Restaurant review: One restaurant, two experiences ... and a smiling robot waiter at Tiger Lane's Taki

I have friends who say it takes the pressure off when they sit down at the restaurant. Others say it adds to the experience - you can start looking forward to your meal hours before you head out to dinner.

But for those who don't even consider it, now may be the time to start.

We're heading out to Taki, one of the new restaurants in the Canberra Centre's Tiger Lane precinct. Here you do need to choose which side you'll be eating on when you book - so a sneak peak at the menu will work in your favour.

On one side it's "water", featuring shabu shabu or hot pot, and sees you sit down at traditional tatami mat seating with the central hot plate. But on the other side - and the option we choose for this evening's meal - is "fire", the yakiniku barbecue, where you can cook your own food over the coals at your table.

However, both sides of the restaurant have the option for other shared dishes.

We'll start with the main attraction - the yakiniku barbecue. We did eye the Stairway to Heaven for a moment - at $239, it's Taki's most decadent share platter. But since there are only two of us dining tonight, we figured it was a bit of overkill. We instead opt for the pork belly ($17.90), the wagyu thin karubi MB9+ ($24.90) and green prawns ($19.90).

The green prawns come out first and are already butterflied in their shells, with a dollop of butter ready to melt into the meat on the barbecue. I'm not going to lie - we were more cautious cooking with the prawns, than the other meats. Because of this, we probably overcooked it a little, but it was still tasty, albeit, simple with a slight smokiness to the flavour.

The wagyu and the pork came out together - both still slightly frozen when they did. I'm not sure if that was intentional to aid with cooking, but it seemed to work in our favour. It was clear though, that both were good-quality pieces of meat, and since we chose the karubi cut - which has a decent amount of marbling - the wagyu in particular has great flavour and is tender and juicy.

They were also served with two sauces, which we weren't entirely sure what they were or whether they were for before grilling or after. After cooking a couple of pieces of pork and wagyu, we decided to opt for one to be a pre-grill marinade and one, a post-grill dripping sauce. Both added a punch of flavour to the meat, primarily with flavours of soy sauce and garlic.

What I would have loved with this entire process, though, is a little bit of instruction or direction. Suggestions on the best way to cook the meat and what the sauces were, would have gone a long way.

To go with our barbecue, we also had a side of kimchi ($7), salt and pepper tofu salad ($13) and wagyu beef tartare ($24.90).

I love kimchi, and this one did not disappoint. It was plated as these adorable little bundles, making it super easy to portion up in this scenario. But the kimchi's cabbage had a nice crunch to it, and a great heat that warmed the mouth but wasn't overpowering.

The tartare was my favourite for the evening, though it was on the smaller side serving-wise compared to some other tartare I've had around Canberra. Served as a cube sprinkled with chives, with crispy wonton wrappers on the side. There was a creaminess to the sauce - an egg puree - and served with takuan pickles, but it was the chives that came through flavour-wise.

The tofu salad was a great side dish. It had a freshness coming from the sesame and lemon-based dressing, which coated the mixed greens nicely. And the tofu itself was not super crispy on the outside but flavoured well and nice and silky on the inside.

And then came dessert. There's not a huge dessert menu, with only a matcha tiramisu ($14), and Japanese ice cream - with matcha, black sesame and hojicha flavours available ($3.90 per scoop). So we opted for one of each and who delivered it to us, but none other than Taki's resident robot waiter. With a smiling screen face, sweet little voice and plenty of trays for meals, it brought a little bit of Tokyo technology to Canberra and added a bit of fun to the evening.

The matcha tiramisu was simple but good. There was enough sweetness in the sponge and cream, to balance out the bitterness of the matcha tea.

The ice cream was, well ice cream in a dish. Nice and simple. Flavour-wise, the black sesame won out for me, with a nice toasted, nuttiness coming through. The hojicha - which is a roasted green tea - was subtle in flavour but still on the sweeter side. While its tea cousin, the matcha flavour, was very bitter - almost too bitter.

Overall though, the Taki experience is that. An experience. You go there to not just enjoy your food, you go there to interact with it as well. Plus, how many other places in Canberra can you get served by a robot?

Address: FG16, 148 Bunda Street, Canberra

Phone: 0432 028 852

Website: taki.restaurant

Hours: Lunch, seven days, 11.30am-2.30pm. Dinner, seven days, 5pm-9.30pm; Friday and Saturday, until 10pm.

Chef: Kevin Oh

Dietary: Several options

Noise: A little noisy when full.

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