Taku Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Upper Merion Township

Im just leaving this establishment and Im honestly disappointed. Ive come here twice before and today the service was not up to par. Myself and my son were seated at a hibachi table just the two of us. The waited came over and took our drink order. Shortly after a couple comes in and is seated next to us. The waiter comes back and starts taking their drink orders and ask if they want appetizers then takes our appetizer order. After that it was like the waited forgot me and my son were sitting there. We were never asked if we wanted drink refills or dessert. He asked the couple if they were there for a special occasion but never asked us. He would come over ask if they need anything, only look at them, and then walked away without acknowledging my son and I to the point I had to say “Excuse me, we are here too” and then I asked for a cup of ice for my son. I had to also ask for the check after he only came to see if the couple needed anything else. It made the whole energy at the table awkward. He then comes back to get the check, grabs both, but I had to tell him I hadn’t paid yet. They bring out the dessert for the couple to sing happy birthday to the husband. He then asked if my son was finished eating with half his food still on the plate and I said we needed a box. He came back with the box and after I put my sons food in the box he cleared his plate and my plate too but I wasn’t finished eating. When I finally gave him check I politely let him that it may not have been intentional but I felt my son and I were ignored almost the entire time. He made excuses saying he was speaking to the whole table but he never looked at us at all unless I asked him a direct question. After I pay the $87 check with a $20 tip he comes back and offers us a the same cake he gave the couple. We accepted because my so. Would like it, but I didn't want cake. I wanted to be treated like me and my son weren’t invisible and my money mattered. Its a shame because we liked this place before but I don't think Ill...

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📍 Taku Japanese Steakhouse - King of Prussia, PA ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Food:

Miso Soup – Warm and comforting, but fairly standard.

Spicy Kani Salad – Cute presentation, fresh with a bit of spice. – Portion felt small for the price.

Sweet Potato Tempura Roll – Fresh and incredibly tasty with a perfect sweetness. – Definitely a roll I’d order again!

Pink Orchard Roll – Crunchy with a nice hint of mango that blended well with the other flavors. – Could’ve used a bit more spice, and I was hoping for a bit more flavor with all the ingredients. – The fish was very fresh, though.

Chicken & Salmon Hibachi – The chicken pieces were cut a bit thick and tasted plain. – The salmon was good but nothing standout. – Fresh veggies seasoned with salt and pepper, and the fried rice was less flavorful than expected. – Yum yum sauce was mild but still enjoyable.

Noodles – Tasty, but didn’t stand out; could’ve used a bit more butter or sauce.

Egg Sushi – Unique and fresh, but a bit too sweet for my liking—probably wouldn’t order again.

Red Bean Mochi Ice Cream – Lacked flavor, a bit disappointing.

Green Tea Tempura Ice Cream – Mostly fried dough with not much green tea ice cream inside. – The ice cream was good, but it had melted into a soup.

I was invited to dine here, so I brought my best friend along. The atmosphere was lively and cute, making it a fun spot to visit. Some dishes were quite tasty, but I wasn’t blown away overall—especially for the price. If you’re visiting, I’d recommend sticking to the sushi and specialty rolls over the hibachi. I regret not trying one of their cocktails—they looked delicious! This seems to be a popular spot, so a reservation is a good idea.

Date...

We were able to easily get a reservation here this past Saturday night and decided to skip hibachi and try the regular side of the restaurant.

We started with the Spicy Dancing Shrimp appetizer. This had good flavor and the portion size was good. It was a little heavy on the sauce, but we would order this again.

We also ordered the vegetable tempura roll, sweet potato tempura roll, shrimp tempura roll, and eel avocado roll. The thickness of the rolls was inconsistent, and some of the rolls were too wide to eat in one bite. I would have actually preferred less sweet potato in the roll itself - just 2-3 pieces of it would have been good rather than a bunch of smaller ones, and this would have made it easier to eat.

We also ordered the Fire Island roll. Sadly neither of us enjoyed this roll - the crab meat was imitation crab, and it was shredded on top, which gave it an odd texture. And despite being set on fire, it was lukewarm. The texture and lukewarm temperature paired with the mayo was off-putting, so we only ate the one piece each we initially tried (and the only reason I finished eating the one piece is because there was no where to spit it out...). I also thought the price was a bit steep for what was presented ($20).

For dessert we split the green tea tempura ice cream. This tasted as expected and was plenty for two of us to split.

Overall I would say this is 3.5ish stars. I expected to be more wowed by this place but I left feeling a little meh about it. We will probably go back so we can try the hibachi, but I think there are other places in the area with better sushi. That said, beside the Fire Island roll, I thought the prices...