Came to Sakura a little after 5 pm on a Thursday night. There's a small parking lot but it seems like it would be adequate as the building (a fast food joint in a previous life?) is also on the small side. The front door opens immediately into the dining room and the thought "remodeled fast food joint" again comes to mind. It seems like the owner tried though.
To the right is a tiny sushi bar --- although the lighting was so dim, I'm making an assumption there were chairs and a counter. There're 6 booths and about 8'ish tables with comfy looking chairs. Floating below the ceiling in the middle of the room is an incongruous tv, playing Judge Judy when I was there. First brow rise.
The menu is large given the size of the restaurant. I ordered a tekka maki to start. Unfortunately, I had to explain to the waitress what it was. Second brow rise. It tasted fine, the tuna was fresh enough, although it was inexpertly rolled. At $6, I thought it was a bit steep.
My main was "hibachi" (sautéed)shrimp and steak, which came with clear soup, salad, vegetables and fried rice for $16. The clear soup was too watery --- which sounds funny, but it's the type of soup that comes out of a bottle that you add water to at home....only the kitchen added too much water. But that isn't going to get an eyebrow rise. The salad was okay -- chopped iceberg, a slice of cucumber and some shredded carrots (okay, the salad was completely forgettable and I just made up what was actually in it) with a creamy dressing. The portions on the plate were fair, the presentation was fine and it smelled great. Big sigh. The veggies were nicely sautéed but bland. There was some sort of oddly sweet, mayo based, dipping sauce --- which does earn the third eyebrow rise. The steak (I ordered medium but it came well done), New York strip cubed, was tough and bland. The fried rice (with just egg), was bland. The shrimp was the high point: cooked just right, it was not tough or rubbery at all, and tasty. Because of the portion size, I think $16 was a fair price.
The very best part of the meal was $1 beer! Monday through Friday, after 5 pm, bottled beer is only $1 and that includes imports (except the large format Sapporo)!
The waitstaff is pleasant and attentive. The food arrived quickly. There was a steady stream of customers coming and going while I dined --- about 5 parties, including me, at any time. Three stars is acceptable food/service/price/experience but I would not go out of my way to dine here. read more