Takumi Japanese Restaurant

A few days ago, I was planning on taking BF to En Cuisine because he has never been to the restaurant before. When we arrived however, the restaurant was no longer there and Takumi Japanese replaced them. The layout of the restaurant is pretty much the same as En Cuisine, but there is much brighter lighting which I prefer. Moreover, their table setting looks more colourful compared to the former black and white plates that En Cuisine used.

Edit: When I was showing mother my blog, she noticed Takumi Japanese. She mentioned Takumi used to be located by Lougheed Mall and was the Japanese restaurant that we used to visit weekly! This was back when I was in elementary school too, what are the chances? I remember loving the restaurant because we always seated in tatami rooms and my fondest memory was having deep fried mini crabs! Furthermore, I also tried finding the restaurant throughout high school and everyone thought I was crazy for describing the restaurant as the "yummy Japanese restaurant with rooms to sit in."

COMPLIMENTARY KINPIRA, SESAME SEEDS, CARROTS AND BURDOCK.

We were each presented with a complimentary dish and I asked the waitress what these were. She mentioned this is burdock which is grown in the ground, is a root, and can be purchased at T&T Supermarket. The kinpira has a light sweet and salty flavour, but more sweet than salty.

MISO SOUP, TOFU, SEAWEED AND GREEN ONIONS ($2.00). 

The soup has a light miso flavour along with a hint of seaweed, and does not taste too salty.

HALF DOZEN OF KUSSHI FRESH OYSTERS IN HALF SHELL ($2.75/EACH).

The kusshi oysters taste fresh, smooth and properly shucked. Ponzu sauce is also provided but not pictured, tastes very light and tasteful.

HAWAIIAN TUNA SASHIMI ($18.50) AND TORO SASHIMI ($14.50).

Beginning with the red tuna, the sashimi tastes fresh and has a more compressed texture compared to albacore. As for the toro, the sashimi practically melts in the mouth, tastes fresh, and buttery. Not to sound like a piggy however, but when I went for the second slice of toro sashimi, I felt greedy and started coughing because a fish bone was caught in my throat LOL. The prices for sashimi are fairly high and despite the freshness, there are other Japanese restaurants that provide the same quality at a cheaper cost. In addition, the higher the price, the more selective I become. Meaning, although it is not a "big" deal, it is a shame that a fish bone was forgotten during the plucking process.

ASSORTED TEMPURA ($12.50).

The selection of assorted tempura includes a couple of prawns, a salmon as well as hamachi, and five vegetables. To start, the prawn tempura are jumbo sized prawns which is worth mentioning considering that some restaurants use stretched regular size prawns to achieve the length. Moreover, the prawns taste just cooked and have a nice snap. Following, both the salmon and hamachi tempura taste moist and neither stiff nor dry. As for the vegetables, the carrot, yam and squash taste juicy and flavourful. But with regards to the batter, Takumi does not use the flakier variation. This is disappointing because usually only AYCE or cheaper priced Japanese restaurants do not serve the flaky variation. However, perhaps Takumi tries to focus on providing healthier and less oily dishes? I only consider this because the tempura sauce tastes very light and on the bland side.

FUSION STYLE SCALLOP TEMPURA WITH CHEF'S SPECIAL CREAMY SPICY SAUCE ($12.00). 

The scallops taste moist and have a light, sweet, creamy, and spicy mayonnaise flavour. These are fairly tasty and the fusion works! Moreover, the sauce does not overwhelm the natural favour of the scallops.

OYSTER MOTOYAKI, BAKED WITH SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS IN MOTOYAKI SAUCE ($6.50/2 PIECES).

The oyster motoyaki consists of diced pieces of oyster along with spinach and mushroom. The motoyaki sauce has a light mayonnaise flavour along with a rich fattiness which does not taste overwhelming. Usually I like to scoop out the oysters and leave the sauce behind, but Takumi's is light enough to eat most of it.

NABEYAKI UDON, 2 PIECES OF PRAWN TEMPURA, VEGETABLE AND EGG IN SOUP ($10.00). 

The broth has a light udon flavour and shichimi (red pepper mix, seven flavour chilli pepper) is provided on the side to give the nabeyaki that additional flavour. In addition, the nabeyaki includes a few slices of chicken, a couple of egg swirls, a sliced Chinese mushroom, an egg, a few spinach leaves and two prawn tempura. The noodles taste soft with a nice chewiness but overall the nabeyaki tastes average. The broth also could have tasted more rich but there is a light seaweed taste.

UNAGI BATTERA ($12.50), TAKUMI'S HOUSE SPECIAL ($9.50), TOBIKO ($1.95), SABA ($1.95), AMAEBI ($?) AND UNAGI ($3.50).

Starting with Takumi's house special roll, there seems to be some confusion because it should only include salmon, tuna, crab meat, egg, masago and avocado. However, the roll includes unagi instead of crab meat. I am not a big fan of unagi so when the house special roll included unagi, I was disappointed. BF mentioned the restaurant was probably trying to surprise us since unagi costs more than crab meat, so meh… I guess.

As for the unagi battera, it was my sister's choice. I am not a big fan of battera since it is basically just rice but wow, Takumi's is pretty good. The rice is perfectly cooked, tastes very soft, melts in the mouth and you can taste each grain. The box also includes a small piece of unagi in the middle.

Moving towards the nigiri, the rice is pretty much perfect as well. The rice is not over or undercooked, has a hint of vinegar, and exhibits the perfect firmness when forming the nigiri. To start, the saba nigiri has that natural salty and fishy flavour. However, some green onion and/or ginger would have been nice and may be expected considering the calibre of restaurant. Following, the amaebi nigiri is perfect. The amaebi is cut perfectly and I wish my phone could have shown the cut better. Takumi does not offer frying up the heads though and neither does the amaebi come with a head.

Continuing along, the tobiko is a bit of a disappointment. Usually when there is such a large amount of rice, it is only at an AYCE restaurant. The rice was also squeezed too hard when forming which resulted in mushy rice (which did not happen with the other items). Last up, the unagi tastes generic and was not microwaved for too long.

Takumi Japanese overall was slightly a disappointment because I had higher expectations. None of the food stood out or made us feel like the quality warrants a revisit, but our experience was more enjoyable because of the genuinely friendly and attentive service. In addition, some of the prices such as the sashimi are higher priced and it is not because of the quality. The lease in this area is not cheap, which is why many of the restaurants are fairly small.

POSITIVES

- Great rice

- Friendly and genuine staff

- Fusion style scallop tempura works

- Japanese owned and operated (for those who claim authenticity means better)

NEGATIVES

- Some items are average

- Sashimi is on the pricier side

- Sashimi could have been prepared more carefully

LITTLE THINGS

- We wanted oo toro and chu toro but the waitress mentioned they were sold out and rarely get any :(

Food: 3/5

Service: 4/5