Takara Bune

Today we decided to go to Takara Bune for lunch.  This is located at the corner of Victoria Park Avenue and Sheppard Avenue East in the east side of North York.  I have been to this place for lunch and dinner in the past and they have provided me with some decent Japanese food. 

I got there about a quarter to noon and the guy told me that they were not opened yet.  Most Japanese restaurants don’t usually open until noon hour.  I figured since I eat a lot of sushi and sashimi I would mix it up and try something a tad bit different.  On their menu, they have a Spicy Maki Tray which basically has about 40 pieces of maki and rolls for $35 dollars. 

It took about 20 minutes to make but it did look good. The 40 pieces are made up of 6 pieces of spicy tuna roll, 6 pieces of spicy salmon roll, 6 pieces of spicy ebi roll, 6  pieces of scallop roll, 8 pieces of fire dynamite and 8 rolls of kamikaze maki. 

The fire dynamite in my mind was one of the better ones there.  Its uniqueness lies within the maki where they sprinkle bits of tempura crumbs on top of the maki to make it crunchy.  By doing so, it changes the texture of the roll.  While, the rice, avocado and fish are “soft” and where the crumbs are “hard”, the contrast of these two makes it a nice roll to have.  

The kamikaze maki was not that spicy at all.  Actually the whole dish was not spicy at all.  Personally I think the wasabi soya sauce that my wife made was way more spicier than what was in each of these rolls.  Overall, I would give the overall spiciness a 3 out of 10.  There really wasn’t much to report on the kamikaze rolls. 

Out of the tuna, ebi, salmon and scallop rolls, the scallop probably tasted the best out of the four.  The scallops were nice and fresh and the spiciness in the scallop was a tad bit more spicier than the rest of the rolls.  I don’t know whether if it was my imagination or whether the wasabi just blended better with the scallop but it just felt that way.  The tuna and salmon rolls were really unspectacular.  If anything they tasted like any other tuna or salmon sushis. 

Overall it was satisfactory however I will make one comment.  I don’t know whether it was because I was the first in the restaurant but the rice to make the makis was a bit soggy.  It seemed like I was eating leftover rice and there was a chance that they could have been the case as I was the first one there.  It made all the rolls have that wet and soggy feeling and taste to it which is really too bad.  I truly think that this entire plate could have earned another half to full mark if the rice had been better.  As well, I would have expected it to be more spicier since it was advertised as a spicy tray.  These two flaws unfortunately probably made this dish a little bit harder to stomach but in the end 40 pieces will still fill one’s stomach.  Overall I would have to give this a 2.75 out of 5.   

Takara Bune

2450 Sheppard Avenue East Unit 106

Toronto Ontario

416 491 6688