I was happily surprised with this place's selection, services, and overall delivery of the food. My friend and I were feeling something light and healthy after workout class and found this place. We split a special roll (dragon), regular roll (tuna avo), and salad and it was the perfect amount of food for only $30. The staff was friendly and attentive and the decor was very nice. We felt like we could spread out and it was still zen and private. The dressing for the salad was a little more mustardy than I was expecting and the lettuce was definitely from a bag, but it wasn't horrible. Overall, for the price, it's not a bad find. read more

Terrible food. The tempura was gas station grade. Chicken was not freshly cooked and tasted old.

The service here was ... weird. We came in an hour before closing, and they were already mopping. We had to walk through the swamp to get to our table. We almost got up and left, but im glad we didn't. The server looked like she didn't want to be there, didn't like us, or both. But she was attentive, very knowledge of the menu, and got every detail and modification correct. Textbook. But weird. The sushi, however, surprised and delighted. So far from the ocean, but everything was fresh. They had a blue fin tuna belly specially. Set us back a couple Jackson's. But melts in your mouth! The rolls were also creative and made with fresh ingredients, think crab and avocado. Even the uni, I'm told, was excellent. When she asked if we wanted sashimi style or with a quail egg on nigiri I felt confident she knew what she was talking about. Hot food was not bad either. Fried oyster probably frozen, and was good with the dipping sauce. Tonkatso ramen tasted more like beer noodle soup, but hey I like that too. read more

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Great food presentation and quick service. Ideal! Very tasty Stringer and ell rolls. Friend ordered a beautiful seared tuna salad ... everyone pleasantly surprised. read more

Takara 88 - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

I just love their Maki, specifically their spicy California roll, and they FINALLY created an app, so now I'm working toward free/bonus food. read more

Delicious and beautiful! The owners have made a beautiful sushi place! Brian and Ericka came from China but make beautiful flavors with Japanese cuisine. We love to eat the fresh sushi! read more

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Loved this spot! Went for dinner, had the salmon teriyaki and the sashimi platter. The sashimi was beautiful fresh and nice thick slices. Salmon teriyaki came out sizzling on the plate with a healthy amount of veggies. 10/10 would love to come back. read more

Takara 88 - Sashimi Platter - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

This is hands down one of my favorite places to eat. The atmosphere is warm, welcoming, and very family-friendly -- perfect for a night out with loved ones. The staff are kind and attentive, and the food? Absolutely incredible. Everything I've tried has been fresh, flavorful, and clearly made with care. Whether you're bringing the whole family or just stopping in for a bite, this place never disappoints. Highly recommend it to anyone looking for great food and a great experience! read more

My sister-in-law and I had been craving sushi, so we decided that after our nail appointment last week we would go out for some. We wanted to try a new place, so she suggested Takara 88. I am so glad we branched out from our usual spot! Takara 88 is right in the heart of downtown Middleton, right across from the post office. There is a parking lot in the back, but don't assume you'll be able to snag a spot - there are several businesses that share it, and street parking in downtown Middleton has become a nightmare. The place was pretty packed, so we were glad that we made a reservation. The staff was very kind, and you could tell they are used to crowds, so they worked efficiently to get us to our table. Once we sat down, our group ordered a bottle of wine, and it was the perfect pairing for fish. We enjoyed some edamame before the main event, and it was great! I would imagine it's pretty hard to mess up steamed soy beans, as I have never had a bad experience with them. I ordered the Badger roll and the Salmon Fire roll, and the latter knocked my socks off - makes the top 5 of the BEST sushi I've ever had! Now, it doesn't take a genius to look back through my sushi reviews and deduct that I opt for the *cooked* sushi options, but I still consider myself willing to try different things. For me, jalapeno in a sushi roll was what I imagined to be an odd combo. Not the case at all, and I highly recommend it! I really can't wait to return so I can have it again. read more

Takara 88 - a large platter of sushi on a wooden table - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

