Sarku Japan Teriyaki & Sushi Express

My family has been ordering from this Sarku for dinner without any problems for a while now. In fact, my mother usually choose this location over the one on Rt 18 because I got better and quicker service. (I don’t know what she’s talking about, I’ve always preferred the Rt. 18 location.)
Tonight, I ordered Chicken Teriyaki with extra chicken. Normally, it gets done and everything is great. Instead, when I get home I discover they only made the regular Chicken Teriyaki without the extra portion I ordered.
Naturally, I’m irritated because they are 15 – 20 minutes from where I live. So I call to complain, and they tell me to come back so that they can remake it for me. And to bring the receipt too.
Great, that sounds fair. After all, I’m traveling an extra 30 – 40 minutes.
instead, when I get there they offer to make the Chicken Teriyaki with extra Chicken… for the full price.
Wow, gee thanks, that’s exactly why I drove an extra half hour for. So I decline their _​kind_​offer, politely ask for my missing extra Chicken portion, and then drove home.
Bait and switch by the manager? Thanks BENNY, you’re a real professional. I’ll opt out of eating from this Sarku for now, there are other places to get teriyaki that won’t disappoint me.

Working in the shoppes this is my go to place to eat. The staff is always so friendly and welcoming. The food is always so consistent. And everything is relatively cheap.

I remember when there was only a sarku japan in Bridgewater mall! I pass by a sarku japan on my way to work once a week. Chicken teriyaki once a week!

It was the first time that I ever heard or went to this place but i basically reminded me of a Japanese Chipotle. You go in, there’s a bar that you make your way down with the different food options. I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Bento box and that came with rice, chicken, dumplings, a side salad and 4 pieces of sushi. It’s a pretty filling meal for 8 dollars. Not sure if the quality was the best but a good amount of food for the price.

I can’t believe that people have said the employees have a bad attitude. maybe they rehired, but the employees barely talk to me when I go. normally I just get a nice greeting and they ask me what I want, which is all I could ask for from a business. I went tonight for dinner and my food couldn’t have taken any more than 30 seconds for me to receive — I was pleasantly surprised. the food is definitely average, but I wasn’t expecting much seeing as I know Sarku is normally found in a mall. I would go back seeing as I live so close and the food is affordable, but I wouldn’t drive out of my way to come here.

BEST CHICKEN BENTO BOX EVER!!! I love this location! The one in bridgewater commons mall is horrible and I now go out of my way to come to this North Brunswick location! Friendly staff, great shopping location, and consistently tasty food! LOVE!

Ok, some of the other reviews here are a little ridiculous.
1. Do you expect authentic Mexican food from Taco Bell or a great burger from McDonalds? No! So don’t expect authentic JAPANESE (I don’t know why some people think it’s Chinese, just read the sign) food from this fast food place.
2. If you don’t want hot soup, don’t order a soup that’s served hot. People complain just for the sake of complaining.
I got the chicken bento box for lunch today. Besides the chicken having a lot of fat on it, I thought it was fine. It was a good amount of food for a fair price, the flavors were pretty good, it felt healthier than most other fast food places. Although I’m not sure I believe the calorie count written on the menu and nutritional information found online isn’t very detailed, or even available for most items.

The food here was ok and it was overpriced, but the staff was friendly and the service was quick. I won’t go there again.

Food was good. Ordered Shrimp Bento box with extra shrimp. Bento box includes rice, salad, 4 California rolls, 3 dumplings. When cashier asked if I wanted noodles, fried rice, steam rice or brown rice with the box I didnt realize (when I ordered) everything except the steamed rice was extra. Not once did she mention the upcharge of 0.50 cents, its small I no, buts it about principles. Why do stores keep thinking it okay to just add on cost without informing the customer. Total was around $ 12.00. Felt it was a little overpriced. Salad was okay. I like the dumplings and California rolls. (Rolls are small) The shrimp and fried rice was good but if I didnt order extra shrimp then I might have been annoyed with the quantity. Shrimp is tiny! Overall it is a nice place, the tables and floor were clean.

horrible. All the employees were rude. I asked for a simple order and they messed it up. I brought it back and they were really mean to me about it. The next day
I went back got the same thing and I swear they messed my order up again! I don’t understand how hard it is since the menu doesn’t have much to chose from.

Beyond gross and people are so rude spend the extra money and get REAL sushi otherwise you will be upset and and disappointed so anyone that wrote a good review is just being kind !

I needed a quick place to run to get lunch one day. Saw some of the reviews and didn’t pay attention to them. I wanted to see for myself. Food is awesome, very inexpensive. The chicken teriyaki is awesome. My advice is get it well done. It was nice to see a staff that actually takes pride in working for this company. Keep up the good work.

After reading some of the negative reviews, i thought I would chime in. Sarku does not advertise there restaurants as gourmet food or a culinary delight that will make your palette sizzle. This is (semi) fast food that is consistently the same.
What I am upset about is that their registers charge the sales tax on the total prior to any discounts. This is wrong and while the savings per person do not amount to that much (mine was 28 cents), overall if you multiply every transaction with a discount per store by the number of stores, that is a load of money that goes back to the Sarku. They are paying sales tax to the state based on the NET amount (after discount) of the check and that is WRONG!

