Taiko - Irvine

Taiko lunch special was so filled for the winding and eager like my today afternoon. I took a car ride from the beach laguna, which was about 20 min from this restaurant, which is at 5 fwy 133 change. it was a very pleasant journey, very peaceful and natural. this route is one of the rare picturesque autobahns that remained in the middle of Southern California.

When they get the chance, they eat here! everything was delicious and cheap. that was the best unagi (eel) I ever tasted! perfectly grilled and the sauce was heavenly.

Huge long time fans and patrons of this establishment. It was my absolute favorite restaurant all my life and have always respected adorned their traditional Japanese approach. You feel it, you taste it. I understand this pandemic has really altered many things for many places. However, just about everything has changed with Taiko. Unfortunately not for the better : 1 profound example: recently whenever we've ordered even the spicy tuna hand rolls which are SIGNATURE here) they have been quite different. Can't put our fingers on it, but my husband as well as I equally feel the same just about every time now. Everything is slowly evolving to taste and feel more generic. We're so so sad to see it. Even still, I can not bring myself to give our beloved Taiko anything less than 5 stars for years years of incredible service, quality, and wonderful experiences. But as a loyal patron, I feel it’s important they know that some of us are noticing their decline, we aren’t happy about it, and we deeply hope they return to homeostasis.

Ordered the spicy tuna roll, dynamite roll, volcano roll all hand cut and requested for tamago sashimi. Definitely recommend to join Yelp waitlist. The staff was so nice though and very accommodating. They also give complimentary miso soup. Definitely one of the best sushi places in Irvine. So delicious and affordable!

Went twice in the past week after many years. Got there a half hour early for lunch and many folks were already raring to get in. dine in Entrance is in back of restaurant. Week day lunch was great. Portions are a lot! Tempura was served hot and went well with the dipping sauce, abundance of sesame chicken meant we took leftovers home for dinner. Only concern was the combi A beef on the skewer was rare, hardly cooked. Veggie salad rounded out the meal. Enjoyed it a lot. Advance Take out order for Mother's day was ready when we arrived 15 minutes early. Delicious, meal fit for moms and everyone. No one went hungry, no room for dessert.