Great ship spot right here! Service was impeccable from great recommendations to tending to us and making sure everything was up to par. Everything was above par. The food was good tried some things for the first time and really enjoyed them especially the squid ball appetizer(I forgot the real name). Rolls were really good everything tasted really fresh. Sushi bar seating available to watch chefs prepare food and make the rolls. Really liked how the dining area is well separated from the waiting area. Great experience from beginning to end. read more

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I have visited Taiko multiple times with family and friends, and the food has consistently been excellent. However, on my most recent visit which was tonight, the service was significantly below standard. *The restaurant was moderately busy, so a longer wait for food was understandable during these circumstances. Nevertheless, after a considerable delay, I noted that my Chirashi bowl had not arrived. I politely inquired with one waitress, who appeared visibly annoyed. I initially dismissed this, assuming it was due to the dinner rush. After waiting further, I asked a different waiter for an update. He acknowledged the request but did not return with information. Following an additional 15~20 minutes without any communication, I inquired again, apologizing for having to ask multiple times. Again, he looked annoyed & left and never came back to let me know about the chirashi bowl. This made it confusing, since I'm not even sure if the initial waitress had forgotten about it when I ordered initially when we sat down or if he just inputted into their system which meant it was never being prepared. Without proper communication on their end, I was sitting in the booth with my boyfriend confused. It's gotten to the point where my boyfriend & I had finished our food since it took that long. By this time I've made up my mind to cancel it, both staff members again showed clear annoyance. I explained to them that I wasn't adding in an order midway through my dinner & expressed for their honesty if it was even ordered initially since again-- I ordered it when I sat down. I expressed that it's also embarrassing for me to keep pestering them. The lack of updates was unacceptable--had I been informed with HONESTY, I would have adjusted my expectations accordingly & would've been more understanding. The waiter offered a brief apology, but the overall experience was defined by inefficient service and poor communication. While the food quality was delicious, the customer service was severely lacking. I cannot recommend dining in under these conditions, though takeout may remain a viable option. Definitely would NOT recommend this restaurant after the experience tonight. It was both frustrating & disappointing. read more

Great assorted Japanese dishes. Decent sushi, great curry, noodle dishes, cooked fish, appetizers, beer/ sake. Servers were quick, friendly and attentive. I have gone back multiple times to try different dishes. I recommend giving Taiko a go. read more

Hello, im a regular customer at this great restaurant. The service here is extremely friendly and accommodating. We look forward to coming here every week. The food is delicious. The rolls and sushi are always fresh and tasty. The teriyaki beef is tender and pairs great with the teriyaki sauce, I get it often and its always great. The rice here is also very delicious, moist and great with soy sauce. Ive had the tempura here as well and it always comes out crispy, hot and fried with the flavorful batter. I always appreciate the green beans with the mayo, its a different kind of mayo but it tastes good with the beans. The oranges are refreshing and a nice touch. The atmosphere is always friendly and welcoming. Its a very comfortable environment and peaceful as well. If you get a chance say hi to the hostess as she's always very welcoming and nice. Overall you will have a great experience here for any occasion and the food is great. read more

Good food. The service here is always very prompt and friendly. The lunch specials are always a good call.

My friend recommended me this place and I'm so glad they did. The food is absolutely delicious and the portions are huge. Everything tasted so fresh and the price is very reasonable. We came in on a weekend during dinner so we had to wait but the wait wasn't too long. The service is also absolutely spectacular! Our waitress was so nice and continuously checked up on us although they were busy. read more

Taiko - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

Went here about an hour before they closed for lunch and was pleasantly surprised with the lunch menu. The sizes were bigger than i expected and it was pretty filling. The udon was nothing fancy but delicious to eat nonetheless. The bara chirashi was pretty yummy too. I liked the eel a lot and the rice is good when eaten with the rest of the dish. By itself the vinegar taste (I think it's vinegar) is a little strong. Overall, I think this place is pretty solid and the sushi looks pretty good too. read more

Taiko - Udon & Bara Chirashi - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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This sushi restaurant was arguably the best in the Irvine area for quite some time. I believe they've been around since 1980! My family and I used to come here more frequently during the 1990s. Since we didn't live nearby, we eventually found another place closer to home for our sushi fix. From what I've read, ownership changed in 2019, some time prior to the COVID pandemic. As to be expected, with new ownership, it brought new ways of doing things. On my most recent visit for lunch, the menu seemed to be more geared towards non-traditional sushi. I ordered their Taiko Bento with sashimi. It was not bad, but a bit basic. I tried some of my friend's namba cut roll. While it wasn't something that I would order, the flavor combination was good. I can see why they made the changes, but I would not recommend this place if you prefer traditional style. The wait staff were all very nice and friendly. Finding a parking space can be a pain in the ass, so it's not some place that I would go out of my way to visit. read more

