Takohachi

It was really sad to find out that Takohachi is closed…
But, I still would like to thank the family for all the wonderful food they fed me over the years.
Okasan, I used to call her, was all business, she may have been scared^^ by some diners but made sure that everyone gets the foods hot and be happy with their meal.
I always ordered the ‘triple combo’ but didn’t care for vege croquet so she was nice enough to let me substitute for another for mere 50 cents.
BTW, they only had Sapporo, right? ^^
How sad to see them go, it’s a terrible loss for all Japanese food lovers in Seattle.

superb food, low prices…
this is the older takohachi… who ever tried the new takohachi?

I drove by recently. Their sign says they are remodeling? Looks like they’ll be reopened? Don’t know when. — edit — Got a note from Ray C. that the couple retired and will reopen under new ownership/​chefs :(
This is a really nice place. It closes at 8pm, so it’s mission impossible to make it there for dinner from redmond after work. But, one time I made it and I really liked their food.
there’s a common theme to their food — and that’s white pepper. I love white pepper (who doesn’t love white pepper!!!), and the dishes I had are loaded with white pepper, so it certainly goes well with me.
I’m giving it 4 stars for being one of the best places to eat Japanese food in [ Seattle ], but if you’re from out of town, this place would be rated a 3.

I loved this little joint. It was basically a «diner» serving the best of everyday Japanese cuisine.
I’ll remember the curry and the katsu, not to mention the sweet but extremely busy lady that ran it, the hand drawn specials signs and the very plain diner décor that probably hadn’t been updated since the 60’s.
Whenever I would be working in Seattle I would make a couple pilgrimages over here for lunch. I once heard it was Ichiro Suzuki’s favorite lunch spot, but I never saw him any of the times I came.
So long Takohachi, you will be missed.

Appreciate the homey Japanese feeling of this place. Décor-​wise it’s quaint and I like that they didn’t go all out, so it feels like a mom and pop shop and not a big production.
Even though I’ve seen it used all over the place in other reviews, «cheap» is not a word that comes to mind about this place. I would say «Inexpensive». The prices aren’t bad, but it’s not a bargain like you’d get at some of the places in the U-​Distict. Portions are kind of small too (for me, anyway.) But the food is a notch above what you’d get at those places.

Okay, must admit, I go to Takohachi pretty often. They might not know me by name, but they do by sight. E.g. left my sunglasses there, went to eat 1.5 months later, the daughter brought my sunglasses to me and said they’d been keeping it for me. Cool, eh?
Anywhoo, you’re probably wondering why I’m reviewing it now… since it’s *supposedly* closed. Note the asterisks– it’s not closed! Well, only temporarily due to remodelling. They’ll be re-​opening in late August after remodel is completed.
Jamie and I drove past it and I noticed the lights were lit on 07÷06÷07. Made her hop out of the car after I circled the block and she ran back to the car with a smile and the good news.
Phew! That means there’s still bacon fried rice and kimchee hanchan to be had! (If you don’t know these dishes, go familiarize yourself when Takohachi opens up again– you won’t regret it.)
*** Gave one less star due to surly service. I’ve only seen the boss lady smile when there are little kids around.

I love small hole in the wall Japanese restaurants and this is one of the last of them. (They’ll be closing June 2^nd after dinner. We were their last lunch customers on the 1^st.)
Very clean, affordable and interesting food. Not the best on the west coast, but good home cooking and at prices even our lifetimes son can afford. The lunch special, ram en and Benito box are an excellent very affordable choice.
The tips contained in the reviews below are superb. Follow them and enjoy.

Great atmosphere but slow lunch service. The food is on par with St George. Its interesting and unpretentious. A good bet for lunch if you’re not in a hurry.

***** [July 2007 Update] The owners of Takohachi (he was the chef, she ran the front) have retired. The business has been sold and will reopen in Fall, albeit under new ownership and new chefs. *****
There are several restaurants I eat at regularly and Takohachi is one of them. If you’re loking for a chichi sushi-​pushing establishment, look elsewhere. Takohachi is a family-​run business which serves good home/​street-​vendor style fare in humble surroundings. Faves are the Miso Kimchi Nabe (tofu, veggie, fish+pork+chicken slices served in a miso-​based broth with pickled cabbage sprinkles), Ramen (traditional ramen noodles served in a beefy broth) and Teriyaki Tori Kara (breaded/​fried chicken pieces lavishly coated in a sweet/​sour/​spicy sauce). A tip for the hard-​of-​hearing — when the lady asks, she wants to know if you want (plain) white rice or fried rice or curry rice with your meal.
Service is attentive and responsive, although the 2 ladies can get a little bit overwhelmed when the house gets full. Come to think of it, I really don’t like the place or the food or the service. You guys should all go eat elsewhere.
5 Stars — I love eating there.

I wish I could just order a big bowl of fried rice here. I love all the food they serve here, but I really love their fried rice. It reminds me of the fried rice my mother made. It was something that my sister and I would fight over before we had to go to school amongst other things.
If you go here for lunch its best that you try to make it there between 11:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. because this place gets crowded quickly. Most of the dishes that you order come with a choice of fried rice, curried rice or plain steamed. I really like their bento box and love their ramen. I especially like the kimchee hanchan which comes with a side of fried rice.
They do have an expanded menu at dinner and if you go, consider making it in before 8 p.m. Though they are open till 8:30 p.m. the owner turns off the open sign at 8 p.m. and you won’t be seated.
UPDATE: 05÷25÷07
I know that a few discussion threads have mentioned Takohachi closing. I am sad that they are because I really like their food. I will miss them like I miss Koraku (they had some really good saba).
I had lunch here today and it was great as usual. The only thing is that you need to get here early or you may be waiting for your food to arrive. It was so busy today that the owner told people that it would be 30 minutes before their food would arrive. Thank god I got there at opening! Anyway, I do plan on having lunch there all next week before they close for good on June 2.

