Tako Cheena is a tiny eclectic restaurant off Mills in the heart of the Mills50 district that melds together Asian and Latin American cuisines in unusual ways. This is another restaurant that everyone seems to rave about. We headed over on Saturday evening for dinner, and the place was packed. There aren’t many tables in the restaurant so it fills up quickly. We had to wait a little while, but the wait staff was incredibly friendly and brought us drinks while we waited for a table.
They serve bottled sodas, which is fun.
They always have empanadas on the menu, but the filling changes daily. Their special that day was an Italian (cuisine type #3) empanada with sweet roasted red peppers.
The crust around the empanada was nice and flakey, however the red pepper sauce was a little too overpowering for the ground beef.
Kevin ordered two braised beef tacos. He wasn’t a huge fan of the flavoring on the beef. It was very sweet, and I found the meat to be a little dry.
I ordered the panang curry burrito with tofu.
The burrito was huge, and I really liked that it was pressed. The browned areas of the tortilla had a lot of flavor. Although I liked the flavor of the filling, it didn’t taste like the Panang curry I was used to. It almost tasted more like a peanut sauce. I found it to be overpoweringly sweet. Most of the burrito contained rice. I would have enjoyed more tofu throughout the burrito, since the tofu bits I did get were delicious. I ate half of the burrito then unrolled the rest and picked out the tofu.
Everyone seems to love Tako Cheena, but I only found my experience to be mediocre. I think I need to give it one more shot based on all the rave reviews and try a few other menu items.
I love the concept, the atmosphere and the location. Hopefully next time I’ll love the food as well.
If you could mash up two of your favorite cuisines, what types would you choose?
If I could mash up two my favorite cuisines I would have to say Mexican and Japanese. The funny thing is that one of my local sushi places has a southwestern roll which is exactly that! Mexican and sushi put together. It’s so good
I’ve been meaning to try this place, I’ve heard nothing but good things about it…you’re the first person to say it was mediocre. Did they have a lot of vegetarian options?
Yes! You can order tofu as your protein with any item.
Mexican + chinese!! I love empanadas soo much, and Diet Cokes in bottles win my heart. Except I want refills!! Lol.
Wow, you’re one of the first I’ve heard have a mediocre meal there, too! But from what you describe, I don’t blame you. We LOVE Tako Cheena. I think we’ve been there at least 5 times. Next time — stick with the tacos. I like to get 1 of the specialty ones and 1 of the regular ones. Of course I can’t remember any of the flavors right now except for the Indian butter chicken. I love that one. I don’t love their Korean flavors but I’m starting to think that I actually just don’t like Korean seasonings for some reason. The burritos are HUGE so I don’t usually get them unless we’re going right home afterwards and I know I can save half. Definitely give it another shot if you’re game. I still haven’t been to Pom Pom, their other restaurant. I’ve tried three different times and have never been able to get a table!