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Taiko is a decent Japanese restaurant. Generous portions, family friendly atmosphere, great service. The price is on par with other Sushi restaurants. I ordered the 2 item combo (teriyaki chicken - no additional charge with the 5 pc nigiri sushi ($5 extra charge), the 3 - sashimi meal, the tempura+nigiri combo (set price), and the salmon skin cut roll. The service was wonderful as I mentioned. The servers were attentive and came by to refill our drinks 3-4 times during the meal and the food came out in a timely manner. I gave it 3-stars because it missed in a few areas: tempura batter to shrimp ratio was off (too much batter), the rice was too sticky( too much water to rice ratio), the nigiri sushi ball was too big and needed 2- bites even for a "big mouth" like myself. The fish quality was good - especially the yellowtail. It should really be a 3.7 stars, but yelp doesn't allow me to get that technical. Overall a solid sushi restaurant for the family. Not a good dating atmosphere as it's more family and kid friendly. read more

It was easy to make a reservation here. We ordered appetizers before our food, but it still came out at the same time as our food did. Honestly, I thought everything was ok. Some our meat was over charred. The chicken was good though . read more

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Most bussin Japanese restaurant I've been to for raw oysters. I got the special set, which had good variety but nothing that wow'd me. Oyster shooter was amazing as well. Would come back to try some other items read more

Taiko - Oyster shooter - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Solid food with big portions. The calamari and green mussels are really good. The combo plates are a really good value with green beans, salad, miso soup, and rice. Individual sushi is a bit pricey but the quality is good. The rewards program is a good value and a nice surprise discount when we forgot that we signed up last time! read more

How could I possibly write ANOTER review???? BECAUSE IT'S JUST THAT GOOD HERE... We were here last on 09-07-24 and I am happy to say we got a new waitress, Yuri, who was the most pleasant and friendly waitress, not to mention she was very knowledgeable of the menu. The best part of this restaurant is THEY KNOW HOW TO MAKE TEMPURA. Never fails. The best tempura in town, this town, the next town and all the towns with a 50 mile radius. THIS IS THE BEST TEMPURA!! However, tonight, I ordered the Salmon skin salad and an appetizer side of tempura that I shared with my husbanc. Good, but NOT the best. There was actually TOO MUCH SALMON and NOT ENOUGH skin, if you could believe that? I was looking for that crunch, and because they did not skimp on the salmon, it was different. Good, but different. (bummer, I didn't take a photo) My husband had the unagi and a rainbow roll. The unagi here is spectacular for $15. read more

Taiko - Unagi. Delicious. $15 Add a bowl of rice for $2 - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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This is my favorite Restaurant for Japanese food. I have been coming here for 40 years. I live close and my daughter and I used to walk and have teriyaki chicken,Sesame chicken and tempura shrimp. Employees have always been excellent and service outstanding. Sushi is fresh and all there food is delicious. The restaurant is clean . read more

Taiko - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

My friend and I were craving for some Tempura and since we were shopping next door, we decided to have dinner here...it was pretty busy at 8pm on a Friday night. I haven't been here in years and this place has been here forever...and it shows. This place needs to upgrade their interior because it has a dirty feel to it. Their waitlist system on the iPad was faulty. We put our name on the list and it said the wait was for 50 minutes but we got a text 10 minutes later saying we didn't respond so they removed our name. We approached the host to see what happened and he wasn't sure so he got us a table right away. The service sucked and the food was ok. I ordered the tempura with the sesame chicken and my friend ordered the tempura appetizers. My meal came first, our waitress was nowhere in site. So, I shared my dinner with my friend while we waited for her tempura appetizers. My food didn't seem as hot as I would like it to be...the miso soup warm, the tempura and sesame chicken seemed like it was sitting there getting cold before it was brought to our table. It was about halfway through our meal before our waitress checked on us and then it took several minutes before we finally got our appetizers. The waitress was very apologetic. Just not a very good experience...it's probably the reason I hadn't been back here in years considering I live walking distance to this place. Next time, we'll just go to Tomikawa, which is less than a mile from here. read more

Good service, Good food, Like a in Japan, We will be back. Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee read more

Taiko - Best. - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Taiko has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. Their food is amazing. The service is very prompt and attentive. There is usually a line outside waiting for them to open. Love this place read more

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Great authentic Japanese :) had the Taiko bento. Great value and good quality dishes. Would absolutely go back

