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| Nishiazabu Taku, Tokyo |
The second sushiya we checked out during
our autumn Tokyo trip was Nishiazabu Taku, a sushiya owned by sushi chef and sommelier Takuya Sato.
As mentioned, the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly - less formal and rigid compared to
Sushi Masuda, and the decor was more intimate and casual. Masuda's had a minimalist, Zen-like counter, with only stone slabs in the background adorned by 2 vases (one tall, elegant, symmetrical and highly glazed; the other squat, imperfect and rustic, the epitome of
wabi-sabi). Taku's was the opposite. Felt rather homely, and like a place you could relax and let your hair down.
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| Chef at work, Nishiazabu Taku, Tokyo |
Service was fantastic and very accommodating. I was upfront about the fact that I don't like
kohada, and our chef commented that he had noticed that I don't particularly like oily fish, when we had been served the
sawada (which had been lightly steamed).
Anyway, between our chef's limited English and my limited Japanese, we had quite a fun time going actually. Our chef had a great sense of humour, poking fun at my great love for
uni and similar delicacies, and having a good laugh together with me when I pointed to the
aoyagi and said "
hokano namae wa bakagai".
The
omakase dinner menu had a number of sushi ingredients that were new to me, namely the
ebodai (butterfish),
akamutsu (sea perch), and the
kinmedai (Splendid Alfonsino). We were served
shirako (cod milt) - an ingredient I knew about but had yet to actually eat. And the highlight for me was the
uni dishes.
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| Lotus root (renkon), sea grapes (umibudō), wakame, ginger (shouga) |
We had read that Taku is a little unconventional in that they also pair sushi with wine. (Chef-owner Takuya Sato is after all a sommelier.) That said, the palate cleansers are also quite unconventional - other than the traditional pickled ginger (
shouga), was also blanched lotus root (蓮根;
renkon) and 2 kinds of seaweed. Of the 2 seaweeds, one is
wakame (ワカメ), which is commonly eaten in Japanese cuisine. The other was
sea grapes (海ぶどう; umibudō), it's commonly eaten in Okinawa but not so much in the rest of Japan.
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| Simmered rapeseed (nanohana), crab, and two kinds of caviar (tarako and tobiko) |
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| Simmered daikon radish |
The simmered daikon was steaming hot, and soft as butter. Very good.
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| Olive flounder (平目, hirame), the engawa (エンガワ) on the left |
One of my favourite ingredients,
hirame. This was the first time eating the fin section (エンガワ,
engawa), a prized part of this fish. The
engawa has a very chewy and slightly crunchy texture, the flavour was also deeper than the body section, and deepened as we chewed.
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| Oyster (カキ, kaki) |
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| Butterfish (疣鯛, ibodai) |
Next was Japanese butterfish,
ibodai (疣鯛). It's been a while since that dinner, so I can't remember the details of this sushi. I do recall it was very soft, with a cod-like flavour.
Ibodai is a marine fish, scientific name
Psenopsis anomala. It is not the same as the
escolar (which is also labelled as butterfish), the
Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, which is known to
cause keriorrhea, and which
is banned in Japan.
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| Geoduck (海松貝, mirugai) |
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| Spanish mackerel (sawara), lightly steamed |
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| Spanish mackerel (sawara) |
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| Halfbeak (針魚, sayori), steamed in bamboo leaf |
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| Squid (ika) |
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| Squid head |
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| Yellowtail or Japanese amberjack (buri) |
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| Conger eel (anago) |
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| White shrimp (白海老, shiro-ebi) |
The
shiro-ebi was a treat, delicate and sweet.
Shiro-ebi is mainly caught off the coast of Toyama Bay and Suruga Bay.
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| Aomori Ezo bafun-uni (short-spine sea urchin); Hokkaido murasaki uni (purple sea urchin) |
The highlight of dinner was the
uni course. We were served 2 kinds of
uni:
Ezo bafun uni (蝦夷馬糞海胆) sourced from Aomori, and
murasaki uni (紫海胆) sourced from Hokkaido. The
bafun uni was served warm in a warm briny liquid, and
murasaki uni, was served chilled on its own. I have eaten both types of
uni before, with one of my favourite experiences at
Otaru's Sankaku Market. But the way it was served here really highlighted the subtly different sweetness between the 2 types.
