Sakura - Columbia SC

Sakura is one of the better Japanese restaurants in Columbia, in my opinion. The quality of the fish is usually decent, and they have a wide variety of traditional Japanese cooked dishes to choose from, which I am quite happy about. Also, it is one of the only good Japanese restaurants that is open for lunch on weekdays and weekends, which is a huge plus for me, especially when I have a hankering for Japanese food at noontime. =)

So, I know what you're thinking - what in the world does the photo of this random store have to do with Sakura Japanese Restaurant? Quite simply, looking for Coplon's is the only way you will be able to find Sakura. Although the address for Sakura lists it on Forest Drive, you can't see it while driving on Forest - it is actually behind Coplon's and not visible from the street, so as soon as you see Coplon's, drive past it, and you will find Sakura at the back corner. You can thank me for saving you the time of finding it another time. =)

A simple order of two of my favorite types of sashimi: salmon and yellowtail sashimi. The cut of the fish is decent for this area, and the quality and taste is also pretty good as well. The reason Sakura isn't the best in this area in my book is because the sashimi has occasionally suffered from the "frozen" problem I've encountered at almost every Japanese restaurant in this area - namely, sometimes the sashimi, when served, is still a tiny bit frozen (which I know is probably a problem that can't be avoided, considering where we are and the difficulty of obtaining fresh fish for sashimi, but still).

Any decent Japanese restaurant should have chirashi to order off the menu (chirashi is basically a combination of various types of sashimi, tamago (cooked sweetened egg), and shrimp, served over a bed of sushi rice. As it stands as far as I know, Sakura is one of the two restaurants in Columbia that I think even serves chirashi.

Here is a photo of one of my personal favorite cooked dishes at Sakura - a combination platter of chicken teriyaki, tempura, and hosomaki (referring to the sushi that you see in the bottom left hand corner, composed of california and cucumber rolls). Fortunately for me, the chicken teriyaki is actually cooked sort of in a traditional manner here, meaning it isn't prepared in large chunks teppanyaki style (or as someone I know aptly put it, Japanese chop-chop style) like in a lot of other Japanese restaurants in this town.

Sakura also has a lot of different cooked dishes, from various combination platters of chicken or beef teriyaki, tempura, to other dishes, like udon. The large variety and good quality and taste of the Japanese cooked food which is one of the biggest draws for me, and one of the reasons I will keep coming back here.