I love to sushi here. It's fresh and reasonably priced. I especially love the sashimi salad which comes on a bed of greens. Usually it's a very long wait which I'm not a fan of so we would take out however take out sushi is just not the same. The ambiance is okay, nothing special! read more

For the price, the quality and portions of the food is excellent. The environment is great for family outings and service is good. It's locally owned and operated by Japanese Americans, which is a plus and enhances its authenticity compared to some of the newer Japanese restaurants in Irvine. read more

My boyfriend took me here as an early Valentine's Day dinner because I can never say no to Asian food of any kind. This place seems to be always crowded and the plaza it resides in doesn't have an abundance of parking. We had to park against the curb. Luckily, we were seated right away for the party of 2. They are so busy here!!! It's nice to dine in, but due to how popular it is you might be better off ordering to go. I ordered sushi rolls and the two item combo. Personally, I would prefer to order to go next time. Two item combo's presentation was okay. The three item combo seemed to offer more and the portions visually looked bigger. It seems like all of the other items you can order had way better presentation and the combo I chose just looked meh The sushi rolls were amazing and the quality was fresh and as expected! There was nothing wrong with any of the dishes as they all tasted great. I think for $17 bucks the combo is average. My rolls were delicious though! Try this place if you were curious about it, but don't go when it's super busy. read more

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Restaurant is open during Sunday this month and next for a pop up so this is not their regular menu! They said it was a special Pop- up and chef was from Japan. Only 3 choice items on the menu. We ordered the eel bowl and the tempura bowl. The eel bowl was super flavorful and comes with tamago. Small bowl was already a lot of one person. The tempura bowl was not as great as the eel one but was still pretty good. The tempura was crunchy and sauce was superb. It was a bit price but when we got our orders, we understood why it was priced like that. Huge portions. I would like to bring my family to try the eel bowl since we all love eel. read more

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It's Foodie Friday and where did I go after work??? The answer is Taiko! (And yes, there was a Yelp glitch... this my additional review on all the food that I have there) Since I work in the Lake Forest / Irvine area -- Taiko off Jeffery in Irvine is the perfect food haven for me to go when work is rough and traffic was not a part of my after work vibe. As a result -- the sushi bar with some delicious food, happy hour draft Asahi, and sushi chef Antonio is the way to go. I recently got obsessed with their Uni Cream Udon. So good! Especially in this rainy cold weather. But the other day I was in the sushi vibes and really wanted Uni... wasn't able to get it, but still craving it... I had to get some Uni this time. Tonight I got Nigiri Uni, Scallop, and Toro. For a hot dish -- the Baked Scallops with rice. For dessert -- the special! A Matcha Mont Blanc Parfait... ooooooo... that was unique! It is definitely an Asian inspired dessert, but multiple surprises with it. Don't want to spoil it! If you are curious and craving an Asian matcha green tea dessert, then this is for you! Now... what will I get next!?! read more

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Great food, service, and a beautifully decorated space with traditional Japanese style throughout. The eel roll was absolutely delicious! Definitely a spot I'll be coming back to. Highly recommend for a quality sushi experience in a great atmosphere. read more

Taiko - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

Adventure Wednesdays hit again and decided to try this place out after seeing it on a Instagram reel! Went here solo around 11:30am. The parking lot in this area is kind of small and keep in mind this plaza does get crowded so if you do come during lunch/dinner rush hour it may be hard to find parking! Luckily wasn't too bad but still had to park in the back. I walked in and was sat immediately by my waitress. I think the first thing you notice is the ambiance of the restaurant is more subtle and quiet. The lighting is kind of dark too. There's no music really playing and you can practically listen to everyone's conversation. If you're people listener (haha) this would be a perfect spot! No pictures of the menu this time but the menu is on their website and they have an assortment of Japanese dishes and sushi! So you can peruse through there before going cause they do have a wide array of food. I opted to get an order of the fried calamari and some sushi which consisted of salmon, tuna, scallop, and one piece of the yellowfin. My food came out fairly quick even to a somewhat busy lunch hour and the first thing I notice was the portions of the food served! Big, hefty portions and even the cuts of fish were enormous! But how did everything taste? It was pretty good! The calamari was flakey and somewhat crispy. Small circular bites of squid that were served on a bed of cucumber. Sadly, I dont think it pairs well with the cucumber slices (my opinion). The sushi pieces itself were good as well! I do have to comment though that the prices for one piece of sushi are pretty expensive. Again though these are big pieces of sushi, so if you didn't come hungry for anything you order here then it would be your loss. My server was awesome she was sweet and always checked up on me and asked "How's everything?" every time. She did leave me the menus though but that is not a big issue haha. Overall for everything I ordered it was around $45 for myself for all the food I ordered. I think it is a pretty expensive meal for one person haha. There are places that serve sushi for a cheaper price and the quality is way better. But overall this place is good. Chill vibes, great service, and good food. Check this place out if you're in the area! But try to avoid the lunch/dinner rushes! It gets super busy here! read more

