Takumi Sushi Ramen&Lounge - Branford, Connecticut

Carl Friedrich

This place was recommended by someone and I came with high expectations. But the food and ambiance are rather mediocre, not terrible but just not very good. Service was only so, so and that with an almost empty restaurant at lunchtime midweek.

Snehal

Went to Branford for shopping. Came across this place, decided to have lunch here. Ambience, decor was cool. Presentation of food was good. Food was amazing. Fried cheesecake could have been better!! Overall, would definitely recommend ?

Nicole Bartner

So let me just start out by saying: I HATE EATING TAKE OUT FOOD. I hate every aspect of the experience. I hate that the food sat. I hate that the food had to travel. I hate eating out of plastic. I own my own restaurant. I cook for people A LOT of hours every week. That last thing I want to do is eat food that was cooked half an hour ago out of a plastic container when I get to eat another restaurant’s food.

But! I have been completely unsuccessful, in the past three years, at convincing my parents to eat lunch out. They LOVE to order lunch and then bring it home and eat it. And we discovered Takumi during Covid when you actually could not eat in the dining room anyway. So I think that makes it even harder for me to convince them to go out and eat inside a restaurant for lunch when I’m visiting them from Vermont.

All that to say that one of the five stars of giving Takumi is for their sheer grit and hustle and professionalism during Covid (they took orders online and over the phone and there was completely contactless pick up in their vestibule) and how that has carried over in these Post Covid Times. You can EASILY place your order online and then Takumi calls you to get your credit card info for payment. I’m assuming that saves them the RIDICULOUS fees so many of these ordering platforms charges restaurants.

That star is also for the fact that I have been physically unable to eat inside. But I’d definitely like to…

Every time we’ve gone to pick up our lunch it has always been ready. We’ve never had to wait. Not even when they were just BUSTING OUT the take out during Covid.

Not once has our order ever been wrong.

Sushi/Japanese Cuisine has come a long way in Branford in the past 20 years. And Takumi is really excellent for a town on the Shoreline in Connecticut. They have a pretty extensive sushi menu (cut rolls, handrolls, meals, combos, etc.) . But they also have Soups, Salads, Hot Appetizers, Cold Appetizers, Tempura dishes, Rice Bowls and Noodles, Donburi Lunch Specials, Kitchen Entrees and Ramen! Meals all come with a choice of soup or salad (and there is actually a variety of options for each).

I had some cut rolls over Covid. They were perfectly good for take out sushi (not my favorite thing). The Miso Soup and Clear Soup (which is Vegan - the menu notes which items are vegetarian and vegan if it is not obvious) are both very good.

Since we’re only ever eating take out I do steer away from rolls. Because I have standards regarding my nori…

However! The thing I get over and over again is the Salmon Skin Salad. Sooooooo good. It is a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes and greens (today it was baby spinach) topped with a generous portion of strips of crispy salmon skin. I also ordered the seaweed salad (generous portion on bed of Iceberg) and basically mixed the two salads. DELICIOUS!

We had the Pineapple Fried Rice (chicken, shrimp, raisins, pineapple, egg, veggies) which is very good, similar to Singapore Noodle flavoring with some curry in there, but not spicy at all. Generous portions of shrimp and the other ingredients.

Edamame is always very good. Perfectly steamed.

I ordered a Sushi Entree: Sake Don. Which is Salmon Sashimi over a bed of sushi rice with Japanese Pickles. I’m going to be honest. There was SO MUCH SALMON I almost couldn’t finish it. Which is basically straight up Crazy Talk for me!!

Good Food. Good Service. Huge Menu with something for everything. I am happy to support Takumi in Branford!

A. Rosa

I visited Takumi today with my husband for dinner and we got the karaage for an appetizer which was honestly amazing. It was juicy and freshly fried dark meat chicken with some kind of citrus (yuzu?) sweet dipping sauce that I would legitimately buy a bottle of to take home if I could.
I got a bowl of Spicy Miso Kurobuta Ramen which is not kidding about being spicy! It was on the edge of my spice tolerance, but to be fair, it does say spicy in the name! The noodles were perfectly cooked, the egg was amazing and not at all overcooked and the broth was nice.
My husband got the Chicken Katzu Don and come hungry for this one, because it is a LOT of food! The flavors were great and the pickled radish was a nice addition. I think we might have preferred the cutlet not smothered in the sauce so it stays crispy by the time you get into it, but to be fair that is likely how it is supposed to be served.
I really wanted to try the mango mochi ice cream for dessert, but I didn't have room for it before the drive home. If we ever were in the area, I would need to drop by to try that at the very least! If you are interested in Japanese food and are in the Branford area, drop by and check it out!

Richard Chan

Quite possibly the worst ramen I've ever had in my life. First, the noodles were more akin to Sōmen than ramen. Secondly, the soup didn't taste like a miso broth. It was rather flavorless and not very salted. I took 4-5 bites and couldn't eat it. Lastly, menu stated it came with Japanese Sausage, and what I got tasted like a sliced up Brat.
Now on the flip side, the BBQ Squid was cooked to perfection and the sauce was slightly sweet and tangy, great match.
Service was below mid as I watched my server busy chatting in the corner with some other staff.

Bachelor

Sushi was not what expected for the price. The taste was great but there was NOTHING in there. They were so small and empty… there is no substance. Very scarce. So if you’re hungry. Don’t come here. If you want an expensive not so fancy snack, this is your place. I ordered two shrimp tempura rolls and one volcano roll. There is nothing in those shrimp tempura rolls.. very very plain. As well as the volcano roll, just a bit disappointed.

Jackie Carrillo

This place used to be decent but they have recently hit rock bottom. By far the absolute WORST service I have received. Got charged for a salad which ended up being 2 pieces of lettuce with ginger dressing. Then why I asked about it the rude waiter stated that I should know better. NEVER going here again. Don’t waste your money when there are plenty of better places in the area.

Vivian Colon Garcia

So chic and great food. Looked clean and server was very nice.