Takai by Kashiba

The only reason this is a 4 star is because I've been to most of the other high end sushi places in the area and it's fierce competition. I'm sure on any given day they could all compete for the top spot.Ambiance I would describe as Bellevue standard. It's modern, clean, but nothing about it particularly stands out.Service was 4.5 which I would expect at this price point. Dishes were explained well, courses timed well, but I had to ask for a thing or two twice- no biggie.The presentation was 5/5. Minimalist given the nature of it being sushi, but the dish selection and placement was perfect.The freshness of the food was obviously 5/5 but I wouldn't expect any less at this price point. I appreciated the uniqueness of some aspects like marinated tuna or clear jelly on top of an oyster, but I'm not quite convinced everything worked.Value 3/5. I believe it was 11 dishes for omakase. I can't say I was a huge fan of every single dish unlike other places I've tried at this price point. The overwhelming majority of them were very good though. At this price point, my wallet doesn't quite agree with dedicating 2 dishes to tempura and ice cream though. Where the value really dips for me is in the drink selection. There really isn't a reasonably affordable bottle selection nor is it the best value by the glass. Their selection of bottles on the low end(by memory) was $200 and went as high as ~$1800? Not sure who is buying those but not I. The pairing I believe was $60 which isn't the worst but certainly way better value to be had.Given the seasonality of sushi restaurants, would I come back? Definitely. Was the food very fresh? Definitely. Do I think it is the best value at this price point? No.

This place is so good. Amazing service as soon as you enter. They have coat check and even a purse hanger for you. When we left they handed our coats and they are warm and toasty. Very thoughtful.We sat at the sushi counter and I loved the experience. You get to see the sushi chefs make the sushi and our chef was friendly yet knew not to intrude as my friend and I were catching up. All the fish were amazing and were special. Some fish while I've tasted before just was prepared different (whether with a hint of sauce) that it tasted super unique.I'd highly recommend coming here to try it out if you haven't. Just top notch service and food. Saw lots of couples here and the atmosphere was elegant. Chef Kashiba also made an appearance. He was standing by the sushi chefs and observing.Thanks to Yelp reviews I followed the parking instructions. Make a turn onto 2nd street once you past the restaurant and park at the first parking structure you see. You scan the code to pay, but before you do make sure you apply the discount code that is provided by the restaurant. They validate up to two hours. Make sure you pay immediately as you park as I noticed a parking officer already running to check whether I paid for my parking spot.

This was a beautiful omakase experience in downtown Bellevue! We were very lucky to be served by Chef Jun the whole night by the sushi bar. The sushi bar experience is super worth it if it's your first time ever trying omakase.All the fish and ingredients were super fresh. It was nice for Chef Jun to started the experience by asking us what some of our favorite fish were so he could cater the omakase experience to our liking.The vibes felt very high end and fitting with it being in downtown Bellevue. Great place for a nice celebration :)

Came here for my birthday in February . Had the omakase with an added fresh sea urchin. Service is polite and efficient . Multiple courses that are well presented and well explained. Plenty of food for omakase and well rounded and balanced omakase set. Intimate setting, good choices for drinks and dessert, and beautiful ambiance.

