Food

Top Chef Shota Makes Pretty Darn Good Gluten-Free Fried Chicken!

August 2, 2023 / 1 Comment

Hello Seattle!

5 of us flew and met up in Seattle, and the first meal we had there was at Top Chef Shota’s restaurant – Taku! No reservations, very chill, 21+ spot. Open late as well! 

Got a Table without Wait on a Sunday Night

We got in, mentioned we’re a party of 5, and our IDs were checked. They put a couple small tables together and pulled up another chair so the 5 of us. We got our waters, and the ordering process is self-service. They had the QR code menu system, and it took us to an ordering page where we selected items to cart and checked out and the items are then brought to our table rather quickly. We left our tab open until we were sure we weren’t going to order anymore food. 

 

QR ordering system and branded cups

Quick Service!

We ordered a couple fried chickens (chicken karaage), potato mochi, edamame, furikake fries, and some drinks to start and they were brought to us rather quickly! Awesome… I’m liking this place even more now!

Cheers! We got some blended drinks and their Pikachu-Hi drink.
Pikachu-Hi drink (shochu, szechuan peppercorn, grapefruit, yuzu, bubble water, pokémon card!) and the random Pokémon card mine came with. The other one was an energy card. Pretty fun!!! The drink itself was a bit bland, but it was really refreshing.

Refreshing Drinks

The Pikachu-Hi drink was a fun concept, and I brought the Pokémon cards back home for my kids. The energy card was a bit hit, lol. Anyways, the drink itself was really refreshing, but a bit bland. Subtle flavor, but was good nonetheless. The slushy was the calpico creamiscle slushy. I didn’t try that, but the consensus was the same – not really flavorful, but refreshing!

Food Time!

Photos below for our initial round of food. 

2 types of chicken karaage, edamame, furikake fries, potato mochi.
Some of the chicken karaage is naturally gluten free, but some other ones does contain gluten, mostly in form of soy sauce. We started with a “spicy” fried chicken (wasn’t really spicy) and a soy bonito one.
That chicken karaage goodness! The edamame was also really good. There was some flavor on the outside and it wasn’t too salty. Some smokiness to it which was excellent. There was also a sauce on one side of the bowl as well that gave it a bit more flavor!
Potato Mochi! This sounded sooooo good because potato and mochi. Since this came with only 2 an order, we ordered 2 more so each of us can have at least 1 to try. It was a bit divided in terms of enjoyment since it seemed a few of us liked it and the others couldn’t finish the piece. They also had a cheese version, but this one wasn’t that, and some thought the smell and texture was cheesy. I expected it to be a bit more chewy because of mochi. It was unfortunately one of the items that we could have gone without.
Furikake fries! These are some really great fries! I love furikake on my carbs - fries, rice, etc.

Time to Try Some More Food!

After our initial round, we decide to try another chicken karaage and a rice bowl. Both of those were really delicious!!

Oyakodon. Chicken, egg, rice, great flavors. The rice was wet since can be a very thick soup, but this was completely shareable. The 5 of us enjoyed this dish as the rice had great moisture and flavor, and the chicken and egg were tasty as well. Chicken and egg… parent and child… LOL.
The curry chicken karaage. One of the workers recommended this one and the teriyaki one. We went with the curry and it was a great choice. Tasted like curry and the chicken wasn’t dry. This one prob had more flavor than the umami chili dunk and the sou bonito chicken karaage. Funny how all the ones we got were dry flavored as opposed to the wet flavored ones. Taku also sell sauces, whether it’s to pour over the chicken karaage or to use as dipping sauce, and though those might have been nice, we felt that the chicken itself was really good that it didn’t need additional sauces. Also, we didn’t feel like spending the extra money on sauces.

Overall Meal

Can’t go wrong with fried chicken! There are plenty of gluten free options here, and those that are not gluten free are marked on the menu. We really enjoyed the chicken, rice bowl, edamame, and fries. I’d love to go back to try more chicken karaage – gotta try all the flavors, right? The damage was $200 including the “large party” auto tip. 

Interior / Decor

I’m not the biggest anime watcher so I didn’t pay too much attention to the detailed pieces, but my friends were identifying the various stickers of various characters. Pretty cool! The overall concept and theme was really cool – a lot of anime and cool art. The name of various menu items was nice as well. We may get the “fuck it bucket” next time! The bucket is so cute, beautifully designed, and it’s a fun name. There is also a vending machine in the back with various snacks and items too. 

View from where we were seated
View by the bathroom. The neon light says “Fuck it” and it’s on a bucket!

Was Shota There?

We didn’t see him! One of the workers said Shota was around and that he would stop by here and there. We didn’t see him that night, but it would have been nice to since he’s one of our favorite Top Chef contestants. There is a cut out of Chef Shota though, so we took a photo with that at the end. I sent it to the husband, and LOL!!!

Hahahahaha the response

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