Takashi — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

I've been going to Takashi since it opened about 20 yrs ago... and back then it was kind of a big deal because there really was no sushi game in SLC. So... it's kind of easy to be "the best sushi in Salt Lake City" when you're pretty much the only game in town.

And, you know, sushi isn't rocket science. All it takes, really, to make good sushi is fresh fish and a knife. Go to virtually any of the 5000 or so basic, everyday, neighborhood sushi restaurants in Tokyo for example and you'll get at least as good--often much better--sushi than you'll find at Takashi... at very affordable prices.

I'm not an insider at Takashi so I can't say for sure, but my impression is that Takashi has been suffering from its own success for a while now. When they first opened up they had to try harder... because they were new and struggling and had spent all this money and taken this big risk... and had no reputation to lean on. But as they got more successful and got richer, they just stopped working as they used to... and are, as the saying goes, resting on their laurels.

The sushi here was never "amazing!"... it was just good "for Salt Lake City". But now, it's not even really that. I mean, it's not bad... it's workmanlike... but it's certainly no better than the sushi at Tsunami on 9th or Toyko Tower or Sapa or Itto. And the service certainly isn't any better. I ate here last night and my server was kind of a odd-ball hippie type that seemed like he was on peyote or something.

And how hard is it to have a current, accurate menu that people can actually hold in their hands and read and order from??? When we asked for menus he looked at us like we were aliens... and then when he did bring them over he said "Sorry but these are a few years old so all of the prices are crossed out and some of the items are no longer available and there are some new things that aren't listed". So... basically you just handed me a useless piece of paper. It costs about .25 to print something. And it's hard to imagine that they don't have some kind office space somewhere on the premises... where they do things like order food and pay bills and do payroll, scheduling, etc. And I bet they have a computer and a printer in that space. But I guess it's just too much trouble to update a Google Docs menu now and then and print a few out to have handy for the customers.

But, I get it. For a small business owner... just starting out... doing a lot of things themselves... excellence isn't that hard to achieve. But it's definitely hard to maintain as you grow... and get older... and get richer... and have to hire more people... and have to rely on them more and more. Because let's face it. American kids in their teens and 20's are not the same as Japanese people in their 50's and 60's. And excellent is just no longer a word that I can use to describe Takashi anymore. The prices are high, the food is just OK, the ambience is fine but aging... and the service is average at best. And, well, downtown's just not that cool anymore... thanks largely to horde of homeless that have been allowed to take it over in the past decade. It doesn't have the same vibe it did 20 yrs ago when Takashi opened and Gastronomy Inc was still in full effect, with as many as 10 different, excellent restaurants downtown.

But, thanks to it's past reputation, Takashi will continue on... making OK sushi... and making money hand over fist. And that's great for them. That's the American way. But don't expect anything special or amazing when you go there. It's just...

This place is amazing. Ready for some unique and very flavorful dishes? This is the place to be. If there’s a wait, join the line - don’t pass it up.

Dishes we had: Spicy Tako: A unique spicy octopus with seaweed salad and eel sauce wrapped in seaweed roll. It was quite tasty, but the other dishes outshone it.

Wagyu Nikumaki: American wagyu beef wrapped around carrot and green onion, lightly grilled and served with three dipping sauces. I’ve never had a sushi place serve grilled wagu; it was ok, but the meat wasn’t as tender as I’d hoped (it didn’t melt in your mouth).

Magic Dragon: A pretty typical dragon roll. Good flavor, but nothing overly special.

Caribbean: yellowtail, fresh mango, spicy sauce and fresh chili peppers. Here things got interesting. The mango was ripe and delicious. It really complemented the fish. The fresh chili peppers were definitely spicy, but you could pick them off to lessen the spice factor if desired. I’ve never had anything like it before and would highly recommend giving it a try. 15 spicy, yummy mango

Surf and Snow: asian pear, avocado, shiso inside; new zeland salmon, hirame, sliced lime, thai chiles, and ponzu on top. This was a table favorite (along with the next roll). You can really taste the lime, and the pear gave it a subtle crunch. Outstanding flavor profile.

Strawberry Fields: escolar, strawberry, spicy sauce and fresh chili peppers inside; toasted almonds and eel sauce on top. strawberry in sushi - what?! It worked so well. The strawberries were ripe and juicy, and the toasted almonds added a crunch and additional flavor. The most unique sushi roll I’ve ever had. I would come back just for this roll.

Genmaicha Tea: toasted rice-green tea, served hot. You can really smell and taste the toasted rice - very similar to a toasted almonds. Don’t let it steep for too overly long or it may start to become slightly bitter. Yum!

Mango Mousse: Mango flavored mousse with raspberry and mandarin orange purees. The mango flavor was great, and wasn’t overpowered by the raspberry.

Candy Cap Panna Cotta: A silky Italian classic flavored with candy cap mushrooms that naturally taste like maple syrup! It’s true - the ground up mushroom flakes on top really do taste like maple syrup. Crazy! Who would have thought that mushrooms would be good in a dessert?

Overall a great experience. We’ll definitely be back when we come...

easily the best sushi place i’ve ever been to food wise. however, our experience thursday night was easily the most tense i’ve ever been at a restaurant.

it was our friends 21st birthday, and we waited outside for about an hour because we had a group of seven and got told on the phone that they didn’t take reservations. got up to the host stand, and got an eye roll and admonishing “you don’t have a reservation?” we said we were sorry and that we thought they didn’t take them. nevertheless, she seats us. our waiter, sean, immediately greets our table, and we tell him we need a minute to decide on what we want. we were with friends from out of town who had never been here, so we had to talk them through the menu. sean comes back, is flustered that we’re still deciding, and goes as far as rolling his head back and looking at the ceiling. sorry. didn’t mean to upset you sean. still, we ordered some appetizers and said thank you.

when we ordered our main courses, a few of us ordered the same roll. his reply? “great, they’re gonna love that” again, i’m sorry, but we didn’t make any modifications or anything, we just know what we like and are certainly paying enough to deserve what we want. one of the people at our table didn’t receive his meal until all of us were done eating (we waited at first but he told us to go ahead and eat because it was taking so long). when he mentioned it to the server, he said “what you ordered takes more time” and then admitted there had been a mix up when it did finally come.

when it came time to pay, we mentioned that we needed to split the check. he was very upset and lectured us, saying, “you really need to tell people this before you order” and stormed off. if we didn’t feel so rushed in the beginning, maybe we would have. you also could have asked. i am a server, and i ask. i understand that groups of younger adults are typically viewed as terrible tippers, but treating us this way made it hard to want to leave a generous tip. regardless, i tried to ration that maybe sean was just having a tough night and we still tipped over 20%. we certainly showed some frustration by the end of the meal and while we were uncoordinated in how we ordered, i do not think we deserved to be treated this way. didn’t ask for a manager because it wasn’t worth looking like a karen. again, i’m sorry sean. i understand everyone has their days, but this was...