Taka
November 25th, 2012
Asbury Park, NJ
Abstract
Taka came up in a Yelp search during the "pre-visit" research that goes into all of our trips to new or not-frequently-visited areas. We knew we were going to Asbury Park, New Jersey... we knew nothing about the area. So research yielded a Japanese place rated with 4 out of 5 stars and... sushi is always a win with me so it went on the short list of "places we should check out."
While not exactly the best place we've ever been to, Taka had some interesting items and good food to offer. The service the night we went was a little slow but we had a good time and would probably tell people it's worth a visit if you're in town.
TAKA
Turns out Taka gets its name from the owner Takahiro Hirai who, although we were told he no longer works the kitchen regularly, was still there at the restaurant and traveling the floor saying hi and visiting with people in the restaurant. Our server later told us that at times when the restaurant gets really busy, Taka will indeed jump on the line and help out in any way he can to make sure that his customers get the best experience possible. I always find it nice when the owner is still IN his restaurant and making rounds so it was nice to see him there.
The menu had many of the standard items you like to see on a Japanese menu while also incorporating some very interesting and intrguing items as well (one of the most interesting of which Nick ordered, in my opinion.) At the same time I still felt like there was "something missing" too.
The menu had many of the standard items you like to see on a Japanese menu while also incorporating some very interesting and intrguing items as well (one of the most interesting of which Nick ordered, in my opinion.) At the same time I still felt like there was "something missing" too.
Our Food
Drinks
Yes... I know... You're probably shocked to see a tea pot while at a Japanese restaurant... Stephan and I almost always order hot tea at Japanese restaurants as long as it's green tea. I really enjoyed Taka's stoneware cups and tea pot though and, truly, our presentation beat out Nick's glass of Diet Coke. The tea was really good, a light green tea and not too grassy. I added lemon to mine and it made it just perfect.
The real catch here? Taka, and many of the other restaurants in Asbury Park are BYOB! To us, it's the strangest thing ever because up here in Massachusetts they'll give liquor licenses to just about any restaurant (until they mess up... then it's a nightmare to get them back) so BYOB is mostly an unheard of thing out here (I can only think of one restaurant "local chain" in-state that has a BYOB policy.) We had brought wine with us to take out to our meals with us but we forgot it in the room and, thusly, this is what we got instead!
The real catch here? Taka, and many of the other restaurants in Asbury Park are BYOB! To us, it's the strangest thing ever because up here in Massachusetts they'll give liquor licenses to just about any restaurant (until they mess up... then it's a nightmare to get them back) so BYOB is mostly an unheard of thing out here (I can only think of one restaurant "local chain" in-state that has a BYOB policy.) We had brought wine with us to take out to our meals with us but we forgot it in the room and, thusly, this is what we got instead!
Appetizers
They were more like pre-appetizer teasers but the waiter brought out three little cracker plates for us when he took our drink orders.
Really only the size of a standard soy bowl used for soaking your sushi in, these little rice crackers were relatively decent. Being hungry, I consumed mine rather quickly but did note that there were two different crackers in the mix. The half moon ones were a basic rice cracker that were glazed but not really sweet. The twisted ones had a little wasabi kick to them and were probably the tastiest but less present. I have seen similar items to this in the Japanese section at the grocery store but have never had them. They made a nice little hold-over until appetizers arrived.
Admittedly... there were six gyoza on this plate when it got to us. Needless to say we forgot to take a picture before we started.
These were actually rather enjoyable. Perfectly pan fried to a "just crispy enough" texture and the wrapper wasn't too thick or too thin. The sauce that came with it was a mixture of rice wine vinegar, some peanut sauce and we believe a chili oil of some kind and then sprinkled with scallions (or green onions if you prefer to call them that.) It was very tasty and we noted that it was actual more tasty than the standard soy-based style sauces that we've had from other places.
I also thought that it was nice that the meat mixture was not overly dense and didn't have any "too chewy" pieces inside of it that you sometimes get in gyoza. Overall, a very tasty and recommended dish.
And what is ANY Japanese meal if you don't have edamame?
While it was great that the edamame appeared to be fresh (as opposed to smushy, icky, over cooked frozen edamame) we found that some of the beans were a little under cooked which, for me, wasn't so terrible but was noted to be not so fabulous for Nick in particular.
