Taka Sushi Restaurant — Restaurant in Sandy Springs

Taka sushi offers many types of sushi (nigiri, rolls, pressed, chirashi, and sashimi) as well as other traditional Japanese fare that you may not find in other Japanese restaurants. I visited Taka sushi after an American friend's recommendation, but I was heavily disappointed in my experience there.

As the place is known for its fish, I decided to order the chirashi zushi, which is a rice bowl topped with a variety of sashimi (raw fish slices). However, this 29$ plate was small, with only about 12 slices of sashimi. The rice was cold, dry, and stale - which I cannot imagine any sane Japanese person serving... The tuna was mostly comprised of ligaments (white bands of tough filaments) which is generally considered crap parts of the tuna. The rest of the sashimi were very thinly sliced and dry.

The dish screamed leftover pieces of fish on leftover rice. For a 29$ plate, I felt insulted. Unfortunately it was my friends birthday dinner, so I could not make a scene and complain. Oy vey.

My friends ordered a variety of other dishes - sushi rolls, the sashimi salads, baked fish, stewed meat, and the specials. Aside from the baked fish (hamachi kama seemed good), we were generally unsatisfied, especially as most of the dishes are appetizer size and run 10-20$ a plate.

The rice and miso soup are not included in a meal and must be ordered separately. And to top it off, they charged me extra for a cup of green tea... I dont think Ive been ever charged for green tea at a Japanese operated restaurant. I was trying to end my meal peacefully with some hot tea, but that did not happen either...

Service was fine,with frequent water rounds, and our waitress was pleasant. The interior had a pleasant ambiance, but the tables are somewhat closely placed. I could hear way too much of the neighbor table's conversations...

Now, I believe that if someone likes a place it isn't my place to judge. We all have different preferences. It seems like alot of people enjoy Taka Sushi. However, in good conscience, I could not recommend this place to any of my friends. The quality of the dishes are unacceptable for its high price. Ive had better sushi at a local sketchy pan-Asian restaurant... That being said, they do offer a variety of dishes (like baked fish and pressed sushi) that one can only find in a Japanese operated...

My problem was with the food so here are my pros and cons. Pro: the staff was so nice, welcoming and accommodating with our little ones.

Con: my friend and I ordered a teriyaki chicken bento box for lunch and when we received it we noticed the chicken looked too soft. As we started to eat it it was very rubbery and seemed undercooked. The second piece of chicken I cut into was red and looked extremely undercooked. When we brought it to the servers attention she was very apologetic and asked what else we wanted but the immediately after cane back to explain that the cooks told her it couldn’t have been undercooked because they first microwave it then put it on a pan to cook. My friend and I looked frightened at the fact. We thought, why would he tell her to say that!? That’s not a good response and no cook in their right mind should ever say that 🤦🏼‍♀️, no wonder it was undercooked they microwave it, which is terrifying. Then the cook himself came out to explain how he knows it wasn’t undercooked because he first cooks it then microwaves it because it’s chicken and want to be sure it’s fully cooked. This didn’t make us feel much better. He said he was happy to replace it this time though and just wanted to let us know we had nothing to worry about.

Basically the bento box wasn’t a good choice and if you go I suggest anything other than that because I don’t trust half microwaved chicken to ensure it’s properly prepared. Who...

Update: I have forwarded my complaint to the owner. There is the reply: "We try to be best always." I quote,

Only the single sentence. nothing else.

At this point, I feel the owner does not quite care about customers' experience. Maybe it is the very reason the service level is always worse than other competitor such as tomo throughout the whole two-year period I've been dining in Taka and reached the intolerable breaking point recently.

But let me be fair. The food is always good, among the best ones can find in Atlanta, the only problem is the rapidly declining waiting service.

I guess we will switch to other restaurants for our daily meals. After all one is not willing to pay while being treated disrespectfully.

How sad.....we used to dine 3-5 times per week there.

Let me list some alternatives for people who want to switch away from Taka:

Umi in buckhead: much more expensive but better in terms of sushi. It also offers great wagyu beef, which I don't think any other restaurants does offer in Atlanta.

Tomo in buckhead: less impressive in terms of tastes of sushi. It also offers much westernized dishes and great atmosphere. A much better choice for Americans.

Sushi Mito in Norcross: newly opened Izakaya indeed. Don't order sushi there, only good for Izakaya dishes. It is much better than Shoya.

These are the only three great Japanese restaurants in my mind...