Sakura — Restaurant in Indianapolis

As a sushi connoisseur, Sakura has not only been the best sushi in Indianapolis, but possibly within the state. It takes a lot for me to write a review, but after being a patron that would argue in the defense of the average California Roll enthusiast.. I have to fully pull back my endorsement after my last visit. Sakura historically has been the #1 spot for good & quality rolls. For reference, we spent ~$100 for this service.

We made reservations in advance 2-3+ days in advance as I was returning with my fiancé from North Carolina to meet with my family here for a celebratory dinner. Sakura for both me as a prior local, and my parents due to their heritage over the years, has been a place which everyone I knew held in high regard as the #1 sushi restaurant in the entirety of Indiana.

I hate to write this review, but I no longer hold this respect for this establishment. We made it abundantly clear how much this visit meant to us. As this family has made multiple trips to Japan directly - Sakura has always been the location to experience the same quality of food for the last two decades. I can no longer feel the same.

We waited for two hours to receive our food after 20 min of waiting to be seated for our reservations. This was a busy evening, but after 3 attempts to determine status of our order - we gave up and elected to just take our food to go.

We offered to pay for our meal, despite our experience, as we have had an enormous amount of respect for this establishment. And writing this review - we will never be returning and I am embarrassed to have put the effort into this as I have.

After waiting two hours for our food, we asked to just have our meals prepped to go and pay for our meal promptly. We had a 20% upcharge not communicated to us prior for a petty of five, with a discount provided for our hassles to only negate this.

I have gone from someone who has chosen to have the #1 meal they could pick at Sakura, to someone who feels directly insulted after speaking to the manager after our experience nearly in tears, to just be told “sorry for the hassle”.

Thank you, Sakura, as you have turned a lifelong advocate to someone who won’t be returning. I understand things can become busy, but when you pay zero value to customers that respect this establishment for the #1 location to celebrate their engagement - I fail to see any amount of customer respect being provided anymore.

Here is to the glory days of Sakura adorned with dated signed complimentary postings across your walls. Thank you for providing the insightful experience you did for my family of patrons that valued your establishment across all sushi restaurants from Indy to a 9 hr road trip to experience.

I hope experiences for others vary, though I would no longer allow Sakura the benefit of quality that they...

Sakura gets my seal of approval...at least for lunch. The exterior doesn't look special...in fact, I have repeatedly passed this place on my way to work and did not take notice until I read an article.

When you walk inside you enter a warmly lit space that invites you to take a seat. The ladies that are running around are swift and efficient...although not a talkative bunch, and that's okay. It seemed like when regulars would come in they would become more talkative.

I ordered the Saba (grilled mackerel), ohitashi (steamed spinach with bonito flakes), and the katsu don (fried pork cutlet with onion and egg over rice). The lunch came with miso soup and a salad. The miso soup was typical. The salad had what appeared to be a typical ginger/miso dressing...but it had a twist of lemon that was refreshing and complimentary to the other ingredients.

The Saba was okay, it needed more salt...and the bones were left in, but mackerel is a delicious and fatty fish. The ohitashi was good but needed soy sauce as a finisher to add salt and add some moisture to the dish.

The katsu don was the star and probably one of the best katsu dons I have ever had. The pork cutlet was lightly breaded and crisp, the onions were browned to sublime perfection, and the flavors were spot on...savory, slightly sweet, and lightly fried goodness.

Can't wait to go back and trying...

I’m saddened. I love sushi and really enjoy trying different places. My coworkers ranted and raved about this place. I walked in and the sign said please wait to be seated. After 5 minutes of greeters walking past me finally one stops and asks the couple who came in after me where they would like to be seated. They told her i was first. Finally I’m seated without any asking where i would like to be sat. Another 10 minutes goes by. No waitress has asked me do i even want a glass of water but yet again the couple who came in after me has soup, salad, and their drinks. All i wanted was a sushi roll soup and salad. I told them how i felt, no apology was made just excuses about how it was busy. My food was brought out all 5 minutes later. Jesus Christ, was it that complicated? As I sit and eat my food i notice everyone else being greeted and served in a timely manner..leaves me to wonder was i purposely being treated like this. Lastly, i ordered the Alaskan roll and honestly was not that impressed. I feel like I’ve had much better other places. Not quite sure at this point what all the hype was about. The most pointless 20 dollars I’d say i ever spent. Hopefully your experience isn’t as trash as mine was.

Also i asked to speak with a manager, was told there was no manager. I guess that would explain the bad...