Even Adults Need a Lunch Box Special

When Taka Sushi opened in 2008, there were few high quality sushi options in the area.  Today, the options are still few and far between. Perhaps that's why the husband and wife team, Bid Chen and Robyn Chin decided to open Taka Sushi on Summit Avenue in Summit.  Mr. Chen and Ms. Chin came to this country from China about 10 years ago. They learned their craft, the art of making sushi and cooking Japanese food while working in Japanese restaurants in New York City.  Then, they came out to the suburbs and the rest is history.

Like the name, the focus of Taka Sushi is the fresh sushi that's made to order at the sushi bar in the back of the restaurant.  Most of the sushi chefs are also Chinese, but it really doesn't make a difference.  The sushi they produce is always fresh and authentic whether it's lunch, dinner or take-out.

also serves typical Japanese dishes of beef, chicken and fish with teriyaki sauce or fried in tempura batter or tossed in noodles. The lunch menu, a mini version of the dinner menu has sushi and sashimi specials as well as maki rolls that you can mix and match to suit your taste. But the best dish on the lunch menu is the Lunch Box. For $10.95, it's a feast for the eyes with five different dishes all served together in a large laquered box complete with compartments for each item.  The Lunch Box consists of soup, salad, rice, steamed shrimp shumai and the choice of an entree.  The selection ranges from teriyaki to tempura to katsu.  I asked my server, Missy for a suggestion.

"Most people like salmon teriyaki in the lunch box, but I think any entree is good," she said.

So, I ordered the salmon teriyaki and a green tea iced tea.  First came the tea and a cup of miso soup.  I could tell the tea was freshly made and poured hot over ice.  It was clean and refreshing and one of the reasons why I love eating at Japanese restaurants so much.  The soup was satisfying with miso broth and flecks of tofu and seaweed dancing on the bottom.  

Next came the lunch box.  There was a large green salad with their signature carrot ginger dressing.  In another compartment were three shrimp shumai, warm, round dumplings perfectly steamed with a subtle briny shrimp flavor.  On the other side of the box was a big scoop of white rice.  The final component was the main course, a large filet of salmon basted with teriyaki sauce and broiled.  It was sitting atop of braised cabbage which soaked up the extra teriyaki sauce.  Also with the salmon were a few steamed broccoli florets and chunks of bright carrots.  Pretty and healthy.  The lemon wedge for squeezing on the salmon was cut origami-style into a bird and so precious I didn't want to use it.  The salmon didn't need lemon anyway. It was moist and flavorful, rich with sauce and a perfect foil to the cabbage that it was placed on.  

The fun of Taka's lunch box is you that you can have a little of this and a little of that.  Dip one shumai in the carrot ginger salad dressing and the next in the teriyaki sauce.  The rice too goes nicely with the salmon as it soaks up every last drop of the sauce in every compartment.  If you're concerned you might not be full after a Taka lunch box, you can be sure the heaping portion of rice will do the trick.

You really can't go wrong with anything on the lunch menu.  So, whether it's sushi or a Lunch Box,  a quick dash from work, a business lunch or a break from the kids, Taka Sushi is one restaurant you don't want to miss.