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| Baby snapper (kasugodai) |
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| Shiitake |
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| Cod milt (shirako), grilled and served in ponzu sauce |
This was my first experience with eating
shirako (白子), cod milt.
Shirako is another of those ingredients I had heard about but had yet to eat. Until this meal.
Shirako is an autumn/winter ingredient in Japan. So, over the course of
our Tokyo trip, it showed up again in
Sushi Nakamura (in the traditional style) and
La Paix.
Shirako is an acquired taste. After this one time, I think the jury is still out on which side of the fence I'll fall.
It was served hot (grilled), in a warm sticky ponzu gravy. Biting into the
shirako reminded me of biting into a freshly steamed Shanghai
xiaolongbao or biting into a very well-made
ondeh ondeh - the liquid insides bursting forth from the sac. Only
shirako tastes...milky, faintly sweet, and with a strong hint of the sea. Something you have to chew, and is yet runny in a cream cheese way. And the more one chews, the more you get of that oceanic aroma.
I confess when the dish first appeared, I thought it was brains or intestines (which
I do not eat), because it was just this curly mass. And then, chef said "
shirako desu". Chef did not further explain
as he noted my look of comprehension. Hubby, however, just nodded,
happily ignorant. (I only told him what it was after he ate it. His
expression was priceless. Perhaps it was because I said "you just ate
sperm.")
(By the way, the last time I was confronted with an unfamiliar curly mass on my dinner plate was also in Tokyo, at a
yakitori restaurant in Iidabashi. The item in question was
tamahimo, i.e. chicken ovaries and oviduct. And no, I was not able to stomach it.)
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| Rice puffs, to be eaten as is or dipped in the shirako ponzu sauce |
The toasted rice puffs were perfect when soaked in the ponzu sauce.
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| Lean tuna (赤身, akami) |
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| Medium fatty tuna (中とろ, chūtoro) |
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| Turnip (kabu), lightly pickled with salt |
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| Salmon caviar (ikura) and purple sea urchin (murasaki uni) on rice |
The
ikura and
uni don is definitely a dish after my own heart! The
murasaki uni was mixed with the warm rice and topped with
ikura... Delicious!
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| Black-throat sea perch (赤鯥, akamutsu, aka 喉黒, nodoguro) with persimmon |
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| Tail of the Tiger prawn (車海老, kuruma ebi), lightly grilled |
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| Tiger prawn (車海老, kuruma ebi), lightly grilled |
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| Japanese clam soup (蛤汁, hamaguri shiru) |
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| Tamagoyaki (卵焼き) |
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| Conger eel (穴子, anago) |
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| Purple sea urchin (紫海胆, murasaki uni) |
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| Mackerel (鯖, saba) |
Hubby is a rather big fan of
saba, so he asked for one as an additional course.
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| Monkfish liver (鮟肝, ankimo), served with beetroot |
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| Golden-eye snapper, also Splendid Alfonsino (金目鯛, kinmedai), nitsuke-style |
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| 5 flavours of ice cream, Nishiazabu Taku |
Last was dessert - 5 different flavours of ice cream, namely ginger, houjicha (ほうじ茶, roasted green tea), genmaicha (玄米茶, green tea mixed with roasted brown rice), kinako (黄粉, roasted soybean flour), and shouyu. I especially liked the ginger, houjicha and genmaicha. But the shouyu and kinako were a little out-there for me...
*******
More on Elizabeth's Japanese Autumn 2016
Chinatown
(Heichinrou, Yokohama Mazu Temple) ● Yamashita Park ● Zou-no-Hana ●
Osanbashi Pier ● Yokohama Red Brick Warehouses ● Miho Museum
- IV: Fuji Five Lakes -
Part 1 (Bessho Sasa, revisited) ●
Part 2 (Fuji Subaru 5th Station, Motosuko & Koyodai) ●
Part 3 (Fujisansaku Park, Motosuko, Shojiko, Saiko, Kawaguchiko)
*******
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