My daughter ordered fried ice cream for dessert and it had a plastic wrap around the ice cream but under the breading. Disgusting! She told me today a friend of hers had the same experience there. Do not order! read more

Takara 88 - Plastic ice cream anyone? - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

The food was fine but wasn't the best. Pretty middle of the road. Service was fast and the people were nice

Second time was everything I needed and wanted from a sushi place. The fresh salmon yellowfin was the best thing ever. Ahi is the tuna I eat often in recent months, but having it served fresh enough to be raw is a treat to experience here in the Midwest. Typically salmon is my favorite seafood but these days I think I'm leaning towards the tuna more and more. The presentation of the item I ordered was something I didn't expect and in truth I won't be ordering whatever it was again. I didn't think to take a photo of the plate on delivery, which is something I regret more than actually ordering something that was so ornate when it didn't serve the dish itself. Since I wasn't able to clearly understand the answer of what some of the garnishes were, I can only assume some were not meant to be eaten, the flower itself I decided wasn't even tasting. The white shredded nest of something I couldn't identify by taste or visual, it was ....interesting? A side bowl of rice was a bit of a challenge being that I long ago gave up trying to look sophisticated by having proficiency handling chopsticks. So it wasn't able to really accompany the meal too well. I'm certainly pleased that I decided to revisit Takara, the previous visit left me thinking I lost my appreciation for sushi when I wasn't drinking with my meal. I'm still certain I have a far greater appreciation for sushi when it's accompanied by vast quantities of saki, a couple beers, and maybe a good liquor to get into the mindset. My very first time eating sushi 30yrs ago was done on the condition the friend who dragged me out to eat raw fish was part of a "you buy drinks, and I'll eat your raw fish". I loved the experience. But didn't repeat it for another decade, and I was willing to do it, alcohol wasn't a condition, it was just an excuse to do both together. So I did come to love the taste and the experience. read more

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Terrible. Will not be back. Good was fine, but the issue was the service. Apparently they changed their menu pricing. But we didn't use the menus and ordered sushi from the table slips. When the bill came we were overcharged on almost everything. I asked the waiter for help and he brought over a menu and showed us the different prices. I showed him the order slip I used from the table and he got the manager over. Same deal but she did honor the pricing in the end. She then had the slips removed from all the tables. I'll assume she didn't honor the other diner's who ordered from the table slips. As I was signing the bill, the waiter came over and noticed we had taken a low sodium soy Soave from another table. He held it up and said it's all the same soy sauce that they just refill the bottles. So was it low sodium or not? Don't know! Pretty sure the bottle be filled with what it's labeled as. But apparently here it isn't. read more

Takara 88 - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Consistently good food. As beautiful as the restaurant is, personally I love sitting outside on the patio.

Updating my review here with a take-out order that we had delivered for my parent's anniversary and it was beautiful! We ordered a sashimi/sushi combo and all the fish tasted quite fresh and were cut in larger than usual cuts (no complaints there!). The sushi rice was on the softer side, but everything else was pretty good. The wasabi/ginger did not have any strong flavor so I was always trying to use more and more of it until it was gone (which is very rare to use all). Overall, I would order the platter here again because it's a reasonable price with nice portions. read more

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The staff was very welcoming and friendly. The menu options were good and the decor was pretty good. Tempura wa just ok as were the edamames. The rolls were pretty good, but nothing noteworthy. I may come back to try some of the specialty rolls for a more comprehensive review. read more

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Best sushi spot in west Madison by far in terms of quality! Quite a few other spots went AYCE, but Takara 88 has maintained their high level of standards! read more

I finally had the opportunity to dine in at Takara 88 and it was a fairly pleasant dining experience. I enjoyed the edamame that was lightly salted (free with the Yelp check in offer), along with the eel entree dish over rice paired with a dry sake. The atmosphere of the place was fairly causal, there was decent amount of fellow dining patrons on Tuesday evening with plenty of room for larger parties if you do decide to come with a group of friends. Overall, it's fairly similar to the other Takara location, but it's nice to have one right in Middleton. read more

