Review Sakana Restaurant - Brisbane

I came with a group of 3 over the weekend for lunch. The place is nice and clean. Staff were generally friendly. Slightly disappointed with the grilled squid as it seemed quite small. Portions were on the small side. The bowl of rice was probably somewhere between 1/2 to 2/3 of what you would get from other Japanese restaurants. Perhaps it was because I was ordering from the lunch special menu that portions were a bit smaller. Even then, I'm not a big eater and I wasn't quite full despite an entre (normal price) and lunch special combined. Food quality is good. Fresh sashimi. Price-wise is probably leaning more to the pricey side. I can think of other Japanese restaurants that offer better value for money (not necessarily cheaper, just better value). Parking appeared plentiful but there were a lot of 10 minute parking bays despite the village where the restaurant was located was half-closed. It's worth a visit. I might visit again for their full menu and make my final decision then.

One of my favourite Japanese in north-side. I am keep coming back for the quality dishes. Honestly, i have never get disappointed. Rolls and other dishes are all well balanced on taste and the texture. Highly recommended.

Love love love Sakana! I've been a handful of times now and love the chilled atmosphere, prompt service and delicious food. Seriously! Food is delish and so reasonably priced too! Lots of options on the menu to choose from too. This will be a staple in my restaurant repertoire.

The service and food quality are excellent. This place is amazing!! Could not recommend more.

Delicious dinner Bento box, friendly staff and fast service.

The best Japanese restaurant for me!!! We have been this place almost 5yrs. Never had disappointment!! Thank you for all. Nagasaki is awesome!!! Rolls are fascinated!!!

Great food! Consistent since day one, they are one of the original restaurants of Clayfield! Lunch time bento’s are super generous. Their menu overall is delicious. Local favourite!

Had a pleasant surprise, plenty of sushi roll choices and quality food. Friendly staff and relaxing atmosphere.

Great range of menu options, fresh ingredients, healthy dishes, traditional Japanese food, friendly service

Delicious food but hard to get parking as the complex has mainly short term spaces. Enjoyed everything I ate here, salmon, sushi, miso eggplant etc.

We waited more than an hour for two Beef bento sets which never came in a restaurant that was relatively empty. The long waiting time was sufficient for one staff to complete her dinner break. but what crossed the line was when a guy who came in 20mins was served his order. Totally disappointed and upset!

This hidden gem is great. The food is always consistent and amazing. The grilled whole squid is a must try. It tantalises your tastebuds and takes you into a different world. We always over order but always try our best not to waste a morsel.<br/>The only downside is sometimes the service is a little slow and sometimes there's a bit of a language barrier with the waitress's. Other than that, it's become one of my favourite eateries and can't go a few weeks without my fix 😍

A lovely looking restaurant, we actually got in the tardis, went back to the 1970's and put in a table reservation 'just in case'. Not that it achieved much, as there were no seats available and we ended up seating outside. Upon asking the waitress if there were tables available, we think she 'got the hint' - later on, she informed us of when an inside seat was free. <br/><br/>Service was a two headed beast. On one head, fantastically friendly, very helpful and informative; my questions about a legendary Japanese whiskey displayed on the bar and the Chef's special sauce on my Chicken Yaki were completely addressed. On the other head, the wait time was possibly the longest I have witnessed in a restaurant. To give you some idea - we entered with the restaurant full; by the time we finished, we were literally the last couple in there as they packed up. Bear in mind this was a 7.15 arrival, with nearly a 8.45 exit!<br/><br/>Anyway, 'all can be forgiven' if it was worth it, and there are some golden moments. The Miso soup (*****) at $3.00 is a delicious 'broth' that froths with flavour, and its cosy on a colder night. Went all to quickly! The Aussie made, super healthy sounding Apple & Guava juice (****) was deliciously different also, and although i'm not a big fan of squid - too much of a 'chewy booey' for me - the battered squid (****) was admittedly nicely seasoned, battered and generally good. <br/><br/>I really was considering Chicken Karaage - a massive Japanese favourite of mine - but plumed for the Chicken Yaki (**.5) instead. The noodles were classic, the chicken thigh meat in abundance and nicely cooked and it would have been sufficient to feed two peeps, which at $17.5 makes it not bad value. <br/><br/>However, the sauce was too sweet and let down the dish, and the same criticism was levelled by Arline Bentulan Cimagala at the sauce on her plate. Saucily sweet was the word on the street, and unfortunately, for that reason its not as high a rating as I would have hoped to have landed. <br/><br/>To close, the menus are some of the best I have seen, well presented and clean with good pictures. Although there is a lack of product description. Hats off for the service also - some of the best in terms of friendliness - but the speed of service certainly needs fine tuning.

