Takahashi

This place looks so authentic. I love all the décor about it. We came on a weekday evening and the place is quite busy. We had some nigiri sets, a ramen and a teriyaki steak dinner set. I love the sushi. They were very fresh. The ramen was ok. The soup base was not as strong as I would like. I had to shake plenty of salt into it. And the steak dinner was good. My 12 year old brother thinks the steak is a bit too chewy for him. But he still ate it all since there’s teriyaki sauce to it. Overall it was a good experience.

Still really good, maybe a little more $pendy then I would prefer (But that is probably safe to say about most restaurants). This is the first time I’ve been back in a few years, and I was impressed that they cleared the paint-​covering-​the windows off, so it is not as sketchy. Also, my hubby and I took a friend who has never been there before and we were surprised there was actually a Wait on a Saturday night – and a list to put your name down. We were used to basically OWNING the restaurant and just being able to walk in whenever sans crowds; but I’m glad to see them having more business of course!
Also, one thing I really, really appreciate about this dining establishment is that they don’t just look at a meal as an «In & out & dun & pay your bill» type encounter. We were there basically for 2 hours and it was more of an experience than a forced-​dietary-​interaction. WE had several courses and several bottles of sake and lots of jokes & interactions in between! It is more like how the culture of meals in Latin America… where they don’t just GIVE You the bill at the end, you actually have to request it, because it is a gray area of how long the social interactions are happening and they just let you be and enjoy your meal!

I used to go here back in my college days (10+years) almost every other week but stopped because decline of customer service. I recall unpleasant waitresses that didn’t seem appreciative of regular paying customers. Its showed in there non smiling faces and long wait times. There was other dining options in PDX for me not to put up with this.
Fast forward. I recently moved back in this hood and decided to give it another go and see what kinda changes a decade can bring. It was a weekday around 7pm. A few familiar faces and that good ol choo choo train still circling around ceiling :) Wait time for seating and service was good! Food… good! Place wasn’t packed so maybe after dinner rush is the time to go. I’ll be back and see if I can add more stars to review.
They do ask you if you want to add tip upfront when paying with a card so do your math before approaching if you can’t add on the spot. Lol. Also tried buckwheat noodle soup for first time and was not bad… not bad at all.

Atmosphere is cozy and reflects Japanese country.
We were seated promptly and order taken within a reasonable amount of time. We had a party of four with three of our meals arriving at the same time. The last meal came 20 minutes later. No sushi was ordered.
Our server was hard to get her attention.
Turned into a two hour experience of waiting.
When paying the bill to the host he asks if we’d like to add a tip. No pressure? I asked him if the dining experience was normally slow. He blamed the «new servers».
Not sure if we’ll be returning.

My family and I have been going here for years and are always excited to bring our Japanese family members when they are in town. They serve some of the best sushi and tempura in town and have an amazing, cozy and authentic Japanese atmosphere. Thank you for all the great dinners Seiji!

This place has the weird hours it does because it can, it is a great environment to have a peacful authentic meal in, great servers. The tempura and tea were good. The caterpillar role looks great. No sea urchen yuck lol but that’s just me this places quality is top knotch.

