Sakura

I have been here on several occasions and never been disappointed. The food is good and the service is friendly. The staff tries hard to treat you like family (in a good way). The Chicken Katsu and Tempura are delicious. As for the sushi, there are most of your basic rolls with several creative ones to choose as well.

My first time, and definitely won’t be my last time! Thanks to the wonderful suggestion of fellow Unilocaler, Shannon M., this little gem has now become one of my favorite sushi spots in Kona.
It’s a small establishment, in the same complex as Safeway in Kailua Kona, on Henry Street. There’s a lot of parking, which is great! Always a plus for me when there is ample parking available. The wait staff was wonderful. Like, absolutely wonderful. They are so friendly and so attentive.
My friends and I opted for the «Kona Boat» after having checked out some of the pictures from Unilocal.And it was one of the best decisions I made all day. It was actually more than enough for the three of us. Sushi. Sashimi. Rolls. It was awesome. I was in sushi heaven. And yes, they do serve alcohol.
The fish is so fresh, it’s like butter in your mouth. The taste, the texture, the color, the presentation: fantastic. I would definitely come back here.
Oh and the price? Very reasonable.
Maybe I’ll see you here! Enjoy!

On our last night in Hawaii, my family decided to spoil ourselves with some Japanese food. After paying an arm and a leg at restaurants around the resorts, we wandered to the next city over to eat at Sakura. This place had pretty good reviews and the menu looked diverse and delicious.
We arrived at 9:00pm; Sakura closes at 9:30pm. We ordered two bowls of ramen, two rolls, a bowl of udon, a bento box with teriyaki chicken and spicy tuna rolls, and a vegetable yakisoba dish. Our food didn’t come out until 9:40pm even though we were the ONLY party in there. Being that we were hungry, we didn’t care too much about the long wait. I was craving yakisoba the entire time of our trip, so I was excited to finally get it. When it arrived, it was literally a plate of ramen noodles soaked in soy sauce with veggies thrown on top. Apparently, they thought I ordered the yucky-​soba. I ate it anyway until I started to feel sick from ingesting so much sodium and plain, wet noodle. The zucchini tasted as if it wasn’t even cooked all the way either!
The ramen and udon bowls were pretty ordinary. They didn’t have much in them besides the usual noodles, couple pieces of meat, and 3 pieces of greens — my brothers were pretty happy that there weren’t many veggies for them to eat. The rolls were good, but maybe that was because we had been deprived of Japanese food for so long that we forgot what it tasted like.
As for the food, I’d easily give 3 – 4 stars. The service is where Sakura is taking a hit. Around 10:15pm, we were wrapping up our meal when the server came and gave us our bill. Maybe I’m spoiled, but everyone place I’ve dined at has always handed the bill and said, «Whenever you’re ready; Take your time». This lady handed us our bill and said, «You pay now?». My dad had to put down his food to find a card to pay with right then and there because she wasn’t leaving. He gave her the card, she rang it up, and brought the receipt back for him to sign. Not five minutes later, she returned to pick up the check again. Keep in mind I have a 2 y.o. sister that would rather wear her food than eat it, and 7 and 9y.o. brothers who can stubbornly sit for an eternity if it meant avoiding the bok choy in their soup. That said, eating out is always a stressful battle for our family, so we generally try to get everyone fed as fast as we can to move onto the next part of our day. When we finished paying, we were trying to get the last bites in when one of the servers (one that did not serve or interact with us in anyway, might I add) asked in Cantonese, «Did they pay yet? Did they pay yet? Did they pay yet?». Cantonese is my first language, though my English is far better now, so I totally understand why they would assume I have no idea what they’re saying. However, I’ve been yelled at enough in Chinese by my grandmother to know what impatience and anger sounds like. She kept muttering things under her breath saying we were taking too long and that she wanted to go home. Finally, my family stood up to leave to which a male server stood directly behind my brother and followed us to the door. We are slow walking out because the 2y.o. walks like a duck and gets distracted by shiny things. When this happened, we stopped and directed her to the door; and when this happened, the stalking server stopped and let out a huge sigh. When we got the last kid out the door, the male server shut the door behind us, locked it, and proceeded to watch us through the window as we drove away and left.
Look, I’m sorry we arrived at 9:00pm, but from my understanding, you close at 9:30pm. If you don’t want to be open that late and you don’t want to serve anyone past that time, then maybe you should change your hours. It’s a definite shame when a restaurant has decent food, but such poor service.

