Taka’s Sushi: Omakase in White Rock

Taka’s Sushi is a Japanese restaurant located in White Rock. Now White Rock is pretty far from the Lower Mainland/Greater Vancouver area, but Taka’s Sushi has always been on my foodie list because of their amazing-looking omakase sushi and sashimi platters. We finally got a chance to check them out with 2 other friends. This review is based on an in-dining experience.

Interior

It’s not that big of a restaurant. We were seated at a small circle table for 4 adults and the chairs are bar stools so there’s really not a lot of room for you to place your bag or hang your coat. The table space was quite small as well. Our table was kind of fenced off with partitions so I couldn’t see other tables (a bit more privacy).

They have bar seating too, which looked more comfortable.

Food

So Taka’s Sushi has a regular menu, but for their omakase, you essentially tell your server what your budget per head is and what you would really want to include in your meal. We were told by our server that based on today’s ingredients, the minimum budget per person would be around $150 so we just went with that.

For specific requests, we requested for uni, toro and the foie gras sushi.

Sashimi platter

This platter is to share among all 4 of us. First of all, it looks amazing and really delicious. Our server tells us what each fish is but I honestly couldn’t keep up and it wasn’t written down anywhere. What I do know is that in this platter, we have the uni (sea urchin) we requested for, as well as king salmon, 2 types of tuna toro and the spot prawn. Everything else is a type of white fish.

My favourites were probably the tuna toro (the less fattier one because the fattier one had tendons) and the king salmon. The spot prawn was really delicious as well but I got spoiled during spot prawn season and ate a bunch back in spring. I also really liked the thinly sliced white fish on the outer ring, it was very smooth and refreshing with some ponzu.

A big plus here is that they gave us ALOT of uni so if you are an uni lover, make sure you request for this. I am used to eating 1-2 pieces of uni, but this is like a whole row for each person (7 pieces each)! It tasted sweet and based on the colour and the texture, it was high quality uni.

Seared sushi

Next, they gave us a small palce of these seared nigiris. I really don’t remember what fish this is either but it’s white again. This one is pretty non-memorable for me.

Aburi platter

This plate is for all of you who love seared or aburi sushi. The platter includes scallop, wagyu, foie gras, lobster and more selection of white fish.

My favourite was the aburi sushi with the really long white tail (sorry, I am really struggling to remember all these white fishes…). It melted in my mouth and was so delicious!

The foie gras is very savoury, as with the wagyu meat. Lobster and scallop were yummy as well.

Final thoughts

Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

So our total came to $150 per person, just like the server had told us. Our food included 2 big platters to share and 1 plate of aburi nigiri. $150 is a hefty price but for the amount of fresh fish and the quality we ate, I actually think it’s not too bad. There are other sushi places in Vancouver doing omakase for $150+ and you get like 13 pieces of sushi and a miso soup.

I like that there is an element of surprise because everything is really off the menu and you only request what you want to the chef and they take care of everything else. Of course, they seemed to have chosen lots of white fish so if you don’t like white fish, you may want to specify that. They also included a whole aburi course, which in my opinion, is very Vancouver-esque. I don’t imagine going to Japan and ordering aburi sushi.

One thing I’d like to point out regarding service is that all the servers speak Mandarin. Of course they speak English as well, but things seemed to move much smoother when you speak Mandarin to them. You may want to consider bringing a friend who can speak Mandarin fluently if you plan on ordering their off-menu omakase.

Because of Taka’s Sushi location and price, I can’t say it’s a place I would return to often but we would like to return to celebrate special occasions. One thing in the back of my mind is that with less people (ex. if we only go with 2 people), the platters would look less impressive because there are less items on the plate. I would also skip out on any meat-related items like the wagyu or the foie gras because I feel like the quality of their fish is their best selling point. I would also not order anything off their regular menu, I think their omakase is their most unique experience for the price point.

Sincerely, Loewe