This place is big. You walk up to the door and think it’s a pretty small restaurant so when they asked us if we wanted a table or to sit at the sushi bar, we wondered what corner we would be shoved in after requesting a table. Well, as I said before, this place is BIG and it turns out the joint has a very large back room. After being seated in there, we brought some tea and water and were left to look at our surroundings (and I guess the menu) for a minute.
The restaurant has a very traditional vibe from the tables to the tea cups. Festive paper lanterns and customer-​folded origami hang from the walls and ceiling. Oh yeah, did I mention they leave origami paper on your table while you wait for your meal? The instructions that accompany the paper are IKEA-​approved pictograms so you should fair well… unless you are as untalented as I am because then you’ll crumple it up and pocket the evidence to save yourself from embarrassment.
Oh, yeah. I was going to talk about the menu. You open it up and see hand-​drawn food items and (what I believe to be) kanji and English scribbled a bit haphazardly on the pages. While I was overwhelmed with how adorable they were, they’re not the most practical menus ever. I guess this is a food establishment so I should probably say something about the food itself.
We both ordered dinner entrees so they came with miso soup. I can never complain about miso soup and this place’s was more than fine so there you go. Enjoy your miso soup. At this point, my experience vastly differed from that of my companion. I decided to order the sushi dinner and he ordered the katsu don and a sushi roll with uni (BBQ eel) and avocado. He liked both of his selections and I, well…
Let me say it now: I had never spat out sushi before. Never. Firstly, it’s way too delicious and secondly, it’s way too expensive to spit out, but there’s a first for everything and I felt so rude that I actually threw that napkin out in the restroom. For reference, my sushi dinner included two pieces of tuna nigiri, one piece of salmon, one piece of tako (octopus, one of my FAVORITES) and a 3 piece California roll, which I usually forgo for something better. That tako I just mentioned? There was something SERIOUSLY wrong with it. It smelled off and it looked kind of off, but I put it in my mouth anyway and it ruined the rest of my meal for me. I couldn’t stop gagging and I couldn’t get the taste of that horrid tako out of my mouth. I can’t even tell if the things I consumed after it were fine or not because of it, but I know the first piece of tuna was just okay.
Service was fine even though they definitely aren’t the most attentive if that’s your style.
A word to the wise: a place that offers 35% off sushi once a week (and I believe I read 20% off other nights) is probably a place you shouldn’t be going to get it. Order off the long tempura list (tempura mussels, anyone?)! Even order sushi rolls with something cooked in it! However, if you are looking for a quality sushi joint, I’d look elsewhere.

Great space for a table of 12. Everyone had different dishes and they were all super good. Lots of tempura and sushi.

I give it three stars because it is my boyfriend’s favorite restaurant when he left town five years ago. SADLY he said and I quote, «leave them a S****Y review!» As we left just now. This is the second time in three months we’ve tried to eat here. The food is great! The sushi sucks! The service is the worst part of it all. You have one more chance Takahashi or its «three strikes your out»…

Oh man, Takahashi’s service is bad. Epically bad. We showed up on a weeknight and were promptly seated in the large back room and given water/​tea by the nice hostesses. Off to a great start!
Our first thirty seconds in the restaurant was the only good part of the night. It took our server twenty minutes to acknowledge us even though the restaurant was dead and when she did show up it was like a time trial — how fast can I take their order and get the hell outta here? (I think she was shooting for ten seconds) She tried to bolt before we could even get our drink order out. Once our thoroughly MEH sushi arrived we were ready for more sake. She dropped off our platter, said «it looks like you have everything you need», and again bolted before I could even open my mouth to request some more sake. At this point we decided to just eat and get the hell outta there. (We were never checked on) I don’t expect to be doted on or anything, but a basic level of service shouldn’t be that hard of a concept to grasp especially when tips are at stake.
Our dinner experience was also enhanced by another server loudly complaining about one of the hostesses while in the hallway between the two dining rooms. So awkward. After waiting an eternity for our check we got the hell outta dodge and proceeded to laugh our asses off in the parking lot about the whole experience. Sorry (not sorry) about the 10% tip.

This is one of my favorite sushi joints! The interior/​atmosphere is so cute, authentic and cozy. The sushi quality is great and their ramens are delicious (Yuzu still has the best ramen). Every time I come to this place, it’s a good experience.

There are few times in life where you are truly offended by the service enough to literally walk out of the restaurant without ordering a single dish. Such was our experience this evening (which happens to be on the eve of our wedding) and we are now happily enjoying ourselves elsewhere. The server left us sitting for about 15 minutes looking at an inscrutable child drawing style fusion menu of sorts. And when asked a single question about which items would be most suitable our server abruptly snorted «if you want tempura or sushi then you need to study those sheets and mark what you want with a pencil» and then stomped off all put out.
Yikes. Bön chance. The food is good though if you can ever get any.

