Dining at Takumi-Tei, Epcot’s Most Upscale Dining Experience
After moving to Florida Logan and I did what anyone might do when moving to Florida, get as many annual passes as we could! So we soon found ourselves becoming Disney World Passholders! After visiting each park a number of times we decided it was time to expand our Disney horizons and start trying some of the restaurants at the parks and hotels. I first heard about Takumi-Tei from a friend who has spent a lot of time doing Disney dining experiences and was immediately intrigued. Having been to Japan more times than I can count, I was skeptical that this meal would be worth it, especially for its price tag. So was it? Let’s see!
Where is Takumi-Tei?
Takumi-Tei is located inside Disney World’s Epcot park. In order to dine there you will need two things, a park reservation to Epcot and a reservation to the Takumi-Tei which you can make on the Disney World App up to 60 days in advance.
If you haven’t been to Epcot before the park is divided into four main areas: World Celebration, World Discovery, World Nature, and World Showcase. It will come as no surprise to you that Takumi-Tei is located within World Showcase at the Japan Pavilion of Epcot.
The Japan Pavilion at Epcot
The Japan Pavilion at Epcot has a number of realistic replicas of famous places in Japan some of which are for display and others with shops and restaurants inside. The pagoda, a replica of the Horyuji Temple pagoda in Nara, is surrounded by a beautiful Japanese garden and is also the location for daily Taiko drum shows.
Inside the Imperial Palace replica, you’ll find a small Mitsukoshi Department Store where you can purchase a number of goods from Japan including anime-related items, Japanese incense, kimono, pearl jewelry, clothing, purses, housewares, and food-related goods.
The Japan Pavilion also has a number of Japanese restaurant options with many traditional Japanese foods all of which are owned and run by Mitsukoshi Department Store.
Katsura Grill is a quick-service restaurant that has sushi, udon, teriyaki dishes, chicken curry, and more. Tokyo Dining is a sit-down restaurant that requires reservations. It serves sushi and sashimi along with other Japanese favorites like Unagi Don (BBQ eel over rice), Ikura Don (Salmon roe over rice) tempura, and karaage (Japanese fried chicken).
Teppan Edo is a teppanyaki restaurant commonly known as hibachi in the U.S., you will also need a reservation for Teppan Edo and they serve sushi, teppanyaki entrees like chicken, shrimp, steak, and scallops that come with udon noodles, vegetables, rice, and a garden salad.
This brings us to Takumi-Tei, the fine dining restaurant at the Japan Pavilion and perhaps one of the most elegant dining experiences of any Disney restaurant right next to Victoria and Albert’s.
Psst, Disney recently announced that this summer a new restaurant will open in the Japan pavilion of Epcot, called Shiki-Sai. It will be an izakaya-style restaurant with sushi, okonomiyaki, and other Japanese street foods.
Takumi-Tei Concept
Takumi-Tei first opened in 2019 and then closed its doors for two years in 2020 before reopening in the fall of 2022 with a new menu but the same beautiful setting. In fact, the second you step into the restaurant you’ll instantly feel like you’ve been transported to Japan.
When we first walked in our host gave a brief explanation about the restaurant concept. Takumi-Tei means “House of the Artisian” and the five stunning rooms are each inspired by the natural elements of water, stone, wood, earth, or paper complete with the aesthetics of that element carefully woven throughout each room.
If you have a preference for which room you’d like to sit in, you can indicate that request when making your reservation, although it is not guaranteed. Regardless, I assure you that each room is lovely! For our dining experience at Takumi-Tei, we sat in the stone room which, as expected, had many different types of stones and textures.
Reservations at Takumi-Tei
Reservations for Takumi-Tei open up around 60 days in advance and they typically go quickly! Like other Disney restaurants you are required to place a deposit to hold your reservation but Takumi-Tei does theirs a little differently. Other Disney restaurants have a $10 per person charge if you cancel 2 hours or less prior to dining whereas Takumi-Tei charges $100 per person if you cancel within two days of dining there. Just something to consider when booking!
The Menus at Takumi-Tei
Takumi-Tei currently offers three menus all of which are omakase meaning “I’ll leave it up to you (the chef).” This allows the chef to choose the freshest, seasonal produce, fish, and meat to create a dining experience to remember. Because these ingredients are seasonal and change frequently you won’t receive much of a description on the menu however, your server will go over each course with you so you know exactly what you receive.