Recently they raised their lunch menu by, like, $ 0.50. Now the combos are $ 6.25 or so. That’s the first raise I have seen in more than 7 years I can remember. It’s crazy how cheap this place is. AND great food.
They have the best Tonkatsu in Seattle.
Therefore, the best Katsu-​Curry in Seattle.
The best miso soup in Seattle. Only $ 0.50 for the refill.
And the secret is that their Tempura is the shit! You can only get it as an appetizer at the dinner time. Try it!
They are very tight about hours of operation. The lunch is 11:30am to 1:30 pm. Don’t get there at 1:20pm and expect to get seated. You won’t. Get there by 1pm for lunch and before 7:30pm for dinner. Then you will be treated with great Japanese comfort food at such a bargain price. There’s not a place like this in nowhere in L. A…

I was recommended this place by a Japanese friend of mine. Takohachi serves what she calls «real everyday Japanese food». It’s where real Japanese people living in Seattle go to eat. This is not your typical Korean-​run teriyaki joint serving up your typical menu items. As other reviewers have mentioned, this is Japanese comfort/​soul food.
The restaurant is small/​cozy. The service could be a lot better. The food was good, but not excellent.

If you go here, you’ve gotta try their soup noodle (the Kimchi one in particular) and hanchan (their home-​made fried rice). Yes yes it’s a carb fest but it’s so worth it. You’ll walk out with bad breath but what delicious Asian food doesn’t give you bad breath and stinky burps afterwards?
This is THE BEST JAPANESE COUNTRY STYLE RESTAURANT IN SEATTLE. Word to your mutha.

I will echo the comments of some of the other people here about the food being cheap and takohachi having a very quaint little atmosphere. However, the food quality was pretty good not great. That said, its definitely the best place in Seattle for ramen, but to be honest that really isn’t saying much.
So if you’re looking for a good place to try ramen this is as good a place as any to start. That said, if you’re expecting to find the best ramen this side of Tokyo — well you’re likely to be left wanting.
Oh and someone said this place closes at 830 — well at 8 pm they turned their OPEN sign off so I suspect they stop seating people at 8 pm. So get their early folks.

Pretty tasty Japanese comfort food. It’s a little small, a little sloppy, and a small menu. But it’s pretty tasty when you have a hankering for a bento box and some curry rice.
The place itself is really small, so you may have to wait. The service is fast and forks are by request only. The menu is a tad small and was missing some combos I would have liked. But the bento is good and their chicken is great. And for the price, it’s totally worth it.

Eh, OK. Wish the menu were larger, the place more inviting, and the food better. Generally I was disappointed after hearing so many things about the place.
Better cheap food would be Fort St. George’s down the street. It’s more kissaten faire, but for the money I’d rather go there.
This is one of the few places to get a decent bowl of ramen, though. Only thing saving it in my book.

So I heard about this place from various people and decided to check it out. What a great find! Seriously, I live in the area so my friend and I decided to go check it out. We got there a little early and right off the bat, there were 2 other groups waiting by the door. This was a good sign.
So we were the first to be seated and the pictures on the walls were awesome. I wanted to try it all but didn’t have time to go over the menu very much since the waitress was very prompt and I’ve heard from the other Unilocalers that they wanted you to decide quick. So I ordered the chicken, hamburg, and croquette meal. I really wanted to try the Ramen since I haven’t had anything close to the stuff I had in Osaka so long ago. Anyhow, the food was good! My friend enjoyed it as well. The best thing about this place now is that I’m looking forward to going back and trying all the other items.
This is the type of place that when you eat here, you want to become a «regular» and sort of covet the knowledge of this place. You want to introduce friends to it and sort of curse/​cry the fact that they are only open for a couple hours a day. Anyhow, thanks for the tip, I’m a believer.

I can’t count how many times I’ve been to this joint on my fingers and toes… There is just so much to love about it, from its beautiful interior with wood booths, the hand drawn pictures and descriptions of menu items, and the faint smell of grease you’d experience at a gritty down home diner.
The ramen is especially good, and even though they do not tout the miso black cod as a specialty, it is a very good dish, and one i order frequently. The fried rice served is quite inspiring, and a testament to their down home, thrifty family owned roots. You will also not find a more temperature hot Nabe in the whole god damned city.
One not so good thing is the piece of ham on the side salad, whats up with that?

Long ago, in a land far, far away (actually Seattle, it was just Chinatown back then) there was a restaurant called Tenkatsu that served the best homestyle Japanese food this side of Japan. I practically grew up there. Alas, it’s gone, but it’s ok because there is still Takohachi. Tako means octopus and hachi = 8, in case you were wondering.
This is the BEST homestyle Japanese food. The BEST. Yeah, I’m shouting. The tonkatsu is never dry, the noodles are perfect, teriyaki to die for… and as Shoko pointed out, it’s really, really cheap. You just know an oba-​san is back in the kitchen cooking. The watercolor pictures of the menu items is a homey touch and who can resist the octopus sign out front? You’ve got to try this place if you like REAL Japanese food, not just sushi. Go early and look around for street parking.

This little restaurant ROCKS!!! Most Japanese people who live in Seattle know about this place. It’s CHEAP and food is SOOO good. However, it’s a street parking so sometimes, it takes a while to find a spot. Also, they close relatively early at night (like 9?), so you might want to get there by 8pm at the latest. They don’t have any sushi — mostly kitchen food, but it’s authentic. It’s a cozy, family-​owned restaurant. You’ve gotta try their fried rice. It’s by far the best fried rice I’ve ever had. Their ramen is okay, but not the best. But, it’s definitely worth driving into Seattle to eat at Takohachi.