Taka

I enjoyed my dining experience at Taka. Amazing quality nigiri with fun Easter egg. I ate mostly ikura. Loveeee how they marinate their ikura with dashi. I would eat a whole bowl of it if I can. Tried their sake oyster shooter and it was delicious. So the Easter egg I found there was this snake shochu from Okinawa. I've never seen one before. I was tempted to try but it feels way too intimidating for me to drink (im not badass enough lol) but it's such a cool presentation. Personally, I love when restaurant has unique item, and this one definitely got a "wow" from me!One can tell the chefs take pride in their work here. Quality is high at Taka.

Overall: An average sushi spot, not great or bad, in Gaslamp.The good: Friendly service who were very helpful with accommodating our 1 year old and outdoor seating. Relatively large menu with a lot of different options. Some outdoor seating.The not-so-good: Some of the flavors were lacking and the fish didn't taste particularly fresh. We were expecting more given the location and price.Food/drink: 6/10Atmosphere: 7/10Service: 8/10

Was in town for business and this spot was convenient walking distance from my hotel since it's in the gaslamp.Food - we sat at bar and started with salmon belly, sweet shrimp, bluefin tuna, followed by ankimo, kanpachi, red snapper. All was fresh and delicious.Service - sushi chef was amazing, waiters could be more attentive in refill of drinks.Ambiance - small, quaint and clean. If you're staying near gaslamp, super convenient location.

Cute sushi place on 5th avenue in the Gaslamp! It may seem small, but the food and service is great! You feel like you're in Japan in the middle of San Diego. Such an authentic feel, the food is amazing. The sushi rolls here literally melt in your mouth!

Really solid option for sushi in the gaslamp quarter. Service was prompt and friendly. We were there on the earlier side, so it was pretty quiet. The sushi bar had what appeared to be locals out for their post work sushi fix. Overall the sushi was good. Above average for sure but I've had better. I would definitely come here again if you're looking for a reliable place for sushi that won't totally break your bank.

I picked this place because my wife wanted sushi, and she rarely does. Taka had a reservation.This place is amazing. The fish is so fresh and had a number of things I never have had before.We sat at the sushi bar with Taka himself as our sushi chef. I ordered the things I like. My wife got what she likes. I chatted with Taka and learned a lot.The ankimo here is made here. Most places buy it made, Not here. It was excellent. I also had a bluefin sashimi sampler. which was 2 pieces of bluefin, 2 pieces of chutoro, 2 pieces of otoro. Delightful. The Japanese scallop sashimi was also excellent.The saba was the best i've ever had. it was so incredible. Sardine was suggested and it went well with the saba, with shizo leaf inside. Really good.I finished with comparing japanese and san diego uni. loved the contrast. both great. Then i had amago, also recommended, as dessert sushi.Great fish. Prepared very well. Great selection. Given the incredible quality, the prices are fine. It's not ayce or budget sushi. It's super high quality.The place is small, but it's comfortable. the design is simple, yet elegant. the chefs all wear ties under their outfits. the waiters all wear ties. this is a really great place,

Freshest sashimi/nigiri downtown! I prefer Taka to the other sushi places in the Gaslamp (Lumi, Nobu) because the fish is both fresh and the establishment is unassuming. They put their focus on the food and great service. Their prices are very reason for Gaslamp as well.

Saikō! (最高 / the best)Amazing presentation and precision I love sitting at the bar to talk with the chefs. What dedication and pride when you meet a true Itamae. Live Sweet ShrimpLive Lobster served sashimi style with the head cooked into your miso soupRaymond was my sushi chef talked with me about my selections as well as other items on the menu. This is in the top 5 sushi experiences I've had outside of Japan. Well done you. I'll certainly make this a regular when in SD. I mean after I've had some Mexican food of course.

This was was average, nothing special or spectacular. I found this place through social media so I decided to check it out, especially since it was located in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown, which was where my friends and I were staying. At first glimpse, it was really polished and fancy. There was a chef's counter, indoor and outdoor seating. Since we had reservations, we opted to seat at a table indoors. Service was really slow. We waited a long time for someone to come take our order, and had to flag down several people to get a waiter's attention. Not sure why that was the case, especially because we saw other tables getting served. The food was also just okay, nothing remarkable.. We tried ordering a variety of sashimi and rolls to try but honestly none of them really stood out to me. I would say I liked the oysters and the yellowtail and blue fin tuna sashimi the most, but I wouldn't order either rolls again. They were pretty basic, and I felt like the rice was over powering. I would say for the price and quality of food, this place wouldn't be top of mind since my experience here was just average.

What a great experience!We ended up sitting at the bar. I made a bad joke to our chef about his name being the same as the restaurant, he politely said it wasn't him I didn't think anything else of it.I was having trouble deciding what to get so I asked the chef to just make what he likes best. He said, so we could do sashimi style and I said sure let's do it. I saw there was abalone in the cooler and I used to dive for it so I got excited and asked him to add that as well. I was talking to the chef about eating and being in Japan when I was there for work, and was probably pretty annoying about it. Anyways, he worked on the plate and when it was done he went through everything that was on it. The toro was amazing, I've had it before it wasn't like this. The fat basically makes the fish melt in your mouth. We had a great time, went to a concert after, it was a great night. It wasn't till the morning after I started putting two and two together about chef and his name was Taka. I went on the website and saw it was his restaurant. To me it just made it more special. The way he treated us was amazing. Such a nice humble person. To have an experience like that where you're not aware that you are being served by the owner and how we were treated was special. I'd recommend this place to anyone.