Sakae Sushi

CLOSED!
:/​
Gone are the days where I gleefully watched the conveyor belt whirl around the restaurant, refilled my own water glass, and ordered from the computer at my table.
I don’t actually eat sushi, but the chicken teriyaki udon was tasty, and the pumpkin tempura, though I just had to try it, sounds more interesting than it tastes.

I was walking by this place the other day and saw that it was closed. Bummer – though I suspect more and more of the places on my usual walking route are going to close down.

The concept of this place is seriously cool. I’ve only seen this style of operational efficiency in Japan and seeing it in the US, not to mention blocks from my apt in New York, is just awesome. The self-​serve water cups and dispensers at every seat, computerized menus along with conveyer belt sushi…
But alas… this neat concept is defeated by bad food. And I mean «wow» bad. Their ramen is far from authentic. and insultingly sweet. Their sushi… is not real sushi. The only thing good is their American Japanese teriyaki dishes, but those come in tiny small portions I began to wonder if the value of the dollar has deflated again.
Maybe their all-​you-​can-​eat deal will be more worth while. But I have yet to venture there…

As a concept, I love everything about this place. Finally, there might be some stability in this notoriously voodoo location at West 3^rd and 6^th Avenue. Touch screen ordering, conveyer belt sushi, supply of soy sauce and personal water spigot all at your table mean that if armed thugs kidnap the staff, you can go on with your meal without interruption.
There’s one small problem: The sushi here isn’t very good. Now, I wasn’t expecting too much, but I was lured by an all-​you-​can eat special during the day for $ 25. However, when I came here about six weeks ago, they had rolled back the special to Saturdays and major holidays. Who knew NYU students could eat that much?
So once it became about the sushi that I was paying for at market rate, I was very disappointed. Yes, I made the mistake of coming on a Monday, but nothing on the conveyer belt was close to fresh. The rolls were also quite small.

time for a comparison–
i went to the one on lexington up in midtown a couple of months back, and boy was it a difference. personally i liked the one in lexington more because:
–they had more room, unlike the one here its more crowded and the seats are more compact
–they had the soy bean green tea (best drink)
–the menu was bigger with a lot of photos and there wasn’t a shortage of menus also
–they also had more options for food, plus a touch screen computer monitor
besides all the negativity, if you want to go for the experience its not a bad choice but i would recommend the one on lexington more.
**sorry to say but i’ve found out the sakae sushi on lexington had been closed down, what a pity. it was a really good place to relax and eat at. well, we’re all out of luck.

Things I liked:
The computer ordering system. Makes it much easier versus hailing down a waitress. Though the night we were there, it wasn’t busy at all. The conveyer belt is also a novelty and fun, though those little dishes add up quickly!
Things I didn’t like:
Quality of the fish was not great. Prices were too high.
Overall, interesting concept but food isn’t worth the money.

This plays lets you order in three different ways. 1) Through the waiter off a regular menu; 2) off a computer screen at each table; and 3) taking sushi off the conveyer belt. We used all three. The danger of the conveyer belt is you end up with a lot of sushi very quickly, so this place could easily become pretty pricey. The quality overall was pretty good, nothing amazing, but left you feeling good about it. The great thing about the computer ordering is that you can order things up as you think of them, and you can ask for the bill when you’re ready. So there’s no need to be wildly looking around to try to flag down your waiter.
If the price was only a bit cheaper it would be much more worth it.

This place is crazy. There is a screen at every table where you can look at the sushi they have and/​or order, there is a water tap at each table so you can refill your glass, and of course there is the conveyer belt. Most dishes on the belt are $ 2, sushi quality is quite good and creative. Not for big groups.

my boyfriend and i stumbled upon this place after walking around the village looking for another japanese restaurant. it’s so cute inside! i like that you can order from a monitor at your table, pick things (sushi) off the conveyor belt, and there’s a water spout there too. apparently this is a chain, and to be honest, the food isn’t that great, but hey, sometimes it’s not about food… sometimes it’s just about the experience. two things that were really disappointing though, no uni :(and the soft shell crab was kinda gross, but then again, maybe it’ll be fresher another day.

I admit it — taking food off of a conveyor belt is fun. I’m a dork for it. The night we were there it was almost all maki on the belt so we had to order the nigiri from the neat-​o computer at the table. Here’s the thing — that’s fun too. The other good thing about it is it lets you pace yourself and not feel like you’re bugging a waiter by ordering two pieces of sushi at a time.
The computer innundates you with images and reminders of their outlets all over Singapore, Malaysia and China. They are a big enough chain that they also have merch — froggy bedroom slippers that match their logo and the like. Sort of a turnoff.
Sushi quality was good but not superior. As of this writing they still don’t have their liquor license, but the tea was delicious. Overall a solid sushi option and I’ll be back to try some of the non-​sushi options on the menu as well.

