Tougen Japanese Restaurant
7414 W. Central Ave. | Toledo
Mon. 5-9:30pm | Tues. to Thurs. 11am-2:30pm; 5-9:30pm | Fri. & Sat. 11am-2:30pm; 5-10:30pm| Sun. 1-8pm
Facebook.com/tougentoledo
(order online at ToGoOrder.com)
Toledo has some phenomenal sushi restaurants, many of which we frequent regularly. Tougen Japanese Restaurant has become a favorite stop for takeout sushi.
Manager Jonathan Ng delivers consistently fresh and delicious sushi rolls, in a variety of combos — even the cooked and hot rolls — and they are tasty to-go foods. Perhaps it’s because he was exposed to Japanese cuisine at 15 years old and has been fine tuning his craft
ever since. Whatever Johnathan’s secret, we keep coming back for more.
A hidden gem with rave reviews
Tougen Japanese Restaurant is the definition of a hidden gem. An
unassuming restaurant in a nondescript strip mall off of Central near King Rd., the interior is compact and unpretentious. Whenever we pop inside to grab our takeout — which has been often — we see Ng rushing from one customer to the next, ensuring that everyone is content and that food is delivered to the diner’s tables the second it’s ready. Ng says he’s “always in the restaurant” and jokes, “If there’s a complaint, I’m not the owner. If there is a compliment, I’m the owner.”
We find it hard to believe there is ever a complaint, especially considering the rave reviews across the board: Facebook shows a 4.9/5 based on 63 reviews, Google boasts a 4.8/5 with a whopping 256 reviews, and Yelp has a perfect 5 star rating with 82 reviews. We aren’t the only ones who love Tougen!
From unique to ordinary: It’s all a winner
Ng advises, “If people want to try sushi, they can always ask our servers for recommendations. We are pretty good at our jobs, and we won’t recommend something that customers won’t like.”
He adds, in jest, that “normally we are worried customers want to try out sushi but order a California roll…and that is not too unique.”
We made sure to get a smattering of maki options, from the classic Philadelphia roll (smoked salmon, cream cheese and avocado) to the New Orleans roll (fried jalapeño stuffed with spicy salmon, spicy shrimp, cream cheese, lettuce and avocado with eel sauce, spicy mayo and crunch, topped with fish roe).
For appetizers, we ordered the black pepper tuna, which absolutely melts in your mouth, and gyoza (wontons stuffed with pork and cabbage) that I could eat every day. We also ordered a spicy shrimp roll, eel avocado roll, striped bass sashimi and chicken katsu
curry.
While I had never ordered chicken katsu curry — a thick curry sauce
topped with chicken breasts, lightly breaded in crispy panko crumbs — at a Japanese restaurant, I was not disappointed. It was everything I had hoped it would be and provided enough for leftovers (also good reheated). For all you caregivers out there, you know the
pleasure of a delicious lunch that you didn’t have to cook or prepare.
My husband, who is more adventurous than me when it comes to raw fish, immediately went for the sashimi and the black pepper tuna. You know Alex is happy with a meal when he ends with, “I didn’t need to eat all that, but I just couldn’t stop.”
Despite wholesale costs rising, Tougen has not increased their prices,
and all of the above put our bill at just under $60.
Bottom Line:
If you are craving Japanese cuisine, put Tougen at the top of your list. Everything is delicious, from the chicken katsu curry to the gyozas and maki rolls, and they have recently upgraded their ramen bowls (we aren’t talking the kind you microwave). For some of the best takeout sushi around, at affordable prices, Tougen is an all-
around winner.
The Short Course
Outdoor dining: No.
Online ordering: Yes.
Carryout: Yes.
Delivery: No.
Kids’ Menu: No.
Highchairs Available: Yes.
