After reading an article in The Stranger about the fried chicken at Takohachi, I decided I needed to make another visit. All I had to do was say “I was thinking about eating at Tako…” and Zach immediately agreed to tag along.

Even though we know the portions at Takohachi are gigantic, we ordered the Shrimp Tempura Maki as an appetizer. This was not a typical preparation of maki, as the rice was almost soggy and heavy with vinegar. My guess is that they do this to keep the rice from drying out, because I don’t think many people order the sushi. Kind of a catch-22…

Zach had the broiled saba, again, and it was delicious—although it was a little saltier than usual. I ordered a combo plate (read: enormous plate of food), because I wanted to try the fried chicken AND the croquettes, which a friend had recommended. Here is what came with my meal:

Miso – Good, but a little too mild for my taste.

Fried chicken – Little nuggets of golden-brown, fried chicken with a crisp panko coating. I had an unfortunate first bite that was mostly fat, but subsequent bites were delicious. Usually I prefer dark meat, but in this case the white meat was better—really moist and juicy with a great texture. The combo plate came with a Tonkatsu sauce, which was good, but next time I want to try the spicy teriyaki sauce.

Croquettes – Slightly larger nuggets, this time filled with ground beef encased in mashed potatoes then breaded and fried. They were strangely good. I was fascinated with them because they reminded me of something from my childhood, but I couldn’t place it. Maybe mom’s meatloaf and mashed potatoes? Hmmm.

Bizarre Salad – A green salad topped with a concentrated mayonnaise dressing and then toped with… drum roll… two slices of deli-style ham. For some reason Zach loved this, I just though it was weird.

Fried Rice – I had read quite a few rave reviews about the bacon fried rice at Takohachi, so I decided to try it. It was, uh, well… interesting. Yes, it tasted like bacon and was very smoky, but it also was quite greasy and tasted inexplicably like coleslaw. I was so focused on trying to figure out what made it taste like coleslaw, that I didn’t really spend much time enjoying it. I may order this another time just to make sure it wasn’t an off night.