Our only other real "complaint" about the edamame was the lack of salt on them and the bowl. This serving seemed to utilize a standard table salt grain and we've come to prefer the more sea salt textured salts on the edamame to both bring it that saltiness that adds to the flavor of edamame while also providing a little more texture as well. Not that it would have mattered all that much but we did discuss what the presence of pink or black sea salts would have done for the presentation of this dish.
How do you know that foodies get around too much? They have discussions about the colors of their sea salts! Also in this picture, a bonus shot of my tea with the lemon in it!
These were actually rather enjoyable. Perfectly pan fried to a "just crispy enough" texture and the wrapper wasn't too thick or too thin. The sauce that came with it was a mixture of rice wine vinegar, some peanut sauce and we believe a chili oil of some kind and then sprinkled with scallions (or green onions if you prefer to call them that.) It was very tasty and we noted that it was actual more tasty than the standard soy-based style sauces that we've had from other places.
I also thought that it was nice that the meat mixture was not overly dense and didn't have any "too chewy" pieces inside of it that you sometimes get in gyoza. Overall, a very tasty and recommended dish.
While it was great that the edamame appeared to be fresh (as opposed to smushy, icky, over cooked frozen edamame) we found that some of the beans were a little under cooked which, for me, wasn't so terrible but was noted to be not so fabulous for Nick in particular.
Our only other real "complaint" about the edamame was the lack of salt on them and the bowl. This serving seemed to utilize a standard table salt grain and we've come to prefer the more sea salt textured salts on the edamame to both bring it that saltiness that adds to the flavor of edamame while also providing a little more texture as well. Not that it would have mattered all that much but we did discuss what the presence of pink or black sea salts would have done for the presentation of this dish.
How do you know that foodies get around too much? They have discussions about the colors of their sea salts! Also in this picture, a bonus shot of my tea with the lemon in it!
Our Meals
When deciding on our meals we all sort of went a different direction. I headed straight for the sushi menu, Stephan debated over a few of the entrees and Nick waffled between the entrees and one of the specials the waiter rattled off to us.. in the end, the food that made it to our table turned out to be all pretty tasty and, I have to say, Nick's was probably the most impressive to me because of the uniqueness but before I prattle on too much, let's show you and hear from everyone on what they had:
Japanese Meatloaf [Nick]
I ordered the Japanese Meatloaf, a special, for my dinner. It came in a large cast iron pot. Inside sat a half chunk of beef, seeping in juice packed with onions, mushrooms and fresh green beans. The robust meat odor steamed up when the lid was opened and got me salivating right away.
The broth was completely amazing, one of the better flavors I've ever had in any broth. I immediately dumped copious amounts of it on top of my rice so that it would soak in the flavor. I began my ritual excavating and dug out and ate every green bean I could find first. The onions and mushrooms were easy to avoid and next I began carving out the half to three quarters of a pound of meat loaf that sat in my pot.
The meat did not have such a rich flavor alone so I would take small pieces and dredge them in my jus first. Together they were great. I ate all my beef, only stopping once to try some of tara's sushi. After many great bites I finally realized I hadn't even touched my rice. I souped it up with more broth and devoured the 1/2 cup or so they provided before finally turning back to my pot and spooned out and ate every delicious drop I could of the remaining broth while Tara picked off an occasional mushroom.
[Tara]: I think the most amazing part of Nick's meal was the smell of it. The entire broth smelled of a well seasoned roast and the flavor of the broth permeated into the mushrooms (the only part I stole really from his meal) and just provided a lovely flavor. Additionally... "meatloaf" is not something I see on every Japanese menu so I was amused by it to begin with and really impressed by their execution of it.
Sweet Potato, Spicy Tuna and Cucumber/Avocado Sushi [Tara]
Japanese Meatloaf [Nick]
I ordered the Japanese Meatloaf, a special, for my dinner. It came in a large cast iron pot. Inside sat a half chunk of beef, seeping in juice packed with onions, mushrooms and fresh green beans. The robust meat odor steamed up when the lid was opened and got me salivating right away.
The broth was completely amazing, one of the better flavors I've ever had in any broth. I immediately dumped copious amounts of it on top of my rice so that it would soak in the flavor. I began my ritual excavating and dug out and ate every green bean I could find first. The onions and mushrooms were easy to avoid and next I began carving out the half to three quarters of a pound of meat loaf that sat in my pot.
