Sakana Japanese Sushi & Steak House

One of mine and my husbands favorite places! Great sushi and service! Everyone is very friendly. Can get a little busy and food may have a little bit of a wait time, but the 1 star reviews are ridiculous. I have never had bad sashimi there and have probably had their food over 30 times, at least at the Meridian location.

Going on a Sunday is a very bad idea. Sushi is not very fresh and they bill you for things you didn’t get. The manager argued with the over-​whelmed server in front of customers and then brought the kitchen ticket to our table. She indicated that the poor waiter would be paying for things we did not get. Not going back and neither should you.

Never again. My family took me here for Mother’s Day. First observation, they were understaffed. The service is TERRIBLE. I should have read the reviews over the past year and I would have known — that seems to be the #1 complaint. The food is good. I will give them that. But when you bring me my refill of tea (after I’ve had to work to flag you down because you don’t come check on us) and the cup has lipstick on it and I’m not wearing any… and you, the server, exclaim, «I thought that was yours. My bad,» and walk away to get me a fresh cup, you’ve just lost more stars. Our hibachi chef was friendly but frustrated also by the lack of attentiveness of his coworkers. I tip generously when service is even just average, but when you don’t pay attention to details and you are unapologetic about it, I’m a tightwad. If you want a good hibachi experience with friendly service, take a drive up Eagle a few miles to Chinden and go to Sakura.

Just ok. The food wasn’t great and wasn’t terrible. Is very clean and nice inside though. Probably won’t return and wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

Hibachi is marginal, and their sushi is alright. The staff is friendly and the restaurant itself is clean.

The hibachi guy was awesome! Funny, but seemed like he wasn’t surprised with how crappy the service was. The servers were under staffed bussing their own tables. The cup that was brought over to my mother with lipstick on it was enough for us to throw the towel in! Yuck!!! Their special should say «.75 cent hot tea with lipstick!». Gross!

Terrible service. Terribly under staffed. The Hibachi man was wonderful, our waitress however did not refill beverages unless asked. Brought back a dirty tea cup with lipstick on it, my mom wasn’t wearing any… Servers response «my bad, I thought that one was yours.» So she obviously switched it with someone else’s. And a stranger got my moms cup. Let that sink in for a moment. Ew. Won’t be coming back. Terrible service ruins a place.

It’s an OK sushi place, a sit down kind of restaurant. The sushi (nigiri and rolls) weren’t anything to write home for, the miso soup a bit disappointing.

The hibachi wasn’t as good as I was hoping, especially for the price. Their weekday lunch prices would make it worth it. Aside of hibachi, their food portions are excellent, taste is average. Service was slightly subpar, I asked for plain noodles with nothing in them and they were loaded with vegetables; I also asked for soft tofu, not fried, and got fried tofu. On the other hand, some of my friends ordered sushi and it looked great; lots of fresh looking fish-​not skimpy at all.

I had called on a Saturday night at 5:00 or 6:00pm a few weeks ago and had such a great experience! I can’t remember who I talked to, but I had very specific diet questions that the hostess had complete patience with! She even sought out the answers if she did not know them! She even at one point worked with the kitchen to fit my specific desire for sushi. I was very impressed. Great customer service!

I can only give a review of their sushi. I spent over 80 dollars worth of sushi on a take out order. Service was great and timely when I arrived. Took the food home and ended up throwing away ¾ of it. No flavor, sloppily made rolls, and just plain awful. Albertsons sushi is a step up to this place. Last time I come here for sushi for sure.

My husband and I are fans of this place. Great for a quick date night or lunch.
This place is okay for sushi. I absolutely love their dynamite roll and their spicy tuna.
My husband likes their saki.
The last visit was slow service. It just seemed they may have been understaffed that day, which understandably happens.

YUCK!!! The food was horrible!!! The chicken teriyaki was defrosted frozen rubbery chicken that bounced in your mouth while attempting to chew it! The rice was dry and not Japanese. This was all after my order ticket was lost by the kitchen whilst I sat waiting for 20 minutes…
Don’t even bother going here if you care for sushi or Japanese steak house and sushi cuisine!