Really really nice meal. Teriyaki dishes are fantastic - chicken, salmon beef etc. the noodle dishes are really good too. I've never had a bad dish here. Gyoza and edamame are brilliant also. Easy to access - surprising considering it's just off of Sandgate Rd. service is fantastic and they're so friendly. Very, very affordable. Fantastic place, definitely recommend

Have been one of my favorite places for years. It is a bit expensive and staff barely speaks English and does not know their own menu. But the food is awesome! I would even say incredibly inventive rolls.

Best value and most authentic Japanese in north Brisbane! Their service is prompt and friendly, food authentic and tasty, and of course great value. Our favourite dishes are the vegetable u-don, yaki, pan friend gyoza and spicy Edamame. The winner by far though, is always the eggplant dengaku - miso glazed grilled eggplant. We always order one each! <br/><br/>And of course, the sake is great - try the warm house sake 👌🏼

Fresh and tasty!! Great Japanese food and won't brake the bank!!! Amazing the chicken udon and made to order sushi! Try the sweet grape sake it won't let you down!!!!

Korean pretending Japanese. I ordered Japanese curry , but it was Korean curry. too much chili powder on it. they should not put chili powder without asking customers. They didn't have good service as real Japanese do. they are just pretending Japanese. <br/>Don't go this restaurant if you want to have Japanese meals.

I had a flying visit here a few months ago and really enjoyed the food so made a return trip for lunch. Delicious tuna sashimi lunch for only $15. An extensive range of dishes on the menu including specials. Good service, parking available. Definitely will return again.

Favourite Japanese in Brisbane. The Special Sushi Rolls are amazing, as are the Prawn Gyoza, but the Spicy Tuna roll is just amazing. I order it every time and am extremely happy every time.<br/><br/>Very nice atmosphere and friendly staff, and very decently priced for Japanese food. Me and my partner usually spend $30-50 between us and leave very satisfied!

Great casual dining. Quick service, Very fresh tempura. Good value for money. Serve were of a good size. The decor was nice. Good for family as well. I saw one family there who literally took on the BYO theme and bought cans of soft drink for the kids (4 of them) It makes a night out affordable. Easy parking. Great work Sakana.

Love the food really friendly service would definitely return :)

Lovely relaxed dinner with friends last night. Great food and service and great value.

Quite a surprise. I really enjoyed a casual dinner at Sakana with a friend this evening. The service was great and my chicken katsu curry was delicious.

Great food. My partner and I frequent Sakana when we couldn't be bothered searching for another good restaurant that won't disappoint. We often order the salmon terriyaki and wagyu beef terriyaki and both are exquisite. The flavours are fantastic and the meat portions are fair. The service is also good. The sushi here is also quite nice. It's just such a lovely experience because everything is faultless for the price you pay.

Lovely service. Had dinner yesterday night,<br/>Food was fantastic and the waitress service was really nice made us feel great night xx

First time 55 minutes wait second time 35 minutes for one take away dish !...not anymore thanks !

Lovely experience. My boyfriend and I went there last night and had the nicest meals. Yes, they were smaller than the average "Aussie serving" however this was expected as the Japanese tend to have smaller portions. It filled us up the right amount without leaving stuffed and bloated. The food arrived in a timely manner despite there being many customers and we had the one waitress who was attentive to us for the time we were there. It was inexpensive with most meals under $20.

