Restaurant Reviews
Sakura Chaya
Reviewed by tomison61 on Nov 16, 2009
What's it like?
My family and I love the sushi bar and teppan yaki.. We have not eaten the bento boxes yet! The shrimp is succulent.. We have eaten at a lot of Japanese places/Asian fusion but find this one exemplary.. It is OUT OF THIS WORLD. I do find though that when you eat Asian food it tends to be quite expensive.. My children went there last Thursday night for my son's bday and I dropped over 120.00 with tip and my daughter didn't have the teppan yaki.. But we go about 4 times a year and find that it's worth it..
© 2009 TasteFresno | Home | About Us | Food Blogs | Email Us
Comments
cshack_21 | Wed, 2009-11-18 09:54
Expensive? I went a week ago and found the place to be dirt cheap.
Torro - $10
1/2 doz. Oysters - $10
Tappen yaki - +/- $19
I was not as blown away by the food, but certainly found it to be very well priced for the level of quality.
jamescollier | Wed, 2009-11-18 21:35
What is torro? You've mentioned that a few times now - I've never heard of it.
I think expense is a relative judgment, and one of the reasons there's a rating for value - an expensive meal (perceived or otherwise) can be worth it, but sometimes it isn't, and likewise, an inexpensive meal (however that's defined) can provide a lot of flavor and a great experience for the price. Where I come from, $10 for 6 oysters sounds steep. Then again, there they didn't have to travel as far...
cshack_21 | Thu, 2009-11-19 10:59
Well Pirate, Toro is the fatty belly of the blue fin tuna (preferably although sometimes yellow fin is used). There are two different designates: chotoro which is semi fatty and otoro which is the smallest strip of mostly fat from the belly. Toro is at its best from November to February and is what most enthusiast use as a gauge to the quality of a sushi bar. The cut should be clean, no tearing, and the mouth texture should be velvety not grainy. Right now toro is fantastic and commands a huge price (I usually pay 18 to 20 dollars for the size of portion they gave me at Sakura). I request toro to start any sushi meal... and in Fresno no one ever has it. So I was delighted that Sakura had it and it was decent quality.
As for your comment on the price of oyster... yes for BBQ oysters (the one's sakura had) eight or nine dollars would be great if I were at an oyster bar. But it wasn't just a plate of oysters, some saltines, mignonette and a bottle of tobasco. They put some effort into them and they were good.
I agree with expense is a relative judgement... But knowing how much things cost a restaurant and the amount of money it takes to operate, I found Sakura to be priced relatively well. Yes, Japanese Kitchen is a bit cheaper and offers up the similar quality, but Sakura has some hefty rent and that is certainly factored into the dinner price. Service however there was much better than most Japanese joints, and I will happily pay an extra buck or two on a menu for some engagement at the table.