The meat did not have such a rich flavor alone so I would take small pieces and dredge them in my jus first. Together they were great. I ate all my beef, only stopping once to try some of tara's sushi. After many great bites I finally realized I hadn't even touched my rice. I souped it up with more broth and devoured the 1/2 cup or so they provided before finally turning back to my pot and spooned out and ate every delicious drop I could of the remaining broth while Tara picked off an occasional mushroom.
[Tara]: I think the most amazing part of Nick's meal was the smell of it. The entire broth smelled of a well seasoned roast and the flavor of the broth permeated into the mushrooms (the only part I stole really from his meal) and just provided a lovely flavor. Additionally... "meatloaf" is not something I see on every Japanese menu so I was amused by it to begin with and really impressed by their execution of it.
Sweet Potato, Spicy Tuna and Cucumber/Avocado Sushi [Tara]
Not a big shocker that I ordered sushi. It's become one of my very favorite foods as a post-op though I am often very disgruntled by the amount of rice. I always give it a shot though and usually can manage my way through if I eat at an appropriate (slow) pace.
Typically I don't order sushi that has "crunchies" in it or that has been, in any way, deep fried, but knowing that Nick enjoys sweet potato and also not ever having had it myself, I opted to order a roll of the sweet potato sushi.
The sweet potatoes themselves were lightly battered in tempura and fried up before being rolled into my maki roll. They were not warm (thankfully) and some of the pieces of sweet potato were slightly under done but all in all it was a pretty decent roll.
I don't know that it would be something that I would particular order for myself again, mostly because of the tempura but it was certainly worth giving it a try and I may try it again if I find a place that has found a way to add sweet potato to a maki roll sans tempura!
A spicy tuna roll is the way I often judge any sushi place. Perhaps that's somewhat unfair but since I don't eat a lot of sushi and sashimi, it's what I do.
The fascinating thing about their spicy tuna when it arrived was how TALL each of the sections were... I mean, look at that picture! Needless to say, I got right down to business with this roll first and foremost (even though I listed the sweet potato first, I'm not going to lie... spicy tuna is where it's at!)
I was fascinated to discover that within the roll itself the tuna was unchopped (well, not as small as the topping) and not really spiced. All the spicy mayo appeared to be in the topping itself and not so much in the roll. While the flavor of the spicy tuna itself was good, the roll seemed a little out of balance because of the composition.
It was still good enough that I ate all but the two pieces I shared....
And the last roll I ordered (yes, I know, a lot of sushi for someone with a tiny stomach) is my signature vegetable laden roll. This time I opted for the combination of the two veggies i enjoy most in my sushi and got the cucumber avocado roll.
I don't really have a lot to say about this one except it had too much rice for me. I'd have preferred it to be a thinner layer and basically it resulted in me picking out the insides by the end of my journey through my plate but that's okay, it works out because I got my veggies, my protein and some carbohydrates all in delicious form.
My only other wish on my meal is that I could have gotten it with brown rice. It did not appear to be an option on the menu but, admittedly, I didn't ask either.
Short Ribs [Stephan]
So, normally I order sushi at a Japanese restaurant, but on this night I just wasn't feeling it. So I headed to the entree portion of the menu and looked down all the choices when I came across braised short ribs. It sounded tasty so I thought it would work. I also know Nick enjoys them so worse thing that happens is I share. The ribs were cooked really well, tender and falling apart, although it was slightly fatty and I will let that pass. The green beans were crisp, fresh, and flavorful, which was also nice. The mashed potatoes under the green beans were flavored with wasabi, and although mashed, almost whipped the wasabi was in clumps and a little over powering.
Let me dive into the pluses and minuses of this whole course, for me unfortunately this mean was not quite as good as some of the other things I had the pleasure to enjoy. As mentioned above the green beans were really nice, they were fresh and crisp, nicely steamed and just had a very good flavor. I enjoyed these, but I don't really how they connected with the rest of this dish (I will go into this more as I continue)
The mashed potatoes were blended smooth, as I said almost liked whipped. The problem with these was within the mash there were large sections of wasabi, it wasn't blended constantly throughout. Outside of the wasabi there was also little flavor of the mashed.
