Takenaka – Sounds Amazing

Takenaka is a new izakaya like restaurant located in gas town. The menu sounds amazing. First, there is a lot of uni on it. Second, there are tons of Japanese comfort food options like curry poutine, ramen, and onigiri. In fact, I wanted to try everything. As I read the menu, I got excited and knew I would not be able to try everything today. I was already looking forward to going back and planning my next trip, and what I would order. Until I had the food! Here is the menu.

The meal starts on a really high note with some uni sashimi. It was delicious though our server just dropped it off and did not say where it was from. Pride in your uni is important!

I was excited for the next dish, but it fell flat. A real crab and uni onigiri. The seaweed and rice could use more seasoning. The ratio of filling to rice is way off (there is too much rice). It was fairly bland overall.

Next, uni temaki which had uni negitoro, and ikura. This was one of the best things I had. Tons of umami!

The chicken karage with uni sauce had potential. They just need to cut the chicken into smaller pieces. However, the uni sauce need work. I didn’t taste much uni in it.

The “lobster and chips” also has potential. The batter is a bit too heavy, and the uni tartar sauce needs more acidity. The chips were good, but I couldnt tell if they were handmade. The brussel sprouts were fried perfectly.

Lastly, uni wagyu nigiri. The beef did not taste like wagyu and they need to use cuts with more marbling. A sear would be nice too. The sushi rice needs work also.

Service was good overall. I was disappointed in the food. It sounds amazing on paper and has a lot of potential if they can fix the issues with the food. At this point, I would not go back or recommend.