Takenoko won't be everyone's cup of tea. If you enjoy games that are gentle, beautifully illustrated & tactile, and less competitive than most, this would be perfect for you. If you're after something with more energy, competition or strategy then perhaps give it a miss.
One of the main drawbacks for us is the points mechanism isn't very well balanced leading to some incentive structures that we feel detracts from game play. However these are easy enough to adjust if you're so inclined (for example, we've increased the point value on tile placement objectives).
Overall, we enjoy playing it as it provides a nice balance to the other games in our collection and is really gorgeously manufactured! I'd give it 3,5 stars.