The Sakai — Restaurant in Frankfurt

Experience was not up to Michelin Standards. I have been to Sansaro - Munich, Zenkichi - Berlin, and a bunch more and this one was the weakest experience. Someone decided to hire a completely untrained waiter. Who not only made the greeting awkward, but also constantly gave me a feeling that I shouldn’t be here. Gave questions of doubt when asking if I liked the food, as if he doesn’t himself. I was first seated all the way in the back, which I didn’t book, then by my demand at the counter but for some reason right next to an obnoxious, uncultured couple, when the entire restaurant was mostly empty. Also a wall beam blocking my view to the sushi chef completely. My stomach was tensed up and my mind off to the left the entire time, for that annoying bald guy and his escort from Russia. If the staff had any sensibilities they would’ve sat me further away. The Japanese waiters were much better in general. I don’t know why there have to be two Germans who can’t read a room and were mostly standing around anyways. Cooking with Japanese ingredients from home, the food, except sushi (with too mushy rice and didn’t fall apart in your mouth as is the case in better places), couldn’t even compete with my own cooking - and I don’t consider myself a pro. The tempura was soggy and greasy, the shrimp tasted strongly of ocean floor and wasn’t balanced out well at all. The shrimp soup mostly tasted of what I just described, nothing else. The most watery Japanese soup I have ever had and I like them mild! Service never asked if I needed more to drink or otherwise. From the website you get the idea you can order a la carte but I was told I could only use it additively to the omakase menus. Also zero innovation and I had hoped for Kanten (jelly) dessert since it was mentioned on the website. At least they tried to accommodate my fructose intolerance. But again only by my request. 160€ for one person and a very average experience. Better to go to an honest place, pay not even 1/4 and get better food and better atmosphere. Oh and Hiro Satai didn’t even bother to be in his own restaurant. Somewhere off traveling in Japan. Dishonorable in my book. I guess he sees his place...

So, the reality did not exceed expectations. Price overrated.

I strongly recommend the restaurant to improve the presentation of dishes, come up with more interesting stands that will correspond to Japanese cuisine, for example, as the aperitif and wagyu sushi were served. Also, add Japanese utensils to the interior of the establishment. In my opinion, it is better to remove the salad item. It would be more interesting to replace the salad with a mini set of sashimi.

The alcoholic set to the tasting set is magnificent, no doubt. Also, in addition, on the recommendation of the waitress, we took a set of 3 sakes and Japanese whiskey with a hint of smoke - also magnificent.

The biggest disappointment was half of the dishes, which were either not tasty (like dried duck), or just ordinary (like cod and mokrel). The teriyaki sauce for mokrel was very salty, most likely heavily mixed with soy sauce.

Next, I would like to describe the rating for each of the dishes from the OMAKASE tasting menu: Aperitif. Gorgeous presentation, the taste of the dishes is appropriate (perhaps you could think about replacing the lentils with something else, more vibrant in terms of flavor transitions). Salad. Once again, replace it. Soup. Think about a more exciting presentation. Regular chicken soup, but the ginger added interest in the flavor transitions. Sushi. The presentation of the wagyu sushi is charming and the smell of smoke is simply magical. The other sushi could be served on a high wooden stand since they are eaten with your hands. The sushi is not particularly tasty. Regular cod Wagyu steak is delicious at 10/10 Dry duck Regular mokrel, too much teriyaki sauce (very salty). Dessert. Great presentation, the matcha cake was very heavy and they didn't give us dessert selections.

Also a recommendation to add a small amount of sorbet between sushi and main courses. This will make it easier to accept the taste of the main courses after...

Trying to be haut cuisine, but still failing on multiple dimensions.

THE FOOD It is all very nice. The fish is of perfect quality, it is nicely prepared and the presentation is amazing. However it is all pretty standard. No surprises, no interesting combinations, no amuse bouche, no chocolate. All in all great food, but no wow effect.

THE SERVICE Sorry, this is a complete failure. Yes, they tell you what they are serving, but that is it and I can read this from the menu anyway. It is almost impossible to understand them and if you have a question, they have no answer beyond what they already told you. They are playing on their telephones the entire time, while I am refilling the water myself. The table are only cleaned, when requested. For haut cuisine this is not enough.

THE DRINKS The wine selection is great and very nicely matched, but you are hardly getting any so little is poured into your glass. If you asked for a little more, they pretty much let you know, that they do not want to give you any more and the one time they did, they charged extra without telling you. There is no coffee for desert, but ok, it is a Japanese restaurant.

THE RESTAURANT This is a definite plus. The whole place is very nicely deorated. You really feel like you are in Japan. The idea with the shoes is great and the tables are sweet. Loved it.

OVERALL Too many things, which were disappointing. If it was only one or two things, that did not work, I would have been fine. But the sum of all errors, made it feel like a pretty average experience. If you want great Japanese food in Frankfurt I suggest...