I took The Blonde (who was over visiting from the motherland) here for a midweek lunch. He lived in Japan for a couple of years so can be quite sniffy when it comes to Japanese food, but we were both very impressed.
The place was quiet empty so there wasn’t a huge amount on the conveyor belt but you can order anything you like from the HUGE menu via your own personal menu screen. Lots of the dishes are only $ 1.90 — you can’t aruge with that!
As well as the sushi being good I’d particularly reccomend the Cha Soba and Kakiage.
Oishii!

Nice atmosphere. Conveyor-​belt sushi and other small items, but don’t let that stop you from looking at the huge selection of menu items.
I love the ability to order from your table on the personal flat-​screen monitors, and the personal water spout on each table. The food is good and fresh and for the price is excellent.

So, my friend D and I had planned a date night of sorts. We’d meet up for a drinky in our hood and then grab some sushi at a spot nearby. Well, one quick drink turned into 3 dirty martinis each on an empty tummy. Smart! We stumbled out of the bar and I suggested we walk by Sakae since I saw it had just opened. If we didn’t want to try it, we could stumble over to our standby place. As we turn the corner on W. 3^rd there was a blackboard outside that lists, oh, about 19 items all next to the price of $ 1.50. As D eloquently put it: «Done and done.»
So we stumbled in, which really seemed to be the theme of the night. Though the host actually looked very pleased to see us and sat us promptly in a booth for two next to the conveyor belt. He showed us how to order from the computer; advised us to pull one of the wasabis off if we should so desire when it comes around; the water spigot to fill your own glass; the little chest that holds the chopsticks — the others that held the ginger and soy sauce, respectively. Then pointed out the colorful little plates trucking by one after another and showed us that each color represented a dollar amount and he would tally the plates up at the end.
Truth be told, to us, it was friggin Christmas. D started in right away on a concoction that neither one of us had seen before while I held out for a Tekka Maki I saw making it’s merry way down the belt.
All in all it was a fun experience, and we got immediate gratification with the serve yourself theme. However, the sushi really was so-​so — it reminded me of the prepackaged kind you get at Safeway. A blessing in disguise was that they still don’t have their liquor license so we made due with Diet Cokes (so keep in mind if you’re hitting up before a night out). We did try fumbling around with the computer ordering a few items we didn’t see making the rounds. Though the menu also has a ton of items that span different cuisines and can be a little overwhelming.
Would I try it again? Doubtful. It’s a neat idea, but the quality of the sushi left much to be desired — despite the great price and futuristic atmosphere. Though you can catch an after dinner show of NYUers pretending they’re Darth Vadar and Luke Skywalker in the park — and how can anyone really say no to that?

this is the hardest review I’ve written yet.
I was completely overwhelmed by the options to order. First was the sheer quantity of small sushi plates driving right past our table on the conveyor belt. I mean, who can resist being able to pick and choose food as it comes past you. But there was no raw sushi on the belt — that might be a good thing from a health point of view, but there’s only so many california and shrimp roles you can have before you want fish. Next was the computer screen at the table. You can interactively go through the menu and see pictures — then order there — it’ll be brought to the table shortly. Of course you can use the old fashioned menu, but why, WHY? As I said, I was overwhelmed — I didn’t actually get around to ordering until half way through the meal. It was a little too much for my overwhelmed brain to handle.
That being said, my six year old daughter loved it. She loved watching the belt of food go buy. She ran the table side water machine, graciously refilling our water cups as they needed it. She also supplied us with plates, soy sauce, and soy sauce dipping bowls. She’d also let us know when ever a can of Wasabi made the rounds on the belt, in case we needed some more.
So, if you have kids — you have to go. They’ll be entertained and have a lot to do.
Also, the service is great (and friendly).

CONVEYOR BELT SUSHI!!! This was the most fun I have ever had at dinner. All I had to do was click a mouse or lift a finger and I had all the sushi I wanted. It is so much fun, you pour your own water out of a spout thats right next to you, the menu is on a computer all you do is click and the food is brought to you. once someone grabbed a plate from the belt before I can get it but the cooks quickly replaced it. The staff was amazingly helpful and since the place just opened it was pretty empty giving me all the food I can eat. It is a blast