Sake has replaced Ginza Restaurant on Mineral Point Road as another Japanese restaurant; however, the main feature is the all-you-can-eat lunch.
Instead of a conveyor belt of sushi plates, you are presented with a menu in which you can select anything you want via checkboxes, like a dim sum menu. While everything is thus made to order, service is fast, as I never waited more than a few minutes for any item.
Sake seems to have a strong following already, as on my visits it appeared that many of the other customers were regulars. Lunch is $19.99 (drink not included), and menu choices include single pieces of sushi, rolls, appetizers, teriyaki, Bento boxes and ramen noodles.
You will find a large variety of single pieces of sushi. The masago is topped with a heap of tasty, slightly salty roe; the red clam is a nice change of pace, and it’s not at all chewy; the octopus was similarly tender and enjoyable.
Among the appetizers, I picked the seaweed salad, which was fresh and a worthy start to the meal. I also thought highly of the ebi shumai, which had a crispy exterior and a savory shrimp mixture inside, sitting in a sauce akin to soy.
Under the heading of classic rolls, the salmon skin roll was a hit. It’s comprised of crispy skin plus bits of cooked salmon. Note that each of the classic rolls comes with six pieces instead of the standard eight, which I was thankful for since I was going for breadth, not depth.
I tried two signature rolls, which had eight pieces. The avocado and cucumber were fine, but the eel seemed a bit off. Meanwhile, the snowfall roll, made of scallops and crab, plus a drizzle of mayo on top, was yummy.
I don’t recommend the other two items I ordered. The beef ramen comes with lettuce, seaweed and half a plain, boiled egg (not the standard ramen egg). The broth was bland, the lettuce was unnecessary, and the beef also was bland but tender.
The scallop hibachi has sauteed zucchini, mushrooms and onions that are over-seasoned with pepper. The scallops were tiny and didn’t have much flavor.
Sake is open for lunch and dinner every day.
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See more photos in our Sake Flickr album.
