Restaurant: Takao [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Location: 11656 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 207-8636
Date: December 27, 2018
Rating: 8/10 creative “new style” sushi
I’ve already covered Takao in some detail HERE and then separately here, here, and here, but we went back (we go often). The full menu and some information on the history of the place can be found through the first link. However, I haven’t written it up in a while so I thought we’d take another look.
This particular meal is another take on the medium sized omakase, which is a very good deal (in a relative high-end sushi kind of way).
From my cellar: 2010 Joseph Drouhin Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Blanc. VM 93+. Bright yellow. Gingery peach, toast, crushed stone and smoky minerality on the slightly reduced nose. Rich, sweet and plush, with a touch of spice to the ripe, smoky stone fruit flavors. Boasts an almost glyceral sweetness today, but this very young wine needs time in bottle to lose some of its baby fat. Philippe Drouhin notes that this wine always gets reductive during elevage and that this quality takes at least a year in bottle to dissipate. He likes Clos des Mouches old, pointing out that the 2004 and 2002 bottlings are still young. But then Drouhin admits that he generally prefers older wines because he dislikes the aromas and flavors of new oak.
We start off with abalone, monkfish liver, and sweet shrimp with caviar.
Three kinds of live octopus sashimi.
New Style Tai Sashimi with truffles.
Toro and uni.
Mushroom and fish egg custard. Traditional Japanese egg custard with mushrooms and fish. Like creme brulee without the crust or the sugar and with fish!
Pan fried crab cake with aioli.
Grilled mackerel.
Pan seared wagyu.
Sushi — I would have eaten 5 plates.
Clam miso.
Coffee jelly with fruit and ice cream.
Another intensely satisfying Japanese meal down the gullet. As you see, we keep going back to Takao and while the style remains the same, the ingredients mix it up substantially each time. I would have liked a tempura course tonight. Solid place. More reviews here: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
