Takumi

(Originally posted 5/6/06)

Takumi is a relatively new Japanese restaurant in Nashua, NH. I dined there last evening and was very impressed with everything.

They have hibachi seating, sushi bar seating and a regular dining room. We ate in the regular dining room. It as a clean establishment and the waitstaff was very attentive. I even met a waitress there who also works at Misono in Peabody. The menu is quite varied and everyone should be able to find something they like.

We began with some sushi, including maguro (tuna), tamago (egg omelet), white unagi (eel) and otoro (fatty tuna). All of it was very fresh, a good sized piece of fish and very tasty. Prices for sushi are average. My meal came with miso soup and salad. The soup was very good.

My entree was beef houba yaki, something I had never had before. Essentially, they bring a tiny ceramic hibachi to the table, topped by a large houba leaf, like a big tropical jungle leaf. Atop that, sitting in a miso sauce, was raw steak. The steak cooks atop the leaf and you choose how much to cook it. A very interesting meal and the steak was tender, flavorful and the sauce was excellent. The meal came with rice, some yaki soba noodles and some veggies.

I also drank a bottle of Kurosawa Junmai Kimoto sake. It was served in a wooden box, filled with ice, to keep it chilled. The sake was superb, with a tinge of banana flavor. Overall, I highly recommend this place, and I will definitely return.

(originally posted 5/8/06)
I returned to Takumi yesterday for lunch as I was in the area again. I ordered their bento box, a Japanese lunch box that includes a variety of different dishes. This bento included miso soup, salad, white rice, some sashimi (tuna and crab), a couple pieces of shrimp tempura with three pieces of veggie tempura, some chicken teriyaki, shrimp shumai, yaki soba noodles, and some assorted Japanese pickles/veggies. Overall, it was a very tasty lunch. The bento costs $13.50, which is the average for these type of restaurants. You certainly get alot of food for the money.

Takumi
197 Daniel Webster Hwy
Nashua, NH
Phone: (603) 891-1717
http://www.takumijapanese.com