Sakagura — Restaurant in New York

I arrived without a reservation for a dinner for two. The place didn’t seem busy, and my guest and I approached knowing they would be closing in about an hour and a half.

Everything seemed fine at first, but from the beginning, the service was completely disappointing. The server only approached the table to mention the specials. When my guest asked a question about the menu, he responded in a rather condescending tone that the item was “only available at lunch,” without offering any alternatives. That immediately made me feel like we were in the wrong place and that the restaurant had nothing else to offer. When we mentioned we wouldn’t be drinking and would just have water, he gave us a look as if we had insulted him. After that, the server never returned to our table.

In fact, it was the manager who ended up taking my order. He was polite and answered a question that the server had avoided entirely—simply asking for the Wi-Fi password.

The dishes started to arrive, but the back servers seemed to be pretending to be busy, even though the restaurant clearly wasn’t. As soon as a dish was finished—no matter how small—it was immediately taken away. At one point, a back server actually moved my guest’s plate while he was still eating. We looked at each other in disbelief, wondering, “Is this really happening?”

When clearing the last course, in his rush to clean the table, one back server made a mess and actually spilled a dish of soy sauce on my clothes. He handed me paper napkins, which obviously did little to help.

The entire time, I never saw the server again until I placed my card on the table and asked for the check from a distance. After everything, he casually asked, “How was everything?”—to which I replied, “It was a disaster.” I had come after work to relax and enjoy a nice dinner with someone, but instead, it turned into an unpleasant experience. I left smelling like soy sauce, and after giving him my card, I waited ten minutes to get it back.

The manager returned it, apologizing and offering a 20% discount as compensation. I left that amount as the tip—not because the service deserved it (it absolutely didn’t), but simply because I wanted to pay and leave. The truth is, this place ruined my evening.

I wouldn’t return, not even if I were invited.

This is the kind of place for people who don’t care about details, are used to eating in a rush, and don’t mind having their plates moved while they’re still eating. I came in with high expectations and left with the impression of extremely...

Deep beneath the crust of the Earth lies Sakagura...an underground oasis of Japanese awesomeness - just be ready to answer three riddles and cross a rope bridge to get here! (But seriously, pay close attention to the street address or you'll wind up in either (a) the sushi place next door, or (b) nowhere/an office building)

After almost coming here with a fellow Yelp-Elite, I found myself with another hungry foodie also ready to partake in the tasty small plates offered at Sakagura! We split six selections between two of us:

Ika Shiokara - A small plate of sliced raw squid in a salty squid liver marinade. Although small, this is still good to split, as I would have probably found it too overwhelming in both salt and bitterness to down the entire thing myself.

Hiyayakko - My friend chose this and ate most of it, but I managed to have a couple of bites. She really liked it, but I was indifferent (I'm not a big tofu fan to begin with so don't listen to me!) I did enjoy the crunch from the grated ginger and scallion flakes though.

Sake Oyako Don - This was a bit larger than the first two, and one of my favorites. Fresh strips of salmon and salmon roe (eggs) with soy sauce was served over a half-sphere of sushi rice. The salmon was delicious and soft, and had nice stripes/marbling of the fat layers. The miso soup that comes with this was unnecessary, but definitely welcomed.

Buta Kakuni - We ordered two of these, and, as others have described, this stewed pork is melt-in-your-mouth delicious! Along with the salmon, this was also a standout dish. I highly recommend getting this, especially since it's small enough to "squeeze in" with other choices.

Kama Roast - Slices of chilled duck wrapped scallion with basil sauce. This was good, but not as good as the others. It's also $10, but a decent portion for the price.

Onsen Tamago - Sea urchin and soft boiled egg in cold soup - This was delicious, but definitely an acquired taste (sea urchin is very soft). Even though this is a soup, it's still very "splittable" - chunks are small enough without doing too much cutting/piercing.

With their exhaustive menu, I'll definitely be coming back again, but I'm thrilled we managed to conquer some great land and sea-based offerings on the menu. Service was friendly and expedient to boot, and they also have a legendary saki menu, although we...

Sakagura is quite the cute restaurant and it makes for a unique place to visit in the city. It kinds of reminds you of small bars in Asia which are hidden from view. You can find the restaurant located down a set of stairs and you are greeted by the host at the very front.

In terms of ambience, the restaurant is quite peaceful, surrounded with an abundance of greenery and you can hear the soundtrack of small birds chirping in the background.

The restaurant only offers a prix fixe (tasting menu) right now, at $85 per person. We ordered the Aburi Chashū Otsumami (seared chashū pork), a favorite but an add-on to the prix fixe menu. It was followed by the Katsuo Tataki (skipjack tuna) which is the first dish of the actual tasting menu. It is slightly tangy and is an overall light and pleasant dish. Subsequently, my friend and I were served the Hotate Butter Sauté (bacon wrapped scallop with miso sauce), which was quite “umami”, flavorful but not overbearingly so. Our favorite dish of the evening.

The Sashimi Santen Mori was alright, excluding the uni (sea urchin). Our server explained to us that the uni was sourced from California. It tasted briny and a bit off. I have definitely had better uni before, which if good quality, is light and creamy at the same time. If it is your first time trying sea urchin and you find it less than pleasing, I would recommend giving it another try elsewhere as the taste can change depending on where it is sourced. The Madai Tsutsumi Yaki (baked red snapper), while being a hearty dish, was slightly under seasoned and came off bland as a result.

The meal ended with a Malibu Blancmange, which was refreshing and light. I thought it was pretty decent but my friend, who is a fan of coconut desserts, was a tad disappointed she could not taste the coconut.

While Sakagura is a cute restaurant, you can certainly find Japanese restaurants in the Lower East Side that have a wider selection, if not better...