Sakura Terrace Japanese Cafe

Let’s start with the positive… the food was good. I had the tempura which was crispy and hot. Another in our party had the sakura chirashi — you could tell it was fresh!
Now… The parking situation, maybe because it was a Friday night, but it sucked. Our reservations were for 6 and some of our party got parking in the lot, but others didn’t. I had to wait until 6:30 until the King street parking opened.
Our waiter was pretty slow to catch on if we needed another drink lol. Polite tho. After he cleared the table, he also didn’t check to see if we needed our check, wanted another drink, check in. I had to go up to the bar to get another drink, and 20 minutes later we had to flag him down for the check. Maybe he was new?
Summary — food decent — service iffy.

I’ve passed by this place a million times, across from my former barbershop (A’s Barbershop), but never tried it until this new year — their 2016 New Years Osechi sounded really good.
If you’re on King St. headed toward Diamond Head, before Ke’eaumoku, you’ll see Sakura Terrace’s wooden façade with a bunch of small palm trees lining the front. Surprisingly, the trees provide just enough privacy from the outside distractions. There’s also a reasonable amount of parking, directly in back of the place, and street parking along King St. We had to make a reservation for the Osechi, but I assume they take walk-​ins normally.
The Osechi was a pleasant surprise. It had all of what you could expect out of traditional Japanese New Year dishes (Sashimi, Nishime, Zoni soup, and other accompaniments), and was done very well. I enjoyed the flavor and smooth texture of the Mac Nut Tofu, as well as the freshly prepared Ahi, Hamachi, and Salmon sashimi sides. The flavor in the Nishime was very light and sweet, the Chirashi (with Unagi, Masago, Crab, gourd or «Kanpyou,» shredded egg, radish sprouts, nori, and Ikura) was both satisfying and also lightly flavored, and the lobster and butterfish were perfectly done too.
I am always more critical of Japanese food, only because a trip to Japan will do that to you, but Sakura Terrace did really well with everything I tried. I will definitely go back to see what their other menu items are like, especially after the way the Osechi was.

The japanese food is excellent! The service is quick and the prices are reasonable. I would hope they could expand the menu to include other japanese dishes. I understand the set menu makes it easier on the staff but a bigger selection might be worthwhile.

I’ve long wondered why the place with the most perfect weather in the world has so few semi-​outdoor, terrace seating restaurants. Sakura Terrace turned out to be exactly what I’ve been looking for. The open air atmosphere allows for a nice breeze to come through the shaded seating area, and the classy interior reminded me of places more common in Waikiki.
I tried the tiger prawn udon, the misoyaki butterfish, and the spicy ahi donburi and all were excellent. The service was unintrusive but kept our tea topped off very timely. I think some other reviewers have been a bit hard on this spot. For my part, I’m excited to see a nice, classy Japanese restaurant in what used to be a very Japanese part of Honolulu.
I’ll be back.

It took forever to get foods.
Sashimi not so fresh.
The rice tastes so bad, it was not soft.
I don’t reccomand here for Japanese people from Japan.

This is a wonderful small Japanese home style restaurant.

This little hidden place is quaint and has a nice modern Japanese interior. The staff seemed very friendly and greeted my party at the door. During my dinner the place was very crowded with a large party and the wait service was incredibly slow. Our waitress was really nice and apologized for long wait times for our food. The food itself is alright, and is comparable to most local Japanese joints around Oahu. I ordered the Yuzu chicken rice set and wasn’t too impressed with the food. It was neither good nor bad, but I probably wouldn’t order it again. The sushi rolls tasted alright but the rice fell apart easily. Would come back again if in the area, but not a «must eat» establishment when I visit back home from the mainland.

Great traditional japanese food. Beef is always tender. The lunch Udon teishoku is where it is at. Udon plus large tiger prawn tempura, bowl of rice, tofu, spicy tuna. 18 bucks. Quality food. Good atmosphere. Great service

«I do not tell a lie.»
This is my second time here and the food can be a hit or miss at times, More hits then missed though. For instance, avoid the Shumai as it tasted like the ones you can get in the grocer’s freezer section and the Big Flan had too much gelatin for my taste. Must get is the macadamia nut tofu, sushi rolls, and the Cobb salad. Other highlights are the hamachikama, tempura, chicken karaage and the yuzu chicken. Parking is a bit tight in their lot in the back, but there’s free street parking on King St after 6:30pm. They also have happy hour daily from 5−6pm daily.

Good food but it tooks so long to get it.
I guess they need more stuff in kitchen.
we are in at 12:15 and finally got food at 1:05.
It is too long to wait for Lunch, we are glad that we have plenty time for the day.