Oiiiii, it's rare for me to review right away after a restaurant experience but Takai by Kashiba = a must write! For those who aren't familiar, Takai is one of Kashiba's newest establishment featuring his apprentice, Jun Takai and oh boy, does it hit the high end luxury side of sushi. Price point is around $193/person for the omakase and if you're looking to splurge, all additional sushi/nigiri orders outside the omakase set is at market price. Things to know about Takai: Parking & Location: Located in Bellevue, Takai is pretty easy to find. For parking, easiest place to park is the attached parking lot to the building. There is validated parking from Takai, so make sure to call the place and ask for the code :)Reservations: Super easy to do online or call but highly recommend making a reservation for the COUNTER SEATING! Trust.... The intimate atmosphere of Takai calls for only 6 spots at the counter and it's worth the experience. Ambiance: Classy and the dress code is smart casual. This place is a great excuse to dress up a wee bit and is perfect for dates and celebrations. Service: Was very fortunate enough to get greeted warmly at the door by Chef Kashiba (!!!) and overall, the staff was lovely and nice. Star of the night was definitely Chef Takai who did a wonderful job at presenting the food, telling the history/facts about the fish, and made sure all of the guests were comfortable. Whenever any of the guests wanted pictures, Chef Takai made sure we got the best angle and lighting, so thank you Chef Takai for all of your patience! :)Omakase Experience: Featuring a total of 31 items that consisted of appetizers, nigiri, sushi variety, and dessert, this was an amazing feast. To sum it up, Chef Takai has done a great job in selecting fish and other sea critters like crab, shrimp, geoduck that are from Japan, Spain and Washington. Every piece that was presented came with a quick fact of how long it was aged (average being around 6-9 days and longest being 16) and a quick blurb of what type of seasoning is used. Having done quite a bit of Omakase places in Seattle, this by far has been the most informative and yummy experience by far. Food Quality & Presentation: 10/10 for me. Temperature of the food, especially when it came to the Hokkaido Hairy Crab and Scallops = perfection. All the fish tasted fresh without a hint of the sea and quality itself was superb. More than half of the fish I had was a oh my goodness, melt in your mouth butter moment. Tea Pairing: Unique to this Omakase experience for me was definitely the tea pairing. Usually I'm more of a sake pairing when it comes to fish but being a tea lover, I couldn't resist trying out the tea option. With a steep price point of $45 for the tea pairing, I would say it's well worth it. Quality of the tea was amazing, with everything sourced directly from Japan. Overall, tried 6 different types of tea and it went really well with the Omakase experience. Definitely recommend this option if you want something different and non alcoholic. The little things that makes the night better...-If you're the type to savor your nigiri with your hands, there is a small wet wipe provided for your fingers-Complimentary Nikka whisky tasting at the end was such a surprise! -Complimentary sparkling wine was provided for my special celebration thereOverall, I absolutely loved my first visit here and it certainly won't be my last :)

The reason why it took me so long to stop in here is because one of my sons doesn't really like fish and when I make reservations on OpenTable, it looks like the only choice is to have the full course menu. So there were three of us that went my son who isn't really into fish didn't go although he loves crab and scallops so he would've been fine. When we sat down, we saw that there could be à la cart ordering so it turns out he totally could've come. I was iffy on attending because I'm not familiar with sitting down and not knowing what I'm going to get from a Japanese restaurant but I decided why not. I am really glad I did. Everything was delicious. I typically like very heavy flavors and these were not heavy flavors but I tell you I have never had sushi this fresh and so beautifully delicately done outside of Japan.I was so curious that I ended up trying and enjoying the raw scallop which I have not liked in the past. Well, it turns out that I was eating the scallops at the wrong place. I also tried Uni for the first time I can't believe I tried it was not something I really had to get used to because I believe this was top notch Uni.We all had the course meal, and my husband had the tea course service, which was so fun to see him enjoy- he loved it! I had a glass of white wine and then a glass of rosé. They didn't have red, which makes sense with the food that they serve. We were celebrating my son, and there was a small toast in the beginning, which was a really nice gesture, because so many times would making reservations. The restaurant asked if we're celebrating anything and there's been a couple times in the past where nothings been done, so why do you even ask?Anyway, the service here is second to nowhere on the east side. They noticed that my son was left-handed and served his dishes. Accordingly, there were so many small touches that I really did appreciate. They had to be watching our table to know when to bring out the next course it was very Canlisesque. If I'm going out to eat, I do appreciate the craft of restaurant service and a place that highly respects the food and the dining experience so if I could give this more than five stars I would. In fact, this is the type of place that makes me go back and want to review everywhere I've given forward five stars to and bring their score down star to punctuate what a five star should be.We were greeted by I believe the owner who came to our table in the cutest hat very sweet gentleman. I can't express how please I am that I tried this place. We will be back many many times.Only drawback, we parked in the parking lot just south of the building. There was plenty of parking there, but we got a ticket so be mindful of where you park.Oh, and I thought I had the best hojicha ice cream before.... I way, no how. The best is HERE.

