41 replies to this topic

[Sneakeater]

It's nice to be blown away by a new (to me) restaurant again.

Takashi is a yakiniku on Hudson Street in the West Village. Yakiniku is the Japanese adaptation of Korean barbecue (meaning that they use better ingredients and prepare things with incredible precision). I'd never eaten in one before. So part of this is my being blown away by yakiniku food. But I can't imagine that Takashi isn't functioning at a very high level within the genre.

I sat at the counter. There are also tables. All have electric grills with elaborate fan/venting systems.

You start with raw meats and then move onto some that you grill for yourself, accompanied by raw or pickled vegetables. The meats all come from "name" suppliers, the sort of places that New Brooklyn Restaurants source from.

I started with one of the specials, raw beefheart. The staff appeared to be keen on warning me off of this, but I am Bwana Sneakeater, eater of raw organ meats. And really, there was nothing particularly strange about this. I knew from my fairly extensive Peruvian experience with grilled beefheart that it's extremely (and surprisingly) tender -- and that's as true of its raw iteration as of its cooked. Beefheart has a nice beefy flavor, which comes across even in its raw state. It was rubbed with sesame oil and black pepper (I think). I liked it so much I almost asked them to email me whenever they're serving it.

For my grilled dish, I sort of wimped out and ordered "the chef's selection of the best cuts of the day." Sensing they had a hot one, they gave me two kinds of tripe (I think they were the first and fourth stomach -- but don't quote me), some sweetbreads, some liver, and some more heart. These came with different coatings/marinades/whatever. The white ones -- the tripes and the sweetbreads -- were doused with a red pepper sauce. The red ones -- the liver and heart -- were rubbed with oil and sprinkled with scallions and I think black pepper.

The two types of tripe were interesting, in that they were very different. One was sort of flat and spongy, the other blocky and substantial. The sweetbreads were well nigh perfect. And the liver -- this is the first beef liver I have ever liked in my entire life! Don't tell my mother. Or the Venetians.

I had a nice scallion salad on the side. An advantage of going with more people would be the ability to order a range of vegetable accompaniments.

To my surprise, I thought the food was better accompanied by wine (no matter how mediocre their selections) than by the rather well-chosen sake on their list (I tried both).

I love this place. I just love it. I think it would be of great appeal to almost everyone here. Get over there. Really.

[Anthony Bonner]

we've been going quasi-regularly. I like it, its expensive, I'm not sure I'm not a schmuck for not going to midtown for it, but the choices are delicious. The sweetbreads are lovely.

Service is very nice. Your clothes smell like meat. And the wait is interminable even on weeknights.

ETA = all of the raw beef dishes are quite good. although I have not had the one with Uni.

[Sneakeater]

And the wait is interminable even on weeknights.

I walked in after an early concert last night. It couldn't have been later than 9:30. And I had to wait all of two minutes for them to clear a place for me. Lucky, I guess.

[Anthony Bonner]

And the wait is interminable even on weeknights.

I walked in after an early concert last night. It couldn't have been later than 9:30. And I had to wait all of two minutes for them to clear a place for me. Lucky, I guess.

I vote lucky.

[Sneakeater]

Well, THAT'S good to know.

This doesn't look like the kind of place that takes reservations. Does it?

[Anthony Bonner]

Well, THAT'S good to know.

This doesn't look like the kind of place that takes reservations. Does it?

no. And the problem recently hasn't been the wait, its that they totally misquote wait times - i.e 25 minutes, an hour later they call you. To be fair they are very very gracious - but it is something to keep in mind.

[Anthony Bonner]

get the tendon dish if you go.

[Anthony Bonner]

Holy cow. Just tried to go do a walk in - 1h45 minute wait. People its grilled meat. Its good really I promise - but I can drive to Mitsuwa and back, cook the meal, and do the dishes in that amount of time.

[Suzanne F]

Is this Eiji (sp) Takashi, aka Taka? Who used to be the sushi chef at Match back in the mid-to-late 1990s? I know he bounced around, out to LV and back.

If so, he's terrific. Used to run in the NYC Marathon.

[Sneakeater]

No, it's a young guy named Takashi Inoue.

[oakapple]

Holy cow. Just tried to go do a walk in - 1h45 minute wait.

From various reports I've seen, that might even be on the low side.

[nuxvomica]

Holy cow. Just tried to go do a walk in - 1h45 minute wait.

From various reports I've seen, that might even be on the low side.

didn't Ryan Sutton tweet 4.5 hr wait this past weekend?

i actually had a reservation there once but they called a day or two in advance to tell me they couldn't honor it and tried to somehow make it my fault because i made it for a "wrong" time. when i called to make the reservation i was given a choice of times so obviously they needed the table for someone important to the house at the last minute. the manager said to come in another night and he would "take care of us." Rrrriiiight

[AaronS]

a friend of mine eats there pretty regularly after he's been drinking. I can't imagine he waits anywhere near that amount of time.

[oakapple]

If he's a regular, he may get seated more quickly than the one-time visitor.

[Anthony Bonner]

IME if you go after 10 or so its not terrible. Eh maybe 10:30

(But if you are drinking why not just go to Koreatown?)