So last to the ribs! They were cooked very close to perfection, it was moist and fork tender. However, it was beef, it wasn't flavored well the au jus was decent and had some good flavor. All in all though it was beef, there was very little that inspired me to think Japanese.
That was my overall issue with my meal at the restaurant. It was very nice place, but there were not a lot of seasonings or spices that were Japanese in the whole dish. I always look for something a little more authentic and this dish just didn't have it. I would probably get this or something like it again, I just would not have expectations for something more.
Dessert
We almost didn't order dessert but, honestly, when they throw flourless chocolate cake into the mix and then throw in the information of the existence of dark chocolate gelato under the same roof... my resolve dwindles. Thankfully my stomach can't handle much so I made a deal with myself... get them on separate plates and take some back with us to share with Vannessa when she arrived...
Flourless Chocolate Cake & Dark Chocolate Gelato [Tara]
I'm so glad I ordered this. The cake itself was not super-solid, dense like many flourless chocolate cakes. Instead it was sort of airy but really really rich. I could have done without the powdered sugar and the raspberry sauce but the whipped cream (obviously made there) and the additional chocolate sauce was amazing.
The gelato was sinful and, though I only ate less than half the cake, I admit... I made it through the entire scoop of gelato, though it took a while. It was perfect rich and thickly creamy. It was too good for its own good I say!
Vanilla & Maple Gingerbread Gelato [Nick]
Dessert for me was gelato. I got bother a vanilla and a maple gingerbread. The vanilla was very run of the mill, the gingerbread was much smoother and had a great taste. In the gelato were little cookie dough like balls that had the flavor of ginger snap cookie. It was a nice end to such a meaty flavored meal.
Pretzel Tart [Stephan]
We finished off with one of the special desserts, the pretzel chocolate tart. I was super excited for this because I have been obsessed with savory style desserts. Sadly though I was a little let down as the salty pretzel was hidden behind the dense chocolate. I will say the crust, which was the pretzel part was very starchy much like a dry pretzel but the chocolate was so sweet and rich you really could not taste the different possibilities of flavors, it all blended together. When I first heard the description of this dessert, I though more along the lines of a traditional tart, not a pie.
Summary
All in all, we weren't floating out of there in blissful remembrance of the meal but it wasn't a terrible experience either. As stated earlier, the service was not on par where we would have expected a standard restaurant to be. Our waiter was slow to return to the table and Nick's soda stood empty for quite some time between visits and the waiter never checked or inquired on its status. Additionally, when it came time to pay... he disappeared near completely for a while. Having learned from the experience of the table next to us though, I was ready with my card and caught him as soon as he passed within our proximity which worked out well. In his defense, the restaurant was fairly busy and he seemed to indicate that he was surprised at just how busy it was. Just never know on a Friday night I guess.
As I mentioned in the abstract, I would probably tell people to visit Taka if they were looking for a Japanese cuisine in Asbury Park. I have no other point of reference at this point and I'd probably want to try out a few other places before I declare it the best Japanese that Asbury Park has to offer but the food came out temped well (nothing that wasn't supposed to be cold was cold and nothing that was supposed to be cold was hot), the environment was nice and the locals seem relatively friendly as well (we hit some up for additional food advice!) If you're down there and haven't tried it, I would say, check out the menu and give it a try.
The sweet potatoes themselves were lightly battered in tempura and fried up before being rolled into my maki roll. They were not warm (thankfully) and some of the pieces of sweet potato were slightly under done but all in all it was a pretty decent roll.
I don't know that it would be something that I would particular order for myself again, mostly because of the tempura but it was certainly worth giving it a try and I may try it again if I find a place that has found a way to add sweet potato to a maki roll sans tempura!
The fascinating thing about their spicy tuna when it arrived was how TALL each of the sections were... I mean, look at that picture! Needless to say, I got right down to business with this roll first and foremost (even though I listed the sweet potato first, I'm not going to lie... spicy tuna is where it's at!)
I was fascinated to discover that within the roll itself the tuna was unchopped (well, not as small as the topping) and not really spiced. All the spicy mayo appeared to be in the topping itself and not so much in the roll. While the flavor of the spicy tuna itself was good, the roll seemed a little out of balance because of the composition.
It was still good enough that I ate all but the two pieces I shared....
