Sushi Sakai

Best sushi in Spokane! My husband and I love sushi and moved from a place that had exceptional sushi. We have tried about every other sushi place in Spokane and have been disappointed but Sushi Sakai is a welcomed surprise… delicious, fresh, clean restaurant and good service. Really good and certainly the best in Spokane. They have great veggie and vegan sushi as well!

I am pretty sure that the tuna on my nigiri was previously frozen. Other rolls were nice, though.

Omg! Best sushi I’ve tried and fresh! Food came out at a good time didn’t seem like we waited long. The fish was fresh, we sat at the bar and we could see how fresh the fish was from the cooler glass. Also, when they took out more fish they would throw the old fish away even when it still looked ok to me! Some places I’ve seen wouldn’t even change out the fish they would just leave it there and you could tell it wasn’t good. Only thing is that they don’t have a hostess when you walk in so you don’t seem to be greeted well. I think the 2 men making the sushi are father and son and they do really good work. Customer service I would have to say was ok with the 2 waitresses they had but for the 2 men doing the sushi they were good always ask us how things were (we sat at the bar). That’s why I’m giving this place a 4 star and not a 5, not because of the food but with some of the customer service that was given at the beginning. Definitely will be back for the sushi though and will recommend.

Really, really love this place. Looks like it’s an average 5 star review and I can see why. Wish I could afford to go more often.

The experience can make a good/​great restaurant bad. We want there, the place looked really good and the food was great but the service was absolutely horrible. There was only three customers and we waited over 30 minutes for Miso Soup even to be served. The an additional 10 minutes for the rolls. Just be prepared for this.

Great, fresh fish and quality ingredients. It appears the restaurant is run by a family and they do a great job from top to bottom. I ate here with two other people and between the three of us we had pretty much every type of sushi accounted for — a few rolls, some nigiri and sashimi as well. It was all excellent. We will be back

Absolutely amazing sushi. Every piece was so fresh and tasted wonderful. Have eaten at many great sushi restaurants, and Sushi Sakai now is at the top. Don’t overlook this place; excellent food and service. The owner made sure everything was perfect.

This was our first visit to Sushi Sakai. We decided to try the restaurant after seeing reviews on Unilocal.We had three rolls, Crunchy, Spyder and Yummy Yummy. Each were delicious. Server, Katie, was very pleasant and efficient. Restaurant was clean and had a good layout. Great food and service! I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for sushi in Spokane!

Super neat space. Only draw back is parking is horrible. Food however was AWESOME! Tons of fish not much fried stuff or fake crab that is in most sushi rolls. Great place, good service and so fresh fish and plenty of it :-)

Very good food., the sushi was fresh and good. They have a great sushi bar, clean and friendly atmosphere. I would definitely come back and recommend this place to anyone.

What a nice surprise in Spokane. Thank you fellow Unilocalers for sending me to the right place. Sushi is by far one of my favorite food groups, I like it simple, fresh and for a reasonable price. Sometimes at sushi restaurants the service can be suspect… but not here.
First of all I had salmon, yellow tail and albacore sashimi. All were cut thick, served cold and very fresh. I also had a special roll which the waitress recommended… it was great. Speaking of the waitress, I sat at the sushi bar, the place was not busy, but she was amazing. Personable, loves what she does, attentive and was very easy on the eyes :-)
If you are looking for sushi in Spokane, try this place out. It is well worth it. The only knock I will give them is for the obnoxious shelves behind the sushi bar which change neon colors to go along with the music.

There is no doubt that this is the best sushi you will find in Spokane. What a jewel this is compared to other sushi establishments in Spokane. Generous portions, and the fish is really fresh as in the sushi chef gets shipments from Japan, and other native places. Quality is the theme here, not just oversauced rolls. Try it, and you’ll see the difference. I had the Chirashi with 18+ slices of assorted sashimi over a bed of rice, best tasting thing I had in Spokane for a long time. Give this place a try, you won’t regret it. Near Gonzaga on Hamilton.

When Japanese food is done with care and craft it’s some of the best food on the planet. Sushi Sakai in Spokane, Washington did just that. Between the heavenly Las Vegas roll and the earthy Chicken Yakisoba, I left the restaurant feeling blissful, dare I say giddy from such an intentional meal. The artist in the kitchen, James, totally crushed this meal. According to James, Sushi Sakai plans to open a second location in the Spokane Valley. Finally, my daughters were thrilled that the restaurant played hip and contemporary Japanese background music.

