Sarku Japan — Restaurant in Des Peres

I was at West County Mall and I was hungry. I don't get mall food very often, but I thought I would give it a shot. I perused the choices and chose Sarku Japan, mainly based on the size of the crowd there compared to other places in the food court. I ordered the teriyaki chicken on white rice. Since I was really,, really hungry, I ordered extra chicken for an extra $1.99. I moved to the right where my meal was about to be made, and I watched the chef prepare the orders ahead of mine. The woman in front of me also ordered the teriyaki chicken with white rice. The chef put two scoops of chicken on top of her rice and gave it to her. He then put two scoops of chicken on my rice and gave it to me. I reminded him that I ordered extra chicken and his response was "You want some extra sauce?" I told him no, I want the extra chicken I ordered, and he insisted he put extra chicken on my order. It was busy and I did not want to stand there arguing, so I took my order and headed to the table, already with a bad taste in my mouth. I sat down and took a bite of the chicken. To say it was bland is an understatement. It tasted like nothing. Not like chicken. Not like teriyaki sauce. Like nothing. I found a piece that had some teriyaki sauce on it. Still nothing, The rice itself was a little on the mushy side, but acceptable. The vegetables consisted of three pieces of overcooked broccoli and something stringy that I think was cabbage. Again, flavorless. I went back to the counter to see if they had any seasonings that I could put on the meal to give it some flavor. They had none. I could not finish the meal with its absence of any discernable flavor, as well as the slightly slippery texture of the chicken. I will not be going back to Sarku Japan and I would advise you not to go unless you just think all the other food served in St. Louis Asian restaurants is just too darn spicy. But whatever you do, DON'T order the...

My wife and I play shuffleboard at nearby Des Peres Park. Once or twice a month on our way home we drive to the West County Mall to pickup some food from Sarku Japan to take home for dinner. It's always the same order because we like it so much. We split an order of teriyaki chicken with "extra sauce", and get the noodles instead of fried rice, vegetables, and 4 cheese rangoon. The food has always been consistently good, and even though we have a 20 minute drive home, it's still warm when we eat it. The portions are generous. Even sharing one dinner between the two of us, we're both stuffed by the time we finish it all. The only disappointment has been recently when they stopped offering the punch card which rewarded you with a free teriyaki dinner for every 6 you purchase. However, that isn't a deterrent to our continuing to return every month for that delicious teriyaki dinner. Sarku Japan is our favorite food...

Its a saterday 3:30pm. Only waited in line a few minutes. got some time to decide that the praised chicken teriyaki looked pretty good.

Place order with medium drink. got veggies with it, and passed on extra chicken.

Maybe a few seconds later my order was called.

Left a tip in the jar, and grabbed utencils

First bite of the chicken and I was happy. Very flavorful and not too overpowering.

My white rice is tasty, and the veggies are crisp, not burnt.

Atmosphere is a mall, and it is very busy right now. Screaming children, dirty tables. That's ok. everyone is very busy serving food. For a mall though, there are no unhappy people right now, so that is a good sign.

Overall, very good. On par with many of the tasty mall restaurants i've tried. Better than panda express? Maybe, it's been awhile since i tried the panda.

Would recommend, and will eat here again next time im...