Horrible. I just don’t understand why this place has such good ratings and what appears to be an avid and steady clientele. The service and friendly (and attractive) mostly non-​Asian staff were very available but the food was mediocre at best and we had to ask for things like side plates and spoons for soup.
After a plate of over-​cooked gyoza (red flag!) we waited for our nigiri sushi and rolls which never arrived. A huge plate of greasy gravy and rice with a few small islands of fried chicken bits, scattered with a handful of peas was plopped down in front of me. This «chicken curry» didn’t even taste remotely Japanese and had a distinctively Appalachian spin, enough bland curry-​less gravy for eight chicken cutlets. My friend’s bowl of Oyako Don was edible but far from thrilling. By the time the sushi finally arrived –at the end of the meal — we had already asked for the check in order to cut our losses. Very disappointing for a busy Saturday evening when you’d expect the food to be at its best. I will say that the sushi looked good; apparently the main kitchen has no connection to what seems to be a busy and adequate place for sushi, but we didn’t stick around long enough to confirm that and, frankly, we’ll never go back. Pity…

Where to begin. Well i guess i can base my overall rating on 1 star per dollar i left them.
This place has a very un welcoming attitude. Its quite obvious they have a local following and if you’re not a regular, well then just try and hold on for the whirlwind of shitty service you are about to encounter.
After being seated, a couple was seated beside my girlfriend and i. After the couple had received their appetizer we were finally asked for our order. While still waiting we managed to get on of the ladies (i think it was a lady) to keep her finger out of her nose long enough to fill us up on a second tiny portion of water. Eventually i was required to find the pitcher in the waitress station and do this myself.
Food…eh. Im pretty sure they found a tremendous deal on cream cheese, it was in everything. So if you’re into that kind of thing, well this spot is for you.

Old man Seiji is the best! Hahahaha. His Sushi is always amazing. He cares so much about the quality over quantity concept. It will be sad to see him retire. Arigato gozaimassu!
Orders will take time to receive. This is not your ordinary mediocre Sushi Land. Price is on the higher end if that is a problem go on Wednesdays for the discount.
Shrimp boat! Caterpillar! Rainbow!
The waitresses are friendly and helpful.
If you know Japanese I highly encourage you to sit at the sushi bar and start a conversation w/​the old geezer. He is entertaining and very lovely. Reminds me of my gramps.
Updating 5 to a 4 star… food quality went down a tad. I’m also surprised they pass inspection.

Kind of sad to admit it, but I think I have actually been going to Takahashi for 20 years now! The food has always been excellent. You can tell the owner takes pride in high quality cuisine.
The sashimi melts in your mouth and the hot dishes are flavorful and memorable. Even the tea is good.
The décor creates a unique, quirky ambiance and the service is friendly and welcoming.
We had not been going as frequently because the wait times were excessive for a while, but when we went earlier this week there was no wait and we vowed to return more frequently for the great food.

Twenty years ago, some friends who discovered the Takahashi, «way out in Southeast», took my significant other and I to SE 104^th and Holgate for a feast that has since had me under a spell. Throughout the years, we made the trip from N/​NE Portland for special occasions. About three years ago, we moved a quarter of a mile away from our favorite Japanese folk restaurant, and frequent it as much as possible. Two of us at the bar is the way we usually roll, but larger groups at a back table is always a lot of fun. Try the baby octopus.

Try their food because it is good! Love their sushi, and the yakisoba. The workers are friendly, food came out fast, and there is a huge list of item one can order. Love the mini train going around, looks kinda old but leaves a good history.

This place was good. Good food, good service. Nothing that was over the top fantastic and nothing was bad. Took a long time to get sushi order, but there is a sign that clearly states that is going to happen. Large building once you get inside!
My son had the Ramen noodle bowl. It was huge! Tasty. Maybe a little to gingery for his taste. I had the teriyaki chicken. That was pretty darn good. Also the shrimp tempura was good. Unagi sushi was okay.
Slightly on the spendy side. 3 adults, 1 teenager and 2 small kids, bill was 80 bucks. But we did all order sushi.
I would go here again if I was hungry and in the area, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come over here.
I don’t want to diss the restaurant, food was good.

This place is huge. From the front it looks like a small place but in the back they have a massive dining area with these huge wooden tables filled with Japanese nick knacks.
The food itself was not bad. The portions were large and plentiful, and the service was friendly. Altogether not a bad place to eat.
They have a huge list of tempura that you can order a-​la-​carte and was unique. I actually really liked their tempura which bumped up my overall experience.
Worth trying once.