Sarku Japan Teriyaki and Sushi Express

Wish I would have listened to some of the reviews and just stayed away from this place. My order was simple chicken teriyaki and vegetables. The chicken was so salty I could barely get it down. The vegetables were disgusting. How do you mess up vegetables? They were extremely over cooked and flavorless. Needless to say I won’t be coming back.

I went there to get my lunch… they gave me the wrong food… that sucks… I wish I would have checked my bag before I left… I went back to return the food and I had to wait 25 minutes and returned to work late from lunch hungry. …can’t recommend this one…

I went here for the first time today and took my food home with me. As I was eating I found a piece of plastic or paper in my mouth (yuck!!!) and it looked like it was cooked into the food. I’m just totally turned off from this place.

Some people seem not to be familiar with the Sarku chain. YES, it’s from a MALL. Growing up I usually picked Sarku out of other mall food selections in my middle school and high school days because of its consistency. No this is not a high-​quality Japanese restaurant. Do you go to McDonalds expecting Shake Shack or Five Guys quality? No, you know you’re getting dollar fries and a McChicken sandwich and you know what it’s gonna be like and that’s that. So really, don’t go here expecting Gyu-​Kaku or Benihana.
That said, it IS good food for the price. Growing up, Sarku has always served cheap, tasty food in generous portions that I can save for later. I can’t speak for the sushi (i dont eat it), that must be a new thing, but I recently moved to Harlem in August and have visited this location 3 or 4 times and each time the food was expected and the wait was under 10 minutes. It’s exactly the same as I remember: well seasoned meat, white rice, tasty sauce. Don’t order chicken terriyaki and complain that it’s too much sauce so it’s not as healthy as you would like; people who eat chicken terriyaki aren’t doing it to lose weight. I like how there’s now a lo mein option and different meat choices like beef, which I’ve also tried and love as well.
Perhaps the location got its act together later on in the year by the time I arrived, but I’m happy its there for a quick i-​dont-​feel-​like-​cooking-​tonight-​but-​dont-​want-​McDonalds-​Burger King-​Popeyes-​or-​hood-​chicken dinner pick up. I hope it stays.

Pros: Good music, decent tasting sushi
Cons: They ran out of white rice and had to make my California roll with brown rice. First of all, how does a Japanese restaurant run out of white rice?!? That’s the staple ingredient in almost all of your dishes! Ok ill forgive you for that, but then rather than telling me «We’re out of white rice, would you like brown rice or would you like to order something else?» the cashier just says «you’re sushi is gonna have brown rice» after I’ve already been waiting ten minutes. Then in total I have to wait 30 minutes just for my little California roll, while ten people who ordered after me have already got their food. Come on Sarku, maybe you need to implement some customer service training!

Like your typical mall teriyaki place except this one has escaped from the mall setting. I got the bento box with shrimp. Nothing exciting but it tasted good. I think they may have taken some of the suggestions other Unilocalers made about specialized staff in expediting orders and working the registers; my order didn’t take too long.

It’s basically fake mall Asian food, I’ve stopped by a few times at lunch. As others have noted it is really erratic and discombobulated, but it literally is mall food. I have seen Sarku in several malls before, what do you expect when you go here… some high quality Asian food… no of course not.
If you work nearby and just feel like changing it up one day for lunch then grab a bite it’s like 7 bucks and filling, the chicken isn’t bad, but the rice /​noodles lack taste pretty hard. I’d recommend to never bother with trying the rolls or seafood of any kind though.

I tend not to expect too much from fast food places. That being said, I pretty much got what I expected at Sarku. I ordered the shrimp bento deluxe to go and since I was starving it got the job done. Unfortunately, the iceburg lettuce salad with ginger dressing was way tastier than the shrimp & mushrooms over brown rice. The sushi (California roll) had essentially 0 avocado. Seriously, it was sliced so tiny I could barely see it. The vegetable tempura was a little soggy but the shrimp tempura was pretty okay. Overall I probably won’t go back but it served its purpose in that moment. If you’re on the go and you’re more concerned with sustenance than food quality, then you’re in the right place. Otherwise, find a more legit sushi place.

Terrible terrible terrible. Lets start with the food; it is bland and mushed together. The service is even worse. Their card machine wasn’t working and instead of telling customers that prior to ordering no they wait for you to place you order grab the card and then say the machine is broken. Then you go get cash come back order a California roll and the sushi chef is standing one foot away from the cashier doesn’t say anything while the order is being place but then says their is no avocado. Well there will be no repeat customer at this establishment.

This place is disgusting.
I live in Harlem and was so excited to hear that I sushi restaurant was opening on 125^th. I am a huge sushi fan and could eat it ever night.
I’ve been three times.
First off — the food is good. Its the service and cleanliness that makes it awful.
The first time that I went, I put my order in and then was waiting 35 minutes for my 2 rolls to be made. I kept going to the counter and asking and they said that it was going to be ready in a few minutes. Then the sushi chef came out and started arguing that he never received the order and it was really awkward for me. I should have left but wanted my sushi! when I finally got my shrimp tempora roll it was cold!
The second time was fine, still about a 15 minute wait. They didnt have avocado and changed that for cucumber that tasted awful.
The third time was last night. I put my order in (two rolls) and waited about 15 mins. Just as they were packaging my food and were about the hand it to me — something burst over the kitchen (which is exposed to customers) and dirty grease starting pouring down on all the food. The chef was trying to move things out of the way and none of the other staff helped. I left because I couldnt watch it!
I was really looking forward to the opening of this restaurant but I will not be going back. Its not worth the wait and I’m nervous that Ill get sick from the food there one day.

Sarku Japan is a Japanese fast food chain with several locations in the tri-​state area. They offer various teriyaki dishes (chicken, beef, shrimp) that come served over steamed rice, fried rice, or noodles. There are also a few variations of sushi and bento lunch boxes, as well as soups and salads on the menu. I gave the beef teriyaki with fried rice and stir-​fried vegetables a try. I found the beef and rice surprisingly greasy– especially since Sarku prides itself on being a healthy alternative to traditional American fast food. The beef was definitely overcooked (almost fried), and along with the rice came drenched in teriyaki sauce. The stir-​fried vegetables (mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, and cabbage) were not prepared using fresh vegetables. They appeared to be a mix of both dried and frozen vegetables.
The staff at Sarku is the best. They are extremely courteous and the place has a nice seating capacity (even an upper level for additional seating). Also, it’s nice to see some local Harlemites at work in this place. I would say that Sarku is okay if you’re shopping on 125^th Street and find yourself hungry, or happen to work in the area. On the up side, the food portions are large and the price is right, so you’ll definitely get a lot of bang for your bucks. However, as far as food quality, I think that Sarku promises more than it can deliver– at least right now.