Restaurant: Takeda Sushi
Location: 123 Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka St #307, Los Angeles, CA 90012. (213) 613-0083
Date: December 2, 2022
Cuisine: Japanese Sushi
Rating: Could be the best sushi I’ve had in LA
For penultimate sushi blowout of the year we decided to head downtown and tryout the relatively new Sushi Takeda, which are the new digs for our old friend Chef Hide Takeda who sliced up some awesome fish at Tsujita Sushi for years. He’s recently earned a Michelin star here at Takeda too.
It’s located on top of one of those very little Tokyo (and also SGV) vertical maxi-malls.
Classic frontage.
The gang at the bar. There are two nightly seatings for omakase.
Jeffrey, of course, was pushing for his one favorite white burgundy love: Coche.
From my cellar: 1993 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots. BH 90. A slightly reductive and fully mature nose features hints of exotic fruit and subtle earth notes that can also be found on the generous yet detailed medium weight plus flavors that are both delicious and impressively complex on the sappy and mouth coating finish. Lovely and drinking perfectly now. Consistent notes.
This was another of those bottles that Fred “didn’t trust” (because of their color) but which turned out to be absolutely amazing!
1996 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. BH 91. Exquisite nose of hazelnut and ripe melon with flavors that are not particularly dense but very fine, tight and beautifully detailed with plenty of minerality and outstanding acid/fruit balance. Even though this is young vine fruit, it shows excellent intensity on the long finish.
2006 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots. VM 91. The 2006 Meursault Les Rougeots has a thrilling bouquet with a ton of reduction, yet somehow there is marvellous delineation and penetration. The palate is powerful, spicy and dense with a waxy mouthfeel and impressive density. It feels tangy in the mouth and yet it does not convey the same detail as the 1999 tasted alongside, on the finish. Still, this is a fine Meursault considering the vintage. Tasted at La Paulée in Beaune. (Drink between 2019-2030)
These professional scores are always way too low for these wines.
Giant octopus from Hokkaido with Abalone and bonito dashi soup. On the side was a small container of special sour plum sake for dipping the octopus into. A lovely subtle soup with smokey dashi notes.
Steamed female snow crab from Hokkaido. Two kinds of egg, the outer and inner eggs plus meat. Other non yuzu citrus to squeeze on top plus shiso flowers. Really fabulous bit of shellfish.
Ginger, of course.
Marinated bluefin tuna. Amazing and soft and a cloud.
Young red snapper. Salty notes.
Pike mackerel from Hokkaido topped with ginger scallion seaweed. This has a very short season and was insanely good.
Toro takuan nigiri. The radish had a sweet mirin flavor. Overall an incredible bite.
King mackerel with salt. Smoked like a deli fish.
Intermezzo. Seaweed with mountain yam in vinegar. Really great.
The shape…
Hawaii abalone with abalone liver sauce. Cleanest version of this I’ve had.
Shima-aji. Yellowtail amberjack. Tea like finish.
2004 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 95. This is almost as backward as the Bienvenues though supremely elegant white flower and subtle spice aromas peek through the moderate reduction yet the piercingly mineral flavors display a beguiling sweetness on the crystalline and incredibly precise finish that seems to have no end. This will be a great wine in time as it’s clear that there is another dimension here compared to all of the previous wines. (Drink starting 2015)
2010 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 97+. Bright pale yellow. Very pure, chalky aromas of lemon, lime, white flowers and iodine. Boasts outstanding tension and building intensity to its powerful lemon peel, pineapple and crushed stone flavors. Rare precision and inner-mouth perfume here. Saturates every square millimeter of the palate yet finishes with an impression of weightlessness. A wine of great finesse, this should go on for two decades or more. “The Batard is for the body while this is for the spirit,” notes winemaker Eric Remy. One of my favorite wines of the vintage.
Ika squid with salty fermented snapper tripe on top. Best squid I’ve probably had.
My 10th ginger.
Golden eye snapper.
2012 Louis Jadot Montrachet. BH 91-94. Mild sulfur detracts only faintly from the ultra-elegant white flower, pear, citrus, spice and wet stone nuances. There is outstanding volume and concentration to the attractively well-detailed and imposingly-scaled flavors that display borderline painful intensity on the driving and linear if very compact finish. Even by the usual outsized standards of Montrachet this is a big though not massive example. (Drink starting 2022)
This was actually drinking like a 99 point WB right now!
Saber fish, deep fried with shiso. Popcorn like fry.
Goldeneye snapper cheek. Awesome sweet broth.
Otoro. Sublime.
Sardine roll.
Surf clam from Hokaido.
Chawanmushi (Japanese savory egg custard) with surf clam skirt and monkfish liver. Super rich and unctuous.
Sea bream Salt and yuzu.
Santa Barbara spot prawn cured with kelp. Cured for 4-6 hours. Really incredible.
Sea perch. Super savory Tiny bit smoked.
Shrimp miso soup.
Uni, wasabi, and ikura (salmon roe). Classic combo that was scrumptuous.
Toro Sardine. A bit of shiso. Awesome.
Scallop smashed habdroll. No rice.
Jeffrey’s negi tori handroll Nori from Kyushu.
Barracuda. Wonderful char.
Santa barbara uni. Spectacular.
Braided Kohada.
Tamago. Very sweet and nice.
Erick’s repeat sardine.
Sweet effervescent Yuzu juice. He used to do this at Tsujita too.
OMG!
This was one incredible lineup of sushi and wine. Wow!
This was totally my style of omakase. It was mostly nigri, with each piece being both distinct and and memorable, almost sublime. The subtle curing, the deft but restrained use of “toppings”, and the assertive rice are all out of this world. It’s expensive. It’s a bit high maintenance. It’s for purists. But it is incredible!