We went on a whim. Should have stayed with our first choice, another Japanese restaurant up the street. We were seated outside because the place was full. That was not a bad thing. The outside terrace was actually very nice. Breezy and comfy.
We were there for lunch but the prices were high for lunch and no lunch specials were offered. Two us ended up ordering the sushi: California Roll and Spicy Ahi. The third member of our party ordered the Oyaku Don combo. Two of us ordered iced tea.
The waitress tried to talk the two of us out of ordering the sushi because she said people usually order it as an appetizer. They were 8.00 each. The average price for a dish was 16.00 to 18.00 I believed her that it was going to be small until I saw that another diner had ordered sushi and it seemed sufficient for a light lunch.
To make a long story short, it took over a half an hour to bring out the place settings and our food. If the terrace area hadn’t been so comfy, we would have left. But in all fairness, we decided to wait and see.
The sushi rice seemed very bland… no saltiness or tart sweetness usually expected with sushi rice. The avocado seemed to have been unripe and was very rubbery. The imitation crab was hard. The spicy ahi was not spicy.
The Oyaku Don was also very bland.
It was as if none of the dishes had been seasoned at all.
The presentation of the food was nicely done, especially the sushi. But the eyes misled the taste buds. None of the dishes were memorable.
I reluctantly left little over 15 percent because I don’t think they did any of this intentionally. However, if they are in the food business. They should have known better.
We will not be returning.

We went to Sakura Terrace, because we had a gift card.
For one thing, the portions here are TINY. I understand it’s a Japanese restaurant, but the portions do need to be bigger, especially for the price it is. My boyfriend ordered the California roll sushi, which to me, you could have gotten the same thing at Genki’s for a MUCH lower price. Also, we ordered the garlic steak which was more fat and gristle than meat. We were so disappointed. The only redeeming factor was the dessert. It was a sundae with green tea ice cream, mochi balls, wafer crème cookies, fruit and ume. It was delicious!
The service here is okay. Our waiter was very attentive, but we did not like that the Asian girl behind the bar, while talking to the other employees kept dropping the F-​bomb as if it were going out of style.
All in all, I think this place has ran it’s course. I’ve heard there are plans to close it down or something like that. It might be this place’s time.

Been trying to dine here for a while.
Had a great meal at this gem of a restaurant. Staff is very welcoming and attentive and so so nice. The food was just Awesome!
We arrived around 530 on Tuesday and the parking lot was full except for one stall, I guess it was our destiny to dine here. It is a nice cozy atmosphere which has inside and outside seating. We choose inside. Mom had the butterfish and dragon roll, Steph had yuzu chicken and rainbow roll myself the Sakura Don and butter ika. We enjoyed it all I loved the ika butter so tender and Ono. Everything was Ono. For desert we ordered maacha cheesecake & Sakura parfait Steph wished it had more maacha flavor myself it was perfect for I am not a maacha lover. The parfait was a great ending to a great meal. We will definitely be back and soon.

Went to this place for lunch, and not only was the food fantastic at all levels but the service was great.
Granted, it wasn’t too busy and it wasn’t the cheapest Japanese good, but you gotta pay for good quality.
Our server even suggested a good ginjo sake to go with our meal. It turned out to be excellent.
The unagi bento was one of the best, well rounded bentos I have had on island ($ 18). Ample parking and great décor as well.

Sakura Terrace is a quiet, laid back place to have a meal. The food is authentic Japanese fare. They have a good mix of sushi and teishoku meals.
Our waiter Erik was attentive and quick. He greeted da hubs and I, sat us quickly, and attended to our needs regularly. Drinks were always filled– both alcoholic and non alcoholic. Tables were cleared as we finished our food. The spicy ahi don was tasty and fresh. The sushi rolls are quality too!
If your in need of a quiet meal without the hustle and bustle. Stop by!

I’m going to give this place a 5 star because their food was QUALITY food I mean this place was DELICIOUS. I mean inside looked really clean and high class and their food was cooked so perfectly, I ordered a butter fish, clams, and the salmon carpaccio. I don’t understand why this place has a rating of 3.5 stars, to me it is a good 5 star. oh and to add onto that ! I got a green tea cheesecake and another dessert (some Japanese dessert) but holy shit it was SOO good. Maybe I’m over exaggerating a lil but I thought it was great. Oh and the customer service was very good, our waitress was super nice and patient. The food is a lil expensive but that’s okay it’s worth it !

