1 June 2010

Takeru, Chatswood

Competition is pretty fierce in Chatswood for Japanese restaurants with new ones opening left, right and centre all the time. But Takeru is a little different. Tucked away in a little corner in Victoria Plaza, it offers modern Japanese food with strong Western influences - think Japanese-style pasta and pizza, as well as more traditional favourites like ramen and agedashi tofu.

It's open all day which is great for a late lunch, early dinner or afternoon snack, and prices are very reasonable with most of the dishes under the $15 mark. Today I'm here with a bunch of hungry boys for a late lunch, so as soon as we are seated in the booth we start poking away at the touch screen ordering system (which is the same as the one at Wagaya and Poporo).

Mentaiko potato salad - $7.20

The food arrives in no time, and soon the table is filled with dishes that we ordered only minutes earlier. A big dollop of creamy potato sits on a bed of lettuce leaves, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and corn kernels. The potato is mashed roughly so that there are still small chunks of potato, and the mixture is ever so slightly pink from the addition of mentaiko (cod roe).

Agedashi tofu with soft shell crab - $7.50


Something I order every time I come here is the agedashi tofu with soft shell crab. With the dancing bonito flakes, and the crunchy battered soft shell crab sitting loftily above the silky pillows of tofu and soy dashi broth, what's not to love? One serving comes with two pieces of tofu and one soft shell crab.

Wafu spaghetti - $10.90

The boys are starving so we order up on some carb-laden dishes. The first of these is the wafu spaghetti, which is a creamy pasta dish with scallops and mushrooms, garnished with dried seaweed and toasted sesame seeds. To my surprise, the pasta is cooked really well, and the cream sauce is quite light. A shaker of grated parmesan is also brought to the table along with this dish.

Hotate ebi garlic cha-han - $11.50

One of my requests was the hotate ebi garlic cha-han (scallop, prawn and garlic fried rice) which I had tried and loved at Wagaya. The rice arrived steaming in a stone pot and we waited a while before digging in to let the rice on the bottom form a nice crispy crust. Unfortunately this never happened, probably because the stone pot wasn't hot enough which was a bit disappointing. Regardless, it still tasted great, with a nice garlic flavour and a good amount of seafood.

Chicken nanban hiyashi ramen - $12.50

The chicken nanban hiyashi ramen had pieces of fried chicken scattered in a bowl of cold ramen with mayonnaise and nanban sauce, a spicy and sour sauce. This was an interesting dish with the cold ramen being a nice base for the spicy sour flavour of the nanban sauce and the creaminess of the mayonnaise. It was also served with a small side of shredded cabbage.

Mentai spaghetti - $11.50

We were still hungry so we ordered some more pasta. This time we opted for the mentai spaghetti which had the same creamy sauce and mushrooms, but this time it also had the addition of calamari, spicy cod roe and a few slices of okra. The boys had fun playing with the stringy, slimy okra and it reminded me of natto but luckily it didn't taste like it! (yes, natto is an acquired taste I'm told)

Ika butter shouyu - $9.90

Lastly we ordered ika butter shouyu which was sliced squid on a hot plate with butter and soy, accompanied by a few vegetables just to make it look healthy hehe. I was worried that the squid would be tough and rubbery but to my surprise it was soft and tender, with a nice charring from the hotplate. The squid rings also had a nice flavour from the soy and butter sauce - it was addictive!


Finally we were full and the best part is we left only $15 poorer each! Takeru is a great place to get together with a few friends that won't break the bank. There's something for everyone - traditional Japanese food, some interesting fusion dishes and of course there's a touch screen that everyone loves to play with :)

Takeru
Shop 10, 369 Victoria Ave
Chatswood NSW 2067
Ph: +61 29412 1203
Open Monday to Sunday, noon - 10pm


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Takeru on Urbanspoon

14 comments:

  1. I've been to Takeru on Sussex St. They make the best omochi curry! Didn't know there's one in Chatswood, good to know :)

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  2. I love their mentai spaghetti! Which always arrives made with linguine =p And I like to play with the okra too, hehe.

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  3. Agedashi tofu and soft shell crab? Two of my favourite things on the one plate! A shame that the rice didn't crisp. That's my favourite part too. Photos look fab btw.

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  4. hee dancing bonito flakes is always fun to watch

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  5. That sounds like such great value! Too bad there was no crust at the bottom of the rice, glad it still tasted good though. And those squid rings looks delicious!

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  6. Yay another Japanese place in Chatswood :) I'm a sucker for touch screen ordering systems. That is a pity that the fried rice didn't get the crust on the bottom, that's the best bit!

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  7. Wow you guys cleaned out the place better than an a Striker Streetsweeper assault shotgun

    which is, I must add, an excellent way to induce anything from bonito flakes to shy companions to get dancin'

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  8. Oh a place like Wagaya but not in the CBD. Sounds interesting...

    Sounds like you all did pretty well for $15 a head, considering the amount of food had.

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  9. Hotate ebi garlic cha-han sounds deliciouS!!!
    too bad chatswood is so far away

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  10. Oooh, this Takeru looks much nicer than the city counterpart

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  11. This definately going down on my list of places to visit. The agedashi tofu looks fantastic, I love it!

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  12. Hi Maria - I've never been to the one on Sussex St but omochi curry sounds awesome! I didn't notice that they had it on the menu at Chatswood so maybe they have slightly different menus.

    Hi mademoiselle délicieuse - Haha yes I did notice that the spaghetti turned out to be linguine but it doesn't bother me coz it tastes good anyway! Okra is a fun vegetable haha

    Hi Helen - I know, soft shell crab + agedashi tofu = match made in heaven haha. It was strange that the rice didn't crisp up coz the bowl seemed pretty hot so I'm not sure what went wrong there.

    Hi chocolatesuze - any dancing food is fun to watch hehe

    Hi Betty - Yep it's pretty cheap and they're not stingey with the serving sizes either :)

    Hi Stephcookie - LOL it's not like Chatswood needs more Japanese places but I do appreciate the variety =P

    Hi The Ninja - I'll have to get you to demonstrate that for me one day hehe

    Hi Simon - Yep my stomach was well and truly stuffed afterwards so it's great value!

    Hi annie - Aw well there is another Takeru in the CBD if that's closer to you :)

    Hi missklicious - I've never been to the city one, maybe I'll have to pay them a visit just for comparison's sake =P

    Hi Amy - Nothing like soft shell crab to make a dish even tastier!

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  13. The squid dish would be great. I can not cook squid that way, soft and tender. Never tasted or even seen Japanese spaghetti either, guess that would be one of my target orders when I get to visit the area. No sushi in the list? Love sushi, I have been frequenting a Japanese restaurant at Mandarin Centre in Chatswood for sushi.

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  14. Hi James - Yes unfortunately they don't do any sushi at Takeru but I think the multitude of sushi trains in Chatswood makes up for that! If you haven't already tried it, I recommend Makoto on Victoria Ave for sushi - it's a bit pricier than the one in Mandarin Centre but I think they have better quality sushi :)

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