Very good sushi, and friendly service. Not to mention, excellent early bird special. By any role, get the second for 50% off. Sequerra roll and Mount Fuji or both very excellent, with great presentation!

Very fast service and friendly works. Ono food … If you haven’t eaten there it’s a must

A strip mall restaurant but nothing wrong with that. Service was friendly and fast the food was just ok. Seafood did not taste fresh, whoever the presentation was nice. Overall underwhelmed.

This review is for the take out ONLY. Ordered a Hilo roll 15 minutes before my pick up time on my lunch break. When I got there, it wasn’t made and I had to wait another 15 minutes. (And there were no customers in the restaurant.) What’s the sense of ordering ahead, if they don’t make it until you get there?
The Hilo roll consisted of a shrimp tempura roll with spicy imitation crab inside, topped off with spicy tuna and unagi. The shrimp tempura inside was so tiny, could barely taste it was there, not worth $ 15.
With limited time here, during my visit to Kona, I was looking forward to finding awesome places to try. Reviewing only their Hilo roll, and take out services, this was definitely NOT one of those places.

After my second visit I want to share a few things.
The food is good. The sushi and hot items are tasty, well priced, and there’s lots to choose from. The servers are very friendly, and genuinely nice, but… they are not very attentive. I am okay with using the call button system and asking for another drink or item I want to order. Seems like the restaurant could encourage more salesmanship and service standards from the waitstaff. I still had a nice time, will go again, and recommend it to others.

Terrible from the moment we walked in. My friend and I didn’t even stay to eat. Once we walked in at 2:02 pm (they close at 2:30 for a break between lunch and dinner) the waitress says «So we close at 2:30 so when you guys sit you have to hurry and order fast.» We both looked at each other while she started to walk us to a table. We followed her and were in complete shock she laid down the menus and walked away with a bad attitude. My friend and I felt so uncomfortable and not wanted, so we got up and left. You don’t tell PAYING CUSTOMERS that once they walk in your restaurant. Completely rude and I will not be returning to this place.

Visiting here on vacation, there were 4 of us, and we decided to go here for lunch.
There was a light crowd in there but we were seated right away. our server was Joy, she was nice and helpful.
I ordered a spicy California roll, and an Alaskan roll. It was part of a «lunch special». I ordered Sapporo and cold Saki to make Saki Bombs!
We were given Miso soup then a small wait and the sushi arrived. It was fresh and good. The spicy California roll didn’t really seem spicy.
Then for desert we ordered a fried banana with strawberry ice cream. I can’t think of the name but was very good and would eat it again. The banana had a light crispy coating then nice and soft in the center.

Went here 2 times. One of the few restos open late in Kailua. My son ordered the same food twice – thats how yummy it is. Highly recommend Chicken furikake for kids and adults – crispy fried chicken with coconut cream sauce and chicken teriyaki (although it looks pale, my son swears its so delicious!) tried their tempura ramen too. We loved everything they served us. If you are in Kona, its a must to try this place

A hidden gem hidden next to Safeway and Wal-​Mart. Sashimi deluxe was very fresh and nicely presented. My son had the gyoza which was one of the most tasteful we’ve had. And we’re from san Francisco so we get to eat pretty good food quite often. Sakura’s location off the main tourist road means it’s not very crowded and we noted quite a few locals here (they were hugging the wait staff). We had Lin as our waitress and she was extremely warm and genuine. We are here 7 days and we’ll be coming back.