I don't really have a lot to say about this one except it had too much rice for me. I'd have preferred it to be a thinner layer and basically it resulted in me picking out the insides by the end of my journey through my plate but that's okay, it works out because I got my veggies, my protein and some carbohydrates all in delicious form.
My only other wish on my meal is that I could have gotten it with brown rice. It did not appear to be an option on the menu but, admittedly, I didn't ask either.
Short Ribs [Stephan]
So, normally I order sushi at a Japanese restaurant, but on this night I just wasn't feeling it. So I headed to the entree portion of the menu and looked down all the choices when I came across braised short ribs. It sounded tasty so I thought it would work. I also know Nick enjoys them so worse thing that happens is I share. The ribs were cooked really well, tender and falling apart, although it was slightly fatty and I will let that pass. The green beans were crisp, fresh, and flavorful, which was also nice. The mashed potatoes under the green beans were flavored with wasabi, and although mashed, almost whipped the wasabi was in clumps and a little over powering.
Let me dive into the pluses and minuses of this whole course, for me unfortunately this mean was not quite as good as some of the other things I had the pleasure to enjoy. As mentioned above the green beans were really nice, they were fresh and crisp, nicely steamed and just had a very good flavor. I enjoyed these, but I don't really how they connected with the rest of this dish (I will go into this more as I continue)
The mashed potatoes were blended smooth, as I said almost liked whipped. The problem with these was within the mash there were large sections of wasabi, it wasn't blended constantly throughout. Outside of the wasabi there was also little flavor of the mashed.
So last to the ribs! They were cooked very close to perfection, it was moist and fork tender. However, it was beef, it wasn't flavored well the au jus was decent and had some good flavor. All in all though it was beef, there was very little that inspired me to think Japanese.
That was my overall issue with my meal at the restaurant. It was very nice place, but there were not a lot of seasonings or spices that were Japanese in the whole dish. I always look for something a little more authentic and this dish just didn't have it. I would probably get this or something like it again, I just would not have expectations for something more.
Dessert
We almost didn't order dessert but, honestly, when they throw flourless chocolate cake into the mix and then throw in the information of the existence of dark chocolate gelato under the same roof... my resolve dwindles. Thankfully my stomach can't handle much so I made a deal with myself... get them on separate plates and take some back with us to share with Vannessa when she arrived...
Flourless Chocolate Cake & Dark Chocolate Gelato [Tara]
The gelato was sinful and, though I only ate less than half the cake, I admit... I made it through the entire scoop of gelato, though it took a while. It was perfect rich and thickly creamy. It was too good for its own good I say!
Vanilla & Maple Gingerbread Gelato [Nick]
Pretzel Tart [Stephan]
We finished off with one of the special desserts, the pretzel chocolate tart. I was super excited for this because I have been obsessed with savory style desserts. Sadly though I was a little let down as the salty pretzel was hidden behind the dense chocolate. I will say the crust, which was the pretzel part was very starchy much like a dry pretzel but the chocolate was so sweet and rich you really could not taste the different possibilities of flavors, it all blended together. When I first heard the description of this dessert, I though more along the lines of a traditional tart, not a pie.
Summary
All in all, we weren't floating out of there in blissful remembrance of the meal but it wasn't a terrible experience either. As stated earlier, the service was not on par where we would have expected a standard restaurant to be. Our waiter was slow to return to the table and Nick's soda stood empty for quite some time between visits and the waiter never checked or inquired on its status. Additionally, when it came time to pay... he disappeared near completely for a while. Having learned from the experience of the table next to us though, I was ready with my card and caught him as soon as he passed within our proximity which worked out well. In his defense, the restaurant was fairly busy and he seemed to indicate that he was surprised at just how busy it was. Just never know on a Friday night I guess.
As I mentioned in the abstract, I would probably tell people to visit Taka if they were looking for a Japanese cuisine in Asbury Park. I have no other point of reference at this point and I'd probably want to try out a few other places before I declare it the best Japanese that Asbury Park has to offer but the food came out temped well (nothing that wasn't supposed to be cold was cold and nothing that was supposed to be cold was hot), the environment was nice and the locals seem relatively friendly as well (we hit some up for additional food advice!) If you're down there and haven't tried it, I would say, check out the menu and give it a try.
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