Is the chef counter experience pricey? yes, but Takai is a special experience for sure. Best omakase on the Eastside in our opinions. Having lived in the Bay Area for a few years, we find that comparable omakase experiences in Seattle are available but much rarer here. Takai is one of my Top 2 in Seattle as of right now (Jan 2024). If you can splurge a bit more, this vinoholic here says get the wine pairing ;).The table omakase is priced a bit lower than the chef counter. Having done both, you are not missing on quality of food or service either way (just on chef interactions).Both times I've been here, Shiro's made appearances as well ;). So you know they're committed.**2 hour validated parking, short walk to entrance facing Bellevue way.

I finally got a chance to go for a counter omakase and i gotta say this is now my favorite high end sushi to date. I went in celebration of my family members birthday, we like to be a little bit early for things so we showed up a few minutes before opening and their door opened exactly at 5:30 sharp. What i didn't realize was this restaurant isnt inside a larger building, meaning there is no wait area especially during extremely cold winter times so i recommend showing up right on time, not early. The entire restaurant gave a very high-end vibe the moment i walked in from the lighting and furnitures. The omakase counter design alone is a beautiful piece of art you can enjoy here at Takai! Very well done. Now the service, we made our reservation ahead a few weeks prior via open table. We left a note that it was for a birthday occasion and few courses into our omakase, we were given a complimentary glass of champagne for the entire family member! How nice is that? It was a very good champagne too. Of course the chefs explain and share the story behind each courses and also make a comfortable ambiance by chatting with you. At the end of our meal, we got our coats back at the front and they were HEATED. This just added a huge extra plus points for me because this level of service is impossible to find in seattle's high end dining scene. Now food.. i can say nothing but amazing things of each courses we experienced. I wouldnt change a thing. Each plated courses were so beautifully presented & story told. I love that they pair up their tamago with an icecream!Overall.. i am so glad i finally got to try this place and i would love to come back every season to see how they play with different seasonal fish/ingredients. Every penny spent for drinks food and service were all so very worth and i can't wait to come back. Highlights: food and the heated coat service during harsh winter times. Area of improvement: idk if this is necessarily an improvement area but show up right on time or few minutes after since they dont have a wait area and doors dont open. There are no seatings or anything outside its just a big-ish street with a bunch of cars.

Came here for a special dinner with Sol and it was INCREDIBLE! We met Shiro san and Chef Jun! They were so kind and friendly.100% worth the extra $$ to sit at the chef's counter. Chef Jun Takai serves you and we were mesmerized the entire dinner. He is so detail-oriented. He even noticed my date was left-handed and adjusted how he placed the fish on his plate- that is service! I enjoyed everything we ate!! My favorites were the sardine (Chef Jun's favorite) and the bluefin tuna.It was a 25 (I think?) course dinner experience and I was full and satisfied by the end. It is pricey but a GREAT value for what you get and worth it. The quality of the fish was unreal. Not something we can afford all the time unfortunately haha but very grateful for the experience!

Easily one of my top 5 dining experiences ever! This was a major splurge for us, as it was our 25th Wedding Anniversay celebration. Usually we'll travel out of the country for this special occasion, but there are several things that prevented us from doing this. So we decided on an epic Omakase dinner at Takai by Kashiba.First, it's a modern, minimal space that reminds us of those high end sushi restaurants in Tokyo. We opted to have the dining Omakase experience at the sushi counter, it's the best seat in the house! I can't even fully describe the entire evening, other than it was truly extraordinary! There were easily over 20 pieces (I think if you count it individually it tops over 30 items). The nigiri was the perfect ratio of sushi rice to fish. I feel like every nigiri piece was portioned appropriately. Additionally there were other items, such as tempura, chawan mushi, miso soup, and sahimi. As many items as we had, we felt satiated, not overly full.Chef Jun was a pleasant conversationalist. We found out his brother has an izakaya restaurant in Osaka, and we'll make sure to visit his restaurant this May!Takai by Kashiba is definitely a special occasion experience and highly recommended!!! We'll make another reservation soon!