Sakura Terrace

Been here multiple times, both for lunch and dinner.

The lunch menu is teishoku based and is tasty and a great value. The food comes out quickly and is consistent.

Service is sually attentive and explains the menu/specials well.

Restaurant ambiance is your usual local Japanese place. It's clean and the parking is easy (althoguh can get crowded).

Highlights are the omurice, washu tail (ox tail), chicken nan ban, and the sweet potato blue cheese.

Prices are reaonsable, and are of the sterotypical Japanese size.

Decided to try Sakura Terrace on a whim for lunch. Fortunately, they were able to accommodate our party of 3 since we didn't have reservations.

This Japanese restaurant feels like you're transported to Japan - with a comforting feel.

We ordered a spicy ahi roll for the table and I ordered the saba meal. The roll had a subtle flavor which I enjoyed. As for my saba, it had a lot of bones, but seasoned very well. I love salmon sashimi and was happy that my meal had a couple of slices. The meal also had rice, miso soup, a squash cranberry salad, daikon, and other small sides.

Note: they close promptly at 2, so all guest need to be out of there on time.

TL;DR

A wonderful izakaya option in the heart of Honolulu.

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My wife and I started ordering takeout from Sakura Terrace when we moved home to Hawaii about two years ago. For a reason I cannot really understand, this is one of the only places that serves omurice. Weird. So we would order here to satisfy our omurice craving. We would typically each order our own bento and then split an omurice. The tonkatsu bento here is great!

I always noticed that the takeout menu was extremely limited and quite different than their dine in menu. I'm not sure why that's the case. Anyway, a couple months ago we decided to eat here in person to check out their full menu, and, oh boy, I'm glad we did. Sakura Terrace is a hidden gem with some unique dishes to accompany their standard izakaya offerings.

We've eaten here twice now, so I will just list off a few of the best dishes we've had:

- Renkon cheese (kind of like a lotus root pizza/quesadilla... banger!)
- Hamachi carpaccio
- Goma kampachi
- Potato salad (love the fried onion topping)
- Omurice (duh)
- Japanese style omelette (my daughter's favorite)
- Grilled miso butterfish

The sushi and other dishes were all great too. Additionally, making a reservation at our preferred time has never been a problem, and the service has always been attentive.

I love Sakura Terrace! Come for the omurice... stay for everything else.

Sakura Terrace holds a special place in my heart, particularly for their lunch specials! Stepping into its Japanese-themed interior feels like a mini getaway. While the wait staff may sometimes veer towards the aloof side, it's fine because they manage to get the job done without any hiccups.

Here's everything I ate:

Nori Bento: This gem features generously portioned salmon and chikuwa, each delicately seasoned with a pinch of salt. Nestled beneath these savory delights lies a bed of rice accompanied by an array of side dishes. My personal favorite? The burdock root steals the show. The beauty of the Nori Bento lies in its simplicity, allowing the quality of the ingredients to shine through effortlessly.

Chicken Nanban: Crispy chicken bathed in their delicious homemade tartar sauce! And let's not forget about the sides, especially the sashimi, adding an extra layer of indulgence to the meal.

In summary, Sakura Terrace is the ultimate lunchtime haven for those seeking top-notch quality without breaking the bank.

Sakura Terrace
Overall: **** Recommended ****
Food: ****
Value: ****
Menu: ** lunch limited, dinner ok
Ambiance: ****
Service: ****
Parking: ***** free behind restaurant

For years, I've driven by Sakura Terrace, and I wondered if the food was a good. After I saw a friend's FB post, I decided to give it a try.

First, I'd highly recommend making reservations, even for lunch. All the tables were full during lunch on a Thursday and after an hour and a half we were asked politely to leave, because they had another reservation coming in at 12:30 pm. If you have a later reservation, this should be a problem.

I was a little bit disappointed in that the lunch menu is limited to only 6 Donburi and 10 Bentos. I would recommend that you look at the menus first. If there's something you'd like to order, then make your reservation.

RATINGS & RECOMMENDED ORDER:
Sakura Bento Gindara Misoyaki = B
3 Kinds Zuke = B (little fish)

Yelp: https://yelp.to/I8ph3OzsIq
Website: sakuraterracehawaii.com

YELP:
Sorry! They allow only one 12 second video & the remaining to 3 seconds, with maximum of 10 pictures/videos. The full video can be found elsewhere: MiltonIn808

RATINGS KEY:
A = Really Good - one of the best
B = Good - would order again
C = ok - similar, nothing special
D = Not very good - wouldn't order
F = Terrible - avoid

Yelp has three segments for writing reviews: food, service, ambiance. I am sad to give Sakura Terrace 3 stars only because they lack ambiance category.

I recommend reservation as other Yelpers said. When I called for 12pm reservation the gentleman was very accommodating but I ended up taking 12:30pm.

