Elite Event: Yelpies Reception @ SAIA

After having a sample of sushi at the Unilocal Halloween event, I was excited for this reception so I could try more!
This restaurant is in a hotel by the beach, so a place I’ve never really noticed before. I was excited to try the special drink of the night which was called the «Double Dragon» made with dragon fruit and vodka. I never realized that dragon fruit was actually a tasty fruit because before it had always been super bland. They obviously know what they’re doing because the dragon fruit they used was super sweet and delicious. The sushi was presented on a huge sushi boat which looked impressive. I’m not sure exactly what types of sushi we were eating but they were all quite tasty. I especially liked the crunchy tempura kind and I think a beef one. All in all it was a stellar event once again.
Thank you SAIA and Blue for a wonderful evening.

Boats of sushi floating by the table. Crunchy sushi, savory sushi, all kinds of sushi, except for boring sushi. I’d love to know what all we ate, but the one thing I do know is that it was all delicious! Even as we were standing in line, rowing our way to the boat, there were happy members of the waitstaff, trolling with more sushi delight. My favorite of the night was the «Surf and Turf» roll with the thin slice of succulent beef — I’ve never had beef on my sushi, but I certainly hope to again.
I also love the drink special of the night, I think it was the «Double Dragon.» It’s the first time I’ve had dragon fruit that was sweet and flavorful. It made a marvelous drink!
Thanks to SAIA and Blue for the wonderful party!

Sushi ’til you drop… !!!
I can truthfully say I have never had, nor have I ever seen, so much sushi at one time or event.
I also wish I could tell you more about the various sushis but there was no list (cheat sheet) to tell me what I was eating. Some were recognizable as salmon or tuna. And there was the one I actually heard the name of… surf and turf, with a slice of beef on top of the sushi roll.
Oh yes… Warning, Warning, Will Robinson (and everyone else) the Wasabi is the MOAW (Mother of All Wasabis). I thought the Wasabis I have had before were intense. This must be 100%, uncut H (orseradish). The flash of the Wasabi flame was so rapid and intense that the nuclear blast was almost over before I could even react to it beginning. Wow, what ride!
And then there was the pour of the red wine. Most places give you a fourth to a third of the glass when metering out the wine from the bottle. This night, SAIA poured ¾ of the glass full and it appeared that they might get only two+ glasses per bottle. Who does that… even when they are charging for it!?!
Thank you SAIA for your generosity and hospitality. Thank you Blue for working your magic.

Thanks so much SAIA for inviting us to your menu relaunch — and to Blue for getting my name on the list! It was great mingling with fellow Unilocalies nominees, eating some amazing sushi and sipping on Double Dragon cocktails.
I’d never been to SAIA before, so I cannot say how their new menu compares to the old, however the sushi they presented to us was amazing. Everything was very fresh, I absolutely loved the crispy salmon skin and roe rolls. The surf and turf, with beef carpaccio on top was also really good.
They debuted their $ 999 sushi boat — it was certainly an impressive presentation. There had to be at least 50 people in the room and they continuously refilled the boat to ensure everyone had their fill. If that is how the normal $ 999 special is done, then it’s a great deal. The rolls were imaginative, if it weren’t so loud in the restaurant I would have been able to name them better. The servers were friendly, but it was just so hard to hear what they said!
The pool area is gorgeous, so I would definitely come back on an evening to enjoy sushi under the stars.
Thanks again SAIA and Blue for letting us sample the new menu!

Blue, ya did it again! Very nicely done, great venue, great spot,… (When I found it).
SA1A, is in the B Hotel and after I wandered around a bit I found it. A nice, windy, yet muggy sorta night on the ocean where you could hear the waves crashing from a couple blocks away. (Love that sound)!
So I walk in and see my fellow Unilocalies and a very nice upscale Sushi restaurant where we were treated like VIP’s. Sushi rolls gliding by on trays and a seaworthy sized boat with all sorts of sushi goodness sitting topside on the deck.
Ok I’m here like 10 minutes, I’m full and my feeding frenzy slows down enough so I can open my mouth to speak to the Unilocalies I’ve met and the new ones I’ve never spoken to. Always fun, the BPB is a great group, very nice and welcoming bunch of foodies!
The food was awesome, there was this crunchy salmon roll I tried and found out that, …yes there is such a thing as love at first bite!
It also turns out that SA1A was debuting a new menu for us! Opening night reviews from this Unilocaler say this show should have nice run on A1A!
I’ll have to get back here, thanks again Blue, GREAT JOB!!!

