PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAAustralia is enjoying a bit of a love affair with sushi. It’s passed from the exotic and trendy to become an everyday menu option, recognized as one the tastiest and healthiest snack foods around. In the Hobart CBD, corner fast-food sushi outlets, “Sushi-Shack” franchises and, even, a sit-up-to-a-bench-conveyer-belt-select-your-sushi-as-it-passes cafe are packed with lunch-time office workers, business men and shoppers. All good, flavoursome, weight-watching stuff. But, of them all, R.Takagi is by far the best and most authentic.
It’s a small, sparkling rice-white space of perfect Japanese simplicity, offset against just a few dark tables and chairs and a refrigerated display of nori maki, freshly and expertly prepared and replenished by Risa Takagi in the spotless kitchen out the back. Just as good is the light, copper-coloured dashi and tsuya broth with vegetables and udon noodles, obviously freshly prepared from the best ingredients. And, in the way that little things can say so much about any eatery, the wonderfully rich, silky soy sauce is sourced (sorry) direct from the village of Shizouka, half way between Risa’s home of Nagoya and Tokyo. It’s those sorts of authentic touches that set it apart as special.
Graeme Phillips