Sarku Japan Sushi Bar

Great spot for a quick lunch while you’re shopping.
Pros:
+ Samples help you try out a couple of rolls so you can get what you like
+ Reasonable prices
+ Non-​sushi foods as well — although if you ask me, I think it’s a shame to order something that isn’t sushi here
+ Spicy Tuna roll is amazing!
Cons:
— Often a bit crowded
— Long lines if you go during crowded meal times

The best dragon roll of all time! Hot and crispy and awesome.
I also had the seaweed salad — very refreshing with ginger and sesame.

I’ve gone to Sarku three times in the last three weeks and each time it’s been wonderful! The rice isn’t seasoned with sugar and vinegar, which is traditional, but helpful for my waistline and the portions are great for a single person, which I am currently. The preparers also ask if the customer would like sauce added to their meals, which is helpful for me since I am allergic to some shellfish and soy and some egg preparations. I LOVE that I am able to go to a stand and get FRESH sushi, maki, nori, and ask that certain things not be added and without grunting or groaning and the sushi be prepared as I asked. From now on I may end up going to the mall for my sushi and forgo the Japanese/​Korean sushi restaurants where I am met with grouchiness. Although the stand doesn’t offer you as much as a full restaurant, you DO get really fresh sushi and great service at a wonderful price!

This sushi is surprisingly the best sushi is St. Louis.
It was melt in your mouth delicious, try it for yourself!

Just found a new favorite sushi place. Honestly, it’s understandable that most people would underestimate the quality of the food at a mall sushi stand, but they’d be making a huge mistake.
The quality is outstanding. The sushi here is 1000 times better than café mochi or sushi ai. I almost wish I were kidding, but the truth is that St. Louis is seriously lacking in quality sushi joints. I can’t tell you how shocked I was to find one one in the galleria, of all places. Granted, I’m pretty sure the fish topping the rolls was chopped up, but honestly, it was still delicious. I’ve seen chefs do that in four star restaurants. To me it’s not a big deal.
The prices are better than anywhere else in town, including sushi to go, even for special rolls. The service is also great. The guy making our sushi really took the time to make it well, and accommodated our request for eel sauce on top of our rolls with humor and style.
The volcano roll is really good. Highly, highly recommended.

Have to give this place 5 stars for just turning heads when you tell them this is the best mall sushi ever. I couldn’t believe it when I first tried the place. I love the sushi there. The people that work there are always so nice and friendly. They always ask if I would like eel sauce and spicy mayo added to my rolls (which I always get). I haven’t had a roll that disappoints me. The rolls are made in front of you too, which is nice. Most of the rolls are standard, but they do have some random rolls that are unique to the shop. I always come here when I want cheap sushi or shopping in the mall. This is probably one of the galleria’s best kept gems. I can’t wait to come back.

Amazing sushi. So fresh! Cali roll & shrimp tempura roll were the bomb! It was made right in front of me and super fast, and they did not even get mad when i asked for extra ginger. I will be back for sure.

I’m a sushi addict much to my dietitan’s chagrin (she says you shouldn’t live on sushi almost exclusively… hahaha). So maybe I’m a bit of a snob…
My fave kinds of sushi are rainbow rolls, spicy fish trios (a mishmash of various fish rolls), Veggie rolls, Eel rolls, and of course specialty rolls (except without ANYTHING crunchy — cannot stand that!)
Anyway, it was a Friday night, I got to the mall early to grab some food before work (I work the occasional shift at Anthropologie) and thought I’d grab some sushi instead of a random item from Starbucks. I figured I’d order a spicy tuna roll as I thought it would be quicker. The sign saying made fresh was so enticing, but also made me think it could take a bit of time…
Anyway, I don’t know if my order got shuffled at what, but I was almost late to work as it took over 45 minutes. What did I wind up receiving? Four tiny (nickel sized circumference) pieces of seaweed wrapped rice (rice inside of seaweed) with a tiny dollop of oddly tasting spicy tuna in the middle). so maybe the time it took was part of the problem, or maybe it was that the type of roll I received was not at all what I normally receive when I order a spicy tuna roll elsewhere. I don’t know. It certainly didn’t look like ANY of the rolls pictured on Unilocal.I understand there are different types of sushi, but it wasn’t what I expected even based on the photos outside of their stand.
The people working there — as someone else mentioned — weren’t the friendliest either… but I understand how it must be stressful to have so many people waiting.
It wasn’t the greatest experience and I would rather get grocery store sushi before rather than go there again… or even better? Hit up Café Mochi beforehand and get it to go.

After a little dress shopping, we ventured down to the food court and I knew immediately where I wanted to eat.
Sarku makes each roll to order. Sure, you’re probably going to have a wait a bit, but you’re getting fresh sushi right in front of your eyes for a fraction of the price you’d find at any sushi bar in St. Louis.
My nigiri was delicious, but I wasn’t too keen on the service. They weren’t friendly at all, but I guess if I worked in a food court in a mall, I wouldn’t be too terribly friendly either. Overall, I would come here again. It’s cheap, yummy sushi you don’t have to drive to if you’re shopping.

The Philly roll was too salty. The Sarku roll was very good.
Wish they had soft drinks as beverage choices, but I understand.

I’m rating based on what this restaurant is… it’s fast food in a mall court. However, it really is pretty good stuff. The rolls are about 7 bucks a piece, and they’re pretty flavorful. They hand make each one while you wait.
This past visit I tried the green dragon roll, red dragon roll, christmas roll, and seaweed salad. All together it was $ 28. I really couldn’t tell the difference between the two dragon rolls, but they were both good. The christmas roll was ok… not as good as the dragons but still enjoyable.
Yeah, I know… it’s sushi out of a mall kiosk. But compared to the other options, this seemed the most interesting and satisfying choice in the food court. I’d easily go back.
… oh… and they don’t have fountain sodas. I got my sodas at another restaurant.

It was barely fast food sushi quality. Fish seemed to be not very fresh. Paid too much for it too. Should have got the sushi at Whole Foods on the other side of I-​64.

Fresh sushi in the mall.

Well hot damn, there exists a page for Sarku! I am impressed! :D
It’s as good as mall food court sushi gets. They make each roll FRESH in front of you so you know what you are getting is good and hasn’t been sitting out all day in a cooler with hard crunchy rice. The rice is fresh out of the cooker! I always go with Cali rolls because not really anything «raw» about them so can’t go wrong. They contain cucumbers, avocado, imitation crabmeat (made of whitefish and crab flavouring) and flying fish eggs. I have eaten here on almost every trip to the Galleria so far and I have been satisifed each time with the food and the prices. The line can get kind of long sometimes which sucks, but after a long day of shopping (LOL) it’s totalllly worth it. Way cheaper, faster, and healthier than the filth that is the Cheesecake Factory.
:-P
(But of course if I could decide between this or a «legit» restaurant, I’d pick elsewhere. It’s just conveniently placed in the center of the Galleria food court, lol.)

Yes you can find good sushi in mall food court! I was really surprised as to how fresh and flavorful the sushi was at Sarku Japan – I mean, it’s in a mall… I had the salmon sashimi, tuna roll, and cucumber roll. Nice sized pieces for the price and well cut fish (an art in itself). Plus the rice was well seasoned, great texture, and a good temperature. Excellent alternative to the usual mall fare.