Tadashi

Hold onto your horses state college, Tadashi has been rocking out for the past couple of years. It’s about time Penn State started developing more Asian options as Tadashi has come on the scene. They have an eclectic variety of Asian dishes and I’m really into their Yakatori. What a great addition to College Ave.

As a regular, portion is shrinking over the time. Everything is good but if they keep shrinking, Kam Rai would be next destination.

I absolutely love the sushi at Tadashi. I am a vegetarian, so my options are limited, but I am in love with the sweet potato roll! I went to Tadashi for lunch today with a non vegetarian and she it was the best sushi she’s ever had. A few tips though: they do no accept American Express, for totals less than $ 20 they will not accept credit cards, they will not seat you at your table until everyone from your party has arrived — very strict on that.

Exceptional food. I’ve had sushi, spicy ramen, and the miso ramen. All were exceptional, fresh, tasty, etc. The ambiance and the décor remind me of what it would be like in a little restaurant in Tokyo. I’ve never been there but…
One nice touch is the water pitchers, or should I say, bottle. Unique.
I cannot wait to try other items on the menu.

The way to do this is to watch «Mind of a Chef» season 1 on Netflix and then get the tsukeman ramen. Satisfying.

Very disappointing experience. Will not return. Do not recommend.
We were entertaining west coast guests with a good eye for quality International cuisine. Everyone ordered the Ramen. My first experience with this dish, but willing to try anything.
My first bite had something odd in texture, thinking it might be an under-​cooked veggie. Turns out, it was a YELLOW TWIST TIE you would normally get from a packaged loaf of bread. Thankfully I didn’t try to swallow.
I called over the waitress and she apologized profusely. I’m thinking, OK, I’ll go with another bowl. Two others in our party who ordered the same Ramen requested replacements as well. A few minutes later, we get the new order. My bowl had NO pork in it. The waitress quickly got a small plate with two slices to add to the bowl.
When the bill came, there was no adjustment. Just a nice «thank you» with a smile. We all noticed that when the bill was delivered, all the cooks behind the counter were staring at us, waiting for our reaction. Well, they got one.
I suggested to the server that I would be willing to pay the full price, but maybe she could check with the manager. She returned with an adjusted bill with a small percentage off. No where near the price of my Ramen dish.
We paid with a card, and gave the server a nice tip. I told her it was all hers, and not to be shared with the cooks, as they were all observing the conversation.
On the way out, I stopped at the cashier, who apparently was the manager who did the bill adjustment. No apology, nothing.
If I were the owner here, the manager would be fired immediately. They were looking at a lawsuit had I swallowed. No manager came to the table to have a conversation.
This town has a high turnover rate with restaurants. They can ill afford to treat customers like I was treated. I give them 30 – 60 days from here.

Absolutely my favorite place in State College. Go for the Spicy Miso Ramen. Everything is great there but I’ve never had better Ramen in all of my travels.

My new favorite place to eat in State College! The fiancé and I always make sure to stop here when we visit the area. The atmosphere makes you feel like you’re really in Japan and the food is delicious. It is a bit small and intimate so I’d recommend coming here maybe with 3 – 4 guests max. We usually get seated at the bar area with the stools since it’s just 2 of us but I don’t mind.
I always order the Soy Sauce Ramen and a salmon roll. The ramen usually comes with a slice of pork, nori, bamboo shoots and half a boiled egg. Fiancé usually orders sushi from their speciality rolls and an order of eel nigiri. The sushi is always fresh and delicious. Try the Hirata buns if you get the chance. They’re one of our favorites.
The girl who works the front of house is a little cold but I think that’s mostly because they get overwhelmed with customers and take out orders. The restaurant is pretty packed most times we’ve gone. The waiters we’ve had are very accommodating and make suggestions depending on what your tastes are. They also make sure they have the correct order since it does get noisy at times and a bit hard to hear. (When I order the plain salmon roll our waiter asked «that’s just the plain salmon correct? Not spicy or with cream cheese?») I appreciate the extra effort to make sure our orders are right.

