Takumi hopes to succeed at a location that has not been kind to its predecessors
Mia Stainsby
Sun
At Takumi restaurant in West Vancouver, Takumi Akaike holds lobster tail tempura (with spicy creamy fusion sauce) while his father Tadashi (in the background) has prepared deluxe assorted sushi. Photograph by: Stuart Davis, Vancouver Sun
TAKUMI JAPANESE RESTAURANT
Overall: 4
Food: 4
Ambience: 3 1/2
Service: 3 1/2
Price: $$
5775 Marine Dr., West Vancouver, 604-921-9701.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone.
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It’s hard to tell the good from the bad when sushi joints grow like weeds in these parts. Takumi Japanese restaurant has been open for a year and a half and as far as I could tell, it was another dandelion.
Well, turns out it’s a gem. The only drawback — location, location, location. The real estate mantra holds in the dining world, too. Except for Eagle Harbour, Horseshoe Bay and Caulfeild neighbourhoods in West Vancouver, Takumi is a destination location. Other restaurants didn’t survive in this pretty Whistler-style building across from Thunderbird Marina — the last to go down to defeat was La Regalade Cote Mer, an offshoot of the very popular La Regalade bistro and it had everything going for it.
This one is run by the Akaike family — Tadashi, Cathy, son Takumi and daughter Yuri; they ran another Takumi in Burnaby for 16 years until the building was demolished. Tadashi Akaiki directs the food, but son Takumi is firmly on board. He was sent to Japan to “learn the traditional and spiritual” part of cooking traditional Japanese food as mom Cathy says. He learned about seafood by shopping at the mother of all fish markets — Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. Dad Akaiki, who you’ll see at the sushi bar, insists on buying much of the seafood from Tsukiji where the fanatic Japanese standards for quality, freshness, handling and cutting prevail.
One telltale sign of quality in a sushi for me is uni, which I adore even though it’s an orange blob of goo. I never liked it until I had some at Tsukiji market in Tokyo. We bought a box and had it with champagne and potato chips (oops, did I lose your respect?) back at a friends’ home in Tokyo. At Takumi, the uni is just as good, and it’s from Tsukiji. When asked about principles of buying local, Cathy says her husband is stubborn about quality and staying true to Japanese ingredients even if it costs more.
The nori and rice are high grade and raises up the quality of sushi. One flaw, however, was the Japanese tai nigiri which was fresh but chewy. Along with sushi dishes, there are appetizers and hot mains like grilled dishes, rice bowls, noodles and deep-fried dishes like kaki fry (breaded fried oysters). I tried steamed clams in Japanese rice wine and enjoyed them.
“Everything is perfect,” Cathy says. “We just need more customers.”
The neighbourhood and former fans of their Burnaby restaurant are keeping them busy enough for now.
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