Sake Bomb — Restaurant in Durham

This place is hard to find and the front door has no signage that is easy to see. I came to Sake Bomb to get some takeout Sushi…which is not a thing one normally does with Sushi. It’s supposed to be a very fresh experience. It has to be for safety. I came in, and was immediately met by a friendly face and warm smile. I went and sat at the bar to have a glass of something and contemplate the remainder of the days activities. I ordered a glass of the house red, and it wasn’t something I enjoyed. I switched tactics and went with a different beverage that was to my liking. The gent behind the bar was personable and very helpful and friendly. (I’m awful with names and I’m so sorry). When the food came I packed up to head out and we shook hands and he suggested I come back again sometime soon. St that time I felt like I would for sure. I got home and had some of the poke bowl. The fish and ingredients were not bad, but not great. The rolls I got for my wife just didn’t taste good. Not that the selection of ingredients wasn’t acceptable as in what types of things were in it, but the quality of them or taste of them Was not good. I like sushi, I have eaten a lot of it in my life. From grocery store sushi, to HOW MUCH DID I PAY AT THIS AWESOME PLACE? sushi. Sadly sake bomb sushi was pretty bad. The poke fish tasted far fresher. Bottom line I would come in for a drink and a chat with this excellent fellow behind the bar. I just don’t want to pay for food that doesn’t taste good. Maybe in house it would be better, but I was in the car about 9 minutes before I made it home.

I didn’t have their cocktails, so I can’t speak to that. All I can say is I won’t be headed back to dine. I appreciate the good service and that’s why I even wrote the review. Good Service makes everything better, but better doesn’t equate to return customers. Solid product and good service does.

If you want poke or sushi, from my experience, there are better places to dine. I will say, in this area in general, restaurants charge a lot and don’t offer the kind of quality found in many other places and for sure overseas. I know restaurant businesses are hard, and they often taste great when they open, serve true farm to table with expert chefs running things; but it doesn’t take long for the investors to want their return, the first to go is the quality of ingredients. Perhaps this happened...

When I asked my 12-year-old niece where she wanted to go for food there was zero hesitation. Sake Bomb! I was skeptical.

We hit the place at an awkward lunchtime when it was sparsely populated. Again, I was concerned.

Turns out we just hit a sweet spot where we had our own waiter and absolutely amazing food. I’m a bit of a sushi snob, but the food was delicious, well prepared and presented, and very fresh.

I’m pretty sure we sampled half the menu. Of course it was “buy one get one free“ so we had to get four rolls to make sure that we had enough variety. This girl is a bottomless pit for sushi. We had a big spread including a beef tataki appetizer that was to die for. When I ordered it, she was skeptical. How well could they possibly do beef in a Japanese dining setting? I converted her.

Since this was my niece’s choice, she got to do a lot of the roll picking. We’re both nuts about salmon, so obviously we had the crunchy salmon roll, and then a rainbow roll. Then we each got creative. I got the oyster roll, and my niece got the bizarre but delicious oasis roll.

The crunchy salmon roll still makes me smile several days later. The oasis role, stuffed with sweet fruit, was all new to me, and it really worked. My niece says it’s her favorite sushi item ever. I’m not absolutely sure it qualifies as sushi since it’s just fresh fruit and rice, but when balanced correctly the two of those together are delicious enough I don’t care what we call it.

The oyster roll was a bit less of a hit with my niece, but I thought it was tasty. It really couldn’t compete with the crunchy salmon or the oasis roll. Remember, I did tell you I was a sushi snob.

I liked it so much that I would go there with someone I don’t like just to eat there. I would go on 102° humid southern day. I would go even if I had a meeting in the afternoon and I know I’m going to be wearing soy sauce all down the front of my shirt.

And I got to enjoy it with one of my favorite people in the world on a nice pretty day when we didn’t even have to wait for a...

They added more tip to my bill then I had put so watch out for this scam place. I will never return and not sure how to report the extra tip added. They got me, and given the opportunity they will get you to! Bogo sushi is set up to scam you so be aware.

Edit: I was charged $48.00 on my card when clearly by the recipe the charge was supposed to be $44.00. I know it is is only $4.00 but it is principal at this point. I ordered 2 bogo sushi specialty rolls and they came out and I was still hungry. So I asked if the classic rolls where bogo also. The response was yes so I proceeded to order 2 classic way cheaper rolls to take advantage of the of the bogo. When the bill arrived it was about $10 more dollars then I expected. Only the cheap rolls had been discounted. There is no way this meal was worth $41.00. There is just no way. When I asked it was stated to me the rules are clear. I said well I would never have ordered those other rolls. Response is Oh Well. I felt extremely cheated and taken advantage of. Yes they got me on a technicality it was my fault, but you think with how slow they were they would want to keep customers. Even though the bill was more expensive then I expected I still tipped a little. I know it is not much I always tip over 20% they can look at my last bills if they want, but this time I felt so negative inside. It is not much I agree just the fact that they would do this to customers is not right. Then taking extra tip when I already had a bad experience was just icing on the cake. There was no way on earth this meal was worth $48.00. So yes they got me it is not even about the money just about...