★★★☆☆
Recently, a friend and I took a trek over to Takara, a Japanese restaurant located a 15-minute walk from Wheeler Dormitory out in Linden Square. The sushi, in my opinion, deserves at least four stars in its own right. While the non-sushi dishes that I did order were certainly good as well, they’re rather expensive. Because of this, when I go back, I most likely won’t order anything more than sushi.
Walking into Takara, I was, at first, confused. First, the restaurant is closed from 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM every day, something I had to learn the hard way. Second, the entrance is located in the back parking lot, and while there are signs to lead people to it, it was somewhat difficult to navigate while walking at night. Still, we figured it out eventually.
The atmosphere of the restaurant itself is rather cozy. There were a couple other families inside, and it’s a bit cramped, but not so much so that I’m being forced to eavesdrop on the tables around me.
We ordered two sushi dishes—the avocado maki and sakekyu inside out roll—as well as the chicken teriyaki and spicy tuna avocado salad. This all came to a total of $40.86 (without tip). The sushi at Takara in particular is what really sold my friend and me. For one thing, it’s much less expensive to get solely sushi rolls. As someone who has a pretty basic food palate, the avocado maki and sakekyu inside out roll are totally worth it. The sakekyu inside out roll has become a new favorite of mine, and I’ve already ordered it three times since this dinner. It’s just salmon with cucumber or avocado (we got avocado) but, honestly, five stars right there. Again, my tastebuds are pretty basic, but for all fans of the avocado roll, I’m telling you, the sakekyu inside out roll is where it’s at.
While the chicken teriyaki and spicy tuna avocado salad were certainly good in their own right but more expensive than other dishes on the menu. As two broke high school students, we just can’t be dropping $15.25 on chicken teriyaki unless it’s literally the best chicken teriyaki we have ever consumed in our entire lives. And, unfortunately, while it was pretty good, it didn’t meet the mark.
Takara is relatively busy at prime dinner times. We got there at about 6:30 and didn’t end up leaving till around 8:00 because it took awhile to get our receipt. While we were seated fairly quickly, we were somehow simultaneously rushed and also kept waiting throughout the evening. It took us about 15 to 20 minutes after we were done eating and our plates were cleared to actually get out of there. If you’re in a hurry, I would recommend coming in around 5:00 or 8:00. Overall, the dining experience was nice, even if it was dragged out a bit longer than we would’ve liked.
