Cuisine: Japanese

Location: Downtown St. Paul

Address:
Carriage Hill Plaza 350 St. Peter Street St. Paul, Minnesota 55102 (651) 224-0185

Fri & Sat  11:30-2:30pm, 5:00pm-11pm  Sunday  12pm-2:30pm, 4:00-9:30pm

Links: Sakura Website * Google Map

Atmosphere: Sakura has a romantic, yet industrial feeling, with high ceilings and dim pendant lighting. The dining room is long and narrow, but features a full-length bar.

Menu: Appetizers include a variety of cold appetizers ( various fish and seafood items marinated in a variety of sauces, seasoned radish, boiled asparagus, boiled cold spinach.)  Hot appetizers include pan-fried and steamed dumplings, sliced ribeye rolled with asparagus, fried tofu, oysters, boiled and steamed fish and seafood items, etc).

Entrees include
Sukiyaki
Prime slices of rib eye, fresh vegetables, tofu and noodles,
cooked in sukiyaki sauce. Yosenabe- “Japanese Bouillabaisse.” Seafood and vegetables cooked
in a flavored broth.
Shabu Shabu- Thin slices of rib eye and vegetables made at your table in
a seasoned broth. Chicken Katsu-Breaded chicken, deep fried and served on a bed of fresh cabbage. Tonkatsu-Breaded pork, deep fried and served on a bed of fresh cabbage. Yaki Niku-Marinated, thin slices broiled beef served on a bed of fresh cabbage.
Sushi and sashimi includes:
Maguro (Tuna). Bincho (Albacore Tuna). Hamachi (Yellow Tail). Shake (Salmon). Hirame ( Halibut). Suzuki(Striped Bass). Saba ( Mackerel). Tako (Octopus).
Ika (Squid)Ebi (Shrimp). Amaebi (Sweet Shrimp). Kani (Crab) Mirugai (Jumbo Clam). Hokkigai ( Surf Clam). Akagai (Ark Shell). Hotate (Scallop). Tamago (Egg). Unagi (Fresh Water Eel)Anago (Sea Eel). Uni-(Sea Urchin). Ikura (Salmon Egg). Tobiko (Flying Fish Egg). Masago (Smelt Egg) Bin Toro (Super White Albacore)
Sushi Rolls:
California (California Roll). Spicy Tuna (Spicy Tuna Roll). Anakyu (Sea Eel Roll). Salmon Skin (Salmon Skin Roll). Lob & Aspara (Lobster & Asparagus). Tekka (Tuna Roll).Shakemaki (Salmon Roll). Negihama (Yellow Tail Roll). Kappa Maki (Cucumber Roll).  Tekka Maki (Tuna Roll). Oshinko (Pickled Radish Roll).  Kanpyo (Seasoned Gourd Roll).  Futomaki (Mixed Big Roll  – cooked vegatables include katyo, spinach, black mushrooms, cucumber, fish flakes, and egg.) Shake Maki (Salmon Roll)

Specialty rolls include
Aspen, Caterpillar, Dr. Nick, Spicy Tuna, Mexican, #9, Philadelphia, Rainbow, Spider, Tempura, Dancing eel, Dragon

Price guide: Nigiri sushi (2 pieces per order) $4.00-8.50, Specialty roll $6.25-14.95

What we ordered:My companions ordered Negimaki (Asparagus)-
Sliced rib eye rolled with Aparagus and ginger sauce.  I did not try this but it looked delicious and the others enjoyed it quite a bit.

Please excuse the terrible quality of this photo, but we also ordered the gyozo.  Fried perfectly and packed with flavor!

The sushi I ordered at Sakura was amazing! I found a new favorite in the Aspen Roll (crab, shrimp, daikon sprouts, avocado, spicy mayonnaise, rolled with masago on top.  The spicy tuna roll was also very good.  The vegetables and fish were very fresh and had a great texture.  The Phill roll was also quite good as long as you love a lot of cream cheese!

My companions ordered (clockwise from the top left): Ikura (salmon egg), Tobiko (flying fish egg), and several orders of uni (sea urchin), some of them with quail egg.

Also ordered was yellow tail (Hamachi), arctic clam (hokki)

Another companion ordered Sukiyaki, which first came with miso soup and house salad.  The sukiyaki was decent, but not a favorite of my companion.  The beef was somewhat chewy.

Another companion ordered the chicken teriyaki/shrimp tempura plate and really enjoyed it.

Service: Very friendly and patient, considering she was serving a large group.

Overall Impression: Cool atmosphere and delicious, fresh sushi.  Prices seemed pretty reasonable compared to other Japanese restaurants.