When we got there, the parking lot was full. There's about a dozen parking stalls. So we had to look for street parking. We were sat in a small room next to the window without any shades or blinds under blazing sun. The restaurant was full and the server couldn't move us.

As for the food, I ordered the Saba lunch set, $17. It came with soup, salad, one whole fish, two kind of side seaweed, and mashed up Kabocha squash. This lunch set reminded me of old Sushi King/Gyotaku. The atmosphere is on the nostalgic feel with lots of old timers dining in.

We did wanted to try one of their dessert but we were roasting away. Besides, the server seem too busy that it seem like too much trouble.

Super fresh, clean, quality fish & seafood. However when compared to 'fine dining' I think the flavor wasn't as unique and was more so straight forward aka prepared very well but not curated to be an amazing unique holistic dish.

For restaurants that pride themselves in elevating the quality and simplicity of a meat, I do still wish the chef chose different accessory side dishes/glazes/spices/toppings that would enhance the flavor of the fish/seafood as opposed to just producing a perfectly cooked fish/seafood. Eg. Kinjiro in LA is a perfect example of how the chef cleverly elevates and highlights the fish/seafood.

From Best to Least:
* Japanese toro, sashimi (~$100) - incredibly fresh and had a beautiful cut but still was very straightforward in flavor
* seaweed soup - I normally don't prefer this but this was expertly prepared and offered such a unique experience.
* grilled butter brushed abalone
* butter fish
* squid - extremely tendered with a subtle crisp. The aioli sauce wasn't anything special and didn't compliment the dish
* garlic shrimp - objectively more tasty than the squid but the squid had greater finesse in cooking so I liked that dish slightly more. Comes with shell & head on so peeling was not the greatest joy in the world
* tempura - could pass on this. Very straightforward and batter was soggy.
* monkfish liver - fun to get for the novelty but was done ok and a bit dry

Summary:
Had a pleasant time, a bit over priced for what it is, but still quality dishes. Probably would try other restaurants first before returning back to this one.

Sakura terrace has delicious Japanese food and an adorable interior decorated to match the vibe. We come here frequently for dinner, but the lunch special Sakura chirashi is my favorite thing that they serve. At $20-something it comes with a large variety of fresh and tender fish. I consider myself a chirashi bowl connoisseur, and Sakura terrace has my absolute favorite.

For dinner you can't go wrong with anything, but their tempura dishes are some of our favorites. The batter is light and crispy and everything is fried fresh to order. Our favorite rolls are the ohana and spicy double tuna, and when it's available, the tenpai yaki is also a favorite (it's like an okonomoyaki turned omelette). The grilled chicken is also really good - I don't like chicken and I especially don't like grilled chicken, but this one is well seasoned and extremely moist! I definitely underestimated it before tasting it for the first time.

All of the food comes out quickly here, so you won't be waiting around for ages once you order. They tend to be busy so I recommend making reservations or coming near their opening time if you plan to walk in.

I came here last Sunday for an early lunch with a friend. After reading about how popular the place was, I made a reservation for when they open at 11 and was glad I did. There was a line at the door when we arrived. Once inside, I enjoyed the decor - they have some Japanese lattice work on the windows and over the sushi counter that I found quite beautiful. There are so many nice little touches (like the chopsticks that are pointed on both ends, in a tasteful paper wrapper) that show the care that is put into this place.

My friend and I both had the Nori Bento, and I had the Deluxe with sashimi. We both agreed that the salmon fillet in the bento was delicious. There is a sheet of nori under the salmon on top of the rice with some extra pickles. The sashimi was melt in your mouth tender. We shared the Monaka ice cream sandwich with green tea ice cream.

Service was very good even though the restaurant was full. A sign posted noted that seatings were limited to 90 minutes. There is parking along the side of the restaurant as well as in the back. If that is full, there may be parking along King Street.

Will definitely be back to try some of their other items!

I've driven past Sakura Terrace hundreds of times and have always been curious. Finally made a stop to try them for dinner. When you run into Sean Morris @incurablepicure you know you've found a gem to dine at.

Foie gras with daikon. Good size piece of foie gras. I'm not sure if you're supposed to eat it in the same bite. We found that eating it separately allowed you to savor the flavors of the foie gras more while the daikon after cleansed your pallet for your next bite.

Rekon Chips with cheese was visually appealing and fun to eat with it's cheese pull. The design of the Rekon allowed the browned cheese to create such a pretty pattern.

Their ginger pork was a good size to share and pork was juicy and tender. With some fat on their ends, made a scrumptious bite.

Chutoro sashimi from Japan was fresh and buttery.

Service was excellent. I'd suggest eating inside and making a reservation ahead. We initially sat outside and it was very loud from King Street traffic. Street parking or they have their own lot.