Ed U.
Yelp
You ever look at a sandwich board on the sidewalk and say to yourself, "Hey, I think I'll walk over and try this place," without knowing a thing about it? That's what happened when Jamie W. and I stumbled out of a tasting at Takara Sake. It was shrewd of the cafe owner to place the board in front of the factory since they offered no munchies as we downed multiple shot glasses of sake. It was a further walk than we expected, even though it was less than three blocks but keep in mind, our motor skills were infused with rice liquor.
It was about 1:30PM, and you could tell the staff was anxious to close up as they were starting to rolling up the patio furniture. Looking at the huge blackboard menu on the wall (photo: http://bit.ly/2vQuAST), we could tell there were plenty of temptations like Applewood Bacon Benedict, BBQ Pulled Pork Omelette, and the Italian Sausage Sub, but Jamie and I were determined to be good. We both ordered the $10.95 Tofu Scramble because it featured broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, and green onions.
Mixed with the eggs and tofu chunks and accompanied by whole wheat toast, we both agreed the result was bland and lacked enough seasoning to make much of a flavor impact (photo: http://bit.ly/2vqpRaN). I doused my dish hard with the sriracha bottle, but it was definitely on life support. The fresh lemonade was good though (photo: http://bit.ly/2LXYnE1), and there was a nice neighborhood vibe to the place as you could tell local residents hang out here, in particular, a large group who appeared permanently anchored at their grouping of tables. The by-the-numbers food just wasn't alluring enough to draw us back.
FOOD - 3 stars...the bland leading the bland
AMBIANCE - 4 stars...nice neighborhood vibe works for locals
SERVICE - 2.5 stars...the clock appeared to be ticking for the staff
TOTAL - 3 stars...lesson learned (again): don't be lured in by a sandwich board without checking up what others say about a place
RELATED - Collection of breakfast and brunch places I've tried and reviewed: bit.ly/2At2LFz