Although we referred to this event as the Unilocalies Reception, it was actually a RELAUNCH PARTY FOR SAIA (majority of the event was not Unilocalers)
And though my night was filled with good laughs, sushi, sashimi, cold drinks and the opportunity to meet new faces, I did end up with some critical criticisms for the opportunity for SAIA to read, consider and possibly correct those items they may agree on…
THE NAME:
I knew SAIA was in B Ocean Hotel but many guests did not and it really would help if the name SAIA was on the outside of the hotel (at least on the window) and if not possible then consider this…
I was at the hotel recently (unrelated to this event) and spent plenty of time in the lobby; I saw a bar but who knew SAIA existed… I didn’t
Then last night I entered the hotel’s modern lobby and looked around for SAIA… I see a bar with no name, a door to a restaurant with a tiny «Bistro» sign and then I finally see the «SAIA» sign, also very small… too small
THE DRINKS:
Granted the beer was good but I heard people mentioning the «Double Dragon»… initially I thought people were raving but upon paying attention I realized the reviews were very mixed… most common comment was «too sweet» and one even said cough medicine (but I didn’t pick up that flavor). As for me, yeah, the drink was too sweet (good, but sweet).
THE FOOD:
A few servers passed out sushi rolls but the centerpiece of food was on their huge sushi boat. It was loaded up with sushi rolls and sashimi. I don’t know the names of the rolls but some were good and some was just average. Nothing blew me away (missing that wow factor) but then again nothing was bad either.
As for the sashimi, my first trip included a variety of fresh and clean tasting AMAZING sashimi. Round number two was also EXCELLENT with exception of the salmon; unfortunately it was ice cold and a couple spots were partially frozen… not acceptable if I were a paying customer.
My understanding of their new sushi boat is it’s available for specials events and parties at $ 999… ASSUMING it includes the same rolls and sashimi as the Relaunch party… it was good but I would have liked to see more sushi roll variety. My other issue is I don’t see how the boat warrants that much money; seems you could buy more sushi rolls and sashimi for less money (then again I’m nor privy to what else the mega-​boat includes or doesn’t include).
Overall I don’t want to sound like I’m saying run from SAIA like it’s the plague… on the contrary, I really enjoyed my time here and look forward to seeing how they do; plus their staff were very friendly and helpful. My comments were only meant to bring attention to SAIA to consider these observations.

Big thanks to SAIA for including Unilocal in their relaunch party and putting this together, and big thanks of course to Blue and Steph — I had a blast.
The food was awesome! Definitely an improvement over the last time I ate at SAIA, I’ll definitely be back because some of those rolls have me hooked! I think I ate an entire roll of the surf and turf and the crazy salmon… the waiters did a great job of bringing them around which meant I didn’t wait in line at the boat too often. I have to commend SAIA on the sashimi which seemed extra fresh to me!
The drinks were great, I stuck to my usuals — wine and rum and cokes, but I did try a sip of the dragon fruit drink and it was awesome — and visually awesome!
Overall, it was great event and I was happy I got to officially meet some people in person — And I walked away with a new flavor packet of pop rocks, so that’s a huge plus lol!

After sampling SAIA sushi at the Unilocal Halloween party I was excited to see that they were hosting us for the Unilocalies Reception pre-​party. This wasn’t a Unilocal only event it was also their kickoff party to show off all the new additions to SAIA and to the menu. SAIA is right on the corner of Sunrise and AIA and you can see the blue lights from the restaurant as you drive by the hotel it is attached to (don’t remember the name), and it’s easy to pass it a few times as there is no sign outside which can make it confusing to find I had to circle 3 times till I figured it out. They offer complimentary valet which is nice.
When you walk in SAIA it is very modern and the décor is very cool blue, matching the perfect view of the ocean you have outside. The bar is really big and open and they had a great list of drinks to offer that night the special was this dragon berry martini, it was delicious! A little sweet but they were very good. They also had a huge $ 1,000 sushi boat full of all the sushi you could eat. I must have had 2 plates of tuna and salmon by myself lol! All of it was very good and fresh there were also random rolls put on the tables throughout the night that were good but I do not know what they were I think some were all veggie. We even got another 25% off coupon to come back.
The best part of the night for me was catching up with my fellow Unilocalers, some I haven’t seen in a while and some I got to meet last night for the first time. Always such a great group of people to be surrounded by and I can’t wait to see everyone at the Unilocalies!
Thanks to SAIA for inviting us and for being such a wonderful host and thanks Blue and Stephanie you both rock! =)