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Ordered some takeout from here and got the Salmon Fire Roll, the Spicy California Roll and the Tri Color Naruto. The Salmon Fire Roll was delicious and the Spicy California Roll was your normal Spicy California Roll. I wasn't expecting the Tri Color Naruto to be rolled in a giant piece of cucumber but that might just be my inexperience with sushi. That being said, that was my least favorite. For sushi, it was very messy and hard to eat. All in all, the food was good and I'd come back if I'm in the area. read more

So this is a bummer. I loved Takara on Whitney Way and went for years, until they changed their business model to have the moving sushi conveyor belt. ICK! Anyway, I finally got over to Takara in Middleton and I couldn't stay. First, the smell of heavy grease fire was thick in the air. Was it a one off, or don't they have proper ventilation? I was concerned about what that lingering smell would do to my food and my clothes, and it sure was having an effect on my appetite, etc., and was contemplating leaving when one of the staff came and started spraying a heavy duty cleaning spray near me....I just couldn't believe it. That was it. I had to leave. Smells in a restaurant matter. Using caustic cleaning spray? Next to a live human being about to eat? Makes me wonder at what other bad decisions they are making that people aren't seeing. I felt sick for quite a while after. read more

2 stars only because of the value (quantity of food vs. price). Service was extremely slow, ordered items were forgotten, and waiter was brusque bordering on rude. Although they describe themselves as "traditional" Japanese food, only the steamed edamame bore any resemblance to the food I had when stationed in Japan for 5 years. As an example: I ordered Zaru Soba (very common traditional summer cold noodle dish of buckwheat noodles). When my noodles arrived that's literally all it was, just noodles with a very small amount of thinly sliced scallions for garnish. In Japan this would always be served with a dipping sauce (tsuyu). When I asked about the sauce the waiter said they never served them with sauce. So just dry noodles? Really? When I pressed him they delivered some tempura dipping sauce...an OK substitute, but definitely not the right stuff -- more like what I might do at home had I realized that I didn't have tsuyu after already making my noodles. This is my second visit here, the last one was a couple of years ago, and I had a similar experience. I won't be coming back again. read more

I often forget about this Takara location. I really love it, but it's not conveniently located for me. My mom and I were out and about today, my mom had never been here, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to return. It wasn't busy when we arrived. Only a couple of tables were occupied at around 11:30. I love the layout of this location. It's cozy, but also spread out enough that you don't feel like you are sitting on top of other people. I love the color scheme and decor, it's very relaxing and pleasing to the eye. If you've been to the Whitney Way Takara, you'll notice that the menu is (if not identical to,) very similar to that location. They have great lunch specials for sushi. You can get two rolls and soup/salad or three rolls and soup/salad for a very reasonable price. The variety of sushi in said lunch menu is really great. Something for all sushi lovers! Today I ordered two lunch rolls (spicy salmon and New York) as well as one of the white board specials, a spicy Toro roll. It was all delicious! The sushi was fresh and the spicy rolls were actually spicy which isn't usually the case when ordering spicy rolls from restaurants. My mom ordered a salmon avocado roll and an angel roll! OMGoodness! The angel roll was delicious! It had large pieces of asparagus in each piece as well as salmon, avocado, eel, special sauce, and salmon roe on top. I loved my sushi, but her's gave me food envy! Hot tip, maybe don't order the angel roll on a first date, as the only way to eat this HUGE roll is to shove it in your mouth with the end of your chopsticks, unless you have a giant gob. Worth it though! I don't care how ridiculous I looked. I think I like this location better than the other one. The food quality is the same, but the atmosphere is much better and probably better for larger groups if you happen to be celebrating something. I'm going to go crash into a sushi coma now. read more

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Friendly staff. Sat at the sushi bar and watched our food get prepared. Staff of 5 sushi chefs and 2 servers outnumbered customers. read more

