Taipei 101 Tokyo Cafe

ACK is the the word that describes the sushi deluxe combo delivered to us by Taipei 101 Tokyo Café last night. The sushi had gone the way of the Dodo, extinct, no longer among the living, very, very dead and putrifying. We were surprised that they didn’t offer a refund for this $ 20 of sushi when we called to let them know about the problem. Needless to say, we won’t be ordering from them again. Still trying to get the bad taste out of our mouths…

Definitely the worst delivery experience ever. Ordered for 6 people people on a saturday night. They told us 50 minutes. 1.5 hours later, they had not come. Called multiple times and they said the driver was on his way. 2 hours after ordering they finally showed up. We discovered that one of my friends order to fried rice didnt make it. We called and they said that the order got left behind and that they would send it over. Of course it never arrived.
On a positive, the food was good, definitely not worth the hassle though

Ordered sushi for delivery yesterday, and while it was not horrible, the food would best be described as barely edible.
Generously sliced sashimi salmon and hamachi, but the fish was not very fresh and I was hesitant to eat it.
The spicy tuna roll was not well wrapped (fell apart) and the rice: fish ratio was heavily weighted towards rice.
Would not order again.

I should have trusted other Unilocalers before ordering here for the 1^st time.
The Good News!
The General Tso’s Tofu wasn’t bad but a little too sweet.
The California rolls… delicious!
The delivery driver was nice.
The Bad News…
The steamed rice didn’t taste fresh.
Didn’t really like the miso soup. Even though it wash’t salty (…that’s a plus) it just wasn’t tasty!
The chicken wings were cooked really hard, but tasted ok. The worst was the Bulgogi, very bland.
The Bulgogi from the asian market tasted much better.
Also, they forgot to pack the free sodas.

I’m so surprised by all the negative reviews. This is one of my favorite restaurants and I’m a huge foodie. I think the main problem is probably the wait, but I always do takeout so I’m oblivious.
I grew up in Bethesda, and my biggest pet peeve with this town was the mediocre food matched with high prices. This is slowly getting better with the new businesses. This is one of the VERY few restaurants with high-​quality sushi matched with a reasonable price. I go to Raku all the time, and the pieces of sashimi are about a third of the size of what they serve here.
I’m slightly annoyed with these reviews. This restaurant is obviously not about ambiance. For people who had a date night or birthday there — uh why? But for great quality sushi/​sashimi/​hand rolls, this is the place to go.

While sitting here I decided to read all of the Unilocal reviews about this restaurant. I immediately lowered my expectations so that I wouldn’t end up disappointed. It didn’t work. Having to sit here for 20mins waiting on a california roll was bad enough, but then the ultimate eff-​up occured. A table that ordered sushi after me, was served before I was. Usually that’s not a big deal, but when there’s only one slow ass old man making one sushi roll every 5−7mins, its a problem. Looking for sushi? Hanero is only a stones throw away. No need to leave this restaurant feeling the same way I did, unsatisfied!

This restaurant is tucked away at the far end of Bethesda Ave. A very hip shopping and restaurant district, but Taipei is certainly off the beaten path.
I travel with two kids and when one of them begs us to leave, its a clear indication that something is wrong. My daughter noted it looked like a take out/​fast food joint converted into a restaurant. The menus were so grimy, we had a hard time figuring out if it was part of the design or embedded in the plastic. (It was embedded). The service was so slow, even though there were only 3 tables when we arrived. You could tell the only waitress was either overwhelmed or completely disorganized. She forgot my miso soup, the appetizers came out separately so some had to wait, and the plastic water cups showed a lot of wear. In fact the entire restaurant was pretty shabby.
On a bright note, the sushi was pretty amazing. The dragon maki was huge and the chef really showed his plate design skills. It actually looked like a eel was floating on our plate. The salmon and eel rolls were also delicious. Unfortunately that did not make up for the location, grimy décor, and slow service.

Maybe 2.5 stars… We recently had food delivered from Taipei 101 and it was ok. Just ok. The sushi was fine, but nothing memorable. The seafood in our seafood pad thai didn’t taste fresh, which was unfortunate. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t really see a need to order from this place again.

I understand the Asian selection is not too great in this area so this is probably a pretty good choice considering. The food tasted alright. The service was nice although very slow. The place was empty but there seemed to be lots of deliveries, with only one person working the front of the house. The restaurant is really cluttered too, so definitely not a place for ambiance. Delivery is probably a good choice (although they seem to be understaffed there too, so the deliveries are slow).

