Takumi Japanese Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Columbia

Every now and again I get a craving for sushi. No I’m not a huge fan, but I do get a taste for it. I tend to go for the cooked versions of sushi, but will occasionally try the raw versions. Welp…I wanted some, I got some!! . Where I am: @takumisushicolumbiamall . Location Reviewed: 10300 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia M.D. . Items Reviewed: STAMP!! Their Shirley Temple Mocktail ($7 with cherry, lemon, lime, & it’s carbonated). Refreshing, sweet, & tart!!

DECENT. Their Fried Purple Sweet Potato ($8 purple sweet potatoes, fried). I needed a dip, & some sweetness to this.

STAMP!! Their Shrimp Tempura ($13 with tempura-lightly battered & fried-shrimp, broccoli, onions, & a yam). Lightly crisp, tasty, & well cooked!!

LIKE THAT!! Their Blue Crab Fried Rice ($19 with crab meat, onion, mushrooms, snow peas, carrots, scallions, & egg). Higher quality ingredients, & fulfilling!!

STAMP!! Their Udon Noodle ($17 with chicken, mushrooms, bean sprouts, Napa, wood ear, carrots, snow peas, onions, egg, scallions, & green pepper). Well sauced, & plentiful!!

All Sushi/Maki rolls case with wasabi, & ginger STAMP!! Their Hot Mama Maki Roll ($15 a deep fried roll with Kani cheese, salmon, whitefish, eel sauce, & spicy mayo). A cheese taste, & savory with a slight crunch!!

LIKE THAT!! Their Takumi Maki Roll ($19 with spicy tuna, avocado, kombu paper, lobster tempura, & a truffle sauce). Spicy, thick, with a thick piece of fried lobster!!

LIKE THAT!! Their NY Maki Roll ($18 with shrimp tempura, cheese, snow crab, Tobiko, & sweet spicy mayo). You taste each ingredient, tasty!!

STAMP!! Their Strawberry Mochi ($7 a strawberry sweet dough with a strawberry ice cream in the middle). Sweet, soft, perfect!! . Parking: ROUGH!! It’s mall parking!!

Customer Service: On Point

Recommendations: Try the rice, noodles, mochi, & the Hot Mama maki!!

Accessibility: Wheelchair & differently abled persons come on in!!

The Inside: Nice, swanky, & clean.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️=STAMP ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️➕=LIKE...

I went with a friend and had dinner there. It was very promising; we had heard good things from our friend. We walked in, the ambiance was lovely, the decor is lovely. We were greeted and seated. We had some questions about the menu. The waitress could not answer them and did have to go back and ask the chef, which is fine. While we did order sushi and nigiri, I was surprised how long the food took. One of us ordered sashimi. There was skin on the sashimi and my friend asked for it to be removed. So they took the plate back and after a few minutes the plate came back. But when we looked, there was no change. It didn't look like any of the skin had been removed. The quality of my nigiri was very good. I thought the fish was great. My friend did not enjoy their sashimi. We had sake, which was fine. Our waitress checked on us enough. But then, finally as we were wrapping up our meal, we asked for another order of sake, which she promptly brought. But as soon as she brought the sake, she said, "Would you like your check now?" I didn't understand why the rush to give us our check. So that was that. Eventually we got our check and we paid it. We were not offered any kind of dessert or anything. The bathroom, honestly, was dirty. The door latch does not work. There's a paper sign saying that. There's stuff like paper, toilet paper, and other supplies stored under the sink in plain view. And then, finally, there were no paper towels. And apparently it was like that for a while, for over an hour. Bluntly, this place is not a well-run establishment, from my experience. And I definitely will not...

It was great when they first opened, when the menu hadn’t been finalized, and I was excited to come today. I don’t know if it was an off day, they changed chefs since the soft opening, or if the permanent menu was designed inflate profit margins or what, but it was not good. The rice was cold, tough, and bland on the nigiri. The fish wasn’t nearly as high quality or flavorful as it used to be. The oysters used to be the best I’ve ever had, these were a slog to get through. It was hot in the mall today, I mean really hot and initially it felt fine after walking in, but the seating is always by the windows for some reason so I was uncomfortable and ill as a result. We couldn’t get warm food and a big meal turned into cold dishes just to eat quickly and leave. The server interrupted both our first and last bites to ask how it is and then to deliver the check.. no rush. Kind of a nitpick but like please… just leave us be for a moment. Damn. Truly, I wanted to love my meal today. I rarely get out due to disability and it was my husband’s treat, whatever I wanted. I hiked across the entire mall with all the down escalators out with a mobility aid for takumi specifically. I was planning to run his tab up high, but it just wasn’t worth eating. Really disappointing....