Gong, Bandra: Frequency of Flavors

Mumbai's newest Pan Asian arrival has Ambition and Artistry

There is a particular kind of restaurant that arrives in a city fully formed — press kit polished, Instagram-ready, every design decision defensible in a quote. Gong, the newest venture from Specialty Restaurants Limited tucked into Linking Road in Bandra, is precisely that kind of restaurant. And yet, to dismiss it as mere packaging would be unfair, because beneath the considered optics, there is genuine cooking happening here.

The Space

Designed by Sumessh Menon Associates, Gong's interiors are built around the concept of Asian Soul — the idea of translating sonic resonance into spatial experience. In practice, this means an earthy palette of brass and bronze, curved marble, softly draped fabric, and overhead lighting by Oorja crafted from banana paper and lantana fibre that genuinely earns its place in the room. A monolithic mural by ZA Works anchors the dining room — bold without being loud, which is harder to pull off than it looks.

Walking in from the chaos of Linking Road, the transition is immediate and effective. The space unfolds across a lobby, indoor dining area, and outdoor seating, each zone connected through a coherent visual language. The island bar is a statement piece, designed for the kind of social dining that encourages lingering.

If there is a critique of the space, it is this: it is almost too considered. Every corner has been art-directed to within an inch of its life, and on a busy evening, the carefully curated calm can tip into a certain self-consciousness. You are always aware that you are inside a concept. That is not necessarily a dealbreaker — but it means Gong will need its food and service to do the heavier lifting over time.

The Food

The menu is helmed by Chef Sahil Singh, and it is, by any measure, an ambitious undertaking. Gong positions itself as the first in India to bring Chuka and Itameshi into a Pan Asian format — the former being Japanese-inflected Chinese comfort cooking, the latter the intriguing intersection of Japanese and Italian cuisines. That is a wide brief, and the kitchen mostly rises to it.

We began with the Cheung Fun with spicy crispy prawn — silken rice rolls, the kind that demand a certain precision in execution, and here they deliver. The prawn carries heat without overwhelming the delicacy of the wrapper, and the balance is well-judged. It is a confident opener: clean, technically sound, and a signal that the kitchen understands restraint. The Wild Mushroom Bao with yellow curry cream cheese was the evening's most interesting detour. The bao itself is pillowy and properly steamed, and the filling — earthy mushroom against the faint tang of cream cheese with a gentle curry warmth. The Wafu Pizzette from the Itameshi section is the menu's most polarising dish — and also its most interesting. A shiso pesto mushroom topping on a Japanese-style base that has no business working as well as it does, this is the rare fusion dish that earns its place on the table rather than merely justifying a concept. A word on the sushi programme, which Gong calls one of the largest in Mumbai: we did not make it to the nigiri counter this visit, but the seafood sourcing — direct from Japan, with a surgical-grade freezer for rapid freezing — suggests the kitchen is taking it seriously. That investment deserves a dedicated visit.

The Bar

The cocktail menu draws from Asian ingredients and keeps things cleaner and more considered than the average Pan Asian bar programme in the city. Kagero — tequila, kaffir leaf, wasabi, orgeat, yuzu juice, mezcal mist — is the evening's most confident drink. The wasabi registers as a back-of-throat warmth rather than a nasal assault, and the kaffir and yuzu together give it a brightness that stops it from becoming too serious. It is a bartender's cocktail that does not make you feel like you need a glossary to enjoy it.

Kasumi (gin, raspberry liqueur, grapefruit shrub) is lighter, more approachable — the kind of drink that works across a table of mixed preferences. It does not try very hard, but it does not need to. Of the zero-proof options, Yuka (pomegranate, molasses, coconut, basil) is the one to order. It has depth and a slight smokiness from the molasses that keeps it from feeling like a sad afterthought. Konatsu (passionfruit, coconut, vanilla) is pleasant but leans sweet — the sort of thing that works better as a single glass than a session drink. The zero-proof programme is genuinely one of the more thoughtful we have encountered at a new opening, which sets a bar worth acknowledging.

Critic's Verdict

Gong arrives at a moment when Mumbai's dining scene is crowded with Pan Asian concepts, many of them doing competent but interchangeable things with miso and yuzu. What distinguishes Gong is specificity — the commitment to Chuka and Itameshi as actual culinary traditions rather than marketing categories, the sourcing rigour behind the sushi programme, and a bar that has clearly been thought about by people who drink. A mention must go to the service team, whose fluency with the menu — every dish, every drink, every provenance detail — is the kind of floor knowledge that no amount of interior design can substitute.

The concept, championed by Avik Chatterjee — second-generation restaurateur and the creative energy behind SRL's newer formats — carries the confidence of someone who has grown up in the industry and has something to prove beyond just keeping a legacy intact. And on this showing, that proof is well and truly in the pudding — or rather, in the Wafu Pizzette.

Gong | Ground Floor, Linking Road, Bandra West, Mumbai