It’s a solid food value and the sushi and seafood soup are both good. They have one of the best spicy tuna rolls I’ve ever had as well. My biggest complaint with them is the poor service and long waits for food and drink refills.

I’m embarrassed that I have to give another 1-​star review. I just don’t go to 1-​star places. This means the food, service, atmosphere, and value for my money was so bad that I would never return again under any circumstance.
I’m so surprised that there are so many good reviews on this place that leads me to think…“hmmmm maybe I just went on an off-​day? After all, it WAS a sunday afternoon…”
But with so many choices of good and great places in Bethesda, why would I gamble on place again that I already GOT mediocre to poor Chinese food at best that took sooooo long to get served in a dark restaurant that looked closed from the inside???
Competition is a bitch and customers demand consistency. If you can’t do it well on Sunday, you may as well not do it at all.

I LOVE this restaurant! I stumbled upon it a few weeks ago and have been back twice now. The food is great quality, the service is pleasant, and the atmosphere is calming– the only thing is the wait time for the food can be a bit long. But if youre not in a rush then why worry?
*also, i have learned that if you order over $ 10, then youre entitled to a free soft drink and there are other specials (see he take out menu when you first enter the restaurant)

I think the 101 stands for how many minutes it takes for the order to get to you. Two stars only because the food is decent.

If you’re in Bethesda and you’re dying for Sushi… okay. But how bizarre!
We were here for a birthday party (10 people) and Judy, the owner/​server?, knew our birthday boy. So the tempura bananas and green tea ice cream treat was soooo nice. Upgraded from 2 to 3 stars for her being really nice and trying really hard.
Some of the sushi had a really unique presentation. I loved the way spicy tuna was served in teardrop shaped rolls. Seaweed salad was enormous… actually, too much! My miso had some kind of blue paint/​wrapper in it. That was weird, but it still tasted okay.
It took quite a while to feed our party of ten. About 3 hours and there was only one other table in the restaurant (a morphing party of 2 – 5 people). I completely understand that, because there was only one sushi chef and one server. But I don’t understand how that makes for a functioning restaurant. Is Bethesda really THAT slow and boring all the time?
Hmmm…
I don’t think I will be back to this flower shop (plastic ones-everywhere!)/ sushi bar until next year’s birthday celebration. They were great about splitting the checks, which makes eating with a group grand… but be certain you have called ahead!

I love this little Asian restaurant in Bethesda. The menu offers loads of different types of East Asian cuisine. I always go here for the Japanese food though. The California roll is the best California roll I’ve ever had! They make it so good and definitely are adding some extra good stuff inside. And another awesome part, they give you 8 pieces and not just 6! The price is right and it’s awesome. I also get the fried gyouza which are also delicious. :) The staff here are kind and so good and I always have a great experience in this little café.

So it was a Friday night, and 8:30, and every other place in Bethesda had a line out the door. I’m a sushi fan, my boyfriend is not, and the menu looked promising, although I am also a bit wary of multi-​cuisine options.
The service was beyond horrible. The waitress did not offer drinks, just asked «you ready?» when she noticed our menus closed. She took our order and quickly dissapeared, with sweater and purse, out the front door. A different wait staff brought out my sushi roll– crunchy salmon, which was WAY to big around for Maki (sorta futo-​maki sized) with about 75%crunchies, a slight schmear of avocado, and flavorless rice. My boyfriend’s chicken wings did not appear until at least 20 minutes later-​they were sticky wings and served on a bed of brown lettuce. Not once did a wait staff check on us, ask if we needed anything or even make eye contact. BF noticed him scratching himself as he was serving the one other table that was occupied. We had to call him over for the check. No «thanks» no «how was everything» no «please come back…» although we won’t, ever. Maki Maki on Wisconsin may not be as «pretty”-although the prettiness has turned quite shabby, but at Maki Maki the sushi is fantastic, the staff is friendly and efficient, and is definetly the better choice!