Generous portions, impeccable service, and fresh fish with actual flavor! In regards to Spokane sushi standards, Sushi Sakai dominantly sits at the top. What separates Sushi Sakai from the rest is the abundant amount of quality ingredients in each roll. Key word — quality. A $ 15 roll here is nearly twice the size of most sushi places I’ve eaten at in Spokane. And the rolls aren’t twice the size because they are adding extra rice or mashed up spicy who-​knows-​what-​kinda-​fish onto the roll. They give you huge chunks of fish that have you going «mmm» in satisfaction after every bite. Little to no sauces are glazed over rolls and that’s a good sign. Sometimes restaurants saturate their fish with sauces to mask the taste of fish being old.
What I ordered:
— Seafood Tempura $ 14.95 (12 pieces) salmon, halibut, red snapper, shrimp, and calamari
(The tempura is so flaky and crispy. Yum. So many pieces for the price. A+)
— Yummy Yummy Roll $ 15.95 (10 pieces) tuna, salmon, yellowtail, white tuna, albacore, red snapper, cucumber, avo
(I wasn’t lying when I said they don’t skimp on their fish.)
— Boston Roll $ 15.95 (8 pieces) crab, cucumber, asparagus, avo inside w/​blue fin tuna on top
(Recommend)
— Paradise Roll $ 15.95 (8 pieces) super white tuna, tuna, cucumber, avo inside w/​super white tuna, tuna and red tobiko on top
(Also recommend)
— Spicy Scallop Hand Roll $ 7.95 (1 hand roll) scallop, sriracha, cucumbers, rice, nori wrap
(Beware. It’s spicy, but a good spicy.)
The menu is clear cut and easy to read. Descriptions, # of pieces in each order, and prices are all noted for. A nice touch to the menu was the inclusion of which items were gluten-​free or spicy and which rolls were all fried or partially fried.
Located near GU & open from 11am until 11pm. It’s next to the Bruchi’s/Froyo on Hamilton. You can easily miss it due to little signage, so make sure to keep an eye out. The restaurant is clean and they have a big screen HD TV that’s worth mentioning. Sushi + watching sports on a big screen TV at the same time sounds like a great combo to me.
So glad my brother introduced me to this place, very well knowing of my undying love for sushi. Oh man… Sushi Sakai, you are my new favorite sushi joint in Spokane.

You can tell the guys here really take pride in what they do. The fish is fresh, the service is great, and the place is super clean.

I was visiting Spokane with family and I was really impressed with this place!
I’ll admit, as a longtime San Francisco Bay Area resident, I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to fish and seafood. It’s sort of my default to be skeptical of fish the further I get away from the ocean.
So when I heard we were going to a sushi place I was like… Ok. Spokane isn’t the *furthest* place from the ocean, but it’s not that *close* either. Additionally, my family and I are Japanese-​American, so we can have pretty high standards when it comes to sushi.
But, feeling magnanimous, I decided that I would ‘go easy’ on Sushi Sakai in terms of judgement.
‘Going easy’ was not needed. The fish was awesome, fresh-​tasting and well-​cut, the rice was perfectly seasoned, the nori and wasabi were all excellently put together, in good proportion. We were all really happily surprised!
I ordered several sets of very simple, traditional-​style nigiri — which is impossible to do well without fresh fish and excellent preparation. There is no spicy mayo or tempura batter to mask the texture or taste of the fish, so you really have to know what you’re doing and start with good ingredients. It’s sort of my metric for determining the quality of a sushi place. Again, Sushi Sakai passed with flying colors!
My boyfriend ordered a bento box combo with teriyaki beef — because he hates fish (sad face) — and he said it was one of the best he’d ever tasted. High praise from the non-​fish-​eater as well!
Of course, I will say that my Japanese family was a little miffed that our server didn’t know the Japanese names for the different kinds of fish — so when my dad ordered saba and ika, the waitress stared at him blankly until she scanned the menu and said, «Oooooh, you mean ‘mackerel’ and ‘squid’ «. However, ehem, seeing as how Spokane seems to be a predominantly white area, I don’t think this is that big of a deal if the servers are a little unfamiliar using the Japanese terms.
Other than that, everyone had only great things to say about the food, and even the pickiest among us admitted that they really enjoyed their meals.
Any time I am in the Spokane area, it’s always going to be at the top of my list to return to Sushi Sakai!

Best place for sushi in Spokane! Hands down I’m Asian. I know my my fish. Fish kept in excellent conditions and great service. Didn’t expect this from spokane

Food was delicious! Tried the Boston roll, Crunchy roll and our previous favorite the 911 roll. The 911 is our favorite and the Boston roll was tasty as well. We also had the beef yakisoba which had great flavor, generous portions of meat, and crisp vegetables. Service was decent as there was only one server who was very busy yet efficient. Overall it was a great weeknight dinner.

I have been there a couple times, they are slow but the food is good. The waitress is there when you need her and the food is fresh and tasty. Today was the first time I experienced a roll that was not right there and ended up with sushi all over my lap, but that gave me an opportunity to go into their bathroom. It is a shared bathroom for all the establishments, being close to Gonzaga with a bar in the joint area it was nice to see a clean and maintained bathroom. By all means check them out, just don’t go if you are under a time limit. My hour lunch took an hour and 15 min this time. And I only work 3 min away. Try the Fire Bombs and the Rattlesnake Roll both were fantastic.

The best sushi I’ve had in Spokane, I was nearly about to give up on sushi away from the coast, so happy I tried here. Fresh delicious and great atmosphere. I loved it so much I went twice yesterday!
WILL definitely be coming here as often as possible. :)