Walnut Creek, California – When a new restaurant opens, it’s common for one or two readers of Bay Area Telegraph to reach out and tell us about it.
One specific Japanese restaurant in Walnut Creek, though, has to take home the title for the most messages from excited readers.
At least seven different readers have reached out to us over the last year or so saying we had to try a relatively new spot over on Oak Grove Rd., at the far corner of Walnut Creek.
Finally, I made it in to check the place out – and it immediately became my favorite Japanese restaurant in Walnut Creek.
The spot is called Tanoshi (2280 Oak Grove Rd unit A, Walnut Creek, CA 94598). It’s located by the brand-new Chick-fil-A, and across the street from Walnut Creek’s upscale Whole Foods and Safeway.
The first thing that struck me when I walked in was how clean and minimalist the interior looked.
Some Japanese restaurants are cluttered and busy. Tanoshi is all white surfaces, tastefully set-up tables, and secluded little booths.
The second thing that struck me was the long wait. I came for lunch on a random Wednesday.
Normally, not many other people want to dine at such times. But in this case, the wait for a table at Tanoshi was already 20 minutes.
Yes, it can be annoying to wait. But that also often indicates that the food is worth waiting for!
Taking an immediate seat at the sushi bar instead of waiting for a table, I ordered and discovered that this is, in fact, true about Tanoshi. As multiple readers have told us, the quality of the food at this Walnut Creek gem is excellent.
I watched the chefs prepare a simple lunch combo for me. It featured a bowl of rice with teriyaki beef slices on top of it.
Along with this, I had a spicy tuna roll. With the combo, you get to choose two different items, from a list including many choices.
The whole thing came with a salad that had a delicious sesame dressing.
I also had a miso soup, which my son immediately dug into.
Here’s the kicker – the entire meal was only $14. If you come at dinner, you get a slightly bigger portion for only a little more money – $18 instead of $14.
That combination of lots of food and a low price might signal poor service or bad quality. Amazingly, Tanoshi supplies neither. Everything was delicious and fresh, just as our readers had promised.
Serving the slices of beef teriyaki over rice helped bulk up what can often be a relatively minimal dish at lunch.
The salad was one of the best I’ve had at a Japanese restaurant. And the sushi featured fresh fish and perfectly prepared rice.
Everything came out quickly – within about five minutes of us ordering. Again, the restaurant was packed. A kitchen that can deliver food this quickly and this well is almost always well-coordinated and set up.
It turns out our readers were right. Tanoshi is a fantastic spot to check out. It’s my new favorite sushi restaurant in Walnut Creek.
If you’re looking for an excellent Japanese meal, prepared quickly with great service and at an exceptionally reasonable price, check Tanoshi out.
Website: https://www.tanoshibistro.com/
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