The first menu Omakase “Kiku” has meat options and seven courses. It is $250 per person and offers the following:
- Zensai Moriawase: Selection of five seasonal appetizers.
- Sushi: Nigiri and makimono (large roll)
- Agemono: Seasonal tempura
- Sashimi: Seasonal fish
- Yakimono: Main entree choice of:
- 3 oz Japanese A5 wagyu steak, curry-roasted potatoes, roasted seasonal mushrooms
- Roasted duck, garlic sautéed spinach, pumpkin puree, black grape reduction
- Grilled Chilean seabass served over rice with bonito and kelp broth
- Shirumono: Seasonal broth
- Ocha to Kanmi: Green tea accompanied by your choice of:
- Chestnut crème brûlée
- Strawberry yuzu sorbet served over plant-based shiso jelly
- Monaka daifuku with ice cream and kinako crumble
The second menu is Omakase “Hasu,” a plant-based option with six courses. It is $150 per person and offers the following:
- Zensai Moriawase: Selection of five seasonal appetizers.
- Sushi: Nigiri and roll made with seasonal vegetables
- Shusai: Deep-fried tofu, black rice, carrots, seasonal mushrooms, tsuyu dressing
- Yuba Roll: Beancurd skin rolled with daikon, cucumber, yuzu koshō dressing
- Yasai Tempura: Seasonal vegetable tempura served with warm soba noodles
- Ocha to Kanmi: Green tea accompanied by your choice of:
- Strawberry yuzu sorbet served over plant-based shiso jelly
- Monaka daifuku with dairy-free ice cream and kinako crumble.
The third menu is Omakase “Himawari” for children ages 8-12. It has five courses and is $100 per person and offers the following:
- Zensai Moriawase: Selection of five seasonal appetizers.
- Sushi: Nigiri and roll
- Yakimono: Choice of:
- Mishima Reserve Wagyu steak, curry-roasted potatoes, roasted seasonal mushrooms
- Roasted chicken, garlic sautéed spinach, pumpkin puree, black grape reduction, or Seasonal fish served over rice with bonito and kelp broth
- Lobster tempura served with creamy ponzu sauce and matcha salt
- Soba: Warm soba noodles in seasonal broth
- Ocha to Kanmi: Green tea accompanied by your choice of:
- Chestnut crème brûlée
- Strawberry yuzu sorbet served over plant-based shiso jelly
- Monaka daifuku with ice cream and kinako crumble
While most menu changes aren’t possible, I did ask Takumi-Tei in advance about food allergy accommodations. They were really helpful and said they could substitute other dishes from their menu as needed as long as they knew in advance. Fortunately, I had plenty of options without my allergens so I did not have to substitute dishes but I wanted to mention this in case you have concerns about allergies too! But if you are someone who has a sesame, soy, or fish allergy you might want to reconsider eating at Takumi-Tei since these are ingredients found in most of their dishes.
Now, as I’ve said, Logan and I visit Japan a lot to visit his family there and to travel so we are not strangers to the ingredients used in Takumi-Tei’s cuisine. But some of the dishes may include things you’ve not heard of before so we’ll give you a full rundown of our dining experience at Takumi-Tei.
Our Experience at Takumi-Tei
While I heavily contemplated ordering the plant-based menu at Takumi-Tei I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have fresh sushi and sashimi so both Logan and I decided to order the Omakase Kiku menu. So going forward my review will be solely focused on their Kiku menu however after dining there I have no doubt that the plant-based menu at Takumi Tei would have blown me away. Let’s begin with our first dish!
Zensai Moriawase
The first dish was Zensai Moriawase which is a selection of five small seasonal dishes. This resembled closely to dishes I’ve seen in Kaiseki meals in Japan because of its artistic and beautiful presentation as well as the mindful seasonal ingredients. During our visit to Takumi-Tei we had a crab salad, uni (sea urchin) with seaweed, ikura (salmon roe) with greens, sesame tofu, and edamame.
