Saku Hoboken — Restaurant in Hoboken

Aggregiously bad! First, there's not one Asian person of any nationality working here, much less a Japanese Sushi chef who knows anything about Sushi. "Pan Seared" Shrimp Gyoza were raw inside with shrimp juice dripping out of them and the dumping wraps all fell apart... inedible. 3 rolls and 1 piece of sushi... yellowtail belly skin was inedible and had 3 grains of rice stuck to it, tuna jalapeño roll tasted like gas station sushi and the Alaskan roll while utterly tasteless also came without the crunch I ordered. Crunch was on the bill, had to ask to have $1 taken off the check lol. Kind of embarasaing but I was pissed. Mango roll was a wet sauced-drenched mess. Ordered a $70 bottle of Nigori Sake and the waitress brought, then poured, two wine glasses full of sake. I had to ask for sake glasses which she seemed to have right there but inexplicably brought wine glasses and poured out half the bottle immediately. The only thing that was really edible was the crispy fried cauliflower which we attempted to take home as leftovers but when we got home we realized the waitress threw away the hot honey dipping sauce! So it was just soggy cauliflower lol. Can't make this up. Oh yeah, and they put a $6 credit card surcharge on the bill. I had to ask her to cancel the charge on my card and I paid cash, which really drove home the severity of how overpriced this meal was. Forget the sake, a few rolls and inedible dumplings were about $100 bucks! Criminal. Nearly everything on the menu was "spicy" rolls which is chopped up old fish with mayo and hot sauce, so I guess that's what they get away with. Anyone raving about this place either works there or has never eaten at any corner Japanese takeout joint. I hope I don't get sick...

I hate to give this review because this place was needed in Hoboken. That being said I think they have a huge opportunity to improve. First off, whoever created your sushi menu, or who you hired as your sushi chef has got to go...I'm from Los Angeles, sushi is without a doubt my favorite food, I've had Michelin star sushi and strip mall sushi (those places can be just as good) but this truly was grocery store level sushi. I get trying to be more adventurous with the menu, adding rolls like the guacamole is extra, (the guacamole was barely present and flavorless) or the surf and turf roll (supposed to be based on steak and it's ice cold). Anyone who knows sushi (and you should if you're starting a sushi place of this magnitude) knows that the consistency and temperature of the rice is one of the most important factors (watch jiro dreams of sushi) apprentices spend 3 years perfecting how to make perfect sushi rice. This rice was ice cold and mushed together. Additionally, choose better ingredients, or be honest about what you're using. You said there was blue crab in one of the rolls, it was actually artificial crab. All in all your place will fall off in popularity when people realize how average the sushi is. These are generally sophisticated eaters, who have every opportunity to go into the city and spend this kind of money on sushi. I would truly reevaluate your menu, your ingredient supplier, and whoever you have hired as your sushi chef. Go into the city or to LA and really eat at the best of the best, ask questions, figure out what they're doing to be successful, and bring it back to Hoboken, it could...

Good ambience with attentive and friendly service.

Apps were good (philly cheesesteak gyoza sounds strange but tastes great), cocktail was watery and lacking and really relied on the mezcal to taste of anything. The speciality Hoboken Brewery Saku beer was great!

The sashimi is pricey ($4 per piece!) and no sashimi combo on the menu which this place would really benefit from. It really racks up if that is what you’re after (usually we would share a 16 piece combo, but not here!). Unfortunately it isn’t anything special. We also weren’t told it was $4 per individual piece until after the order was in so we felt kind of obligated to stick with it and order more accordingly.

The sushi roll (we had Dude, Where’s my Roll?) tasted and looked good. The only problem was the green leaf/roll on the outside didn’t stick together well and fell apart when you picked it up, so beware when using chopsticks.

Other reviews have compared it to not meeting LA quality and I have to agree. Our favourite local sushi place there is in a grocery store parking lot and the sushi at Saku paled in comparison both on price point and quality consistency. There’s really no good reason why Hoboken can’t compete, especially when this menu is at an NYC price.

In short, we might go back for the rolls, apps and the beer, mainly because Hoboken is sorely lacking in Japanese options. Definitely not for the sashimi or the cocktail.

This is really more of a 3.5 star review but Google doesn’t allow. I can’t honestly give it a 4 because our experience was so 50/50...