Tanabata – Stars, wishes and Food Festival at Yataii- Shangri-La

You, as I was, must be wondering what is this Tanabata. Fret not as I’m here to tell you all about it. In Japenese culture, Tanabata, which means ‘Evening of the seventh’, is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Lunisolar Calendar. It is also known as the Star Festival, mainly because they believe that the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively) meet once a year this day. According to legends and the Japanese beliefs, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year.

Sitting on the 18th floor of Shangri-La with a spectacular view which covers almost half of the Bangalore I waited to be served with the Japanese meal and this was my first time having a course of a Japanese meal. As the chef came to the table, he explained that this is a 5-course meal for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians with a glass of wine included. It costs you 2500 exclusive of tax. The 5-course meal includes Appetizers, Tobanyaki, Noodles, Soup, and Desserts. They also serve the traditional Nigri also famously known as Sushi.

The first course of the vegetarian meal was Avocado based with lots of Tomato in it and the non-veg was Salmon based. Salmon along with some vegetables and lemon had a soft texture which melted in my mouth. The Japanese name for this dish was Sushimi and carpaccio. The second course was Kaiso Okonomiyaki which is a veg street food famous in Japan and it is also known as Japanese Pan Cake. On the nonveg side, we had Buta Tobanyaki which is Pork meat cooked in a clay pot on 300 Celsius heat along with Japanese seasoning and homemade spices.

The third course was all time favorite noodles and in veg, they had mixed vegetable yakisoba sauce and in non-veg, it was Tori yakisoba which is a chicken noodle. Next came the Nigiri which is also known as Sushi made with salmon belly and rice. The Japenese , unlike us, have soup at the end of their meal as they believe that this helps in a better digestion. So yes, there were veg and non-veg soup as the 4th course of the meal which had prawns for non-veg and Mushroom as the vegetarian choice.

The last and 5th course was the dessert and I was excited about it! It was made of green tea ice cream and I loved the unique taste of it. One was called as Matcha tempura ice cream and another one was Matcha Crepe.

There was also a wish tree according to the Japenese tradition and I penned down my wish hung it on the tree. I hope it will come true by this time next year. It was amazing to get a peek into Japanese food and their rich tradition. I hope you got some insights as well! Did you hear about this festival? Or got a chance to experience it? Why dont you tell me all about it in the comment section below!

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