Let’s start with the crab salad. The salad portion of this dish featured delicious crunchy greens with a light dressing that I believe is made with soy and sesame but of course, the main character of this dish was the crab! I was surprised when I first started eating the salad because not only is there a meaty crab claw to enjoy, there were other pieces of buttery crab underneath some of the greens. Because of how the crab was prepared it was also very easy to eat, no cracking necessary!
Next, we have the uni or sea urchin. If you haven’t had uni before it has a smooth texture and somewhat bitter and briney taste that can be surprising if it’s your first time trying it. I could tell that the uni at Takumi-Tei was high quality because of its rich and creamy flavor and it paired perfectly with the slightly salty seaweed!
Another unique dish that might be new to you is ikura or salmon roe. In Japan, you’ll find ikura at many sushi restaurants, over rice as a dish called ikuradon, and used as an accompaniment to many other dishes.
In my opinion, ikura is a bit different from other caviar because while it is still salty, it offers more depth of umami flavor. In addition, the texture of ikura is different because the roe is much larger than its counterparts resulting in a popping sensation when eating it.
At Takumi-Tei our ikura was paired with a Japanese mustard green, a perfect combination of textures. Sometimes when ordering salmon roe at restaurants it can taste freezer burnt, overly fishy, or even be slimy – no one wants that! But again, it was evident that the roe was high quality like the uni because of its delicate flavor and texture.
Next, we have the sesame tofu which in my opinion, is one of the underrated items of this course. I personally love tofu dishes and make an effort to get some when visiting Japan whether I’m at an izakaya or at a specialty tofu shop in Kyoto. The sesame tofu at Takumi-Tei had a lovely medium texture and the sesame flavor was nutty but not overpowering.
Last, the infamous edamame. I’ll be honest, I don’t have much to say about it other than… it’s edamame. Don’t misunderstand, I like edamame and it served as a nice palate cleanser between dishes but I feel that is the only contribution it had to the plate. Regardless, we still enjoyed it.
Sushi
Now onto the second dish… sushi! When most people in the U.S. think of sushi they immediately think of elaborate rolls with fish, tempura, avocado, and cream cheese but in Japan, sushi is much more simple and this is reflected at Takumi-Tei.
The sushi served to us was makimono, a large sushi roll, and nigirizushi which is rice with a piece of carefully cut fish over the top. Our server asked if we would like wasabi as it is typically placed under the fish and we said absolutely! But if you aren’t a fan of wasabi you can request not to have it.
The three pieces of nigiri we had were kinmedai (golden eye snapper), hirame (flounder) with soy sauce, and sawara (Spanish mackerel) with ginger, scallion, and soy sauce. Inside the makimono was a selection of vegetables, tempura shrimp, maguro (tuna), and egg showcasing a number of terrific flavors and textures. Because these were carefully created with sushi rice, wasabi, and a small topping or brush of soy sauce so no extra soy sauce was needed. Each piece truly melted in our mouths and was absolutely delicious.
Agemono
The third dish was the Agemono which is a fried dish. For us, this was Lobster Tempura which was served alongside ponzu (citrus soy sauce) and yuzu salt. There were two large pieces of lobster allowing us to try them with both the ponzu, salt, and both together to create more flavor profiles. It’s worth mentioning that tempura is difficult to master and we were both impressed at how crispy and perfect the batter was.
Sashimi
Next was the fourth course, sashimi. We had 1-2 pieces of three different styles of sashimi – tai (sea bream) with soy sauce, maguro (tuna) with caviar and soy sauce, and shima-aji (striped jack) with yuzu kosho which is a paste made from chilis, yuzu, and salt. Honestly, you could have stopped the meal here and I still would have been satisfied because the sashimi was divine but I’m glad there was more because the next dishes were a slam dunk!
Yakimono
For yakimono, our grilled dish, we chose two different options from the menu. Logan chose the A5 Wagyu which came with curry-roasted potatoes, roasted seasonal mushrooms, and a delicious black sesame yuzu miso. While the steak was only 3 ounces every bit was rich, tender, and perfectly cooked. The seasonal mushrooms were also delicious especially when paired with the black sesame yuzu miso paste. Logan scraped up every last drop of the miso it was that good.
I chose the Grilled Chilean seabass which was served over rice and had a dashi broth made from bonito and kelp to pour on top. As recommended by our server, I ate some of the fish before adding the dashi and found it to have terrific depths of flavor from the char of the grill and what I believe to be miso butter or something similar that the fish might have been marinated in.
