Matt and I wanted to grab a quick lunch near home the other day, so we went to Taki Sushi (10889 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito).  They’re located in one of those cursed locations where things have come and gone – a really unattractive part of a generally unattractive stretch of San Pablo Avenue, in my opinion.  Problem #1, they don’t have sushi for lunch.  Problem #2, the food inspector arrived as we sat down to eat.  We were not happy about a place with “sushi” in its name not having sushi for lunch, and they were not happy about the food inspection, but we did wind up having quite a nice lunch. 

Taki Sushi is nicely decorated, has a sushi bar and is clean as a whistle. 

We ordered one of my faves, agedashi tofu ($5.50), which is like tofu tempura served in a rich dashi, a broth made of bonito (tuna) flakes, with mirin and shoyu added.  This was a very generous portion and it arrived boiling hot.  Nice. 

Matt had a lunch bento with tempura ($8.25).  The tempura was crunchy and obviously of fresh shrimp and veggies fried at the right temperature.  The portion was nice.  Tempura – check!

I ordered the chicken curry donburi (I do not see this on the take-out menu, but I recall it being about $8 for lunch) and it was very good, with a nice, rich, curry sauce with ample chicken and carrots.  It was a hot day and I still enjoyed it, so that says something.  Curry – check!

Service is friendly and prompt and the food good, so we’ll go back soon and try a few other things, but they should have sushi for lunch!