Revisit: Sakura Sushi (a la carte) @ Pandan Indah

Since our first visit (in April) to the place, we've been back to Sakura Sushi @ Pandan Indah many times (sometimes as frequent as weekly) for a mixture of sushi and a la carte items.

I've written a blog post about most of the sushi items (and some a la carte items) previously but I'll focus more on the a la carte menu items in this post.

Let's start with the Salmon Toro @ RM11.50 featuring 5 slices of perhaps not the best, but still decent, quality-wise for the price we paid.

The Ebi Gyoza @ RM7.50, a prawn and vegetable dumpling, was pan-seared beautifully to reveal a charred bottom.  The gyoza skin was nice and soft with a filling that was pleasant enough. 

I know I can't resist when I see Tempura Squid Head @ RM12.50 on the menu.  I did like the crunch of the tempura squid tentacles but they were a tad chewier than I thought they would be.

As for the Saba Shioyaki @ RM12.50, it was a more than decent-sized piece of simply grilled saba with salt that was still juicy and with loads of charred flavour.  Certainly value for money and I would not hesitate to order this again.

The Ebi Mentaiyaki @ RM10.50 were two (not very big) prawns generously loaded with mentai and a drizzle of Japanese mayo at the bottom.  We shouldn't expect the prawns to be big anyway (based on the price) but it still had a nice grilled flavour to it (especially so when you suck on the heads)! ;D

More mentai, please!  The Salmon Mentaiyaki @ RM14.50 was basically two pan-seared slices of salmon with a salty, rich mentai glaze on top.

The basket of Tempura Moriawase @ RM14.50 was filled with three tempura prawns and a slice each of eggplant, shiitake mushroom, sweet potato (yellow and orange) and onion served with the usual tempura dip. I liked that the tempura batter was light and crunchy.

Whenever I need something soupy, the Tempura Soba @ RM12.90 is an option (and I've had it with ramen too). Filled with two tempura prawns, fish cake and wakame seaweed with lots of chopped spring onions in a light broth that's more sweet than savoury (but nothing extra soy sauce can't help).

The Spider Maki @ RM12.50 featured 4 pcs of maki roll filled with soft shell crab (not a lot of it though), cucumber sticks and lettuce.  What I didn't like as much was that this inside-out maki, topped with tobiko, had a bit too much soy drizzled on the maki that made it rather salty (perhaps the sushi chef was just a tad too heavy-handed with the soy this time).

The Honey Sakura Ebi @ RM7.90 is made up of tiny baby shrimps that have been pre-fried, sprinkled with sesame seeds and glazed in honey.  It's simply an appetiser of sweet crunchy shrimps, served chilled with finely shredded cucumber, that makes for a nice snack (though I'd personally prefer it to be savoury rather than sweet).

During the course of my visits, I also had more sushi...some new ones (that I've not seen or tried before) and some old, everlasting favourites! ^o^

Although I featured the Japanese Potato Salad @ RM2.70 in my previous post, I just wanted to show you again how much I enjoyed the smooth potato mix with the thin, crunchy slivers of carrot, cucumber and (radish?). Usually one serving is not enough! ;)

I don't know what they call this....I'm just going to call it (some kind of) Maki Sushi @ RM2.70.  It's a maki roll that had been dipped in tempura flour and fried.  The torched mentai and mayo on top then flows down the sushi (like a volcano)...yum (my son's favourite).

I recently saw this on the conveyor belt too...some type of uramaki or "inside-out" maki roll.  This Salmon Uramaki @ RM2.70 is topped with salmon mentai with nori, thinly shredded cucumber and a wee bit of mayo inside.

My Personal Opinion

This sushi joint is now my preferred choice of cheap conveyor-belt sushi in my housing area which I can rely on for weekday dinners when I'm not in the mood to cook.

Since coming to Sakura Sushi, I've stopped visiting the other cheap conveyor-belt sushi in my neighbourhood, Sushi Mentai, altogether and that's because Sakura's sushi and a la carte items taste better, not because they offer cheaper sushi.  The owner is very friendly....and he always makes me feel welcome.  I sincerely hope that he will maintain his standards and not cut corners now that the business is flourishing (and doing better than Sushi Mentai).

Just one parting note...the taste equates the price we pay....and, if you remember that, you should do alright here! ^_*

Sakura Japanese Restaurant

69 Jalan Pandan Indah 4/3a

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 019-329 9998