Sakura Sushi Japanese Restaurant

We have eaten here several times. Very friendly family that runs the restaurant. My kids (boys 9, 11, 13) love going here and the quality of the food is excellent! The hot entrees — tempura, gyoza, etc. come out hot and just cooked. The sushi and sashimi are fresh and consistent quality. We have tried different parts of the menu and all have been good. They also give good recommendations.

Food was amazing! Service was great! Everything we ordered was fresh and came super quick. I loved my spicy seafood udon it was delicious! My company also enjoyed their meals.

Found this place on Unilocal.The food was great, service was good, place is very clean. Very satisfied.

This is a great option for sushi in east Durham. I like the booths and the Japanese décor. I am also very happy there is a good option out our way that isn’t AYCE. The quality here is higher than that and the service is quite good. I’ve been here many times and not been disappointed. Note, if you order the seaweed salad it is massive. About 3x more than I am accustomed to getting. Not that I am complaining.

What an unexpected surprise.
I was craving some Japanese food and I didn’t want to travel far. Lately the sushi scene in ajax/​Pickering has been going downhill and I didn’t feel like spending any more money on low quality food and service. And behold! Sakura!
First off, the setting is quite nice. My mother and I went pretty late for dinner on Sunday and the place was pretty empty. However, the server was quite attentive and the food was great.
I ordered the sashimi donburi ($ 14) and my mom ordered the sakura bento ($ 25). The sashimi donburi was more of a Korean dish and it was soooo yummy.
My mother’s order, however, was not as satisfying. The tempura was a little on the salty side and the batter wasn’t that crispy fluffy type we are used to, rather more like a fish and chips type batter. And the beef teriyaki was really hard.
All in all, the setting, service, sushi and sashimi dishes were excellent, maybe the best in ajax/​pickering area but the hot dishes fell flat. I would definitely come back the sashimi donburi and sushi.

Found this place right here on Unilocal and decided to see for ourselves if the good reviews here were justified. The time was 4 PM so we were the only guests there. By the time we were finishing our meal, there was another group of 4 people that walked in.
Overall, a positive experience. The food came out fast, was fresh and tasted good. Their miso is rather think (no just broth that most other places serve). Salad dressing has red-​ish colour (usually it’s yellow /​orangey).
The place is very small and you probably won’t notice it unless you already know it’s there. Prices are moderate. Have I eaten better sushi than here? Yes, I have. But this was very good too and is excellent value.

In one word. Excellent. The best sushi I have ever had. Nice little place. Great staff and the best food. Can’t ask for anything else. This is the only place I am going to from now on.

I love this place but I hate. I hate. I hate. The sound of a microwave at a restaurant. Not sure what they use it for but they can do without it! The sushi is great quality, please dont ruin the experience with a microwave!

They make it just how you want it.
I’m not a fan of sushi, but this place is so good that I made an exception for it. They make the sushi just the way you would like it. They remove any ingredients that you dislike and they will give you extra of some ingredients if that’s your preference, like extra mayo or extra tempura or extra sesame seeds. No additional charge. They know how to take care of their customers and that’s why I keep coming back.
My favorite is this Spicy Philadelphia roll. They shake toasted sesame seeds on the outside of their rolls and that’s what makes their sushi extra tasty. The sushi pieces are huge too and they are tightly wrapped so they don’t fall apart when you’re eating it, like other places. These people know what they’re doing!
The people here are really friendly and the service is great. I usually call and order ahead of time so that its ready for my pickup.
There are sushi places all over town but this is the best I’ve had. I recommend this place.

Sakura,
the little guy thats packing a huge punch among his franchise competators who’s philosophy is quantity over quality.
You do not want to go to Sakura if you hate excellent service, fresh meats and vegetables, a variety of Soju/​Sake and beers and a calm relaxed environment. Instead you should go to a low quality rushed restaraunt thats main focus is to stuff your gullet as quickly as possible and rotate you out with the next line up of mindless Japanese cuisine «fans» with no idea of what real food should taste like.
Sakura is up there with some of the best japanese/​Korean dishes i have ever had and i would choose them any day over the large franchise buffet style spots.
sure you are paying a little more but why is that even an issue when the service and food is second to none.
enjoy.

I knew there was a reason I got up this morning.
Ok, I went here a few months ago, and it is definitely the first sushi place I have been to that I really didn’t like. As we all know, there are at least 4 other sushi places in Pickering alone, but somehow this is the closest to my house.
Maybe it was my fault for not ordering sushi, or maybe this place is just inadequate. When I walked in there was no one in there but the staff, that should have tipped me off, as it was approaching dinner time. I ordered something to the extent of teriyaki beef, to go, and waited about ten minutes for it.
When I got home, I was not impressed. I didn’t know if the beef was starting to turn, or this is how they cook, but it was a grainy-​chewy-​partly mushy kind of texture that I knew was not right. The soup and salad and other sides that came with the dish were standard, but I just could not get over this mystery beef.
Maybe next time I should order the sushi, or walk the 20 minutes to Makimono.

Sakura is a small but busy sushi bar, a nice change from the trend of All You Can Eat sushi. I’ve never had dinner there but their lunch combos are good value with excellent variety. The friendly staff will often offer you samples of their Korean fare to try including excellent and fiery kimchee.