Saji-Ya

I do keep coming here for very specific sushi rolls and the calamari appetizer but nothing else really. If their other food was as great, I would give 4 stars.
Personal favorites:
–Calamari appetizer: «meaty and good quality. Always crispy and the accompany sauces are great. Spritz a bit of lemon on top and it’s DELICIOUS!
–Spicy tuna: fish and sauce ratio is nice and tastes very fresh.
–Dynamite-​the sauce is the winner here and I always order extra sauce on the side. Be warned, it’s spicy.
–Crunchy-​It is good as well but I prefer my raw sushi.
***Overall, all their maki rolls are good with the great ones specifically mentioned above.
Nigiri sushi: I’ve tried several and the reason I’m not saying much is that although the fish is great quality, the rice to fish ratio is not the best. There’s too much rice to fish so that ruins the whole appeal of nigiri sushi. You should be able to taste the fish more then the rice.
Skip:
–Bento boxes: I’ve tried all the Classic bentos and the only decent one was the salmon bento. The others were bland and the protein was dry. Overall, not worth the price.
–Shrimp tempura: Although served piping hot and crispy, for $ 20, order two of the calamari appetizers for your money.
Drinks:
Beer-Can’t really go wrong with it if you buy can or bottle. Tap is always «watery» no matter where you go.
Specialty drinks-​Hit or miss. Sometimes it’s made wayyyyyyyyyy too strong, other times you wonder where’s the alcohol.
Service-I’ve been here 20+times and each time service is a hit or miss (more hit but still…). A lot of the misses comes from the wait staff and not necessarily the speed in which I get my sushi because sushi I know is NOT fast food. But I’ve had waitstaff forget to bring water or even our drinks and the appetizers has already arrived. Or several times we ask for extras like ginger or sauce, it never comes until we’ve asked at least 2x. This place use to get busy, but with so many other sushi places popping up, you can bet any day/​night/​time you go you will get seated immediately.
Go if you have an inkly for sushi and you are on Grand Ave.

My hubby and I went here last year for their valentine’s day special. It was spendy but really good. Even though we had a reservation we had to wait a while. Parking was a pain being a popular night out and sharing a parking lot next to another popular restaurant. But I think it’s worth the hassle. All in all had a good experience.

The sushi had a LOT of rice. This was just my plate but it was a universal problem. I don’t recommend it — go to Wakame in Uptown same price much higher quality. I have eaten a lot of sushi. I mean way too much sushi. I know.
Their one saving grace is they have at least 6 beers on tap. But I stared at my empty glass for quite some time, so, that was depressing.

I’m a California girl and LOOOOVE Sushi, so I’m super happy to find a nice sushi bar here in Minnesota. A little pricey, but seems about standard prices for Minnesota.
The staff is super friendly and kept me company as I was dinning alone. They even remembered my bosses coming in the day before talking with them.
My check total was around $ 38, I love their veggie rolls (appetizer) also had their Twister roll and one other that I can’t remember the name. I was there during Happy Hour and had their happy hour white wine (yummy)$ 4.50 a glass nice :)

I’ve been here twice now and both times it’s exceeded my expectations. The food tastes amazing, the service is top notch and I love the beer selection. We didn’t try the sushi, but I heard that was excellent too. I highly recommend this place to any and all my friends. You won’t be disappointed!

I’ve been to this place quite a few times. The regular service is above average. I’ve never left less than a 15% tip for them.
However, I’ve taken to sitting at the sushi counter when I come alone because the sushi chefs there are great. They are chatty, friendly, and knowledgable. I’ve tried new things because of them (sometimes for free), and they are very happy to make something over again if it’s not exactly what you want.
It’s one of my favorite sushi places in the area, and I would highly recommend it.

This is a sushi only review. Rolls themselves were fine. But the prices was steep for the quantity and the selection of maki rolls wasn’t all that expansive or diverse. Who knows, maybe I would have had better luck choosing other sushi preparations. Service on our lone visit was amusingly awful. Friendly enough, but painfully slow given the place was dead, with several botches. Not awful. Total meh place for me. I’ve had better experiences at Wakame and Bagu.

The food was just not good for the price they charge. The sushi at Cub Foods would have been more satisfying for me and my wallet… even though my friend treated.
My friend and I ordered the Tonkatsu as an appetizer, pork chop breaded in panko with a sauce they call the Bulldog, which was a brown tangy sauce. The panko crust fell right off the pork, it’s wasn’t even clinging by any standard, shit just slid straight off. The pork was white and chewy. Sauce was too thick. I could have made it better at home.
I went with a sushi combo, it came with 5 pieces of nigiri sushi with a
tekka-​kappa roll, miso soup and Saji-​Ya house salad. Soup was mediocre, the salad dressing was like a bland thousand island and not memorable.
The nigiri pieces were fine, but there was this weird tofu rice piece. It seriously looked like animal skin wrapped around rice. I can’t believe I even tried a bite, it was super sweet and unappetizing.
The décor screams «trying too hard.» Seating was all black, we were in an area where we had to step up onto a platform but then down into a booth. Wasn’t comfortable to get into or to sit at because there was too much space between the table and bench on both sides.
Or server was super nice, our water was filled quickly, and she asked us if we needed anything frequently… it sort of came to a point when it was too much asking. I hate to complain about too much service, but even my friend after the 5^th or 6^th time she came by asked if it was rude that he was annoyed by it. Although I appreciate it, it just starts to interrupt the conversation at the table too often.
I doubt I’d be back. Probably plenty of other places in the area to try.

