San Sai Japanese Grill

One sidenote — I saw a couple reviews stating San Sai was not authentic Japanese food and I understand the difference. My stepmom was Japanese and my dad met her at Tempura Hiyama in Van Nuys (very authentic Japanese cuisine) so I am very well aware of the difference. I feel the same way about Italian restaurants who only serve pizza and spaghetti w/​tomato sauce! But San Sai has Japanese food, just

This place is now called Kiku but it’s the same menu and staff– I love this place and eat here at least once a week. Their sushi is good but the rolls are cut thin and have a large diameter– so they tend to fall apart easily– ask to make them smaller. I always get the salmon bowl and sumi salad and it’s awesome– only $ 7! The staff is always nice and they have funny decorations. The bathroom I have to say is the cleanest of any fast food restaurant I’ve been to consistently and that hopefully speaks well for the management as a whole lol.

Still love this place and eat here regularly.
Fyi– they have changed their name to Kiku Japanese Grill and added quite a few new rolls and options to their menu.

I come here quite often… one of my best friends used to work here… so i came here alot… i like the food here… its like a chain but it always has a consistently good food… so i like to come here when im looking for something yummy and delicious… they have great bowls and plates… i like the salmon plate with a veggie kebab… so good… i like their salads… they have a good oriental green salad… or the bowtie salad… yummy…also have really good tempura… and some sushi options that are surprising yummy… i love smothering them in unagi sauce and some sriachia… mmm :) yay… makes me hungry…
great fresh and delicious food

SanSai’s a reasonably standard teriyaki bowl chain, with four real exceptions.
1. Amenities
One’s that the locations are a little nicer, and this one in particular. In typical style for SanSai, it’s got nice tables and a large counter with seating on both ends.
2. Speed
Sansai’s a lot slower than any of their competitors which I’ve tried. This applies to their other locations, too.
3. Salads
SanSai also has a weird way of wanting to package everything with these weird salads, and then complicating things further by making some available as part of meals and some as entrees only. Some of these are kind-​of normal salads, meaning that they have lettuce but aren’t things like Caesar, while others are things like pasta salads and noodle salads. They don’t taste good, though, so I’m not sure why they emphasize these.
4. Sushi
They’re not a sushi place, but they serve a pretty decent amount. (I haven’t tasted it.)
Some similarities are that they’re counter service and call off your number for pick-​up. You can get brown rice instead of white. They’ve got the usual system with the «bowls» and the «plates.» This is the one where the plates cost more and don’t really offer anything good. In SanSai’s case, you get an extra weird salad, so it’s like, «Hooray, more of that stuff I didn’t want.» In their case, though, the plates have some options to mix and match with the sushi.
On taste, they’re pretty average for the cuisine, maybe marginally worse, but we need more teriyaki bowl places. They’re good-​tasting in a simple, healthy way. I will confirm that they’re a noticeable step up from Hana on taste, but at the same time a noticeable step down from Flame Broiler.

Fresh. Flavorful. Fast. Large Portions. This is one of the few lunch stops that you really do get your moneys worth. I always end up throwing some away because I am beyond full. Great service and smiles all around.

I personally, don’t think of this restaurant as a Japanese restaurant.
I as well as Amanda am pretty surprised this place got a lot of good reviews. I guess if you’ve never been exposed to real authentic Japanese food, you’ll like the SUPER Americanized-​not-​even-​Japanese food. If you want real Japanese food, go to a sushi bar or out in the SFV, where there are a ton of authentic Japanese restaurants.

Wow i’m surprised the reviews are so high for SanSai.
It’s almost like the Pick Up Stix of Japanese food. But worse?
Every time i’ve come here it’s always been exactly as i expected it to taste… like cheap, fast-​food ish, mediocre Japanese food.
It’s pretty cheap though, so that’s a plus. the fish is obviously not the best quality so i would not suggest not getting sushi here and sticking to an entrée. At least stick to something typical like a California Roll if you mussst have sushi. I don’t know if i’d get Unagi or anything here though… eh.
I’d have to say what bothers me the most is their corn and bowtie pasta salad. Wft?! Just because you toss it with a wasabi vinaigrette doesn’t make it Japanese. Gross. Doesn’t work together at all. Come to think of it, most of their salads really aren’t very good at all. their oriental salad is def the best. And it’s still not that good. eh.
I really think that it’s worth it to spend 5 more bucks and go to a real Japanese place. Buttttt, if you’re really really broke and in desperate need of Japanese food, i suppose you can settle for SanSai.
I’m just very picky when it comes to Japanese food, and if you’re not then i salute you. I wish i wasn’t. I’d have more money in my wallet. :[