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Lunch in Irvine, California... Our LA foodie friends wanted to treat Niki S. and me to lunch... Really? Wow!!! Thank you so much from two island gals in one of our favorite states on the mainland USA: California! It turns out that our friends visit Taiko Restaurant so much that their Loyalty Points covered the cost of our lunch extravaganza! Yippee!!! We had early reservations because this OG place gets really crowded and busy! The prices are reasonable; the environment is clean and appropriately decorated; and the food is beautiful and delicious! Our friends started us off with a yummy Chicken Karaage... generous portion! I had a healthy, fresh Bara Chirashi. I like it better than a regular Chirashi Bowl because the fish is cut up smaller... the pieces are bite-sized and more convenient to eat! The bowl was so fresh and colorful! Cony, Brown, and I were so happy! We had a wonderful feast with efficient, friendly service! We look forward to returning!!! read more

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I haven't been to Taiko in years. We were in the area after our weeknight walk. In reading the recent reviews, there's new ownership/management and a lot has changed. Here's what I have observed: First, there's no long line anymore, lol. Second, the menu is a little more expansive than what I remember. It now has a little bit of everything which reminds me of Honda Ya in Tustin. We ordered a couple of cut rolls Uni & Salmon with asparagus, which were decent taste-wise, as well as the portion. read more

Taiko - Salmon with asparagus - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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My family has been coming here for 17+ years but this was our first time since the pandemic. We arrived noon on Saturday and were seated immediately, which is a super different experience than before where you'd always have to wait a considerable amount of time on weekend. It does seem like the food has changed quite a bit, and the menu is on the pricey side even with the larger portions. I had the sesame chicken and California roll lunch combo--the California rolls were just average quality compared to before. The sesame chicken was still tasty and they give a lot of salad with honey mustard dressing. The miso soup was salty. Service was on the slower side. Parking in the plaza can be hard to find--I usually find a spot behind the building. read more

Taiko - Sesame Chicken & California Roll - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

hello! first time here, parking is wild, go early and goodluck food was great, enjoyed the varieties including the a5 wagyu sushi which is a must try baked green muscles 4/5 uni 4/5 a5 wagyu 5/5 sweet shrimp 5/5 salmon/toro/unagi 4/5 takoyaki 3/5 get a small piece of everything, its worth it! they have lots of sake and a map of where its produced cool and fun little sushi restaurant, I recommend! read more

Taiko - Baked Green Mussels - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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I had the lunch set with tempura rice bowl and udon noodles. The price was cheap and the portion size was good. However, it would have been better if they had provided tempura dipping sauce or salt. read more

Went on a friday, added our names to the waitlist. It was about an hour wait, located in a busy plaza. This spot is very casual and the food was good and reasonably priced! The space does seem a little out dated and could use a little update. Service was nice and fast. We ordered a lot of pieces of nigiri sushi. Very good ratio to fish to rice. Their hand rolls were also great, wish I got more of those. Will definitely return when we're craving a good priced sushi spot. read more

Taiko - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

Authentic Japanese Bento, Izakaya, Sushi at reasonable prices. I've been coming to Taiko since the 90's, the food quality and service have been consistent. Over the years, the exterior and interior of the restaurant remained largely the same, but the menu offerings have evolved to keep up with the times. In my humble opinion, the price to value a customer gets is beyond amazing, unlike other establishments which tend to practice price gouging during these inflationary times. Don't let the complex menu selections overwhelm you (lots of reading the fine print, colorful pictures too look at and major decisions involved) which is the same in Tokyo. Feel free to ask one of the attentive staff for ヘルプ (help) and recommendations. I like the fact that you have ample choices in one bento (ranging from Tonkatsu, Beef Teriyakis, Tempuras Sashimi to Calamari). Portions are exceptional too. Don't forget to look at the overhead board which list Day's "Specials". Handwriting a little hard to read from far. I also like their wide liquor and Japanese biru selections which is quite educational since they map out the various sakes (hot and cold) from different regions of Japan. Be sure to note, happy hours range from Happy to Happiest with deep discounts in alcoholic drinks. 読んでいただきありがとうございます read more

