Ottawa Foodies

I went for lunch at Sakura for the first time yesterday. It was my first time and I didn't have any expectations. We opted to get the all-you-can-eat and I surely ate-I-could!

Rundown of what I recall eating (the number of exclamation points indicate my yumminess rating -- out of three):
- salmon teriyaki (delicious!!!)
- seafood pancake
- fried scallops (!!!)
- seaweed sushi (!!)
- spicy salmon sushi (!)
- spicy salmon handroll (!)
- seafood pizza (!)
- edamame (!)
- udon seafood stir-fry (!)
- small red roe (forget name) sushi (!!)
- tempura
- ice cream: all three types (!!)

The service was good. The food was quick and fresh and, for what it was, it was quite good and satisfying.

We went here last night after we weren't able to get in at Sushi Kan. I suggested Sakura after a friend had previously recommended it. The service was really good: the servers answered all our questions about the menu and they were very nice and polite. The food arrived promptly and was well prepared. We ordered:
- Grilled Eggplant and Butter
- Edamame
- Deep-fried Pork
- Vegetable Tempura
- Shrimp Tempura
- Beef Sirloin
- Beef Sirloin and Pork
- Spring Rolls
- Snapper Nigiri
- Salmon Nigiri
- Egg Nigiri
- Black Dragon Roll
- Unagi Roll
- Assorted Sashimi
- California roll

And that's what I can remember. I was really impressed with Sakura and it was also a bit cheaper than Sushi Kan. While Sakura doesn't have the same wide selection as Sushi Kan, what they do offer on their menu is done really well.

I convinced Mrs Foodie to come here with me tonight. It was pretty much as expected -- all we could eat for a reasonable price but quality was definitely below average. Service was variable: 2 out of 3 servers were really friendly. The one who brought our tea did so with a filthy wet tray, which she slapped down on the table for us to admire while she took our first order. They didn't bring two of our dishes (miso soup and a salad) and when we mentioned it half an hour later, they apologized and brought them in about 2 minutes.

For $47+tip we were given a lot of food, but agreed that we'd rather pay twenty bucks more for a slightly less gluttonous feast of much better food at pretty much any other Japanese restaurant. But we're getting old and the AYCE thing just doesn't have the appeal it had when we were starving students.

Here's a rundown of what we had (yes I'm a pig):

- Green Tea (weak and blah, but served nice and hot)
- Tempura (pretty bad, but the shrimp were better than the veggies)
- Edamame (nice and salty)
- California Roll (much like the pre-made stuff at Loblaws)
- Salmon Skin Hand Roll (I normally love this, but the salmon skin was dry and chewy)
- Unagi Maki (all right, but kind of bland)
- Spicy Fried Fish Fillet (good plain fish, like the one some places sneak into their tempura dish, with a nice spicy mayo)
- Black Dragon Roll (was all right)
- Skewers of Sirloin Beef (tender and tasty but might have been cooked in the deep fryer)
- Crab Maki (just surimi, rice, and nori)
- Miso Soup (good enough but probably from a mix)
- Salad (nasty sweet orange-flavoured dressing, but thankfully very small)
- Spicy Fried Fish Fillet (because I liked it the first time)
- Japanese Seafood Pancake (greasy but very interesting, see note below)
- California Roll (wifey's standby)
- Shrimp Tempura Roll (boring)
- Green Tea ice cream (for wifey only, I was stuffed after eating most of the above)

The Seafood Pancake is worth checking out, especially if you have people to share it with (it's about 6 inches in diameter and quite greasy). The really cool thing is that it looks ALIVE! They put very thinly shaved bonito on top, and the shavings open and close from the heat of the pancake. This happens for several minutes and makes the whole dish sort of wave and gyrate in front of your eyes. I had to really examine it to make sure that there wasn't anything living in the dish. Very cool! Flavour was so-so, but I wish I'd taken video. :)

So in the end, we had 16 dishes plus tea, for $42+tax. That works out to about $2.75 per dish or about the same as extremely cheap dim sum. However, the food quality just wasn't worth it for us. We'd rather have dim sum for the same money or a superior a la carte Japanese meal for more. Just our opinion though -- your mileage may vary.

I ate there with a couple of Japanese friends. The consensus was that the food was ok, the white tuna sashimi was pretty brutal though, but the maki and handrolls were good. So, all in all, the food was OK, the service however... oi... it was very inconsistent (one server was very sweet and attentive, the next would literally toss our orders on the table at us)... but you get what you pay for here. After all, it's only $20! It's like cafeteria style sushi. Oh, and no ambience (very very bright pot lights, and tables are very close together) and no liquor license (yet).

assorted 2

spicy salmon, seaweed and flying fish egg sushi.

assorted sashimi that can be gobbled down in 2.2 seconds.

sakura japanese restaurant on merivale for all-u-can-pump-down sushi. good sushi is still hard to find; however, compared to sushi kan the service that i experienced was friendlier, faster and the food is a little tastier and slightly better in quality. here is their sushi pizza.

Desserts are the usual suspects: Green Tea and Red Bean. Even Black sesame.


Overall, it was a positive experience. Go in with a bit lowered expecations.
It hit the AYCE spot for me. So bring patience, time and an appetite.

Cheers all.. hope you like the posts.

Hand rolls: Tempura shrimp & Spicy Salmon. Good. The nori stayed nice and crispy.

The Edamame was wonderful - served warm and still crunchy. It could use a bit more salt, but was tasty enough for us to order seconds.

Out of all the restaurants (sushi and otherwise)I've been to in Ottawa this has to be my least favorite. Everything negative I read about it online (but gave Sakura the benefit of the doubt and tried it anyway)was completely true.
The service left alot to be desired. They just dropped everything they served to us on the table without a word. They brought out our food at completely different times. I received and finished my first dish before my boyfriend even got his food and he had already finished all of his (over 20 minutes later) by the time they gave me the rest of what i had ordered. I would have asked them what the hold up was but they never even back to our table. There were only 2 other people in the restaurant so I can't imagine they were very busy.
The food didn't even make up for the lack of service. My shrimp tempura roll was soggy and pre-soaked in soy sauce, and the green salad i ordered was TINY and had nothing but a few pieces of lettuce, one slice of pepper and a few carrot shavings maybe. The sushi my boyfriend had was chewy and not fresh at all. The miso soup was powdery and tasteless. The only decent thing about it was the low price. Needless to say I was very disappointed and will not be going back and recommend people stay away from this place.

The only thing that could've been improved upon here was the unagi. Mr. Nanook and I both found it rubber y and lacking flavour. Everything else was fantastic. The presentation of our nigiri and rolls in a large plate was beautiful. I wish I'd had my camera!

Went with large group of colleagues for the dinner AYCE. We didn't order anything too adventurous so we filled up on spicy salmon/crispy salmon rolls, soft shell crab rolls, and lots of sashimi. Everything was fresh. The rolls could use a little less rice and more filling in some cases.

Service was great, not one dish was missed the entire evening and we weren't rushed out or made to feel like we were intruding. At my time of visiting this restaurant didn't have a liquor license so we were confined to soda and ice water which was too bad.

Overall a decent 'all you can eat' experience, I would return.

We ordered the white tuna, salmon and red snapper sashimi. It was better quality that other AYCE places. The pieces were also thicker and bigger.