Sakanaya — Restaurant in Kuta

I’ve been a big fan of Japanese food (especially sashimi) for as long as I could remember. For me personally, Ryoshi is the go to place japanese restaurant in Seminyak and so when I heard that they had a so called fish market in Sunset Road called Sakanaya, I hopped on the first GO-JEK I could find.

I had lunch and it was actually alright, the sashimi was fresh and the grilled fish was pretty good. I was impressed. So later that night I came again with my girlfriend to show of my discovery of this affordable Japanese restaurant. We ordered the grilled tuna, shoyu ramen, and fresh oysters. This time it took forever for them to deliver our food. But we thought ‘hey it’s worth the wait’.

Eventually the food came, everything went well and we finished our dinner. Right after however, something caught my eye. Something is moving inside the oyster. Sure enough it was a figgin’ worm!

Immediately I started throwing up, called the waiter and demanded an explanation. The waiter came and saw the oyster with the worm, lifted the shell and another worm drops out! Immediately I lost my temper and raised my voice. The waiter (along with a few of the staffs and cooks) was defensive. Their statement was “we didn’t know there were any worms when we served the plate. If we knew, then we would not have served them”. Truly an idiotic statement coming from a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence Winner 2016 - 2018.

After the conflict (and a whole lot of swearing) they settled with taking the oysters off my bill and we headed out.

At home I researched these worms or otherwise known as marine worms and here’s what I found out:

Marine worms are common parasites found in oysters. They usually live in the benthic sediments of oyster growing areas. Owing to the presence of substrate that is essential to marine worms on oyster shells, marine worms are often found in the external crevices of oyster shell

Based on my research, when an oyster is kept fresh and is checked before preparing then these sort of incidents could surely be evaded. This incident says a lot about their kitchen and quality. If Sakanaya could not maintain the cleanliness of their kitchen, if they could not maintain the freshness of their ingredients, and quality check is something that they’ve left at home, then something like this is bound to happen. Imagine that, a restaurant serving parasites to their customers. seagrant.noaa.gov Here are some basic advice for Sakanaya:

Purchase live oysters from a reliable supplier and make sure they come with health authorities issued by the Indonesian authorities. Check whether the oysters are kept under 5 degree C and that their shells are tightly closed Use drinking water to rinse and clean the oyster and place it on ice upon serving Lastly and the most important, if you can not comply with the above then don’t serve the...

It was quarantine and I was very hungry since I ate only in the morning in 8 AM, just a fruit salad. So I've found this fish restaurant cause Moana was closed. In addition, Sakanaya was highly rated. As result I ordered Mixed Seafood Basket(101.000 Rupia and Orgaic Salad (51.000 Rupia)). I waited 40 minutes for delivery and guys. And imagine my regrets when I saw that Grab brought me. Feel my pain brothers: "Orgaic Salad" is a half of one tomato cut into 3 parts plus three round cucumber slices plus and 4 pieces of old salad (it was not fresh and crispy, it was like an old rag). Mixed seafood basket is a pack of three different souces and a small box, in small box I've found a half of a small portion potatoes free in MacDonalds and 9 tiny peaces in batter: squid, fish and shrimps tails. I think you should see it to understand my pain, when I opened this tiny box. When I thought about price and how the order was looked, I thought that maybe taste could save this dish. But nope, MacDonalds is tastier, much tastier. I was really hungry and ate half, the other half I threw so I can't attach photo to this review, but guys really when you'll have idea to make the order in this restaurant, please, check my review. For the first time in my life I leave a review right now, so guys, seriously, I have a big reason to do it. I'm not new in Bali, I know the pricing. I like pison, livingstone, warung gothie, taca casa, coffee and oven and etc. But that experience is not even normal, it's very bad. Thank you, hope it helps...

This was hands down my favourite place to eat on our trip to Bali. So much so we ate there twice in a week (dinner and lunch). This has to be the most underrated/unknown restaurant for the quality of food they deliver! And the prices are unbelievably cheap for this.

The quality if oysters, sashimi, ramen, and other Japanese dishes was phenomenal. We opted mostly for fresh seafood dishes and never got sick which is a testament to the freshness and quality of what is on offer!

In both occasions ordered the sashimi plater and fresh oysters which are HUGE. Also tried two different ramens, Zuke (tuna) don, katsudon, and various nigiri options. The only reason our spend was "high" was due to the ridiculous amount we ordered and had to roll ourselves home afterwards.

I regret not taking photos of the menu, as I believe that not having one online is the ONLY reason more people don't know about this delight. Put our first dinner receipt up for reference though. Seriously, IDR$15k* oysters and $85k* for a (18 piece) sashimi platter is ridiculous!

Inside you can also see where they keep the big blocks of raw fish on display before they're cut and served fresh; and the oysters kept live in water until ready to serve 😋

I cannot wait to go back to Bali just so I can come here again!...