Sake House — Restaurant in Jacksonville

The bevy of positive reviews drew me to this restaurant while on my current trip. Typically when I'm travelling I don't find myself drawn to sushi, as I'm fairly spoiled for choice and quality back home. From start to finish, I was disappointed with Sake House. By no means was it bad, but there was nothing but disappointment.

Let's start with the service, which is why this review even has two stars. The staff was attentive and friendly, taking care of my needs with efficiency and politeness.

Next, the menu was overloaded with a lot of strange things. I find it odd that a sushi restaurant would need to have a specific raw vs cooked vs vegetarian section, but I chalked it up to maybe being more of an introduction to sushi kind of restaurant. There were hibachi items, katsu, it seemed like they were trying to do too much, especially considering there was a very small nigiri section.

That leads me to my next problem: the actual food and portions. My rice was competent, but dry. My miso soup had an odd taste and was very thin, and had weirdly chewy onions. This leads me to believe it sits for some time. The agedashi tofu was bizarre; I've ordered this at dozens of restaurants and it's always lightly fried tofu soaking in broth, the 'dashi.' In this case it was small cubes of fried tofu, with a tiny dipping bowl of broth. It tasted alright, but it it was hard to get it properly saturated with broth, leaving it crunchy.

Finally, the fish. Jeez, the fish. All of the fish was served at the same temperature as the rice. This is indicative of not keeping the fish properly chilled, and not using fresh rice. The tuna, yellowtail, and salmon sushi was all bland and suffered from this. Additionally, the menu says nothing about how when you order 'sushi' (commonly served as nigiri, or, two portions) it's actually a single portion. I wasn't upset with this, more disappointed as it would be simple to include as a note, but not saying anything led me to ordering less than I typically would. And the spicy tuna roll suffered the same warm temperature, along with soggy nori (seaweed), and it was a total spice bomb.

There seemed to be a large focus on fusion rolls, with all sorts of exotic styles and mixed ingredients. These are not typically to my taste, and I didn't order any. Perhaps this is where Sake House shines. It certainly did not shine in more traditional food, and I walked away disappointed in my choice for dinner. I would not recommend this place if you are used to more traditional sushi restaurants, or if you want anything beyond basic sushi and...

I haven't been to Sake House in a few years but remembered it being really good sushi. So a friend and I went back to see if my memory served me well. Turns out it did.

The sushi was fresh and presented classically, the service was fast and attentive and the atmosphere was cozy.

They do have the restaurant separated: the entrance to one section is dedicated to those looking to dine in and their other entrance on the opposite side of the restaurant is dedicated to guests picking up their takeout. A pretty smart, thoughtful solution to the pandemic problem if you ask me.

The prices are a little high, but I've noticed that is how it is for most sushi restaurants right now, as a result of supplies being more expensive. It's still affordable though, especiall if you get the basic rolls like I did.

Overall, I won't hesistate to return when we are in the area and...

Ordered online paid for an entrée that comes with a soup and salad well because she said that it was not specified what soup and salad I wanted which it's only one salad that they just decided not to give it to me instead of when I went in person to pick it up. They didn't just ask me the simple question. No when I called to complain about it she tells me no because it wasn't specified. You need to call the third-party. What is the third-party have to do with them giving me the food that I ordered I don't understand it so it was even more aggravating trying to speak to them about getting what I was paid for but did not receive or it could've been all handled with a simple question when I showed up in person to pick it up but no instead I get aggravation and I don't get what I ordered so don't order from them. If you plan on getting all the food you want...