Takoyami Japanese Street Foods — Restaurant in Calgary

This is in regards to my first ever experience with this business. I called 2 days prior to my pick-up date to pre-order for an anniversary treat. I called again the day of pick-up to update my order and confirm a pick-up time of 8:20PM.

I arrived 10 minutes early. Upon entry, I wasn't greeted by anyone, so I sat down and waited patiently. There were two couples waiting for their order, also a doordash guy waiting for an order.

After 5 minutes, someone finally asked me if I had an order. I'm unsure if they worked here and were just off or if they were a friend of staff members and were just seated in the hall by the prep station. She notified people in the back that I had a pick-up order.

Someone then came out from the back to garnish some orders. During this time, a couple more people came in to make orders. There was no friendly greeting for them either.

The three orders that were there before I arrived got their food. But I could feel the awkwardness in the atmosphere. Order numbers were called but the customers seated weren't even given numbers. The delivery driver was even told that his order was sitting at the prep station but was just not seen and he had been waiting since before I arrived.

Finally they called an order number. Then I told them that I was never given a number. I then found out that my order was now incomplete because they had given part of it to the delivery driver that left 5 minutes prior. At this point it was about 8:30PM. I was notified of the mix-up and paid for the items that I received.

I understand accidents happen but I think all-around, procedures could be put in place to help your business run more smoothly. Organization and clear communication between staff members and clientele. A simple greeting could go a long way. I witnessed a customer walk out due to disappointment.

As for a food review. We ordered original, shrimp and crab takoyaki. They were absolutely delicious! However, I did notice that some balls either didn't have tako, ebi or crab in them and some had 2 pieces. Never the less, the takoyaki was amazing!

Ultimately, I would consider ordering from here again. The food was delicious! I just strongly believe that the customer experience could be elevated with some minor...

Tried this place with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, it was a letdown from what we were told to expect by reviews and others!

Menu options had all types of takoyaki available. However, some of the side options like tempura/karage don were out of stock... which we also wanted to try as a variety but were unable to.

Our order: Original 8pc Ebiyaki 8pc 2 Boba drinks (refunded)

We did not expect a 20-30 minute wait, which seems longer than you would expect for Japanese style street food... 15minutes after ordering, one of the staff told us they dont have boba either! So we could either get the drinks without pearls for the full price of $6 each or just get a refund... at this point I was already not impressed by their lack of selection on out of stock sides, so we opted for the refund, which they gave right away. Service by the staff were friendly and welcoming, but their planning for available menu items could be better.

Taste: Original 5/10 The outside wasn't as crispy as we wanted, but the taste of the batter was great. Toppings were great. The octopus inside was unfortunately not that great. It was quite chewy and tough. By the time you finish eating the rest of the takoyaki, you are left chewing on the octopus piece inside.

Ebiyaki 8/10 Same as the original in terms of batter and crispiness. However, the shrimp and cheese combo inside worked quite well. Shrimp was cooked well. This one was the best choice out of the two we picked!

Cannot rate the boba as we refunded them.

Overall, our experience was not as amazing as others have suggested about this place. I wouldn't mind coming back once they have more options available back...

I adore this spot for how true and authentic it is to the food they serve and the city from which it is inspired from. The place is narrow and the seating is limited so you can simply enjoy a quick meal with your friends or family. The focus is the food and the relationships you share with your company. Each employee was very polite and kind when taking our order, despite how close to closing we showed up. The food itself was great and the presentation was fantastic. All the combined flavours worked so well together. (We ordered the cheese and spicy.) That sensation of burning our mouths because we were too excited to eat was fun and I probably will do it again. The only fault would be its location, as it is not favourable to many people who don’t communicate in car, especially in winter. Though it was definitely worth the commute, I would love to see this expand into chinook or a place with many students. I wish this place great success and recommend everyone go! Thank you for having us! We will certainly...