Managed to snag a spot a week before my trip in May to Sakai. Pre trip i was very hyped due to the reviews and expectations were very high.
The day before i went to Sushi Sakai, I had lunch at their affiliated restaurant, Gahojin, in the same building. I was kind of let down because I had an amazing meal at Gahojin and thought Sakai would be leaps and bounds better. My experience was an awesome meal and terrific service but largely the same as Gahojin in terms of quality and preferred Gahojin by the thinnest of margins.
We were seated at a big counter, as the room began to fill up it got livelier and felt more as dining at a large family gathering. Definitely had a warmer and more friendly vibe to it than most of the other omakases I’ve been to, the chef greeted us and tried his best to accomodate everyone, the staff were very attentive.
The quality of ingredients used were clearly top of the line and premium, handled delicately and with precision. The tuna, abalone and octopus were the highlights for me.
The meal costed 44K Yen payment upon booking, the price went up i believe start of the year. Overall i would give the meal scores of:
Food: 9/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Service: 9.5/10
I definitely think going to Gahojin affected my thoughts, it might have been setting expectations too high after having already an amazing meal when they are very closely related. I would definitely recommend visiting Sushi Sakai, without a doubt the experience was amazing. I would return but my preference is still Gahojin
by misnopeo
2 Comments
Yes,kinda agree that going to Gahojin just the day prior impacted your experience at Sakai due to the same seafood line-up and sushi style. However, similar to other sushiyas, likely Sakai as the main counter/head chef will always be allocated the best fish of the day
Are the courses exactly the same? From tablecheck, Gahojin is 11k yen cheaper than Sakai.