Tako Sushi
Tako Sushi Japanese Restaurant
30 Bristol Road West
Mississauga, ON L5R 3K3
(905) 502-8188
www.takosushi.ca
My first time visiting Tako Sushi was probably over a year ago. Back then, the Mississauga location didn’t even exist yet, so I was actually over at the North York location. I thought it was great. Since my first time at the North York location, I’ve probably been back at least 3 times. Although their food is probably not amazingly authentic by any means, the price is right and the taste is there. The decor is okay and it’s clean. The service was decent too. When I first heard about Tako opening up in Mississauga, I wanted to go give it a try, especially since they had a 20% off opening special going on. However, it was packed with people trying to take advantage of the promotion, so I never got around to trying it since I don’t like crowds and I read a number of reviews saying that the service was very poor due to under staffing and overcrowding. I figured now was a good time to give it a try.
I was not disappointed. Upon walking into the restaurant, I felt that it was definitely a bit more spacious than the North York location. We were quickly seated into the teppanyaki section. As we walked by the regular dining area, I noticed how packed it was. This place was very busy, just like the original location. The teppanyaki section was less active. There were 3 teppanyaki stations set up, each one set up to seat about 14-30 people at once (one station was larger than the others). Each station had 2 teppanyaki tables, allowing two chefs to cook at one station simultaneously to serve each side of the station. What I noticed first was how much more spacious it was here compared to the other location. This is a key factor when eating teppanyaki because a lot of times, I end up coming out of the restaurant smelling like all the food I just ate. Tea was served shortly after seating and food started coming in within 5 minutes of ordering.
Like all Japanese restaurants, Miso Soup and Salad came first. The soup was pretty good. It had a good amount of tofu and seaweed and it wasn’t overly salty nor was it bland. It was closer to warm than hot, but that was okay… that just means I can gulp it down faster =P. The salad came with a mayo-based dressing rather than a ginger vinaigrette dressing (which I prefer more) but it was still pretty good. The ingredients were fresh and the salad was cold, as it should have been.
Miso Soup & Salad
Shortly after, our California Rolls and Cucumber Rolls arrived. These were pretty standard. Nothing wrong and nothing amazing. Ironically, I don’t come to Tako Sushi for their sushi. Their cooked food is where it’s at!
Maki
Our teppanyaki chef arrived after our rolls and got to work on our food. He started off by preparing the table and asked how my cooked the striploin steak should be. We ordered it medium rare and he got to work. Our Baked Scallop appetizer arrived right after.
Shrimps, Chicken and Beef on the grill
Baked Scallops
The scallops were tasty, but everyone felt that there was way too much sauce and that the scallops were small in size. The “chef’s sauce” was actually a cheesier version of the HK-style Portuguese Chicken sauce. I tried this same dish at the North York location and it was definitely better there. The scallops were bigger and the sauce was a lot less overpowering.
The shrimps were cooked up very quickly. They were seasoned right and tasted good. Servings of two pieces of shrimp per person is not very much, but there was more food to come.
Shrimps
Chicken & Shortribs on the grill
The Chicken Teriyaki, Beef Shortribs and Beef Striploin were all cooked up shortly after the shrimp. Since we’re able to observe the chef as he prepares it, you pretty much know what to expect once you get your food. While watching him prepare the meats, we noticed that salt and pepper are applied fairly liberally. What appeared to be garlic butter was also added near the end of the cooking process to further flavour the meats. This created very tasty results. But since both the shortribs and striploin were flavoured the same way, besides the texture, they ended up tasting very similar. The chicken teriyaki tasted a little bit too sweet from the large amount of sauce poured over it. But everything was cooked very well. Although we asked for medium rare, the striploin was definitely closer medium well. This is probably due to the striploin being cut up into bite-sized pieces near the end of the cooking process. I guess you need to ask for rare if you want medium rare here.
Beef Shortribs
Chicken Teriyaki
Beef Striploin
As the meats were being devoured, the chef got to work on our vegetables. Like before, a simple combination of salt and pepper was used to season the vegetables. Then a couple ladles of teriyaki sauce was applied to finish the vegetables off. The veggies tasted nice and fresh. No complaints here.
Mixed Vegetables
Bean Sprouts
Lastly, it’s not a run-of-the-mill Japanese restaurant unless the meal is finished off with some ice cream. We ordered Mango and Green Tea. I’m pretty sure all restaurants source their ice cream from the same supplier because they all taste the same. Nonetheless, it’s good ice cream and as always, it’s a good way to finish off the meal.
Mango Ice Cream
Green Tea Ice Cream
Tako Mississauga did not disappoint. I actually liked the teppanyaki experience here more than the one at North York thanks to the stronger fans and better ventilation they have. It also felt more spacious. The service and food are on par with each other and I would definitely go back here if I have nothing else planned. The showmanship of the chefs at the North York location is better though, compare to my one experience here at the Mississauga location. I like seeing flaming onion volcanoes, but they didn’t do that here =(.
For the prices charged, this place is definitely worth visiting. Next time, though, I will probably just order off the regular menu and try their other foods instead.
Hungry hungry mango ------> 