Cuisine: Japanese

Restaurant Features: Bar, On-Site Parking

Location: St Paul, MN

Address: 695 Grand Ave. St. Paul, MN 55105  651-292-0444

Hours: Lunch  Monday-Friday 11:30 AM-2:30 PM  Dinner: Monday-Thursday 5:00-10:00 PM Friday 5:00-11:00 PM  Open all day Saturday Noon to 11:00 PM  Sunday 4:00-9:00 PM

Links: Saji Ya Website *  Saji Ya on Facebook * Google Map

Atmosphere: Located at the beginning of Grand Ave’s trendy restaurant district, Saji-Ya shares a building with Dixie’s Cajun Restaurant.  Recently remodeled, Saji-Ya features a sushi bar within the main dining area, as well as a cocktail lounge.  Teppanyaki tables are located upstairs.  General vibe is contemporary yet romantic.

Menu: Saji-Ya serves a variety of traditional and modern Japanese dishes.  To start off, try their delicious ginger chicken wings, edamame, teriyaki chicken or beef skewers, soft-shell crab, shrimp or vegetable tempura, tuna tataki, and sauteed mushrooms.

Japanese entrees include sukiyaki, okisuki, salmon steak, shrimp tempura, soba and udon noodles.

Sushi options include maki sushi (rolls), nigiri sushi (fish atop rice) and sashimi (raw slices of fish).  Fish choices include albacore, yellowtail, red snapper, salmon, clam, octopus, various fish roe, shrimp and scallop. Full menu of sushi selections here.

Price guide: Appetizers $5-12  Entrees $17-24   Sushi and sashimi $4-15 (per order)

What I ordered: To start off, I had the Saji-Ya house salad.  I highly recommend you try this salad! It is on the small side, but the dressing is like no other you have had anywhere…its light, creamy and just a little bit sweet.

My companion and I shared this gorgeous plate of Sushi.  Clockwise from lower left: Hokki (arctic clam), spicy tuna roll, crunchy roll (masago, shrimp tempura, spicy mayo, and coated with tempura flakes), kaibashira (scallop mixed with spicy mayo), Ikura (salmon roe) and hamachi sashimi (yellowtail). Fresh and fabulous! The crunchy roll and spicy tuna roll are my favorite types of sushi.  These were both excellent.

Another companion of mine ordered the spider roll (soft shell crab) and the Number 9 (shrimp, salmon and avocado).  Thought they were excellent as well.

Service: Very friendly. Wait staff are knowledgeable about sushi and will make suggestions if needed. It does take awhile to prepare such beautiful sushi, but it is worth the wait.  Reservations are accepted and a good idea if you plan to dine on a weekend evening.

Overall Impression: Fun and trendy, a good place to go for either sushi or teppanyaki.  You get a decent amount of food for the money, but be prepared to shell out some $$ if you want to try many types of sushi.  Saji-Ya is a long-time personal family favorite

Cuisine:Japanese with two options: 1. All -you-can-eat sushi/tempura 2.Teppanyaki (To be reviewed at another time!)
Restaurant Features: Bar, Dinner Buffet

Location: Minneapolis

Address: 1333 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55403  (612) 339.0540

Links: Google Map * Ichiban on Facebook * Ichiban Website

Atmosphere:

The sushi bar sits toward the back of the large restaurant and seats approximately 20 people around an “island” in which the sushi chefs prepare sushi in the middle. Little boats carry individual plates of a variety of different sushi and sashimi. The boats float at a quick pace directly in front of you as you eat…see something you like or want to try? Its yours for the taking!

If for some reason you need to wait to be seated at the sushi bar, there is a beautiful coctail lounge situated within the restaurant, with intimate seating.  Another cool thing about Ichiban is that all the waitresses wear traditional Japanese Kimonos.

Menu: The sushi chef has full control of what is being prepared and tends to prepare sushi in batches, but will usually take custom requests. Items you are likely to encounter: Vegetable : edamame Sushi:California roll, Caterpillar roll, eel, salmon eggs, flying fish egg (regular or spiced with wasabi), spicy tuna roll, tamago (sweet egg), tempura roll Sashimi: Shrimp, tuna, salmon, makerel, yellow tail, red snapper, surf clam, squid, scallop, octopus Here is the full sushi guide. Included in the price is also your choice of all-you-can-eat tempura: shrimp, chicken or vegetable.

A small dish of either green tea ice cream or mango serbert are also included.

Price Guide: All-you-can eat before 6pm: $27 After 6pm: $31

What I tried: Just about everything! My personal favorites include the spicy tuna roll, Ichiban roll, tuna sashimi, and spicy crab in a wonton-wrap.  The quality of the fish was better than I expected for all-you-can-eat, seemed fresh and not too fishy.  I also tried an order of the shrimp tempura, and although it had good flavor and the shrimp were a decent size, I was somewhat disappointed that it was soggy instead of crisp.

Service: There is usually only one server taking care of beverages at the sushi bar, so it sometimes takes a little while for drink orders to be filled.