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PrintSake Sushi and Japanese Cuisine restaurant review
Joining the ranks of the plethora of Japanese eateries opening in Tulsa, Sake Sushi and Japanese Cuisine features a menu packed with unique sushi selections.
If there is one trend I can pinpoint this year, it is the growth in ethnic cuisine available to diners in Tulsa — and Japanese cuisine is leading the pack. Around the East 71st Street and South Memorial Drive area alone, I could list nearly half a dozen choices for sushi. The recently opened Sake Sushi and Japanese Cuisine, adjacent to Woodland Hills Mall, just might be the hidden gem.
Comfy wooden chairs and substantial tables and booths give the dining room a more upscale feel than its predecessor, Wasabi. The substantial sushi bar offers more than a dozen stools to sit and watch the experts roll. Grand pianos rattle off live music every evening, while weekends draw in live bands.
Upon being seated, diners receive complimentary bowls of edamame and miso soup — just like in most NYC sushi joints but a practice that is not the norm in Tulsa.
More than 20 choices of starters include chicken yakitori (grilled skewers, $5.95), mozzarella tempura ($5.95), negimaki (thin strips of beef wrapped around scallions and tossed with teriyaki sauce, $9.95), and seared tuna tataki ($11.95). We shared an order of steamed shrimp shumai dumplings ($5.95) and creamy shrimp (cream cheese and shrimp wrapped with wontons and fried, $5.95). Served with a sweet chili sauce, the shrimp were the better of the two by far.
Salads include the classic Japanese house salad with miso dressing ($2.95), seaweed salad ($4.95) and spicy octopus salad ($6.95). I would definitely have tried the octopus salad if I had noticed it on the menu before I ordered — next time.
The sushi menu boasts a whopping 30 “signature” rolls and more than 20 house rolls, as well as the typical selection of sushi and sashimi. We tried the Crazy Crab roll (crab, cream cheese and avocado inside and crab across the top as well as a drizzle of spicy mayo, $8.95), as well as the Tornado Roll (filled with fried yellowtail, jalapeno, crab and cream cheese, $9.95). I usually steer clear of rolls filled with cream cheese — it just doesn’t seem right — but these rolls were generous in flavor as well as size. The difficult part is choosing what to order from the vast list.
All of the combinations sound great, although I was a little put off that the “signature roll” menu included an OU roll and a Texas roll but nothing resembling a Cowboy! Maybe we can get them to work on that.
While the sushi is delicious, the Lunch Bento Box might be the best bargain in town. For $7.95 to $12.95, you receive a divided bento box filled with house salad with miso dressing, four pieces of California roll, sautéed vegetables, two pieces each of shrimp tempura and pork gyoza dumplings, a generous mound of steamed rice and a meat or sushi entrée including such offerings as teriyaki, pork katsu, soft shell crab, yakisoba and tempura shrimp. I tried the Yaki Niku ($9.95), thinly sliced beef sautéed with mushrooms in a savory teriyaki-style sauce with soy, mirin and sesame seeds. It was delicious and filling — I had so much left over, we had it again for dinner!
As the name suggests, the restaurant offers 15 varieties of sake and a handful of wines at the bar.
Sake Sushi and Japanese Cuisine
6827 S. Memorial Drive, 615-3727
Cuisine: Sushi and Japanese cuisine
Capacity: 120
Setting: South Tulsa, near Woodland Hills Mall
General manager: Jay Chung
Owner: In Kim
Reservations accepted: Yes
Prices: Appetizers, $2.95-$11.95; lunch entrées: $7.95-$14.95; dinner entrées: $14.95-$22.95; sushi rolls: $3.95-$14.95
Credit cards: All major accepted
Hours: Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday-Saturday; dinner: 5-10 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 5-10:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday; noon-9:30 p.m., Sunday
Dress: Casual
Noise level: Moderate
Handicapped access: Yes
Smoking: No
Parking: Parking lot
In Kim is also the owner of Asahi Japanese Restaurant, a more casual sushi bar across Memorial Drive, and is getting ready to open Asahi Japanese Steakhouse, an upscale hibachi restaurant at East 105th Street and South Memorial Drive.