We eat at a lot of Asian restaurants, and this one is okay… but, just okay. there’s nothing memorable here, yet I don’t think you would hate it either.
Specifics? Miso poor egg drop is really watery, Thai Ginger not too Ginger-​y at all, and the chinese vegetable in it is bitter, and overwhelms the taste. Portions ok,
Overall… Slightly bland. Now, let me defend them by saying that a lot of asian restaurants in the South have become ‘trained’ by their customers to not have the food too spicy; if you eat the same food in, say, California or New York, it might be spicer (and perhaps not as spicy as if you had it in the homeland…)

My favorite sushi place in Bethesda! I am always sad when Taipei Tokyo doesn’t have a lot of business and I’m always scared it’s going to close. My friends and I make an effort to go every time we’re home from school. Amazing sushi, really friendly staff (if you speak Chinese, they bring you free rolls), and great location! Try the volcano roll… it’s a work of art.

Having been here several times because I have office mates who like this place, and I will say I wasn’t impressed at first, but lately I am beginning to become a fan. It’s very cheap for lunch, the waitress and the guy who runs the place are very nice. Because we come with a large group, they always give us some gratis appetizers. Not expected at all, and when we ask about why we’re getting them, the waitress says, «don’t worry, just eat!» Yes mam!
I like the fact that this place is very low key and I like the fact that they seemed to have commissioned a Chinese artist to paint a mural on the wall. This place so laid back, it doens’t bother me one bit to wave the waitress down or to get up and ask for hot sauce or an extra napkin as some people would find that annoying.
I will say this about the food — Since this is a Chinese place also serving sushi, thai etc., I ONLY stick to the Chinese items when we go. The hot and sour soup is really, really good and it only costs an additional $ 1 when you get lunch. Oh yeah, the pan fried Chinese meat dumplings are pretty good too. Will I go back without my co-​workers? You betcha!

The Second Fundamental Theorem of Asian Dining: A restaurant’s authenticity is inversely proportional to the number of ethnic cuisines represented on its menu except if there is a historical basis for the fusion cuisine.
The first red flag is the name itself. What’s the relationship between Taipei 101 (the tallest tower in Asia and located in Taipei, Taiwan) and Tokyo (the capital city of Japan)? Maybe the owners were inspired by the Japanese occupation of Formosa between 1894 and 1945. But if that was the case, then I’d imagine Sino-​Japanese dishes like miso-​grilled fish, mochi, tian bu la (a version of tempura), or Japanese curry. Sadly, the menu fails to mention any of these essential dishes. Instead, and this is the second red flag, the menu offers a garden variety of Americanized dishes from China, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. There’s sushi, sashimi, maki specialties, cold and hot appetizers, soups, salads, noodle soups, stir-​fried noodles, specialty entrees, regular entrees, fried rice, and vegetables & tofu. Can’t decide? Well, there must be something you’d like from one of 185 dishes — not including 223 variations — that you can choose from. I can think of only the Cheesecake Factory that offers this many dishes and even it can’t pull this off effectively.
How can a kitchen, a mere fraction of the size of the Cheesecake Factory, master so many dishes? Because every dish is actually a variation of another dish. Fried chicken plus mixed vegetables (broccoli, snow peas, julienne carrots, water chestnuts) plus sweet & sour sauce gives you Sweet & Sour Chicken for $ 10.95. Fried chicken plus mixed vegetables plus orange sauce gives you Orange Peel Chicken for $ 11.95. Fried Chicken dipped in more batter plus mixed vegetables give you Chicken Tempura for $ 10.95. Notice the difference? Stir fry the same vegetables with the same cut of meat but a grab different box of commercial-​size sauce and you can call the dish another name.
Perhaps the biggest atrocity is Taipei 101 Tokyo Café’s idea of «Korean Noodle Soup.» One, Koreans don’t have a Korean Noodle Soup. Two, Korean soups are hearty broths made with kimchi, tofu, onions, and protein. This soup tasted like water and whatever the chef could manage to throw in at the last minute. I’ve deconstructed the recipe for you here:
½ cup cabbage, chopped (not even kimchi)
½ cup of broccoli, julienne carrots, snow peas, bean sprouts
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 Tbsp chili pepper flakes (kochukaru)
4 cups water (not even chicken or beef broth)
4 oz sliced beef (the same you would use for Black Pepper Beef or Mongolian Beef)
8 oz vermicelli noodles (the same for you would use for Singapore noodles)
1 Star — I’ll say it again. No restaurant can execute 185 dishes from four distinct cultures and still be good. Also, a rose by any other name is still a rose. Under this principle, I should’ve known that «Taipei 101 Tokyo Café» was simply a bastardized reincarnation of the equally terrible «Taipei Tokyo Café», which previously shared the same address.