing them with local touches like green apples, so we have really fused the Cayman and the Japanese flavours together.”
There is also a serious element of pure indulgence in the new-look menu, with signature dishes including salmon foie gras, truffle nasu nigiri and Wagyu beef nigiria, all hand-picked by Murugesan to showcase his particular favourites.
The restaurant’s interior has been redesigned too, transforming the angular seating into softer half-moon curves and lower lighting with a floral theme.
Born in Chennai, India, Murugesan, 33, fell in love with Japanese food from the early days in his training, working in the Taj Hotels chain and then in Shangri-La in Bengaluru.
“When I started my career, I got the chance to choose which cuisine I wanted to work in, and my favourite was always Japanese,” he said. “I just fell in love.”
Murugesan moved to Grand Cayman nine years ago and after a couple of years working at Mizu Asian Bistro+ Bar in Camana Bay, he joined the Taikun team at the Ritz-Carlton seven years ago.
As well as looking forward to serving up to 120 covers every day in Taikun, Murugesan now has his focus firmly set on Cayman Cookout next month, a highlight of Cayman’s culinary calendar, when a French-Japanese fusion evening is set to wow the tastebuds.
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