If you’re searching for a satisfying Japanese meal, craving sushi or teriyaki steak or chicken, Sakura Sushi & Grill is the ticket. Easy to access and worry-​free parking it’s next to Safeway in Kailua Kona off Henry St. All entrees come with a miso soup (on the very thin/​watery side) and green salad with miso/​ginger/​thousand island dressing mix good enough to put on your rice. I ordered the yellowtail hamachi with jalapeño appetizer $ 11, six juicy pieces in a delightful ponzu citrus sauce perfect for drenching. I savored every bite! I also ordered the teriyaki chicken $ 14.95 which will arrive in a sizzling platter you can hear coming to your table. Two teriyaki chicken fillets sizzled on a bed of onion and was garnished with broccoli and carrot piece. It’s enough to take home and enjoy it again for breakfast! Almost every surrounding table was also tempted to order the same dish! I opted to pay $ 1.00 for fried rice instead of just white rice. It tasted better when I spooned some of the salad dressing and ponzu sauce on it, so keep these accompaniments close to you lest the waitstaff scoop it off your table! Overall satisfying meal with friendly staff.

Pretty darn good Japanese food. There is a very good variety of Japanese food from sushi, to bento boxes to noodle dishes and soups. My wife enjoyed some nigiri and sushi while I had chicken mixed with with some vegetables and a noodles whose name is slipping my mind at this time… We truly enjoyed it and had some very friendly service; our drinks never went unfilled.
At peak lunch time we had no wait to sit down and we enjoyed the quiet setting.
Enjoy!

One of few places that are open late in Kailua Kona if late means any place to eat besides fast food, open after 8pm. The staff are friendly and welcoming. The food is your typical sushi place, well to clarify not a Genki or Aloha Sushi but more of a higher quality good sushi.
The tempura (shrimp and vegetables) are cooked perfectly with the right dipping sauce. The sushi as I mentioned is flavorful and made fresh. However there were two items that we (my family and me) did not favor. The udon broth was bland and the salad dressing had way too much ginger, ask for substitute dressing if not a fan of ginger.
Overall, good place to get dinner when visiting Kailua-​Kona.

Sakura is a great place to dine causal style or dressy. They have booths and tables to choose from for seating and also a private party room as well (which i have use a few times). They also have a sushi bar. The staff there are just the friendliest nicest peeps you can meet. They great me with smiles and hugs. I feel completely at home there. And oh yea,… They have very tasty dishes, as well as awesome sushi to choose from. All of their boats come fully with food art that just makes my heart smile. I recommend this place to everyone. Friendly staff awesome food, great environment !!! Mahalo Nui Sakura !!!

One of my favorite Sushi/​Japanese Cuisine Restaurants in Kona! Lin & her staff are all extremely friendly and welcoming:)
Yellowtail Jalapeño is the best appetizer! And you definitely have to try their Fuji Mountain Roll! Everything else is good too! Great portions!

Perfect sushi!
Epic!!! Don’t miss this one, you will regret it! Best sushi on the island.
Fish is perfect, cutting by chef is perfect, taste of rolls is perfectly balanced. Amazing!

Ambiance: ⁷⁄₁₀ nice contemporary décor with dual entrance.
Service: ⁴⁄₁₀ service was ok. Water was refilled upon request. Chicken katsu sauce was also refilled upon request.
Food: ⁴⁄₁₀ I ordered the chicken katsu which comes with a side salad and miso soup. The salad arrived quickly however it was topped with an excessive amount of dressing. Miso tasted bland and nothing special. Chicken katsu was crispy on the outside however it was very chewy. Sauce was ok again nothing special or outstanding.
Food to Value: ³⁄₁₀ the chicken katsu costs $ 14 and was not worth the value for taste and quality.
Overall: ¹⁸⁄₄₀ an ok restaurant but will not visit in the near future due a mediocre quality of food.

So glad my dad stopped here for dinner last night: It was SO GOOD!!! We split the chicken teriyaki and my mom ordered the shrimp tempura. We were impressed with 1) the amount of food and 2) the presentation of the dish, especially the tempura that came on a big square plate with onion rings and thin, edible sticks (don’t know what they’re called).
Our server was really nice and she made small talk with us about how we found the restaurant and she told us that she was from Oahu. Very welcoming.
We’ll be coming back here, for sure!