Sake Sushi & Grill is one of those small, family owned/run restaurants you want to succeed, but they keep getting in their own way. Nearly two hours in a fine dining establishment is one thing, but Sake Sushi is not fine fining. The food is good, but . . .
We sat a little over seven feet away from another couple. We assumed they had already eaten. We were wrong.
It took a little time to get the menus out to us. Peg decided she didn’t want wine, so we simply chose water with our dinner.
We decided to share. We ordered one eel roll and their most expensive Bento.
The eel roll (eel, cucumber, sauce), $10.99 on their online menu, but $12.99 in the restaurant menu. The Taiyo Bento was $21.99 in both menus.
Eventually a bowl of soy beans were brought out as an appetizer (normally, $3.99). I don’t know if everyone gets this, or if it was delivered because of the waiting. We arrived a little after six, during the dinner surge of pick-up orders. I enjoy the steamed edamame. As your take each pod and slide the soy beans into your mouth it takes up time and relaxes you a little bit.
Although we were only supposed to have one bowl of miso soup with the Bento, we were brought two bowls. It was good, but . . . tasted a little thin. I would have added perhaps another half spoonful of miso paste.
While waiting for more food Peg and I had a chance to talk. I commented that at least there was no loud chopping noises from the kitchen like there was when I first visited Sake Sushi with my friend Jim. The of course the loud chopping noises soon began. The problem is that the wall between the kitchen and the dining area is paper thin, possibly because it’s rice paper. While the chopping goes on, you can’t talk or listen.
I enjoyed the eel/cucumber sushi roll, but the eel was a little skimpy. American eels were worth around $24 per pound, just a fraction of international eel sales, so I know the problem. We like eel and would pay more for a roll with more eel in it. What we got was a little eel, some sauce, a little cucumber and lots of rice.
The Bento was plentiful and excellent. The pork teriyaki was tangy and was probably the cause of half of earlier chopping noise. Peg loved the salmon and tuna rolls. The yakisoba, the chicken, the nigiri, and everything else was perfect. Much of it came home with us and became lunch the next day.
There were three employees including our waitress who also helped in the prepping. Another employee would have made a huge difference, but we know what monetary problems they are facing. Mostly, I guess I just keep hoping they’ll do some sound deadening renovation work.
Sake Sushi & Grill – sakesushigrilltacoma.com/
5738 N. 26TH ST. #5A, TACOMA, WA 98407
253.759.2558
Your review was too mixed to make any decision as to whether or not to go there and to end it with the lack of employees during the pandemic is not only cruel, but unprofessional. You have no clue what these people have gone through. You’re having food in a strip mall, not a four star restaurant, don’t complain about the noise. They were kind to give you and extra bowl of soup and you complain it was “too thin”. What kind of a critic are you?
Lisa,
Thank you for commenting.
This was my third time at Sake Sushi. I keep hoping they will get better. Why shouldn’t I complain about the noise? The chopping noise makes it impossible to hear someone talking just a couple feet away. It is annoying . . . and could be easily fixed at low cost. What kind of critic am I? A critic who is fair to restaurants. Providing a bowl of soup after a very, very loooooooong wait was the proper thing to do. Extra bowl or not, the soup was thin. Should I have lied? No. As a critic I give my opinion so other people know what to expect and make their own choices. The Bento as I mentioned was excellent. From sitting down to leaving took almost two hours. That’s an hour too long. We could have dined at Souper Pho in less than an hour . . . same at Joeseppi’s . . . same at Dickey’s. All three of those restaurants are really closeby. If Sake Sushi wants to compete, and they should, then they need to make changes. If you know the owners, please share the review with them.
Thanks for sharing.
Don