I used to live in Japan and this is my favorite Japanese restaurant outside of there or NYC because of the authenticity of the ambiance and food. Everything about the restaurants setting is authentic from the size, seating, décor, and even temperature — I feel like I’m back in Japan whenever I eat here.
The interior design is modern, clean, and unadorned like you would find in a neighborhood restaurant in Japan. Again, just like in Japan, the seating is closer together, especially at the bar, where personal space takes on a new meaning. Although I’m typically a person who likes my space, when I sit at the bar my requirements seem to shrink as the cultural norm is different in Tadashi, especially if seated next to international students. Interestingly, in Tadashi and in Japan nearly all of the restaurants were kept warmer than what you would find in the US, which seemed to correspond to a generally increased comfort in the heat as compared compared to Americans.
As far as food goes, I got hooked on ramen when I lived in Japan and this is one of the few places that I’ve run across outside of a major city that has it on the menu, let alone cooks it well. The sushi and other raw foods are great as well but the ramen is the real gem.

My boyfriend and I always get the spicy miso ramen & the hirata buns when we go here and it’s always a highlight on my trips to state college. Service can be so-​so at times but Tadashi makes up for it with spectacular food.

Absolutely disappointed
Expensive food., Ramen come with 3 tiny slice pork and half boil egg on top it make you feel full like a half hour.
Sushi ., maybe go buy from Wegman is better.
Waitress (cashier) very bad attitude.
I would never be back.

I should start with the part that made me more upset about, because I understand that US is full of immigrants, I, myself is one of them. BUT, in my country theres a popular say: «to the land that you go, you do what you see they do». We cannot immigrate to another country and pretend to bring with us our traditions to impose them in the society. I am gonna explain what makes me so upset of this place:
I went to order food to take out. Once I ordered the food I sat in the bar, in a corner to wait for the tons of food I ordered (as usual). The host (an asian girl) and I do not want to discriminate, I just think it might be part of the culture in Asia, told me to get out of the restaurant and sit in Dunkin donuts (the place next to tadashi) and wait for my food there because she needed to sit other costumers. I explained to her that this is not what people usually do in restaurants, she was stubborn and said that I was wrong and I should go out and wait in Dunkin donuts. My husband could not believe what was happening and interceded but it was hopeless.
I am not gonna talk about the food because my story here is enough for me to never come back again. My the way, my bill was 117 dollars. It really hurt my pocket.

Tadashi is a great addition for State College. Not only they offer ramen, but also yakitori (grilled skewers). I had Miso Ramen and thought it was good. Not the best ramen I have had but compared to other places around State College it is probably one of the tops. Im not even sure if there is any other place that serves ramen (I only visit once a year). We also had the deep fried roll. But the roll wasnt fried well enough, it lacked the crunchiness. I ate and thought the roll was stale.

I ALWAYS get the Soy Sauce Ramen soup. This is nothing like that junk they sell at the grocery store. It’s also, not just soy sauce. It’s a delicate, but intense, complex soup. I know, laugh all you want, but I could have cried the first time I had this soup. Every bite was magical. Add to that, these amazing spoons you use to eat the soup. Crazy right? They are smooth and almost shell-​like. It really adds to the experience. Ive had their sushi rolls, meh. Ive SEEN their more expensive sushi dishes and they LOOK great. But at $ 12 a bowl, I just stick to soup. Hubby always gets the spicy ramen soup. He loves that, too! And he’s not a heat fan, so it’s not too hot. A must try! Just with they had more seating and better air conditioning in the summer. Small tables, even smaller spots at the counter.

New place since I have studied here. The spicy ramen soup was so good and they weren’t kidding it was spicy. A must try.

