100% ambiance
“Amazing sushi, casual atmosphere”
82% food quality
“Fresh, amazing fish everytime.”
100% menu variety
“When you're not in the mood to get all "decked out" for the other Santa Monica sushi places, Taka is the place to go for fresh fish and a variety of sake.”
100% overall
“It's a good place for tourista's who want funky rolls and the standard yellowtail, tuna and california roll fare.”
66% service
“Good sushi, great value, poor service when busy”
91% value
“The price was reasonable for sushi.”
Taka-Sushi
Tips for Taka-Sushi
Santa Monica local sushi joint.
Taka sushi is right across from the Laemmle theaters in Santa Monica (& close to the 3rd street Prominade), so it makes for a great date-night combo.
But, just like you wouldn't love every movie at Laemmle, the quality of the sushi is not always top tier at Taka. I have eaten here many, many times, and usually its very good - occasionally really exceptional... but you might get an off-night every once in a while.
I will keep going back, since they have moments of brilliance, and I know how to navigate my favorites after going here for more than 15 years
Sushi was nothing special. The tuna in my sushi was particularly mushy and had a bad after-taste. The rolls were pretty, but nothing you couldn?t find at any other average sushi restaurant. All four other diners in my party, who ordered rainbow to crab rolls, agreed the place was somewhat of a disappointment.
BEST SUSHI. THIS PLACE MADE MY DAY.
This place is one of the best sushi restraunts i have ever been to! it was so delicious.
If people say that it is too little food for too much money, they should be going to hometown bufffet.
I especially love their beef tataki. their special sauce was unbelievable.
Taka Sushi clearly has the best sushi in L.A.
Terrible atmosphere, spent too much $$ for too little food. My husband and I were truly disappointed with this place. The feng shui seemed completely off before we even entered--the door is a solid steel door and not at all inviting. The configuration of tables inside was choppy and awkward to navigate. The menu featured the usual suspects, but MY GOD, the prices were disproportionate to the portions we got. The edamame was an absolute ripoff--that teeny little dish warranted $1 at most--for $4.50, we must've gotten five pods each. The spicy tuna wasn't spicy at all. The salmon and tuna were moderately tolerable if only we had more to taste. Terrible. For $60, I would've been happy eating just about anywhere else. This place put me in a bad mood. We will not go back!
Toro, hold the SCALES..
I'm not a complete sushi snob, but there's a certain standard I expect when I sit at the counter. The itamae should be able to make recommendations according to what you ordered thus far. I knew I was in trouble the moment I asked for a STARTER recommendation and the answer was Mackeral or Salmon. Later on, I ordered the toro and got a mouth full of fish scales. Unbelievable. I actually showed the scales to the chef who nodded acknolwdgement, but nothing else. And yes, they charged us for it.
This was my first encounter with a Latino itamae. His full on tattoo of the Virgin Mary that covered his entire forearm was a bit off-putting. If I wanted Rock and Roll Sushi, I would go to Tokyo Delves. His nigiri wasn't bad, except for the scale incident and the oversauced unagi and aji. Unfortunate as the fish were completely overpowered by the garnish. And the wait staff service was lacking despite the place being at maybe 65% capacity.
It's a good place for tourista's who want funky rolls and the standard yellowtail, tuna and california roll fare. But if you want quality sushi without "extras" (i.e. scales), stick with the valley.
So-so, expensive. The sushi was good, but not great. It's pretty expensive for what you get, not that it's horrible. Las time I went though, i had a mexican sushi chef .. kinda ruined the atmosphere a bit?
Good sushi, great value, poor service when busy. I've been to Taka often, since it's within walking distance of my house. The sushi is always good, the prices extremely reasonable, and the atmosphere low-key...but it's often full, and they only have 2 servers, which makes for not-so-great service. I was just there last week and stood at the door for 4 full minutes before anyone really acknowledged I was there. The sushi chefs called their usual hello, but not a glance, smile, or "just a minute!" from either of the 2 servers (doubling as host/hostess), who were walking around the place quite busily. I almost walked out, but the sushi is really good value and good quality. Fortunately, when it's not busy, the service is fine.
good sushi. Delicious Toro hand roll. The toro hand roll may have been one of the best pieces of sushi I have had outside of Tokyo. The other maki we had was covered with a little too much sauce. Overall, we enjoyed the food. The price was reasonable for sushi. They brought our orders out in a timely manner and even did well when we decided to order the Toro after we had already placed our main order.
Amazing sushi, casual atmosphere. Fresh, amazing fish everytime. Casual atmosphere,. . . a low maintenance local sushi place. When you're not in the mood to get all "decked out" for the other Santa Monica sushi places, Taka is the place to go for fresh fish and a variety of sake. . . We just love it!
Taka-Sushi
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