Authentic Japanese food. A few months we tried this place and we had their lunch menu they offered Don Bowls and udon combos, curry. And it was pretty good. This time around we tried the dinner menu although the server mentioned they changed the menu not too long ago. We ordered sushi, gomadashi, seafood bake, chicken Karaage. The food here is okay the drinks are reasonable. I ordered umeshu on the rocks 3.50. Good variety of sake & shochu and other drinks. Food and Service was good, clean restaurant, indoor and outdoor seating. My hubby wasn’t too impressed this time around. He liked the lunch menu the 1^st time much better.

* Price: $ $, reasonable. 4 star.
* Ambiance: clean and quaint with indoor dining room opening to the outdoor patio. 4 star.
* Location: parking available in the back. 4 star.
* Meals: excellent, fresh sashimi, various choices for everyone. 5 star.
* Service: excellent, 5 star.
Came here with my family since everyone like different things and my auntie can’t eat raw fish. It also is my cousin’s favorite place. We were not disappointed! The service was excellent and friendly!
The menu has variety of dishes, large drink menu and decent choices for desert.
We got butter fish, assorted sashimi plate (9 types), sun shine rolls, Hawaiian rainbow rolls, grilled chicken with yuzu, black pepper steak, and grilled calamari.
First of all, everything is quality and beautifully presented. The butter fish is cooked perfectly and melted in your mouth. Sashimi is fresh! Grilled chicken is tender, moist and delicious with yuzu sauce on top. Black pepper steak is cooked and seasonning perfectly!
For deserts, there is flan, greentea cheese cake, panna cotta and home made vanilla ice cream. Flan has perfect texture and is very light. Green tea cheese cake is tasty! Panna cotta is smooth, gently wobble and melt — in mouth feel served with raspberry sauce.
Overall, we love every dishes and will definitely come back!

Visited Sakura Terrace for the first time today and thoroughly enjoyed my experience here to say the least!
Came into the restaurant around 11:30 and were seated immediately as there were no other parties waiting to be seated. Many open tables inside and outside, but being that it was rainy today, we decided against sitting in the rain, haha.
Promptly ordered drinks and were given a menu showing the day’s special. The special was that if an entrée of at least $ 12 was purchased, an appetizer listed on the menu could be purchased additionally for just $ 5! Being that I was there with a friend, we split an appetizer and ordered an ahi poke don and a wafu beef steak don. The appetizer was hands down one of the best teri fried chicken wings I’ve had — their chicken was cooked perfectly, not overdone, and it came with a cute side order of mac salad.
The entrée I ordered (the poke don) was delicious and was quite a large portion for lunch! Both my friend and my bowls were accompanied by miso soup and pickles (cucumber and takuan I think?) that were delicious as they were soaked in ume! The poke itself was delicious as the fish was fresh, and the shoyu, green onion, and onion were not overpowering, something I really look for in a good poke!
After our main entrees, we shared a Sakura Parfait which was the perfect size for sharing (after a large meal) or individual (if you just eat an appetizer or something!).
Our total was around $ 50, but it was a pretty good deal for all the food that we got, a drink, and dessert to compliment the complete meal.
I will definitely be back to Sakura Terrace soon — a new favorite of mine for sure! If you’ve got a little bit of money saved up or feel like treating yourself to a cute meal, come by this restaurant and you will leave more than satisfied!

I am always up to trying new Japanese restaurants. So, when a co-​worker told me about her good experience at Sakura, I made a bee-​line for this place.
Every time I go to Sakura, I get one of two items — spicy yakiniku donburi (teriyaki beef) or spicy yakitori donburi (teriyaki chicken). The donburis come with rice, tsukemono, and miso soup. What I really appreciate is that this place lets me customize my order… without getting those weird/​judging looks from the waiter/​waitress.
The spicy yakiniku donburi normally comes in a bowl with regular white rice and the seasoned beef cooked with onions. Me, being particular, always requests for the rice to be substituted for sushi rice. I love the spice that they add to the beef; it gives it a nice kick with the sweetness of the teriyaki sauce and the onions. The sushi rice adds more flavor. Love the combination together.
The spicy yakitori donburi comes in a bowl with regular white rice and the seasoned chicken with shredded cabbage with dressing. I order this dish with sushi rice substituted for the regular rice and no dressing on the cabbage.
Also, I’d like to note, even with these substitutions/​alterations, my order always comes out correct. In fact, since I would go there often, one of the waitresses that frequently works would know my order by heart. When she would take the order, she would just have to ask if I wanted beef or chicken that night. She would often be our server and she, along with the other staff, have always given good customer service.
The donburis that I usually order are less than $ 10 each. For good food and service, this place is definitely a good value.