We saw the $ 1.00 sushi banner and almost turned around, but didn’t. We walked inside, saw the décor, staff and clientele and almost turned around, but didn’t. Folly, friends, pure folly.
This is frankly just bad sushi. All the decorations are vaguely Japanese-​ish, but we couldn’t find any actual Japanese there. Without getting into race, what we wound up getting was what would happen if someone described to someone else how to make sushi and then that person tried to make it. Lots of hiding going on here and we didn’t get to the $ 1 sushi at all. So, we had various mayo stuff, crab with a «k», catfood sushi and a variety of old and stale fish.
Beef tataki was cooked acceptably, but this is tataki by name only, unless tataki means basically very rare beef in a Sriracha soupy glop. The «seared’ salmon was better, except the «seared» part did not exist. This is sushi that needs a lot of help, so expect to have to cover it in more sauce, ginger pieces, soy sauce and whatever else happens to be around.
All in all, this is just extremely poorly done. There is better in town. Skip this place.

We’ve eaten sushi here a number of times and I order lunch frequently because it’s closest to my office and the lunches are a great deal. I usually just order a roll, nigiri or sashimi and have never had an issue with the quality. It’s usually quick service and easy to get into.

This is in my opinion the best sushi in Boise. The only downside is that there’s no All You Can Eat sushi. They do have $ 1 plates on Monday and Tuesday’s. Highly recommend it

Have been here a couple few times and have never been disappointed. Is sushi expensive in Idaho? Yes. Does Eagle Road in Meridian suck nuts at all times? Yes. Does Sakana on Eagle Road deliver great sushi during every visit? Yes!
We’ve made multiple visits to Sakana since we discovered it in 2010. It is certainly a gem off the beaten path unless you know it’s there. I pass it on a semi-​regular basis and every time I see it I have a fond memory of both the grub and the facility
On our first visit, we were fortunate enough to experience the «fancy rooms» (where you take off your shoes and sit at a low table. Service it A, grub is A, over all experience is A.
The grub Sakana is on par with the authenticity of the experience. If you don’t like Sakana then you don’t like sushi!!!

Enjoyed our Tuesday evening with a few other Unilocaler’s to take part in the dollar sushi night. I liked the concept of the cart which displayed the variety of sushi option for a $ 1. It gave me an opportunity to try out different sushi rolls. However, I was so excited when I saw my favorite roll The pink lady was an option. Every piece I tasted was wonderful.
The services was just so so, took awhile for her to come back around. Next time I will make sure to order more rolls in the beginning. I will definitely be coming back!

Came here on a Tuesday evening with a group of Unilocalers. I can say that I will most definitely be back!
On Tuesday evening (they may have the deal all day, but I know for certain they have it for dinner) they have dollar sushi night. They bring around a cart that features a vast array of sushi rolls and each piece (2 pieces if it’s a smaller roll) is just a buck! My dining companion ordered one of each so we were able to try a little bit of everything. There was not one single thing I didn’t like. It was all fresh, lovely, and delicious. The shining stars of the evening for me were their Pink Lady and Hana rolls.
The service was attentive (if a bit slow at times). Our server was able to keep up well with our table of 6 (and we had separate checks – all of which were calculated correctly at the end of the evening). The dining area is lovely and if you have a large group, they have the option of private dining rooms. They’re done in a modified traditional Japanese style. By modified, I mean that you do take your shoes off prior to entering the dining room, and you do have the option of kneeling but you may also sit in the more American way by how they have the table set up. They also have hibachi grills you may sit at to eat and be entertained by the chefs!
Overall, a wonderful experience. I definitely recommend coming on Tuesday (or Monday as I believe they have dollar sushi day on Monday as well) if you’ve never been. It’s a wonderful way to try different rolls without having to commit to an entire roll. And… a bargain to boot!
Get to it!

MERIDIAN, ID: It’s time for me to update my earlier review, Sakana is better than I originally believed. Interior isn’t flashy but its clean and pleasant. The service is friendly. The presentation and plating of the food is perhaps even above average.
I tried three menu items:
Hana Roll (4.5 stars): This was very good! Flavorful, complex, sweet and filling with light citrus hints. Also very pretty and with crunch. Recommended
Mamasan Roll (3.5 stars): I bought this roll because many reviews have lauded it, but it was only okay. The roll is pretty and a little sweet but lacks much flavor. Just avocado, cream cheese and tempura shrimp, but no kick.
Chicken Katsu: (4 stars): This had a flavorful, crispy exterior and a tender, moist chicken interior that was fairly thin sliced and delicious. Nice entrée.