Last time I visited Tokyo was ten years ago. Back then, I was able to secure restaurant reservations through the concierge service at my hotel pretty easily. So I was very shocked upon learning that the reservation game in Japan has completely changed today. My wife Jun and I planned to stay at Peninsula Hotel in Ginza, and when I reached out to the hotel’s concierge email for some of my top choices, I got a response back that the hotel can no longer book reservations on behalf of its guests and I need to make the reservation myself online on websites like Omakase. I did sign up on Omakase but then many restaurants did not disclose when their reservation window around the time of our visit would happen and even when I figured out the time, I constantly struck out as the website seems to give priority to accounts with Japanese phone numbers. Frustrated, I asked one of our friends who shuttles back and forth between New York and Tokyo what sushi restaurants he liked, and he mentioned Taku in Tokyo’s Nishi-Azabu neighborhood. Our friend, who introduced us to Sushi Sho (by far our favorite sushi restaurant) in Manhattan, noted that Taku, from owner-chef Takuya Sato, shares similar styles with Sho’s master Keiji Nakazawa. Luckily, Taku was one of the restaurants that was on Peninsula’s recommended restaurant list so the concierge was able to book a dinner reservation for us.
The omakase menu at Taku was somewhat different from what we were used to, with an alternating mix of nigiris and small dishes (instead of the format where nigiris come out in sequence after small dishes). The beginning of our meal was a little shaky, largely because the flavor overall had a bit too much vinegar flavor. Over time, though, things became progressively better. Some of the standout nigiri pieces for me was the white shrimp with kombu sprinkled on top, baby squid (I was especially fond of the gentle smoky flavor from the second part), Spanish mackerel (sawara) and eel (anago). We also got to try an outstanding ohagi, a take on tuna tartare that I was in love with at Sushi Sho.
Other nigiri pieces like butterfish, baby red snapper, bluefin tuna, shimofuri (a rare, marbled cut of tuna) and tiger prawn were also quite delicious, as were some of the non-nigiri dishes, like barracuda (kamasu) steamed with ginger sauce (it also came with a small piece of fried sushi price), a rice bowl of fresh salmon roe and uni, a skewer of eel (anago) and chawanmushi with conger eel (hamo) and matsutake mushroom. We were fortunate that Taku was our first meal of that day (we arrived in Tokyo in later afternoon and didn’t have time for proper lunch while in transit) since the number of dishes was fairly large. After a really good tamago piece, we wrapped up our dinner with grape sorbet and soy sauce ice cream.
Taku is much more manageable to book than other high-end sushi restaurants and if you happen to stay at Peninsula Hotel while in Tokyo, the hotel can assist with direct booking without going through a third-party reservation website. We were seated at the front counter with chef Sato personally delivering all the dishes himself. The chef was very personable and spoke reasonably good English; Jun chuckled whenever Sato san showed a picture book of the fish we were being served. I initially thought the restaurant offers wine pairing but unfortunately they only had bottle options so we settled with a bottle of champagne to enjoy with the food. Taku is a very good sushi restaurant in Tokyo even though we both felt it didn’t enter the spectacular territory (but then, it’s hard to get your mind blown after an epic trip to Sushi Sho). If you are looking for a solid omakase option in a cozy setting that features a variety of ingredients from Japan, this is a restaurant you should consider.
KenScale: 8.25/10 (Jun’s Score: 8.0/10)
Address: 2-11-5 Nishi-Azabu, Minato Ku, Tokyo, Japan
Website: https://nishiazabu-taku.com/en
Reservation via Omakase Japan Eatinerary (Japan’s online reservation app)
