Sakae

We came at 9pm on a Sunday. The service was fast, and the taste was good, but the staff was a bit rude, start packing up our table while we were still eating…

Not being able to get into our fave sushi place Hukuya (40 min wait is not my idea of a good time — should have booked dammit!) we wandered to the other side of the train line to Sakae. Happy with the number of stars it had received on Unilocal I thought we were in a good substitute. Sadly, we were not. I had teriyaki bento, my son had gyoza and a strange chicken meat ball thing (which at one point we noticed had a stretchy coating on it. interesting) and my husband had a noodle dish which he said was ok. I love a fresh teriyaki, this was not fresh. It was kind of like left over fried chicken that had been reheated and covered in sauce. Teriyaki sauce should be light, this was thick and gluggy. And don’t even start me on the soft shell crab we ordered to share, it was very smelly, like off crab, and didn’t taste much better. It got pushed to the side.
Do yourself a favor and go to Hukuya instead (but don’t forget to book!).

Great place. Friendly, fast service. Moderately priced and always plenty of customers inside! Love the 1 + 1 set they have there and always go for the sushi and udon.

Love this place as my local Japanese dining bar. We’ve been going here for years but it seems to have lifted its game in the past 12 months. Service is friendly as it has always been and also quite attentive. The sashimi is fresh and there’s a nice selection on its platter. The main staple we get here though, for lunch is usually the business lunch specials which are such good value. We get half don and half noodle, which is great for those who are indecisive — you can get the best of both worlds! The don we get is usually one with the chicken katsu and the noodle is the ramen or the udon. Don’t expect too much from the ramen and you won’t be disappointed. It’s not their specialty here so it’s not got that thick pork bone soup style to it but it’s tasty nonetheless.
Bento boxes are also good value with a miso soup and rice as well as tea, you’ll be wanting a siesta afterwards! Everything is always consistently cooked well and prepared well. The salads are fresh and the karaage chicken is nice and crispy (beats KFC any day!). Our go to bento is usually one with the karaage. Also in the bento is sashimi, and a spring roll or gyoza if you get the deluxe versions. The karaage comes as a side in the deluxe version!
The menu is varied and there’s so much to
choose from. We’ve had most things and never disappointed.
The place has that Japanese dining bar feel to it because it is so small with about seating inside for 25 maybe? but it has seating outside too. Nice on a beautiful sunny day. The place isn’t really built for more than a group of 4 inside and outside you might be able to go with a table of 8? But that’s ok by us, we just love it as our local easy Japanese place to eat for 2! :)

First time I ate here. It’s like a Japanese/​Korean restaurant. Restaurant was pretty packed at night, I guess reservation is really a must if you want to eat here. Just to make sure.
Pros:
Customer service is really great, quick and fast. They really know what they’re doing. Foods are great too; it tastes good and prices are reasonable.
Con:
I think the only thing I don’t like here is the parking. Not much of a parking down the street, but you can find some parking near the station though, you just got to walk a little bit.

Always a great experience. Haven’t been here in a while but was glad to see that the food is as fresh as it was when we were last here. Quick service, will be back.