Tookaiya Japanese Restaurant
314 Keilor Road, North Essendon
***
Japanese Proverb:
Tai-mo hitori-ha umakazu - Even sea bream is not delicious when eaten in loneliness
***
My wife and I are massive fans of Tookaiya Japanese. We try and eat there at least once a month to get the fresh seafood they are so famous for serving. We have our favourite dishes which we will order every time, though we haven't been disappointed with anything else on the menu so far.
On Monday night we decided we had waited long enough between visits and rocked up at around 6pm. Being a Monday night it was pretty quiet which was good for a change, no need to book a table.
 |
| Prawn inside out sushi rolls |
We normally start with some inside out sushi rolls, my wife likes the prawn and I like the raw tuna or salmon, in this case, I went with the raw tuna. The light flavour of the fresh fish is so refreshing, especially in the warm weather, and you don't feel so bad when you are eating it either. The sushi rolls are covered in caviar giving you those beautiful little bursts of flavour when you bite into them. The size of these little parcels of joy are just perfect to slip an entire piece in your mouth without looking like you are gorging yourself.
 |
| Grilled butter and garlic squid |
In addition to the inside out sushi, we will normally order a bowl of Ika Yaki which is grilled squid in a garlic butter sauce, I can't go to Tookaiya without ordering this dish. I have in the past been to Tookaiya not really very hungry but still had to order the Ika Yaki, it truly is a must have dish. It isn't anything that fancy, but has such an amazing flavour it is hard to go past. We will normally order the Gyoza (pot stickers) and the Yakitori (teriyaki chicken skewers). I am not going to lie, all this can be hard to get through but it is difficult to avoid ordering it all. The Gyoza are pretty good, though I must admit I have had better just from the local food court and the chicken skewers are pretty good too though I would take a satay skewer over a teriyaki skewer every day of the week.
 |
| Teriyaki Chicken Skewers |
Previous visits have seen us ordering some main dishes also. The fried rice here is pretty damn good, but I avoid it as I am already a frequent eater of fried rice and this place has so much good, fresh food on the menu I am able to avoid it. To accompany the fried rice I can suggest ordering the Teriyaki Chicken dish. It is a lot like the flavour of the skewers but has some veggies cooked through it and goes very well with the fried rice. Being a Japanese newbie, eating straight raw fish isn't something I would have normally gone out of my way to do, but this was the perfect place to get into it. The sashimi combination is a good way to start as it gives you a variety of different fresh fish to choose from. It isn't for everyone, even sushi rolls can be a stretch for some people which is understandable, but it is definitely worth a try. We are yet to taste any desserts, just can't seem to allow room for it. One day...
 |
| Gyoza |
Tookaiya have been around for almost 16 years now, and have been a local icon in Keilor Road. I am only new to the sushi scene, but I would say that this is a great place to start if you want to try sushi for the first time. Saying all that, I have family and friends that are seasoned sushi eaters and they would agree that this is one of the best sushi places in Melbourne in it's price range. It is a very clean restaurant and the staff are very friendly and accommodating, though you should just be careful at busy times as you might not get a table without a booking over the weekend period.
No comments:
Post a Comment