Revisiting Takurabune

Several years ago, I visited Takurabune because of a write-up about them in The Georgia Straight featuring their Nabeyaki Udon. Nabe (from Nabemono) actually means one pot, and their udon is served in a hot stone bowl or pot, and is a wonderful comfort food. However, I never got the chance to try many of their other dishes until I revisited recently. 

To start off most Japanese dinners, I really need to kick things off with a Tako Sunomono. Something about the tangy rice vinegar dressing and the slippery noodles just serves to whet my appetite for sashimi. The tako pieces here  were fresh with a firm bite to them. I liked how they were sliced thinly and the serving size was just right for an appetizer. 

This is their Assorted Deluxe Sashimi, with salmon, tuna, snapper, tako, amaebi and surf clam. Good selection, clean knife cuts, this was definitely a finely executed dish. Good attention to detail with the slicees of cucumber and lemon, I also appreciated the fact that they used shiso leaf as the green, instead of lettuce.
Our next dish was their Dynamite Roll, with a tempura prawn and some avocado and tobiko. The roll was rather rice heavy, but that's all too common a complaint. The prawn was fresh and just a bit warm still. And I do enjoy my Ikura, so we got two pieces, one for me, and one for everyone else to fight over. I would have liked to see more ikura on the sushi, instead of having the nori be taller than the filling. What was served was good though, each little piece popping in my mouth like bubble wrap.
Another family favourite is the Chopped Scallop Cone, we decided to go for this instead of the roll version and we were glad we did. These cones were filled with scallop right to the very bottom, and the rice was actually still warm. The nori was a bit chewy as a result, but could also be the fact that we didn't eat it the minute it landed. They should invest in those holders that keep cones upright to reduce sogginess.

This was probably my mom's favourite of the night, a simple Grilled Sablefish. The fish itself was buttery and flaked easily, and most of the flavour came from the nice char on the skin. This was served with some cubes of taomago - some homemade egg omelet. The layered texture and the sweetness of the egg was echoed the textures and flavours of the sablefish - this was the first time I've actually enjoyed tamago.

Here is a close up of the multi-layered Tamago. Although it's called a Japanese omelette, it's actually more of a crepe, with layers and layers of egg rolled onto itself. See a recipe here. 

This was my first time trying Unagi Kabayaki, where the fish is split down the middle and then deboned and gutted and then cut into uniform portions to be grilled. The sauce seemed more sweet than savoury, and the thin filets seemed overwhelmed by the sauce. And compared to the sablefish, the grilling of this dish was much weaker. 
To finish off the meal, we tried the Beef Yaki Soba. The portion was a good size, with lots of noodles, sprouts and cabbage as well as quite a bit of beef. My only complaint on this was that it was a bit too greasy, but the flavour was spot on.

Take note:

• Sashimi is fresh and plentiful
• Hot food is a hit and miss
• Nabeyaki udon is perfect for a rainy day