Taka was one of the better sushi joints intown for a long time, he was almost up there with Soto. When Soto left this one horse town after 13 years of trying to broaden the rednecks palates with some innovative Japanese cuisine for the bright lights of NYC (which made him famous almost overnight)... Atlanta lost one of the best sushi chefs in the country that no one knew about. But there was still Taka, toiling away and trying to continue Soto's work in his little corner of a place off some side street in Buckhead. He always had his following but it wasn't enough to do the things he wanted to do... And then the rent hikes skyrocketed with the rodeo drive of Atlanta, you know, that shithole with all the awful restos in one place. Taka closed down and moved up to Roswell Rd across the street from one of my favorite Popeyes location. No one knows if this is Sandy Springs or upstate Buckhead... But who really fucking gives a shit, right? The new spot took forever to open but it's open now and there seems to be some lack of traffic during the weekday lunch service already and who knows if lunch service will be scrapped to save money... But they are supposedly doing well during dinner service... Shit, let's go get some dinnah...
The space is modern but has a Japanese feel to it as well... The sushi bar with high stools is modern and kinda have that dark cold feel to it... I don't know if I would want to sit at the sushi bar. Looking around, people really don't seem to belong in here or how to act, they all seem so fake like blowup dolls to make the place look happening. I really don't give a shit, so send some booze this way and a menu, STAT... Let's sample a lil bit of something each...
Popcorn Okra Japanese Style. They're basically okra tempura, tasty and crispy, not slimy or moist inside. You can polish these little green nuggets off in a jiffy.
Grilled Black Cod. Everyone does the ubiquitous miso cod... Let's try just the grilled cod. This is how it came out... Looked like the dishwasher was scrapping shit off a plate. For the amount of money spent, you would think they would present it in one piece and not split open like a hatchet wound. But it tasted really good, flaky, seasoned well with a bit of sweetness from the caramelized glaze. I don't know if I would get it again, it was good but not $16 good for a small piece of cod.
Uni Zukushi. "All about sea urchin"... Shit, for $23, it motherfucking better be. This presentation was better because it was on a fancy plate... That alone is like worth $2 already. So, you got an assortment of uni on top of a bunch of shit... You know, dericious shit like... Otoro, scallop, sweet shrimp and squid. Ok, maybe this dish was worth it. They are small bites but packed with flavor and sublime texture. Shit was good, I could use 10 more of these, portions are small.
Sashimi Sampler. Speaking of small... This sashimi plate was a joke when it came out. I kept staring at it hoping it would grow like those tiny magic growing sponges... But they didn't. These are some of the thinnest smallest slices of sashimi I have ever seen, eaten and paid normal size money for... But they did tasted pretty good and were quality... I just can't get over the "two chew and swallow" sized pieces. Dude, you got to do better... Maybe your demographics in this area don't get it but I do... Don't fuck a brotha from another mother out of standard practice sized pieces... These were like something you put on the end of a hook.
Sushi Omakase. So, when you order an omakase and paying a decent amount of loot for it, you expect it to be visually presented on a more elevated level... And then this came out... On the smallest motherfucking plate available. It's like a tiny hors d'oeuvres plate at a low rent wedding. The shit was all jammed together and almost falling off the sides for crying out loud... But the slices were actually normal size. Seriously, I can make a prettier plate like this at Nori Nori for less than half the price with unlimited rounds... Ok ok, I know the quality here is like 10.9 times better but this chef's choice of nigiri was just good, not great... And I don't even see the fucking fried sweet shrimp head anywhere on this cheese plate. Jesus Christ, I had to ask for it... And they made a stink of it... Like anyone of these fuckers in here will even eat this with his eyeballs staring at them.
Sweet Shrimp Head. It finally comes out and it looks glorious! It was damn good... I could eat like 20 of these beauties and be ok with it. The brains were real fresh on this one.
Tamago. Sometimes, I like to see if there's real talent behind the bar and it's not with how they slice the fish or how much uni they can stack on top... It's hidden in the most simplest of things. Yes, inside a fucking egg omelet. A true sushi master can make this omelet look like an easy simple task, even though, for us retards we have no clue how much experience and years of practice goes into this one little dish. How do you know when this was executed with a master's technique? When you bite into and you pitch a tentpants... It's slightly sweet, fluffy but yet firm and the texture is sturdy but gives way and melts naturally with the heat and moisture inside your dirty face gash. This version here was 70% of the way there. It tasted good but the layering and cut was amateur... Looked like a Fruit Roll-Ups made with egg. It's ok, if you're looking for a filler.
I'm glad Taka reopened with a nicer more modern space, he deserves it. He's a smart and talented guy... He ain't stupid when he underslices the fish with smaller portions, he knows the crowd in this area and they don't know shit about sushi and they're ok with fucking rolls and Taka is ok with taking their money to the bank with these low food cost items. This entire place on this night was ordering about 98% rolls vs sashimi or nigiri, etc... I think this pissed me off more than he did. After all, he's got skyhigh rent to pay. Sadly, this place will not be going on my sushi rotation for the time being and I don't see him or his passion doing anything different going into the future (if it's not broke why cut normal sized sashimi?)... I was still starving after all this and I was tempted to get the ramen, then I remembered his ramen from the Buckhead days... Next. For the money, I rather spend it elsewhere and there's no lack of good sushi and izakaya joints in this town these days.
4600 Roswell Rd NE E110
Sandy Springs, GA 30342
www.takasushiatlanta.com
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