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We came for lunch on a Saturday and enjoyed our visit to Takara. We ordered an assortment of the sushi rolls from their specials menu, which were inventive and delicious! You should note that the menu posted is not the lunch menu - they have a much more limited selection of sushi rolls at lunch than dinner, but still a good variety of options. Service was friendly - not the fastest, but we enjoyed our waiter who told us after we cleared our plates that he would see us tomorrow! read more

Takara 88 - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

My main dish was the steak and lobster hibachi. I was more in love with the veggies. They veggies were well flavored and cooked to the perfect texture. The lobster was a little overcooked, rubbery, and salty. The steak was tender but it would have been nice if the waiter asked how I wanted my steak done. I would have wanted it rare but it looks like the waiter chose himself how the steak should have been cooked. The portion was good but for $30 I probably wouldn't order it again. Edamame was fresh and went well with the soup and salad. Soup was bland. It could have been better with a pinch off salt. Fried soft shell was a bit mushy. Could have been fried longer and plated with a better sauce. The sauce that came with it was just soy sauce. The sushi was pretty good. My favorite was the whole deep fried roll, salmon fire. It was so delicious! It's a must try. I would order this again. If you're looking for a wide menu you'll want to go to dinner, not lunch. I was lucky to even be able to order the lobster and steak dinner for lunch. I also ordered the pork lunch katsu and it was very disappointing. The flavor was not there. It was something simple I could have made at home. Wish they would have had the jelly fish. They were out of it. Was most excited to try this. Would I come back? Maybe if I was on the same side of town but I would not drive half an hour to come back and eat here. read more

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Good for your daily sushi. Not the best in the Madison area but I like it a lot for a quick meal. I got the hamachi Kama (delish), spicy scallop maki, lobster tail maki, takara maki, rock n roll maki and spicy toro roll. Everything was good. We finished every bite. The menu is enormous so there's so much more to try! read more

Always yummy. I usually get the same thing (miso soup, Rainbow Roll, and another roll which does change) and it's always tasty. There's really not much more to say. The people are nice. The service has always been good. You should come and try it. read more

PROS: Nice bento! CONS: Canned pineapple? I got the salmon teriyaki bento for lunch. It's affordable and well-portioned. It came with miso soup or salad, salmon, rice, californian rolls, some ambiguous dumplings, and... canned pineapples? Is that even a thing? Anyhow, it was pretty good. I liked that it tasted lighter and healthier than many bentos from other Japanese restaurants in the area. The salmon teriyaki wasn't coated in 1 inch of teriyaki sauce, the sauce didn't taste overwhelmingly sweet, etc. Not too much to complain about! read more

Takara 88 - Salmon lunch bento - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Fresh and beautiful raw fish! I tried the chirashi, which included salmon, tuna, crab, shrimp, egg, octopus, clams, and some unknown fish. It tasted great! It's also a very good deal :) Should have tried the salmon belly and sweet shrimp and uni, but I was already too full after my dinner. They also have nice happy hour deals! read more

Takara 88 - Chirashi - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Honestly worse than a cheap buffet for the entrees, and the sushi was grosser than a grocery store. Takeout order was 20 minutes late. Expensive. Don't eat here. We bought $70 worth of food (bento specials w/ teriyaki, sushi, etc.) everything was extremely soggy and flavorless, and clearly just came out of a bag. Sushi was gross and we threw half of it away. I regret giving this place my time and money. read more

Takara 88 - Where the food belongs - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Nice ambiance, quiet. Great service. Excellent food. Never have been disappointed in the 20 years I've been visiting Takara.

