Hidden in a small corner of the Japan pavilion is the most expensive meal in Epcot. At $250 per person for the "kiku" menu, Takumi-Tei is probably not what you envision when you think dining at Disney. Since they recently started accepting reservations again for dinner, I stalked the dining website for reservations for our recent trip (which is kind of weird because the restaurant was pretty empty).
LOCATION: When you walk into the Japan pavilion at Epcot, you'll see an entrance to the Mitsukoshi store on your right. Take a right past the entrance and keep walking to the end of the walkway, where you'll find the check-in stand for Takumi-Tei.
We checked-in and were seated in the Paper room.
The atmosphere in the restaurant was quiet, but not stuffy or pretentious. There were only 2 other tables that were filled in the room we were in, definitely not crowded like other Disney restaurants.
MENU: At the current time, Takumi-Tei has three Omakase menus to choose from. For adults, there is the "kiku" menu which includes meat options for $250 per person or the plant-based "Hasu" menu for $150 per person. There is also one menu for children 12 and under that is $100 per child. Mr. Vacationista and I both got the "kiku" menu and Little Vacationista tried the children's Omakase. For these menus, you have to choose your entree (or yakimono) and your dessert. We all chose the wagyu steak for our entrees.
There are also cocktail, sake, beer and wine menus.
Little Vacationista tried the Okinawa Sunshine but thought it was too sour. I tried the Kami, which was pretty good if you like sweet cocktails.
Adult "Kiku" Menu:
Course 1: The meal started off with the chef's assortment of 5 seasonal appetizers.
My favorite was the crab salad - refreshing and delicious. Moving clockwise, the next was the boiled spinach with roe, which was also very flavorful and good. The tofu "dumpling" was next and had a surprising texture. Once I got over the texture, it was also pretty good. Then the edamame - don't think there was anything special about it but the Little Vacationista ate everyone's edamame at the table. Last up was the uni (sea urchin). I gave this to Mr. Vacationista because he's the number 1 uni fan, and he said it was pretty good. I did taste the broth, which was vinegary and flavorful.
Course 2: Sushi plate. This is wasted on me because I'm not a huge nigiri fan. I took a bite of each but then gave them to Mr. Vacationista. There was golden eye snapper, scallop, sea bass, and a tamago/vegetable roll.
Course 3: Lobster tempura. It came with matcha salt and a creamy ponzu sauce and was absolutely delicious.
Course 4: Sashimi plate. Tuna with soy sauce and caviar, sea bream, and striped jack. I honestly didn't even try it (also not a huge sashimi fan) so passed it over to Mr. Vacationista. He said it was good but not the best he's had.
Course 5: A5 wagyu steak with curry-roasted potatoes and roasted seasonal mushrooms. This was amazing. The wagyu melted in my mouth, and I loved the sauce with the potatoes and the leek puree. Not a fan of the black sesame sauce.
Course 6: Miso soup. Good but nothing particularly great about the soup.
Course 7: The final course was dessert, which we'll come back to after we walk through the children's menu since the dessert options are the same for the adults' and children's menus.
Children's "Himawari" Menu:
Course 1: The meal started off with the chef's assortment of 3 seasonal appetizers. The crab salad and edamame were the same as in the adult's menu. The children's menu came with a deep-fried tofu as the other appetizer.
Course 2: Sushi plate. The children's plate included shrimp tempura rolls, salmon nigiri, and tamago.
Course 3: Also wagyu steak with curry-roasted potatoes and roasted seasonal mushrooms, but the children's menu is not the A5 cut. Still good but not as buttery and melt-in-your-mouthy.
Course 4: Soba noodles in broth. The Little Vacationista was pretty full already by the time she got to this course. She did have a little and liked it. I tried it and thought it was good and light, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Course 5: Dessert. As I mentioned above, it was the same selections for the dessert so we ordered one of each. The chestnut creme brulee was by far my favorite of the 3. Sadly, it was also the smallest one, I could have had a double portion. Little Vacationista liked the Monaka Daifuku, mostly for the ice cream (you can choose from several flavors and she had the coconut). The strawberry yuzu sorbet was very sour after having the other sweet desserts, but would probably be refreshing on its own.
I forgot to mention that they do a tea ceremony before dessert with green tea.
SUMMARY: Definitely a departure from the usual Disney World dining, but I'm glad we tried it. The service was fantastic and it was definitely more filling than some other Omakase places that I've been to. I also love that they had a separate children's menu, which the Little Vacationista actually tried most of. Would I do it again? Probably not. This definitely had the Disney World price tag and we've had better Omakase in DFW (Kinzo anyone?). If you do go, make sure to check out the Mitsukoshi store next door. This was our first time inside in all of our Disney trips and the store is super cute!
Now on to planning Japan for 2024 so I can do my world tour of Omakase restaurants.