Sakura Sushi, Grocery and Japanese Restaurant

Checked out Sakura Japanese Cuisine Sushi Bar & Grocery to grab some sushi grade salmon and other Japanese items.

Decent selection of tea, sauces, rice, noodles, snacks, etc. Didn't try any of their food items but the "to go" selection had bentos, katsu, tempura, kara'age and sushi rolls.

Bought ~1/2 pound of frozen sushi grade salmon ($29.85/lb), a bag of sushi rice and spicy tuna musubi ($4.00).

Reminds me of a mini version of Fujiya Foods.

For take out I would give this a 4 out 5. However we were travelling through and couldn't take it home. There is no bathroom which my kids needed. If you are allowing people to eat in, you should have to have a bathroom for public use. We had to walk over to burger king. If we didn't hate burger king so much we probably would have eaten there. Food was good and at a decent price. However, everything was served it crappy styrofoam containers including the water we asked for. Also they had no tea (?) Which is pretty standard in most places. Between Christmas and New Years we wanted to support a local business, and the first 4 places we tried to go to were closed. Would I get this for take out? Sure. Would I dine in again? No. Not if you can't provide a bathroom (even to wash hands for crying out loud). I think for the first time in a long time, I would choose a chain before this place.

I got the beef teriyaki rice bowl. It was burnt and dry with barely any sauce. I went to ask for soy sauce to add flavor I was told it doesn't come with it even after telling her the food didn't taste very good and neede sauce. I still had to pay 20 cents for soy sauce, The issue is not about cost but poor quality and service.

The Karaage don was tasty :)
I liked the sticky rice.
This place is both a Japanese shop and a restaurant.
We can buy the cheapest natto in Victoria here.
It was 2 dollars.
I should go back to try a different meal as well.

This shop is like many of others that I've visited in California (cafe restaurant/dry goods Japanese store in one!) - they make very good authentic donburi and fresh sushi, as well as many offerings of bento boxes. I ordered the ginger tofu donburi (so flavorful and delicious!) and my friend ordered the chicken karaage bento box. We shared an order of the scallop roll (fresh and with a little bit of heat - yum!)

While we waited for the food to be prepared I perused the dry goods/grocery options. They have an assortment of rice crackers, pocky cookie snacks, and mochi, both in the refrigerated section and upfront and room temperature. We also enjoyed a few cups of the barley tea while we waited. We had a ferry to catch in Sidney so we took the order to go and enjoyed it waterside before getting on the boat. The included miso soup was still warm 40 min later when I got to it - and with good flavoring. Highly recommend!

Hate to be the first negative review, but I'll just stick to the facts. Visiting here from California, where I think we know what good sushi is. I've had hundreds of Unagi Donburi in my day, and I'm vacationing in Victoria, so I stopped in Sakura for one.

First weird sign: I order at their very small sushi bar, and I see the waitress go and retrieve a vacuum-pack of pre-broiled eel from the grocery refrigerator. Now, I can't say if I ever had such before, or always had freshly-broiled eel, so I reserved judgement.

I get my order delivered, and ask for Shichimi (the Japanese red pepper) -- the hostess says "It's in there already" and just starts walking away. I had to insist three times before she brought me the little bottle. It's been at least a decade since waitstaff refused to bring me a condiment, declaring that I have enough of it in the dish already.

But the real surprise: I had my plastic fork at the ready, and tried to break off a nice chunk of eel: I could not. Multiple attempts to wrench the filets apart with a plastic spoon and fork failed. I then brought the bowl to the sushi bar, and said "This is inedible: if you need a knife to eat unagi, something is wrong". I just turned and walked out, figuring I was being nice not to even ask for a refund.

It was about ten minutes later when I realized I hadn't paid yet in the first place. Oh well. I shall not be going back there, not when Sen Zushi is in town.

Edit: after seeing Sakura's frank explanation, I have changed my rating from 1-star to 3-stars. I will be in Victoria again in a few months, and will stop by -- and probably try the Unagi Don again. I'm betting it will be great, and then I'll up my rating further.

The best sushi in town, and possibly even the best avocado rolls I've ever had. The veggie rolls are also superb - they have a generous helping of avocado, and the carrot is cooked for superior texture. The very reasonable prices are a bonus.

Disclaimer: I haven't eaten any of their animal products, so I can't speak to the quality of those items. But for vegetarian sushi, Sakura can't be beat.

Love this place. Have been going here for nearly 10 years now. While I do like to go to the nearby Sen Zushi for a proper sit down restaurant meal, when it comes to sushi though I always come here.

Sakura is a grocery/deli store but does have a sizable sitdown area and a choice of simple and quick menu items aside from the deli style sushi to go section, which can also be made to order.

The store is staffed mainly by local Japanese students and the sushi is simple but affordable and delicious. The ingredients are fresh and their choices are numerous.

I also like to buy my asian cooking ingredients here too such as nori, soy sauce, and sushi grade tuna and salmon for when I'm feeling more creative, or to make my own tuna tataki.

Bottom line, if you don't mind a deli style meal or you are on your lunch break, Sakura is a total MUST!

$60 for four people? What a great deal. The food was fresh and delicious. We tried various rolls and nigiri and all of it was great. The only problem with the whole meal, and Im not sure that it wasn't just the language barrier, was the Yam Tempura. I ordered this and it came as a roll, which surprised me. I was expecting wedhes of Yam Tempura, I mean it was ok, just not what I expected. I will definitely be going back.

The Japanese market inside the store carries an excellent selection of items from inexpensive miso pastes ($7 for 2 pounds?) to several Furikake blends. I had such a difficult time finding Furikake in my last town that I started making my own, but now I dont have to!

16 Feb 2015 - Back for another round. Still delicious. The Tobiko is very fresh and the Eel is excellent as well. I haven't eaten any rice in a few months so it was a guilt laden dinner....a delicious guilt laden dinner.

I visit Victoria every few years. Since my last visit to SAKURA, they have added nice touches to their service. "fill your own" jugs of water, barley water, and hot tea are available if you are dining in at no extra charge. I had the daily special bento box. The chicken was tender and tasty - and there were no "mystery" chunks of fat or gristle, thank you! The young lady serving tables was very friendly and went out of her way to be helpful with the tea, barley water, etc. Sittingi and enjoying an extra glass of hot tea was not a problem at all. Very charming relaxed atmosphere, and all at a very reasonable price! A definite repeat. Can't wait to sample some of their take out sushi.