I was so very underwhelmed by my experience with the food from Takara 88. I will not be returning. I ordered food from Takara 88 and ate it at home due to COVID-19. I ordered two rolls (spicy California and tuna avocado). I also ordered a side order of chicken hibachi as well as one piece of Toro nigiri. Let start with the sushi rolls: they were so terribly bland I felt like eating them was a waste of 1) the space in my stomach and 2) the calories I was consuming without enjoying (actually barely even tasting) anything at all. I would not return for these sushi rolls and I would not recommend any friends of mine to eat at Takara 88. Moving on, the chicken hibachi was terribly dry and overcooked. Lastly, the toro nigiri (which was $8 for one tiny slice of fish) was very fishy and unpleasant so I could not eat more than one small bite of it. I do not recommend Takara 88. read more

During the May 2020 lockdown, Takara 88 is doing a fantastic curbside takeout business. Our rolls and nigiri were fantastic! Toro, Maguro, Yellowtail, Sake, all excellent. The're fish was super fresh so business must be good. Thank goodness! Please support locally owned business like this. IMO, they have the best sushi on the west side we need them to make it through this economic downturn. read more

Food was ok but take out packaging was horrible. Sushi had no rice which is ok but would have been nice if the description mentioned this. Made the roll pretty soggy. Tuna entree was very small. Overpriced for what we got. read more

Takara 88 - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Love Takara sushi! It is our go to in Middleton for takeout. The rolls are fresh and always prepared expertly. My favorite are the crispy shrimp and anything spicy from tuna to salmon to avocado. I love the presentation when we order multiples, the family always has fun digging in and sharing I have not eaten in the restaurant due to Covid but it looks inviting and clean and I look forward to eating in soon! read more

Takara 88 - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Mmmm....this place was delish! We came with some friends almost near closing time, but their service was still attentive and the food quality and presentation did not seem rushed. The Chirashi dish completely satisfied my sashimi cravings. It. Was. Amazing. And surprisingly still filling! We ordered three additional rolls, whose names escape me (because I should've written this sooner), that were also all satisfying. Our friends ordered one of the bento box meals, which was plentiful. The only complaint was that the plate didn't really look like a bento box - but that's not a deal breaker. Very impressed with this place! read more

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Ordered a kani salad to go with my sushi rolls. 6.25 for about a quarter cup of boring. We didn't find the flying fish roe at all. read more

Takara 88 - Kani salad...poorly done and over priced. - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Reliable. Not the best sushi ever, but you will be pleased for the value you get in Middleton Wisconsin. Staff is always great. The folks running it want to make sure things go right. We have had most things on the menu and specials. No misfires. Come on out. read more

gross. usually i'm able to eat things even if i don't like them but this was the first time i've had to accept i wasted my money and i couldn't finish it. burned my nose when i ate it, didn't taste correct. did not look appetizing or like what a normal godzilla roll should look like. read more

Takara 88 - Godzilla Roll and tuna sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

To tell you the truth I can't recall when I experienced such terrible service in a restaurant. Certainly not in the last 15-20 years. I do understand what difficulties restaurants experience now but this goes beyond any possible lenience I am ready to provide. There were 4 adults and 2 kids in my party, we sat outside (2 more tables were occupied plus a couple more inside). We waited for 10 minutes for the menu, then longer than normal for our waiter to come to take orders. First he brought soup+salad extras to my wife's dish. No utensils or chopsticks to eat the salad, though. When soup was finished, I went out to find that sloppy guy. He was chatting inside. Did he give me chopsticks? No. He promised to come soon and to bring stuff. 3 minutes later he came with chopsticks and napkins for everyone. Fast forward: he forgot to write down my appetizer and haven't even apologized. He didn't bring me hot tea I ordered in the beginning (I had to remind him). As a cherry on top he forgot to return me my credit card and my daughter had to drive to pick it up next day. There was shower starting up that night, so I had to handle umbrella+wallet+pen and I missed to notice (the last time waiter forgot such subtle point was 20+ years ago, imagine my surprise next day after we had already left Madison). Needless to say my wife's teriyaki dish came long after all sushi was eaten by everyone else. Nice touch, heh? I can hear the question "Why then you give them two stars, not one?" Simple: the food was really good. Too bad it was ruined by totally unacceptable service. Stay away. read more