Sake Bar

What is the deal, Sake bar?! Your sushi is almost always on point and the beer is cheap, but the time that it takes to get drinks, food, service in general is pathetic. It’s never packed when we go there but yet it ALWAYS takes over an hour to get our food. The servers have always been friendly but the last couple times they have not been very attentive. Last night we got there at 6:30. We were seated and the server brought water to the table but didn’t come back for at least 10 minutes to see if we wanted anything else to drink (which we did) and if we were ready to order. After ordering around 6:45, we did not get our food until 7:50 or so and the server didn’t come back in the meantime to see if we needed anymore drinks, etc. I am a repeat customer bc I do love the food but I’m becoming REALLY turned off by this joint due to the absolutely unreasonable wait times.

Alright. We tried. But this place just keeps giving us reasons to stay away. The sushi is passable but we’ve waited for over an hour to get food on repeated occasions. The servers always seem like nice people and all but something is not right here. Maybe the restaurant server position just isn’t your thing. Figure out your system of serving food to people… in a restaurant… before I come back.

taste soooooooooo bad, not fresh, toooooooooooo expensive, unbelievable slow, could not order the food I want.

Toooo slow, tooooo expensive, unpalatable!!! I don’t want to come by anymore because I’m now feeling really sick and I have a serious stomachache after I got back home.

Sake Bar, first things first we Love Ya. love the snacks love the drinks and love the good times. you can really feel the Heart of the Chef in the every bite. If i had forgotten to pay my tab at Sake Bar yesterday instead of hellhole Upstairs, i would probably be there right now. ordering hella edamame for apps n some classic-​twist-​on-​an ol’favorite dishes like the dreaded «Volcano Roll». maybe i would be solving the mystery of what and why is a «Spider Roll». idk i guess we’ll never know.
THAT BEING SAID i have some questions.
1. have you considered opening a THIRD sushi place serving an identical menu immediately next to sake bar?
2. How do you keep the prices so Low?
3. would Sake Bar be a good dad friendly place to take my dad!
Thank you for your time and this opportunity
–cody

I have never had sushi from a restaurant that had almost no fish and other ingredients in it. I got 9 Rolla from them and there was barely any fish in each roll. They forgot one of my rolls and when it came it was missing half of the ingredients. They tried to make up for it by providing soup but, that wasn’t what we ordered. Definitely not eating there again

One of my favorite sushi places in Btown. If you go between 4 – 7 you can get 50% off specialty rolls. They have a lot of choices but I would definitely recommend The Lion King Roll!

This place has so much going for it in terms of concept and atmosphere, but it misses the mark during execution in so many ways.
Service, first and foremost, needs to be addressed — if those in charge here lost their jobs, I wouldn’t feel bad, only for the patrons of the restaurants they wind up at in the future.
Our waiter was new and unfamiliar with the basic differences between sakes, and was unwilling to sort out the answers to these questions.
The orders themselves were slow to arrive. We discovered that the fish was noticeably old, this, combined with unskilled cuts by the chef, meant oxidized fish and odd slivers of skin made it through. Nothing you would notice in a roll, though — just your discomfort the next day.

Edit 2: Sushi Haru beats Sake Bar in terms of sushi, but Sake Bar is still the best place for cheap Japanese beer.
Edit: Came back two days later and the amaebi was nowhere near as good as it was when I wrote this. Still by far the best in Bloomington though.
I can’t in good conscience give Sake Bar any more than three stars, because while its miles ahead of places like Ami, Sushi Bar, etc. its still incredibly lackluster in comparison to real sushi bars.
Still, the owner is passionate, he gives a damn, and unlike some of the «japanese restaurants» around town there is a primary nigiri/​sashimi menu. Service might be a little slow, but when we were there it was just one guy manning the whole place. Seating us, taking our order, busing the table, and making everything, he works hard, and he still takes the time to make sure the presentation of otherwise lackluster fish is there.
The amaebi was very suprisingly good. Everything else is still about the same level of what you would find at a Mitsuwa Supermarket in California, and a few steps below Marukai, Tokyo Central, and Nijiya, but the amaebi was definitely on par with a mid-​tier sushi bar in NYC or LA. Not only that, but he prepared took the time to prepare and plate the dish like a sushi chef would, very reminiscent of Newport Beach’s Nana San at a fraction of the cost. Kudos Mr. Korean Man.
Tuna: ⁰⁄₅
Hamachi: ⁰⁄₅
Rolls: ¹⁄₅
Salmon: ¹⁄₅
Unagi: ⁰⁄₅
Tamago: ⁰⁄₅
Rice: ⁰⁄₅
Amaebi: ²⁄₅
Presentation: ²⁄₅
Service:2/5
Diversity: ⁴⁄₅
Price: $$/​$$$$
Satisfaction:Price– ²⁄₅

I’ve never had a bad experience here … Love this sushi bar. It’s pretty small but the booths are so cute and cozy. And it’s just got a nice vibe, even when the techno music gets loud.
Service is great and the sushi is reasonably priced, and tastes fresh. Also, They are almost always on GROUPON with deals, def look into that. Then there’s 50% off specially rolls during the day. So many perks about this place!