Overview:
Super authentic Japanese food!
Food:
I honestly cannot rate this place high enough. Everything was not only delicious, it tasted extremely authentic. I lived in Japan and it’s been a long time since I’ve had food that tasted like it was actually from Japan!
I ordered the traditional ramen and my boyfriend got the spicy version. They were both awesome but be warned, the spicy version is SPICY. We also got a few yakitori sticks. We tried the quail egg (yum!), squid, and shrimp. I loved all of it!
Recommend:
The ramen is amazing!
Atmosphere:
The place is small and also extremely popular as it was PACKED. Apparently this isn’t unusual, so come early and expect to wait. I loved being able to watch the chefs create my food as I sat!
Service:
Great service! We were served promptly and everyone was very friendly.

I came here for ramen noodles and for State College, this is a pretty decent place.
I ordered the Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen, which came with side pork and the rest of the condiments. The flavors were really great and enjoyed the different textures coming from the egg, mushroom, bamboo shoot. I love LOVE the fat coming from the side pork which added a delightful sweetness to the meal. I would come back for this dish.
On the side I ordered the Soft Shell Crab Roll and it was pretty nasty. The crab was frozen and overfried to my liking where I tasted more of the oil (like it was override) than I did of the crab, but then again we are in the middle of PA and soft crab (and sea food for that matter) isn’t one the state’s commodity. So I won’t be ordering this again.
Overall, I am pleased. It isn’t THE BEST I’ve had, but for State College it will have to do if I get that urge to have some Japanese.

I ordered a Hiyashi Chuka for lunch at $ 11. Looking at the menu and prices I thought it would be justified by the quality of food and service. Well, I was greatly disppointed.
The ramen came in small paucity, merely enough as an appetizer. There were no sides offered. I had lunch at 12pm and ended up hungry around 2pm!
The flavor of the ramen was so so. I could easily get the same using ramen packs from Walmart. Very little meat.
The environment was definitely overrated. The restrooms are hidden behind stacks of dirty boxes, not well maintained, and was a hassel just to use it.
The service was below average. They refuse to take any debit or credit card because it was under $ 20! This is unheard of. Restaurants which take only cash or restrictively take cash are usually more affordable ones. But don’t get me wrong, I thought Tadashi is self-​labelled as one of the better dining options for Asian food. (So, if you still want to go, bring cash to avoid embassment, because I almost had to go to an ATM).
There are many Asian restaurants in State College, and this is certainly one of the last ones I would ever visit.

After a short afternoon of day-​drinking (by college standards, anyway), JJ and I decided we had a craving for sushi that needed to be satisfied. We ended up at Tadashi, which was absolutely packed for three in the afternoon. We got one of the last tables and immediately ordered some Yakitori Don (skewers – we got beef, chicken, and pork) and Hirata buns. The food came out reasonable fast and hit the spot. We rarely saw the server and were there for perhaps forty-​five minutes, but we did get everything we needed. A perfectly adequate place to stop for Japanese-​style cuisine.
One final thought: the trek to the bathroom was probably the longest I’ve ever taken, especially for such a small place. It’s located near a storeroom of sorts and is secluded enough to be just a little scary to get to. When you see the storage boxes, you’re close.

The spicy ramen is a huge home run! As good as I’ve had… and I’ve had a lot at well reputed places in NYC. The pork i so many bowls of ramen is just an afterthought… the bbq’d pork here is a treasure in it’s own right! This made me so happy! I tasted my son’t Syo-​yu Ramen and it was equally delicious! My daughter’s sushi was excellent and reasonably priced.
I am going to nitpick about the service. The food is SO good that this barely matters but it should be said. My daughters sushi arrived… and we told her not to wait for ours, good thing… she was done eating for 15 minutes before my’s son’s dish arrived. He was halfway through his when mine got there. I have no problem waiting for good, fresh food… but please coordinate the service… it would have been nice to eat lunch together!
Update 4÷3÷2015 Back So Soon?
I had the sushi this time. It’s good sushi… not great sushi. The Ramen is the thing!
Service was much better on a day when they were busier… go figure!