Dinner at Takohachi

Takohachi is my favorite country-style Japanese food. It is really delicious, really Japanese, and really cheap. Their kara-age is one of the best fried chickens in town, period. Starting clockwise from 12 o'clock; pickled lotus root, delicious tamago (folded, slightly sweet, very eggy omelet); broiled salmon, shrimp tempura with katsu sauce, two pieces of boneless fried chicken, edamame, carrot, and gem-cut squash in the center. You can make out a bowl of miso on the right, and you'll notice the bento box has a bottom compartment for steamed rice with some sesame seeds. You can also get brown rice or curry rice.

H ordered battera because she is a huge mackeral eater and she was not that hungry. Battera, as you know, is sushi that's pressed into a box, rather than formed by hand. You can see she ate one piece before taking the picture. They put a thin layer of ginger down between the rice and mackeral. It comes with miso.


The total came to about $21, including tax and tip. We were kind of disappointed that the owner lady disappeared as we got up to leave, so we didn't get to hear her scream THANK YOU! in English and Japanese, which is one of the great charms of Asian American restaurants.

For lunch, the kara-age plate is around $6, but it's a little embarassing. The plate is the size of a large pizza, and it's piled high with rice, boneless fried chicken, and a heap of shredded cabbage with a bloob of creamy dressing and a slice of ham. It's embarassing, because it's so much fried chicken, and you eat it all because it's so good, and you know that if you put it in a styrofoam clam it will get soggy.

I heart Takohachi. It is the number one most comforting comfort food restaurant in town. I would take low-priced Takohachi food over over-priced American comfort food every day of the week. Who needs grilled meatloaf and mac&cheese when you can have curried hamburg steak and rice?