in a plaza where del taco, in n out, dennys, redbrick pizza, jamba juice, its a grind coffee, daphnes, panda express, natural café, quiznos and baja fresh reside, san sai is your best bet. it is close to moorpark college and inexpensive. you can get an eight piece roll of your choice with any of their six side salads (or miso soup) included for about six bucks. i enjoy the cuc-​avocado roll the best; they roll it with sesame seeds, too. the oriental salad is amazing (baby greens, roasted almonds, mandarin oranges, crunchy noodles, sesame seeds tossed with honey mustard vinaigrette).

One thing that I like about Southern California is that this is where new fast-​food restaurant concepts are born. And one of the best fast-​food trends that is emerging and emanating from the LA area is the one that says that just because it’s a quick serve chain doesn’t mean that it has to be frozen, processed and fatty.
So we are getting a lot of fresh, healthy, delicious food from chain restaurants and it is a refreshing, surprising trend that I hope is realized all across the country without losing the quality (I’m looking at you Baja Fresh). SanSai is a great example of this trend. Everything is really fresh, delicious and relatively healthy.
I love teriyaki — we have teriyaki places all over the Seattle area so I was surprised there weren’t more of them down here — and SanSai is one of the few places that does chicken or steak teriyaki like the places up there. The California roll that came with my teriyaki combo was pretty good, but the wasabi they gave me was foul.
Their signature side salads are really good and are what makes this place stand out. I was disappointed that this location only had three of them out, the Ventura location used to have all of them available at any time. Oh well, the Sumi salad and the LInguini salad were still really tasty.
Not to mention all of the other options. Soups, salads, bowls, sashimi, sushi, rolls, etc. This place has a little bit of something for everybody.
Now I’m bummed that the Ventura location is still closed (I have no idea why), I would eat there more often now that I’ve been reminded how much I like it. And I’d kill for one in Camarillo for lunch.

Been here a few times on my lunch break and always had excellent and attentive friendly service.
Food is served super fresh and in great portion size. I have never had a long wait or incorrect order.
The staff always smiles and makes sure that you are enjoying your meal.
The interior is always SPOTLESSLY clean!
I definitely will be back!

Without this place, I’d either be 40 pounds lighter or 40 pounds heavier. This is where I sprint off to between dance rehearsals on Saturdays. I have dance from 9am — 730 pm on Saturdays, and if I get out of ballet early I hop in my car and head to San Sai.
This place is great! Not the best sushi, but it’s quality. Here’s why:
1) Quick! I get there at 11:40am, order and eat and am done by noon.
2) Clean: It’s a clean facility, the workers are clean, the bathroom is clean, their booths are clean.
3) Selection: They have soups, bowls, plates, and rolls. I always go for the Tuna Roll with Miso and when I’m really hungry I’ll get the Salmon Plate with one of their specialty salads in addition.
4) Great price: The Tuna Roll and Miso is $ 6.50 while the additional Salmon Plate totals up to $ 14. Either way, good for for a great price!
This beats going to any fast food and it also beats waiting until forever to eat or having to pack a «non-​perishable» snack with me.
Life saver!

Good food, price (ehhh not bad for what you get). There’s nothing bad to say about this place. You get so much food like most Asian resturants, you get your money’s worth for the price that you are paying for. But by far the best Japanese bbq I have gone to. You should try the steak or shrimp plate, you get 2 side orders and my fav. is the sumi salad (that is if you like cabbage, carrots, green onions, crunchy noodles, roasted almonds etc.) soooo good. The plates of food cost from 6.99−8.99 but you get rice and 2 sides w/​that. You can also get the bowls (chicken, salmon etc.) They have salads, potstickers, spring rolls, sushi, soup and even kids plates. I really like this place, the food is great!