Sakari at Monterey Bay

I was fortunate to have gone to the Table Magazine happy hour tasting, and overall, I was pretty impressed with Sakari’s offerings. The one downside of the tasting was that many of the items up for grabs weren’t on the actual menu, so we ended up ordering a few extra items to get a more accurate idea of what Sakari was up to.
Overall, the atmosphere is excellent. Would it be so nice without the incredible view of the city? I’m not sure, but the restaurant is very modern and uses a dark palette throughout, which works fine since there’s so much light from the windows. The service was so-​so, and probably the real down point of the experience. Perhaps it was the free tasting concept in the wait staff’s mind, but many people were still ordering food off of the regular menu (we spent $ 90 on two rolls, the grilled cheese small plate, and a glass of $ 13 rosé), so I’m not sure why the waiters/​waitresses seemed so disinterested. I would’ve been even more disappointed if this was the service provided, say, on a romantic evening when the bill would quickly escalate to the $ 120 – 150 range. They were fast to clear the table, but it was almost disruptive, as the staff continually interrupted conversations, reached over us for plates while we weren’t quite finished, and even spilled stuff on my wife’s purse. Really made for a meh experience.
The food, though, was good… I think. I’m torn, as Monterey Bay promotes their use of fresh fish (and the fish used WAS wonderful), but the sushi rolls were sort of victims of trying so hard to be unique that the fish becomes a backdrop to the other 5 ingredients in each roll. We tried about a dozen things, from fish-​focused rolls and savory wagyu rolls, to dessert rolls, and almost all of them suffered from this. If I’m being honest, my favorite item from the evening was the sashimi. It was melt-​in-​your-​mouth good. Which is probably why I walked away feeling like the rest of the rolls were overthought. If you have access to such incredible cuts of fish, why disguise the quality for the sake of trying to fit every flavor profile imaginable in each roll? Don’t get me wrong, the rolls were all tasty, but if you pay $ 20 on a roll, I think I’d prefer to taste what I’m really paying for: the fish. Presentation, though, is spot-​on, so the chefs certainly aren’t slacking behind the bar.
The two non-​sushi things that we tried were the dumplings and the grilled cheese small plate. The dumplings were awesome, with a pork sausage filling and a sweet sauce lining the plate. I was a bit surprised by how large the portion was, as well. The grilled cheese was good, but I probably wouldn’t get again. It’s simply too filling, and the stomach space would be better spent on the sush/​fish options.
All-​in-​all, Sakari has loads of potential. The atmosphere and view are sensational. The staff is okay, but could use work on reading their customer’s needs (the bussing of the tables was disruptive, but they at least kept waters topped off) and giving off a more positive vibe… epecially for the type of bills they’re handing to customers. Perhaps, most importantly, the food is creative — almost to a fault — and delicious, so let’s hope they pull everything together and make Sakari a top restaurant in experience, and not just elevation.

Oh my goodness… where do I begin? I guess I should be positive first, the restaurant inside is beautiful and sexy. The view is beautiful. The music and lighting are perfect and based on all of this we expected Nobu but what we got was horrific and worse than something you’d get at the airport. For starters it took an hour to get our oysters which smelled like a fish tank. I ate them because I was starving and my husband ate 5 out of the 6 saying the last one smelled too bad to eat. The challenge now was getting someone to clear the plates. The smell began to overwhelm us and we resorted to survival tactics taught to us by our cats… burry it! We started burying the empty oysters with whatever leftover garnish we could find in an attempt to save ourselves.
In addition, it was also freezing in the restaurant so we had to drink hot tea in an effort to not get frost bite and getting hot water seemed to be problematic for them. I’d like to add that I’m really confused as to why places in Pittsburgh can’t get their air-​conditioning set to a normal temperature… meat locker is NOT a setting. Finally once the hot water and sparkling water came the server left and he left his tray on a chair at our table. After about 15 minutes my husband stood up and opened the bottle of sparkling water himself, pretended he was a server and very properly poured my sparkling water. While it was highly entertaining and I was laughing it really wasn’t funny.
Next up were some handrolls we ordered without rice, guess what? Yep… all 6 were filled with rice so we sent those back. Another 20 minutes rolls by and our octopus sashimi and salmon sashimi arrive, both items are cut waaaay too thick. Eating a thicker cut of salmon sashimi is at least possible and not completely awful (the salmon was good quality and fresh but was just cut too thick) but octopus cut improperly is an entirely different game. My husband described it as a chew toy for the cats or the equivalent of shoving an entire pack of old Bubble Yum into your mouth and it’s so hard and so chewy that it makes your jaw hurt. So that was spit into a napkin after he got lock jaw, let’s just call this an EPIC FAIL. After 2.5 hours, the only other edible item was the Thunderbolt roll which they did make riceless and with soy paper for us.
Let me just say that I really want this place to be good, I really want it. I’m hoping that my review will actually propel them into greatness so that I can go back and enjoy the gorgeous remodel and view and actually eat and enjoy dinner. Needless to say we both left basically hungry and they were kind and took care of our bill due to the comedy of errors BUT my stomach was on the fritz that night and the next day. I wasn’t full blown sick but something was off and my bets are on the smelly oysters for causing that disturbance. If you want to see the remodel and the view, eat upstairs… we’ve had great meals in the main dining room.

I thought it was exciting news when our neighborhood seafood restaurant with the best views of Pittsburgh decided to remodel and add a sushi bar! We decided to go check it out on a Saturday night. Unfortunately the dinner turned into a comedy of errors: a tray of water glasses was spilled over Joe and our neighboring table’s guests, the $ 20 appetizer we ordered was served at room temp, I received the wrong wine, and finally when it came time to pay our $ 90 bill, I was mistakenly charged triple that amount and the manager had to void it out. Although they did provide a free round of drinks for the water incident, I felt that for such a nice restaurant we should have received better customer service.
The positives? Pretty good sushi rolls and a fantastic view of the city. Wanted to enjoy this local spot but will likely not be returning.

New décor is very nice. Service and food are above average, but not great. Prices are a bit high, but I guess you pay for the view. Wine prices are way too high for mediocre options. Great place to showcase the city, but Off the Hook is much better!

I have really grown to love Pittsburgh and one reason is because we never have anything planned and somehow manage to see a live performance or have a great meal spontaneously. Of course saying this I’ve now jinxed myself. So last night went to Sakari. It was a rainy cool night, Monterey Bay was packed, by the way, new neutral décor, very similar to Altius and Off The Hook.
Sakari’s sushi bar is located down the stairs and to the back of the restaurant, in the rear right corner. There are windows on both sides and it is a dark, romantic /​sleek space. There is (rare) privacy to talk to your group or companion but also the staff are super friendly. The sushi was beyond phenomenal. I am not one to give compliments and — have never liked sushi — which is why I am writing. Had planned to order from the Monterey Bay menu but the sushi chefs (itamae?) were fun, the food looked great so why not. We had the Sakari Roll ($ 16) — tempura — light, delicious. The Phipps Roll ($ 10) (all vegetables and fruits) insanely good. The Grotto ($ 12), salmon and crab, not fried, still phenomenal. The steamed dumplings also filling but not «heavy.» Our waitress was not exactly available but the sushi chefs more than made up.
It was noisy but not overwhelming. The attire was dressy. There were several people in suits checking on tables and bussing tables. Since there is the option of both menu’s salads, desserts and Monterey’s famous crab cakes make this a great new spot!