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Every time we come to visit our good friend in Irvine we always pick Taikos for dinner! We always get the combination plate and we can never get over how big the portions are and always leave saying "Boy'! That was so good!" The service is excellent and even though we always come in almost close to closing they never make us feel rushed. Everyone is friendly. Also, for the first time we got a kids meal for my 3 year old and it came with so much food as well- We have never seen him eat so much! We already are looking forward to going back. read more

Taiko - (E) Salmon Teriyaki, Tempura & Sesame Chicken - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

We came here for my husband's birthday dinner. The service was great and the food was good. We don't go out for sushi often, but we do enjoy go out. read more

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Feeling sushi while we are in town. We went to this place as it was close to where we were staying at and recommended by my aunt. When we got there, they seated us right away at 12:30 which is not bad considering we are coming right at lunch time. Everyone here was super friendly and polite. They took our drinks right away. We took a bit of time to look through the menu, but the food came out super fast! We ordered: - Takoyaki - very good. Crispy on the outside, gooey inside. Just wish they had more tako in there as some felt a little parse - Seaweed Salad - very tasty and comes in a large bowl - Crunchy Cut Roll - Crispy Shrimp tempura, Asparagus, Avocado, Cucumber, Tobiko - pretty good - Dynamite Cut Roll - Spicy Chopped Yellowtail - tastes a bit like spicy tuna, but nothing special about this one - Volcano Cut Roll - Baked Scallop over California Roll - this one is our favorite! They layered on the scallops. We loved this one so much we ordered another one. - Salmon Carpaccio Roll - tuna, onion, kaiware sprouts, gren onions,fried onion chips,wasabi mayo dressing - the description and picture sounded and looked good, but it was just ok. Our least favorite of the dishes. Overall good experience. Good service. We will definitely be back again. read more

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Haiku: Taiko Family favorite Lunch specials are a great deal Hefty size portions. --- I've been coming to Taiko ever since I was a kid. Portions are large and service is sweet. The sushi and sashimi quality is mid, but the lunch specials are where it's at. The teishoku lunch specials come with salad, miso soup, and rice. I recommend ordering the sesame chicken (crispy and juicy), salmon teriyaki (flavorful and healthy), shrimp and vegetable tempura (crispy and giant-size). And if you have kiddos, the kid's meal is a well-balanced meal. There's a large parking lot, but it's a nightmare on the weekends. read more

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Lunch food is good. Line is ok. Believe that they are coming back to their old time glory. read more

Taiko - Chef special. - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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The food is no longer the way it was. May he ownership has changed? It was disappointing because we used to come here often as the portions were generous and food was good. Sushi was not fresh read more

We came back for lunch, and the lunch menu changed, with different options for specials. Seems like the menu did become a lot more extensive. The restaurant is very spacious, lots of seating. The service was good overall. We had high expectations because of our great experience last time. Previously, we enjoyed the sushi lunch and sashimi lunch options, because of the great quality and value.Unfortunately, the food seemed a bit lower quality and smaller portions. - BYO Teishoku, spicy tuna roll and sashimi (3.5/5): The fish was fresh, and the tuna roll was okay, pretty basic. The food tasted good, but portion was small. Basically 8 pieces of spicy tuna roll and 4 pieces of sashimi. - Chirashi bowl (3.5/5): The chirashi bowl was more filling and the portions of fish seemed larger than the BYO, but still smaller than expected. read more

Taiko - BYO Teishoku, spicy tuna roll and sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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So when we went to lunch down in Irvine, the place that we had lunch had no cocktails so we decided to do happy hour at Taiko next door. This place is quite the busy place when we went in. There were several people on the waitlist waiting so we simply asked these host if we could sit at the bar just to have drinks. They sat us immediately at the sushi bar. We asked for a happy hour menu which they provided. This place is pretty much a typical Japanese sushi bar, small and quaint. Lots of Japanese decor but actually very pretty. They have a great happy hour menu. I would definitely recommend this place if you're gonna go have drinks and maybe just a couple appetizers because it is very affordable. We ordered Sapporo in the bottle which were three dollars each, and we also ordered the hot saki which I believe was six dollars for the large. The beers were ice cold. The saki was nice and hot. They have an actual happy hour menu where you can order a few of the appetizers, but we decided to try the A5 Wagyu sushi. Actually, it was pretty affordable as well. I believe it was eight dollars for one piece. It wasn't the best Wagyu I've had. They actually did put a lot of rice. It was still buttery, soft and delicious all in all the place was really good. I think we got out of there with a bill under 35 bucks for everything that we ordered if you want an affordable, happy hour with ice cold beers, cute ambience, and good service. I would definitely recommend checking this place out. read more

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