We recently told you about the hand-roll trend with the opening of Hando Parisian Handroll, a stone's throw from Le Bon Marché. Now the trend has spread to the rest of the Left Bank, with the opening of another handroll restaurant in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district: Takuto (formerly Kaïto).
At the helm is sushi master Takuya 'Taku' Watanabe, former chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Jin, accompanied by David Memmi, already at the helm of Mems and the Birdy restaurants. The two partners push the boundaries of Japanese tradition to the limit with this mini-scale restaurant that recreates the atmosphere of Tokyo's fish markets. There are no seats here, but standing tables and a counter where you can enjoy hand-rolls made in a minute, still standing up, in front of the chef and his team.
With its sky-blue walls and cubic blue marble tables with veins evoking the swirls of the waves, this restaurant showcases the finest products to emerge from the waves. The apparent simplicity of a hand-roll is matched only by the precision required in the choice of quality products and age-old preparations.
Garnished with raw fish, vegetables or tofu, these rice rolls surrounded by seaweed are based on three basic elements: noble fish matured for several hours, crispy seaweed and rice processing that only true sushi masters know how to do.
At Takuto, hand-rolls are available in a lunch menu of 3, 4 or 5 rolls with miso soup and seaweed and cucumber salad (respectively 24€, 31€ and 40€), in a no-sides menu with the same number of rolls (20€, 27€, 36€), or à la carte, with classic rolls (6€-12€ per roll) and signature rolls (12€/13€ per roll). Prices, it's true, that some would find very expensive for the quantity on the plate.
Among our great discoveries are the Kaito Maki roll (12€) with toro, red tuna, marinated squash, shiso and sesame; the Ebi Tempura roll (13€) with tempura shrimp, cucumber and shiso leaf; the eel roll (12€) with tamago omelette and sesame; or the spicy vegan roll with carrot (7€), chili paste and shiso.
Add to that a crab salad (8€), toro tuna tartare (16€) and vegetable pickles (7€) and the bill rises even higher, but if you've got the money, why deprive yourself?
Since last autumn, Takuto's iodized creations have been available for delivery in Paris and the surrounding suburbs, in specially adapted packaging that respects the product and the freshness of the recipes during transport!
This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please mention it in the comments.
