| rev:text
| - I was fortunate to have gone to the Table Magazine happy hour tasting, and overall, I was pretty impressed with Sakari's offerings. The one downside of the tasting was that many of the items up for grabs weren't on the actual menu, so we ended up ordering a few extra items to get a more accurate idea of what Sakari was up to.
Overall, the atmosphere is excellent. Would it be so nice without the incredible view of the city? I'm not sure, but the restaurant is very modern and uses a dark palette throughout, which works fine since there's so much light from the windows. The service was so-so, and probably the real down point of the experience. Perhaps it was the free tasting concept in the wait staff's mind, but many people were still ordering food off of the regular menu (we spent $90 on two rolls, the grilled cheese small plate, and a glass of $13 rosé), so I'm not sure why the waiters/waitresses seemed so disinterested. I would've been even more disappointed if this was the service provided, say, on a romantic evening when the bill would quickly escalate to the $120-150 range. They were fast to clear the table, but it was almost disruptive, as the staff continually interrupted conversations, reached over us for plates while we weren't quite finished, and even spilled stuff on my wife's purse. Really made for a meh experience.
The food, though, was good...I think. I'm torn, as Monterey Bay promotes their use of fresh fish (and the fish used WAS wonderful), but the sushi rolls were sort of victims of trying so hard to be unique that the fish becomes a backdrop to the other 5 ingredients in each roll. We tried about a dozen things, from fish-focused rolls and savory wagyu rolls, to dessert rolls, and almost all of them suffered from this. If I'm being honest, my favorite item from the evening was the sashimi. It was melt-in-your-mouth good. Which is probably why I walked away feeling like the rest of the rolls were overthought. If you have access to such incredible cuts of fish, why disguise the quality for the sake of trying to fit every flavor profile imaginable in each roll? Don't get me wrong, the rolls were all tasty, but if you pay $20 on a roll, I think I'd prefer to taste what I'm really paying for: the fish. Presentation, though, is spot-on, so the chefs certainly aren't slacking behind the bar.
The two non-sushi things that we tried were the dumplings and the grilled cheese small plate. The dumplings were awesome, with a pork sausage filling and a sweet sauce lining the plate. I was a bit surprised by how large the portion was, as well. The grilled cheese was good, but I probably wouldn't get again. It's simply too filling, and the stomach space would be better spent on the sush/fish options.
All-in-all, Sakari has loads of potential. The atmosphere and view are sensational. The staff is okay, but could use work on reading their customer's needs (the bussing of the tables was disruptive, but they at least kept waters topped off) and giving off a more positive vibe...epecially for the type of bills they're handing to customers. Perhaps, most importantly, the food is creative - almost to a fault - and delicious, so let's hope they pull everything together and make Sakari a top restaurant in experience, and not just elevation.
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