Sakuraya

Sakuraya
Shop 1A, Market Square, 341 Mains Rd, Sunnybank



Today was a really bad day for being decisive about what to eat. I initially was bent on Vietnamese but the closer we got to Sunnybank, the less certain I was. We ended up trawling through the entirety of Sunny Park Plaza before progressing to faithful Market Square.

I've known about Sakuraya for a while now though it is relatively new. A friend of mine went and said it was expensive so I automatically wrote it off. Since we were right there though, I opted to have a look for myself.



Rather than a paper menu, Sakuraya has a few display meals on their counter with the prices. I decided it didn't seem too expensive because most of the meals were in a set with lots of other dishes.



When we asked for a table, the cashier lady told us to order first. I had assumed the display was just an example of what they had to offer but it was actually their entire menu. Put on the spot, I wasn't entirely sure what to get. Byron chose the udon set meal so I went the opposite and got a katsu rice set meal.

Cute soy sauce bottle

Sakuraya is decked out nicely, which is expected since it's new and Japanese-themed. We're unsure about the 8 TV screens lining the back of the restaurant and how much they really contribute to the eating experience.

Udon set meal

Byron's udon set came first. There is a large bowl of veggie tempura udon noodle soup and a few accessory dishes including a steamed egg custard and some pickled bits and pieces.

I liked the salad. Though some of the leaves were questionable in terms of freshness, the dressing was nice. Japanese steamed egg custard is supposed to be light and silky with a minimal amount of air bubbles. This was tough and boring. The pickled veggies were OK but seemed to go against the theme? I thought they were more of a Korean thing...

Tempura udon close-up

The udon itself wasn't bad. I think Byron was disappointed by the lack of meat but he said the tempura eggplant was good. I really liked the soup but he said it was no different to any other udon soup so who knows.

Pork katsu set meal

My katsu meal took AGES to come out. I was getting real antsy about it because the difference in preparation time for the 2 meals was beyond reasonable. When it finally did, the quantity of 'stuff' was more than I expected. A few little plates were overlapped with what Byron had but mine came with a bowl of rice and a bowl of pork katsu instead of the udon. There was also the addition of a jug of Japanese curry and a small bowl of miso soup.

Pork katsu and salad

The katsu was crispy but very tough, dry and bland. Even after being drowned in the curry sauce (which was acceptable), the meat was distinctly chewy.

We're not hugely disappointed by Sakuraya because we didn't have high expectations to start with. One thing we know is it's not worth going back. I wouldn't say the food was terrible or way overpriced. The service was average but the environment was pleasant. More than anything else, it was just completely unremarkable and Sunnybank is too full of good eateries to bother with something that doesn't stand out.