This is also another best Japanese Restaurant I like in the Twin Cities!
The Sushi is really fresh. I loved the atmosphere. Especially when they are real Japanese!
I love their lunch Bento Boxes!
Foods are always fresh and yummy!
Been going there for over many many years!

I came here tonight with a friend and we split the dragon roll and the philly roll. Both were very good. I also had a martini with patron and some jalapeño. Overall very good, not over the top or anything but still very good. I’ll come back.

Excellent Sushi! Great Service! We will be returning!

We are here last night and loves the food. Thought it was great although the portions are small and prices high but seems on par with other sushi restaurants in the Twin Cities.

Great date night place! Love their sushi and the atmosphere and décor. Service is good too!

I grew up coming to this restaurant, and because of that I never really knew how good it was. Whenever I go to a different place for Sushi I am just disappointed! The crunchy roll is a personal favorite

I wanted to rate this place 3-​stars but they get 4 from me for one reason: Ahi Poke.
I’m from Hawaii and I’ve been needing my fix of Poke (pronounced poh-​kay; and is the Hawaiian equivalent of ceviche) and Saji-​ya makes a decent bowl of it! It’s pricey ($ 11.95) and served with shredded carrots and crushed macadamia nuts, but I’ll be back for this, yay
Double bonus for Saji-ya’s location, only a 10-​min walk from Mitchell, right on Grand Avenue, and ample dedicated parking.
Their ½ off sushi menu at happy hour is also a very worthy reason to stop in and give this place a try
— Also like the crunchy scallop roll. Worth every penny!
— Not a fan of the California Roll

I love the happy hour menu. You just can’t beat the price and the sushi is excellent. Service is always nice I tend to go early before they get busy.

My favorite sushi stop in the twin cities. Friendly staff, great sushi, and the prices CANNOT be beat if you come at happy hour! Rolls are only $ 4-​$ 7 between 3pm-​6pm daily, even on the weekends!
I usually get the crunchy scallop roll, and the harumaki which is a delicious vegetable egg roll. I’m picky about certain vegetables, one of which is cucumber, which seems to be in a LOT of sushi rolls. The staff at saji ya is always very friendly and willing to accommodate by substituting a different ingredient for me at no additional charge.
This is one of those restaurants I bring all my friends to when they come from out of town! 5 stars.

Great looking place in a great looking neighborhood. The outdoor patio looks very nice, too bad it was too cold to sit on when I was there. The sushi here was… different, but in a good way. The spicy salmon roll is my favorite, I get it wherever I go. I’ve never seen anyone put lettuce in it before but Saji did and it was very good, and very spicy. In fact we got three of the more spicy rolls on the happy hour menu and they all had great kick to them. The happy hour menu was great at went from 3 – 6. Great place to stop for sushi before a Wild game!

This is my go-​to Japanese restaurant in Saint Paul when I don’t feel like going downtown. It’s solidly good Japanese food that will probably satisfy your Japanese friends.
The menu has changed quite a bit since my first visit. They seem to have kept some of the more inventive bar food (e.g., wasabi chicken wings), but also broadened the authentic Japanese offerings to include more kinds of grilled fish (just like most Japanese people have on a regular basis). They also included a dash of Hawaiian food such as lomi lomi salmon and poke. I wanted Japanese comfort food, so I ordered grilled saba, rice and miso soup, and hijiki (black seaweed salad with tofu). My husband had the fried calamari. The calamari was exquisite, cooked just right and not rubbery. The two sauces were very good. One tasted like tonkatsu sauce (like a Japanese A1), and the other a spicy mayonnaise-​based sauce. My saba was slightly dry and needed seasoning, but with soy sauce it was good. The hijiki was just like what I had in Japan. The miso soup was a bit salty, but in line with what you would find in some parts of Japan. And they did a fine job with the rice, too.
I’ve enjoyed the lunch specials here. For about the same amount of money you might spend at a certain national chain yuppie fresh bread and salad place, you can get an authentic Japanese teishoku (set menu) lunch complete with entrée, salad, vegetable, rice, and soup.
The service was friendly and prompt. The music was a little clubby, and the Japanese lamp-​style décor reminds me of Japanese street stalls. They managed to convey the feel of a Tokyo street without actually hauling in too much from Japan or trying to be too authentic.
You can get sushi at any number of places, but real Japanese food is harder to find. Skip the sushi and try real Japanese food here.

Light on time and desiring a lighter dinner prior to going to a classical guitar concert, this place fit the bill. Lucky for us, we were pulling into the parking lot just as another driver was about to back out of their parking space. Score!
We were promptly escorted through a sea of busy tables to sit at the sushi bar. A server took our other-​than-​sushi order, and then we waited a bit to request our choice delicacies from the sushi chef closest to us. The spicy tuna rolls, and the eel roll were all good, and the various sashimi were fresh and tasty. The enoki mushroom appetizer we selected was also nice.