Marbella Ta-Kumi Japanese restaurant comes to Malaga

Toshio and Álvaro, the heads of the Japanese Ta-Kumi restaurant in Marbella, will make the leap to Malaga to open their second business in the province. If the deadlines are met, the new establishment plans to open on 15 November in Calle Mundo Nuevo, next to the Plaza de la Merced, where until now the Japanese restaurant Osaki was situated.

The managers of the new business explain that they had been exploring the possibility of opening in Malaga for three years, since it was a place that attracted them as much for its potential as for sentimental reasons. Álvaro Arbeloa, one of the partners of Ta-Kumi, explained that he is from the city and a large number of his current clients also come from there.

After examining various possibilities, they reached an agreement with the owners of Osaki, who also run the seafood restaurant Ababor in Cerrado de Calderón, and who had been in charge of the premises for only a few months. We believe that we have good prospects here, since we offer traditional Japanese food without fusions of other cuisine -something that is not available in Malaga at the moment, Álvaro said.

They have chosen a building with a great Japanese tradition; before Osaki there was Zenart there, one of the first Asian restaurants in the capital. It is a very good location, one step away from the centre, but without being in the middle of everything, in a street where few cars pass and there is a public car park nearby, he adds.

It is the only commercial premises on the street, which leads up to the Alcazaba. The views will be another of our selling points, he jokes.

The restaurant has 108 metres square of floor space divided into two floors with a capacity for about 40 diners. Initially there will be six staff under chef Antonio Jiménez, who used to work in the original business. We are not going to change anything; our idea is that the client will enjoy the same menu and the same quality as in Marbella, he explained.

Opening inside what was already a restaurant should mean they will be ready to open in just three weeks. We will only have to update some of the equipment and the decor, explained Antonio.

The biggest challenge is making the business a success in this particular street where no business has succeeded in the past.