Sakura Steak House — Restaurant in Christiansburg

I have gotten food here more times than I can count & never had a problem until today. Got 3 orders of gyoza (almost $20), did a quick peek in the box before I left & everything looked fine so I went home which is about 30 mins away. Started to eat as soon as I got home & the first bite tasted like MOLD, it's a pretty unmistakable taste. Picked up another dumpling and saw this. Obviously not going to eat the rest of them so my partner called the store to let them know about this, and was told that this isn't possible that they are always made fresh. I'm not saying I don't believe them, but this is definitely mold? He said if we "didn't like them" we could bring them back to the store & they would make more (not that I really want more after a mouthful of this) but he explained that I just got home from work & we live 30 mins away, is there any way that they could take down our name and come back tomorrow, something, anything? Because it's only $20 so I'm not trying to drive an hour round trip plus gas money for this, but also it's $20 - times are hard for everyone and every penny counts. But apparently the owner wasn't at the store and the only option is to bring it back to have it remade. My bad I guess for not inspecting each and every individual dumpling (most of them look okay, but I don't want to risk food poisoning to find out). So here's my first official google review so maybe someone could learn from my experience & go over every gyoza before...

Knowing how brutal reviews can be I was very hesitant to post this because I would hate to jeopardize a small business. My honest opinion of this place is that it is almost too cheap for hibachi/sushi, and that scared me when placing the order. I ordered filet mignon hibachi with onions and zucchini. To start off, the meat I received was low grade sirloin at best and not at all what I thought I was getting. They forget to mention that with the zucchini and onions they also throw in mushrooms which had I known before the order I would have asked for none. The rice almost tasted frozen and was lacking a lot of flavor almost to the point of it being bland. The sauce they use to cook the meat and vegetables was so abundant with the food that I almost didn’t need any yum yum sauce cause it was like soup/ way too much. The yum yum sauce had to have been bought in store because the flavor was generic and tasted like lots of preservatives. The staff was very basic so nothing to complain about there and the service was quick so I was not upset with anything other than the actual food I received. This is not a place I would recommend when there is Ocean Samurai right down the road. Might be a little more expensive but the quality and taste tops this place 100%. Overall I was very dissatisfied with the experience and I certainly would not recommend this...

I usually eat here once or twice a week or after several weeks. I didn’t know about this place until my most recent and current workplace ordered for lunch, and I was curious (this was during COVID lockdown). They have NEVER messed up an order, always punctual, to the point — short and sweet than what I’m familiar with and it’s a nice difference by contrast to other restaurants. I can’t understand the employees some of the time (I only speak English) but that’s fine with me. They always give you some plastic cutlery in a packet with napkins, and a small cup of yum yum sauce — with the boxed food included in a well-tied plastic bag if to-go or drive-thru. I refuse to eat at Panda Express when this place exists in my general area. The rice is great, the steak even better, and they give a lot of food for what it’s worth. The drive-thru is a little bit of a wait, but you can call an order for pickup too or dine-in, but I’ve yet to do that. I cannot recommend this place enough.

The images provided are my usual order: Teriyaki Steak w/ white rice no vegetables...