Sakae Sushi — Restaurant in Osaka

I visited this place recently because it looked really local and authentic — the lanterns and atmosphere were nice at first. Unfortunately, my experience was not good at all.

The biggest issue is the heavy cigarette smoke inside. The whole restaurant was filled with a strong smell of tobacco because people smoke freely at the counter. I didn’t expect that, and it made my meal really uncomfortable. If you’re sensitive to smoke or hate the smell of cigarettes, you will suffer.

After dining there, I felt dizzy, nauseous, and ended up vomiting multiple times when I got back to my hotel. I didn’t have any stomach pain or diarrhea, so I don’t think it was food poisoning — it was most likely from being stuck in a small, smoky space for over an hour. I wish I had known this before!

Food-wise, the sushi was just average — definitely not worth the high reviews in my opinion. There are many other places in Osaka with better quality and a cleaner, smoke-free environment.

⚠️ My warning to future customers: ✅ If you are sensitive to cigarette smoke, avoid this place. ✅ Be aware that the entire dining area allows smoking. ✅ The reviews can be misleading — the atmosphere might look good but it’s not comfortable for everyone.

I hope this helps other travelers make a better choice. Osaka has so many great sushi restaurants — pick one that is clean, fresh, and...

Queued 30mins+ for this, was very excited to try! The sushi did not disappoint. Sashimi was really delicious and fresh. Unfortunately, uni was out of stock when I was there (~6pm). Ordered the first round with no issues. However, started to feel uncomfortable when the chef in charge around my area was really inpatient and rude. There was a korean family and 2 locals beside me. It was me and the Korean family's first time here, we were unsure about the ordering procedure, and the chef got annoyed at us. When the family ordered a 2nd round, the chef kept telling them to wait.... They waited 15mins+ and reminded the chef about their order. Once again, the chef got annoyed. After seeing this situation, my husband and I left without ordering the 2nd round... Was still hungry even though we spent 6,200 yen. 😅 It's worth a try if you don't mind the bad service, but personally, I won't...

On our first night in Osaka and after getting denied entry/service to several Okonomiyaki restaurants in Dotonbori, for an unknown reason, we decided to give up and eat something else. This just happened to be the closest restaurant we were by and we saw several people dining in here. So naturally we decided to give up looking for okonomiyaki and eat sushi instead. We are so glad we did because this restaurant was simply delicious. Everything was good!

Our chef was very friendly and even helped us understand how to order. You just have to write the number of the sushi you want and the quantity right next to it (i.e. 24 x 2 - which is #24 sushi - quantity of 2 pieces).

The eel was fantastic, fatty tuna, salmon, shrimp, and even the tamago. In the end, it was a blessing to be denied service at the 3 nearby Okonomiyaki restaurants so we could try this. Highly recommend for anyone...