I would have to agree with the fellow Unilocaler Terry C – I am not sure why this place is rated so low. I have lived about 10 mins away from this place for past 5 years and always wanted to try it. Finally last month when chipotle line was out of the door, I decided to give it a try. I know this is a franchise restaurant so my expectation were low to begin with and all the negative Unilocal reviews were not helping – but to my surprise, the place wasn’t bad at all OR may be I had low expectation so I was happy to find this place mediocre. All the menu items includes fresh veggies, choice of rice or noodles and choice of meat with optional soup and/​or sushi. I had the chicken teriyaki box with plain white rice which you can get it with beef or tofu as well. All the items very reasonable priced and it’s just the right amount of food. They cook the food in open so it’s somewhat fresh & healthy.
Only complaint I have and the reason for 3 star instead of 4 is the wait time for food. It’s pretty much a fast food joint, and we (and everyone else) had to wait for about 15 – 20 mins for the food after it was ordered which is not acceptable. As we were waiting, we saw a dad with two little girl demanded a full refund because it was taking too long for the food & walked out of there without eating.

Any rating beyond a 1 is just too kind and sugar coated. If you want sweets go to House of cup cakes, if you want decent Japanese cuisine run else where.
Chain stores have become the death knell of the American culinary institution. This poor excuse for chow is a perfect example of the garbage we on the goers are shoveling down our throats due to time constraints.
The menu is very limited so you’d think they would get it right, nothing further from the truth. Shrimp the size of a nickel in this tasteless teriyaki sauce on a bed of what they refer to as low mein noodles, ppppllllleeaasse! Frozen veggies smashed on the side water drenched and mushy. The beef teriyaki with that same horrendous sauce was over cooked and lacking any type of flavor and let’s not even discuss the pure lack of throw it on a plate and go presentation. Portions are completely too small for any one over 2 feet tall and out of diapers (although the mushy veggies may be OK for toddlers, if they don’t puke em up).
I honestly thought a hidden camera was about to come flying out the closet laughing because to think that this is a real food establishment of any type is a joke. I’ve honestly had better frozen Chinese entrees from the supermarket.
Take your $ 8 and but it to better use else where. A true dining travesty.

Not sure why all the negative reviews. Maybe they expected a lot for the price paid. I usually get the bento boxes and it’s a great value at less than 10 dollars. It tastes fine. The only thing I wish they do is cook the chicken longer to make sure it’s fully cooked. I think it is but just cook it more. I can wait another minute.
The only bad experience was today with the cashier. I ordered Chicken Bento and she rung Chicken Teriyaki. I didn’t notice until the credit card went through. I alerted her and she says she’ll correct it. I asked her to make sure she did that since she did not give me a receipt. I suspected that she did not do it when she told the cook that the Chicken teriyaki was a wrong order. Hmmm, if she cancelled the order then why was he cooking it.
When I got home I checked my credit card, and she charged me a second time for the wrong order. So I paid 3 times for the meal. I tried calling their phone but no one picked up. Gonna call them tomorrow.
other than this I would still go back… depending if they refund the money.
Oh by the way, I would not order raw sushi at any fast food joint, not just Sarku. You wouldn’t order steak tartare at McDonald’s would you? Actually i wouldn’t order that anywhere. I feel sick just thinking about eating raw meat.

I like going to this place on my way to my other job. I always get the teriyaki chicken with brown rice. For under 7 dollars. They give you soo much chicken that sometimes you cant finish it. The sauce is very good and i always ask for extra. They also throw in some vegetables to make you feel like youre eating healthy. A quick delicious bite, this is the place to go. Now, their sushi in the other hand is just OK. I rather make my own sushi, but I did try it a few times, and its just so so. I would stick to the beef or chicken teriyaki and throw in some brown rice or noodles and youre good to go!

Worst place ever. The employees are rude and the service is slower than a normal restaurant. The last time I was there I was personally harassed by one of the employees and I have never felt that uncomfortable in my life. It’s safe to say I will never go there again and I hope no one else does.
I also ordered the miso soup and it was served so hot, I burned myself even though I waited a couple minutes before I tried it.

I have to admit, when I first saw the reviews on this business I got really worried. However, you always have to try out something on your own to be able to judge it. I am really glad I wasn’t close minded because this place was fantastic. The quality of the food was great, staff was very friendly and I even had the owner greet me at the door with a smile. Keep in mind the prices were pretty cheap for the food portion I received.
For the reviews that indicated the restaurant wasn’t clean or they got sick, I thoroughly looked at the restaurant and kitchen myself but could not find anything along those lines. They are a franchise, so they have to be up to par on everything, especially with the Health Department.
All I can say is — I’d def. recommend you try it out. I can also say it was much better than the East Brunswick location. *2 Thumbs up*

Mall quality asian. Dumplings weren’t bad but not really cheap either. Dumplings from a regular takeout place would be cheaper and better, or you can buy a bag of microwave dumplings at the supermarket and save heaps.
I didn’t get food poisoning or anything, but I wouldn’t go back.