Taiko Japanese Restaurant

Everyone has a favorite restaurant, in some cases a place that has been around for years and remains “great” for regulars no matter what has changed since it opened. Irvine’s Japanese restaurant Taiko has been around since 1980, which means that it predates the very concept of “Japanese food” in many Americans’ minds, say nothing of any local understanding of raw fish as a culinary concept, or “sushi” as a word. Up until the pandemic, lines regularly formed outside the front doors for dinnertime tables, and to this day, some people swear up and down that the tempura and sushi are particularly excellent.

We’re not among them. Having visited Taiko over the years, what we’ve found are fairly large portions of affordable but not particularly excellent food – a formula that historically wins over some people, but rarely gourmets. Although the service was fine on our visits, and we recognize the appeal of nostalgia, there’s little question that much better Japanese options are available all across Orange County. Many are in Costa Mesa, but if you’re sticking to Irvine, the comparatively impressive Sagami has been open since the late 1980s. While smaller, it’s closer to what guests either today or decades ago would experience when dining at a good restaurant in Japan. But if you’re looking for “Japanese food” rather than Japanese food, Taiko ticks the boxes well enough to scratch that itch.