Then I tried the fish with the rice which was also terrific and finally, poured the dashi onto the plate to create chazuke which is dashi or tea usually poured over leftover rice. This dish was so comforting and I was constantly surprised by the textures and flavors as I tried each new way of experiencing the dish. My only regret is that I didn’t beg them to tell me how to prepare the seabass like this at home.
Shirumono
Before dessert, we had the last of our savory courses, Shirumono, which loosely translates to soup. Most soups in Japan are light with rich umami from using seaweed, bonito, and sometimes sardines in the broth. It came as no surprise to me that the seasonal soup offered to us was miso with mushrooms and tofu. It was very comforting and a nice way to finish the main portion of our meal.
Tea Ceremony
This next part isn’t listed on the menu but I simply had to include it because it is something that set this Disney dining experience apart from the rest, the tea ceremony. In Japan, tea ceremonies are formally used as a way for guests to enjoy the hospitality and respect of their host while relaxing and engaging in the art of tea beyond their normal fast-paced life. While the tea ceremony at Takumi-Tei isn’t as formal as some you might find in Japan, it does have the authenticity of preparation and ingredients.
After selecting our desserts the manager of Takumi-Tei brought a cart with ceremonial matcha, a teapot of hot water, and two chawan (a bowl used for drinking tea). He began by explaining the meaningfulness of the tea ceremony and extended his appreciation for dining with them at Takumi-Tei.
After, he began the tea ceremony where he prepared two bowls of matcha using a traditional chasen or matcha whisk. The cultural experience alone is something to appreciate about this part of the meal, but being able to try ceremonial grade matcha is also a lovely addition.
Dessert
For dessert Logan and I both selected the monaka daifuku with ice cream and kinako crumble. We thought about getting two different desserts to share but we both REALLY wanted this one!
With the monaka daifuku you get to choose between a few ice cream flavors that change seasonally. The options we had were black sesame, hojicha (roasted green tea), and vanilla. Logan chose black sesame and I chose hojicha, two of our favorites and we did end up sharing some of these.
As for the other parts of this dessert, Monaka is a crisp wafer that usually has adzuki (sweet red bean paste) inside so I was excited to see that this dessert came with some smooth adzuki paste and fresh fruit to put inside.
Daifuku is a type of mochi filled with more extravagant ingredients. This one was a traditional red bean daifuku. It seemed to me the daifuku wasn’t mass-produced like the ones I’ve bought at convenience stores in Japan and resembled more like the ones I’ve bought from street stalls or small sweets shops. The mochi was very soft and chewy and the bean paste inside was perfectly sweetened.
Another accompaniment to this dish is the kinako crumble which was placed underneath our ice cream alongside some chocolate rocks. Kinako is a roasted soybean powder that is used in many traditional desserts and is one of my favorite flavors! It’s nutty, buttery, and oh-so-delicious. The best way I can explain it to those who haven’t tried it is like powdered peanut butter but better.
If you haven’t had many classic Japanese sweets then I highly recommend ordering this dessert because it features many traditional flavors.
Conclusion
We both agreed that this meal was absolutely fabulous so to answer the question, was it worth it? I personally think so! Takumi-Tei offers an upscale Japanese dining experience that is very unique and perfect for those wanting to experience a variety of Japanese cuisine. We’ve had similar meals in Japan for far less, although, if you aren’t planning to visit Japan this is an unforgettable meal and features only the highest quality of ingredients and service.
I’d recommend Takumi-Tei to anyone who is looking for a memorable dining experience, enjoys a variety of Japanese cuisine, or is looking to celebrate at an upscale Disney restaurant. On the flip side, I wouldn’t recommend visiting Takumi-Tei if you are someone who is a picky eater because the cost is quite high or if you have allergies to soy or sesame as those are very common ingredients for all three menus at Takumi-Tei.
Important Things to Know about Takumi-Tei
- Passholder Discount: 10%
- Cost: $250 Kiku menu (meat-based), $150 Hasu menu (plant-based), $100 Himawari menu (children)
- Reservations: Required, $100 per person if no-show or cancellation up to two days prior to your reservation.
- Dress Code: Loose, but no swimwear.
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