Review: Sakura Japanese Restaurant
Author: Indy Food Geek | Filed under: Food Reviews, Location: Indianapolis, IN
Sakura Japanese Restaurant
7201 North Keystone Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46240-3243
http://indysakura.com/
Very rarely will you see me pull out a review on my absolute favorite Indianapolis restaurants. I don’t write reviews to drum up business for places that I like; I write reviews because that’s what I read when I’m looking for somewhere new. When I first moved to Indianapolis, I turned to reviews to find a good Japanese restaurant. My search inevitably lead me to the oldest Japanese joint in Indy: Sakura. One look around the inside at all the signatures on the wall tells you that this place has been around for a long time. This is my review for newcomers.
Trendier sushi eateries have popped up around Indy in the past decade. Most of them boast showy Teppanyaki grills, flaming rolls wrapped in aluminum foil and other flashy temptations. These things do not good sushi make. Now of course that’s just my opinion. Take it or leave it.
Sakura buys into this philosophy. You will find nothing but tasteful, classic rolls and all presented cleanly and simply. No frills, no thrills.
Sakura is a dark, den-like hole of a restaurant and I like it there. The interior is simple and clean. The service is fine… again with the no frills approach. I’ve had stellar service, and I’ve had service so poor that I’ve almost walked out. However, one thing always keeps me coming back… and that’s the food.
What I Got: Sea Eel and Cucumber Roll ($5.30), Bob’s Roll ($5.40), Zaru Soba ($7.25) and hot sake.
The eel roll is the best I’ve had in the Midwest. Either the eel or the sauce is just slightly smoky, which is freshened up nicely by the cucumber. It puts the grocery store deli sushi version to shame. The Bob’s Roll is their cute little name for a roll containing smoked salmon, asparagus tempura and spicy mayo. As it turns out one of our fellow diners knew the guy whose cousin was actually Bob, the fellow for whom the roll was named! Obviously not the most authentic choices in the world, but some of the best sushi I’ve ever eaten has also been some of the least authentic. What I love most about Sakura’s sushi is that their rice is done right. It’s not cold or gummy. It’s fluffy, slightly warm, and just sticky enough to hold together.
Zaru Soba is a cold noodle dish consisting of a wad of cool or room temperature buckwheat noodles and a dipping broth. The dark, clear broth is rich, slightly sweet, mostly salty, with a hint of fishiness. To eat, you take a pinch of the noodles with your chopsticks, dip it into the broth, then slurp it up loudly. Inevitably, you’ll drip everywhere and flick broth on yourself and the surrounding diners. I used to just get this on the hottest days in summer, but I can’t help but get it all the time now.
Would I Buy It Again? Yes. Easy answer. I have definitely had a meal or two that, if it had been my first visit, I wouldn’t have ever gone back. Fortunately for Sakura, I know what they’re capable of and this meal was no exception.
-Indy Food Geek
Tags: cucumber roll, eel, Food, japanese, sake, sakura, Sushi, zaru soba
Sakura was my first sushi experience. Then I started working up around Keystone at the Crossing and it was a Friday lunch staple. New sushi joints popped up, I flirted with them, but it was always back to Sakura. As a side note, Sakura Mart, sort of behind/catty corner is an interesting little Japenese market. It’s fun just to browse and see all the crazy Japanese stuff. They sell mayonnaise in a jar the shape of a Kewpie doll! Crazy…
Been there twice and didn’t love or dislike anything that I have had. Since the economy has been in the shitter, I have avoided most sushi restaurants. Not enough volume and it doesn’t seem to be as fresh.
Noodles look tasty, I’ll get those on the next go around.
@parklife – Very cool market. Been there several times! Kewpie mayo is good stuff.
@wibia – I’m almost convinced that Sakura is recession-proof. Every time I go, I struggle to find a parking spot. It’s often very hard to get a table. I would be surprised if their turnover wasn’t really, really good. I’ve never had a problem with freshness there. As for the soba, I hope you like it. It doesn’t have a lot of substance, being just cold noodles and dipping broth, but it has become my favorite accompaniment to sushi.
I assume y’all know that sushi is not just (sushi) rolls, yes? I myself don’t like makimono (sushi rolls) that much and tend to go for nigiri (nigirizushi: pads of sushi rice topped with fish & other stuff) much more.
@IFG: Do you have nigiri at all when you get “sushi”? What about sashimi? The nice rolls you described eating are uramaki (rice-on-outside, which was essentially invented in America for folks who disliked the look of the more normal rolls with seaweed [nori] on the outside). Do you order or eat futomaki or hosomaki as well?
One criterion I use to judge “Japanese restaurants” is whether they have soba available. Those that do not, especially those where the servers have no idea what you are talking about or try to tell you that they do have it (uhh, yakisoba is SO NOT the same thing) I regard with suspicion and classify them as largely Americanized/bastardized places. Three that do have soba as a standard menu ingredient include Sakura, Ichiban Noodles, and Asaka – at least on the north side of town.
Sakura is where it’s at for Japanese in Indy. Occasionally I’ll go somewhere else, and always regret it. In probably over a decade eating there, I have had maybe two bad meals. The vast majority of the time it is fantastic.
@huiray – Thanks for reading!
I’m well aware of the various types, styles, and arrangements of “sushi,” but I order what I like — even if it is Americanized. I typically steer away from nigiri simply because they tend to cost considerably more. I’ve never made any claims about authenticity at Sakura… just that it’s simpler and tastier than most. And that it’s quite popular.
I’ll judge authenticity when I taste the real stuff in Tokyo… but until then, I’ll stick with the stuff designed for my brutish American palette.
I love Sakura. I also love Ocean World. As you said, some outstanding sushi, always fresh, and I love the ginger salad.
However great the sushi at Sakura is, I think that their finest dish is the sukiyaki. I can’t ever go there without ordering it.