The husband and I decided to take advantage of the Dine in Brooklyn campaign and paid a visit to Taku at 116 Smith Street. A three-course meal for $20.06 is a deal that’s hard to beat! I’d been curious about Taku ever since it got a write-up in The New York Times. Here’s our report:
*Decor:*
Taku’s design style is very minimalist and understated. There was a beautiful long-stemmed orchid plant on the sushi bar, but otherwise the interior was a bit uninspiring.
*Food:*
For the first course we both started out with the same appetizer, hasu dengaku handrolls, which are Japanese eggplant rolled with sweet sesame miso inside a seaweed cone. Fantastic!! I could have eaten about 10 more of those. As my entree, I had the crispy Japanese sea bass in sweet chili sauce, which was certainly crispy, but did not have much of a memorable flavor. Matthew had the Taku ramen with pork and bacon, which he enjoyed but was pretty average in taste. He also decided to splurge on the sake pairing, which was a nice upgrade — before each course was served, a complementary sake was presented. The third course that topped off our meal was a ginger ice cream. It was delicious - how can you not enjoy ice cream?!
*Service:*
Our waitress was really sweet and did a great job telling us about the different sakes. She was very attentive and we didn’t have to ask for anything.
*Price:*
We got a great deal with Dine in Brooklyn. Usually entrees are on average $20-22, which is pricier than most of Taku’s neighboring Smith Street restaurants. For that reason, you might want to save it for a special occassion.