I chose this place as it was close to my hotel. I wasn’t in the mood to eat out by myself so I called ahead for pickup. They said it would be 30 min. Seemed long, but said ok. I arrived at the restaurant 35 minutes after I called in my order. They said my order wasn’t ready and had to wait 10 minutes. 15 minutes later, 50 minutes after I called in my order, they gave me my food with no apology for the delay. As for the food:
Salad: brown iceberg lettuce, the dressing was good
Miso soup: best part of the meal, I liked it
Sushi delux: fish had little favor, the rice was too sticky for sushi.
Overall, terrible experience. Would have preferred the Taco Bell across the street…

Slow, the rice in the sushi was hard, the rolls were too large, and in general the food was not very tasty. Finally the place smelled like stale beer.

Ordered three specialty rolls: Hanna, Diablo, & Lion King. Hanna roll was so amazingly creamy & fresh! Server was generous with my delicious fruity wine. Absolutely affordable considering the size & extravagance of these rolls. Definitely will return very soon. Perfect for my anniversary dinner.
Also absolutely love the Peachy Roll & Crazy Friday Roll.

Great sushi, amazing sake. A little pricey. Cool atmosphere, but where are all the people at? I’m always the only one in here.

I am not a sushi snob but I have had better sushi from a ⁷⁄₁₁ in Vegas. Plus I had a gnat flying around my miso soup, and a very small bug crawling on my table. The spicy tuna roll smelled like moist cat food, I finished it of course but immediately went back to my hotel and worked on my will.
The price however was excellent and if I was a poor college student I would have been happy. But I am not and I was not.

*3.5*
Note to Sake Bar: Please work on a better ventilation system. I had to shower after because I smelt so strongly of sushi. Put in fans, use Clorox, whatever it is, ventilate the restaurant. Not all sushi places smell like this. I could not wash my winter coat and purse and those continued to smell for a week after!
Okay. Moving on …
Best sushi I’ve had in Bloomington. Came here for a huge birthday dinner. We sat along the large center table — took up the whole thing. There’s also cute booths I’d love to sit in next time with a smaller group.
I had sashimi, and tried two fantastic rolls. I wish I remembered them but they were mostly «sashimi + tuna + salmon + spicy sauce» special rolls. Also had a small hot sake — necessary!
Remember, you’ll smell after! I’ll be back soon, ready to trade off flavor for post-​food smellyness.

Being from Minneapolis/​St. Paul, I was very skeptical of sushi in Bloomington (though we’re both land-​locked areas). I was also a little put-​off when we walked in and were the only people except for the 6 employees in the restaurant at 6:15pm on a Saturday (ok, I realize that’s Early Bird Special time for a college town but still). However, I was pleasantly surprised with Sake Bar! Super cool décor– wood menus, shades, individual «private» booths, long central table (they apparently had a part of 15+ people coming in).
For 3 of us, we got a Dragon roll, Spicy salmon, Hector Roll, Special Lobster and Crazy Crunch. The Hector was pretty good– had a little bit of a kick to it. Special Lobster was tasty as well. The Crazy Crunch Roll was delicious! I would definitely come back here next time I’m in Bloomington. And I’m pretty sure my brother will be getting take-​out whenever possible.
Added bonus: I found a coupon for a free specialty roll (saved us $ 13).

Best sushi in town by far, same owners as Japanee but the restaurant is a lot smaller and more intimate. They don’t have kitchen entrees like Japanee but they are dedicated to serving amazing sushi and have great appetizers as well. This place is a hundred times better than Ami (I have no idea why people like that place besides that I heard they don’t ID). Our server, I think her name is Lily, was really friendly and the service is fast.
The Diablo, Tiger, and Bloomington rolls are my favorite. I would normally never eat sashimi in Indiana but the fish here is really fresh and they don’t need spicy mayo to cover up any questionable fishy taste. But don’t get me wrong the spicy mayo is delicious.
They also have a huge selection of sake and wine as well. Literally an entire wall of the restaurant is dedicated to bottled happiness, it’s the Ollivanders Wand Shop of sake and wine. Definitely try the flavored sake, the lychee and Fuji apple is my favorite!

I went on a whim. I was kind of in the mood for sushi, but wasn’t in the mood to drive. The location is absolutely ideal as it’s smack-​dab in the heart of downtown.
I will say that the ambiance was the biggest highlight. The music was fun and upbeat. The entire inside made me feel far from downtown. They had the cutest booths I had ever seen.
I sat at the bar and ordered a sake. I couldn’t believe the number of bottles to choose from. I was alone and just ordered a glass of the house sake, which came warm. I know where to head in winter months!
As a vegan, my taste in sushi is a little different than average. They had the normal rolls for veg-​heads, but nothing special. I got it and it was par. Salad and miso soup were not the best in B-​town…

This is the new Japanee. It is now located between Taco Rocket and Scotty’s in the strip instead of the separate building. I went there today for an early dinner and everything was delicious! The avocado salad was fresh, the miso was perfect, the sushi delicious. The atmosphere of the place is different than the old Japanee. It’s much smaller and decorated with alot of common space and wood paneling mimicking a traditional Japanese bar (wood booths, menus, decorum).
I honestly don’t know how anyone could favor Ami over this place, as Ami has much much lower quality fish and food in general and makes me sick just about every time I go there, and I’ve tried to go there many times. (Just my experience)
Sushi Bar is also really good but honestly I think Sake Bar, like Japanee, takes the cake on best sushi in Bloomington.