Adventure 12: Takara

Takara Japanese Restaurant (website)
315 State St.
3 Adjectives: Expensive, entertaining, mediocre.
Price: app (4-10) entree (6-30)
Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Other Opinions: yelp, onwisconsin, yahoolocal, amake...
---
Spring is here. Time for a new look and long walks to the best of Madison dining.

Takara is one of the two Japanese restauarants on State Street. Although the atmosphere is much more upscale than its competitor, Wasabi, the quality of the food and service is somewhat variable.

The restaurant features many bamboo decorations and is divided into a general dining section, a hibachi grill section, and a sushi bar. Since Ginza's closure, Taraka probably has the sole hibachi experience in downtown Madison. At the hibachi, a server will cook your food in front of you on a giant hot grill and chances are he will also demonstrate some neat knife tricks. Come with a big party for this, because if you come with one or two others, chances are you will have to share your table with another party, which can sometimes be awkward.

On my most recent trip to Takara, I went with a friend for dinner. He ordered several sushi rolls while I settled with Yaki Udon and a few sashimi a la carte. Luckily the server seated us close to the hibachi grills, so we got a nice view of the knife throwing action. Although I usually get very slow service at Takara, our server was very prompt and straightforward. However, our food did not arrive at the same time, something that this restaurant has never quite got right.

I was surprised when my sashimi arrived that all the fish portions were nice and generous. This is usually where Japanese restaurants in the US are skimpy. The only lack of foresight on my part was ordering a piece of toro (tuna belly) which turned out to be $6 - much higher than the price of most single sashimi pieces ($1.7-$2.5)! Therefore, I would advise asking the server before you order "seasonal priced" items.

On the other hand, the yaki udon was a complete disappointment. The pasta was not very tasty and was tossed with too many random vegetables. In addition, the plate was strangely decorated with a border of orange slices (not knowing what else to do, I ate them for "dessert").

My friend seemed to enjoy his sushi, however, and mentioned that Takara has a good sushi roll lunch special (two for $8.5, three for $11.25 - with soup/salad). Here's our two cents on Taraka: pass up the pricey dinner - unless you are ordering hibachi to entertain guests - and try out the sushi for lunch.