Not great. Had two meals served at room temperature, which should have been hot, one was the soup, the other was the dumplings.<br/><br/>food was ok. won't be returning though

Went here with a friend on a Friday night, the place wasn't so busy which is why I was so suprised when it took the waiters forever to come take our orders. They even made eye contact when we clearly wanted to order but then proceeded to do other things. The sushi was average and overly pricey. I've been to better sushi places!

Dined at sakana this wednesday, food was alright beside thiny serving:/ &services was good and the waitress was very kind and nice but there were lots of other diners so it was little cramped even though they ONLY had ONE waitress... :/

We used to come here regularly. Unfortunately the rolls just aren't the same anymore. No flavour, bland bland bland.

BAD phone service. I only called this place to order take away cos my boyfriend loves the food here. i didn't know the menu and was hoping the attendant on the other line could help me pick some food. i just described what i wanted and she wasn't all that helpful and when i started diliberating she stated that she was busy and couldnt spend much more time on the phone. um. ok. so if i didnt promise my boyfriend i was ordering here, i would have said 'no worries i'll just call anothe restauran't. <br/><br/>in the end i just ordered generic dishes i knew existed in the japanese cuisine and promptly hung up. wouldn't go here for service thats for sure.

Raved about this place only to be DISSAPOINTED. Dined at Sakana earlier this evening with friends after I was telling them how amazing my previous experiences had been, made a booking 4 days before, once we got there, the waitress just looked at us and walked away, i then had to ask for our table, she shrugged at me then sat us down, knowing it was table service we politely waited for menus, once we received our menus we ordered the gyozas and asked to be steamed not deepfried. Two crab meat pizza, sizzling beef, bento box and double dragon sushi roll.<br/>Once we received our gyozas they had been deepfried after we asked to be steamed, we watched a bento box be out on the pass and 10 min later be bought to us, with the tempura veges cold as well at the terriakyi chicken we asked for a replacement, the waiteress had the worst death face, but at <br/>$30 I want what i had ordered, rest of food came and was quite nice.<br/>Over all this place had the WORST SERVICE, SO RUDE <br/>and will think twice before returning!!

Pricey but serving is tiny. Tiny serving.

Spicy costs extra?!?!?!!. When placing my our orders, the waitress asked if we would like our meals spicy. Since I was having a sizzling korean bulgogi, I thought it was a strange question so I said "of course I would like it spicy", and likewise my wife asked for her meal to be spicy. We were both shocked to discover that we were charged an extra $1.50 per meal (see pic of receipt).<br/>But even before we had seen the bill, we both felt that it was the poorest quality meal for the prices. There was very little meat, and way too much onion and cabbage. Bulk onion and cabbage are sure signs that the chef is incompetent or lazy. <br/>And I'm embarrassed to say that this is not the first time that we have eaten at this restaurant, but it will be the last!

Traditional and Delicious. Highly recommend - great service and all sushi is fresh and tasty.

This place used to have amazing sushi rolls. Fresh fish, amazing flavours, beautifully presented.. It was one of the rare places that was consistently good. Returned after not having gone there for a few months, and it was a disappointment. While they have expanded so there's more seating, and the decor is as tasteful in the new half, the food, unfortunately, has gone downhill. The sushi rolls now have soggy fried fish, lettuce fillers, and are missing flavour. No longer a place I'll readily recommend.

Patheticly ungracious service unprepared and overpriced. I don't even look at the joint when I go past it. The Thai around the corner runs rings around it.

Nice food, nicer people. Although it may not be the most authentic Japanese you will find, it certainly does not disappoint and the quality of food coming out of their kitchen is superb.

Over priced. Ordered take out and spent 70 for two and weren't even full! Sashimi was tough and the udon was bland. Should have gone to a sushi train.

Very average Japanese.

This restaurant is not authentic Japanese. If you are after real Japanese food then you will be disapointed, however, if you have never been to Japan you'll probably think this place is ok.

Beautiful Food, great service, cute place. Had a lovely meal here last night.<br/><br/>Cute little place off a busy main road, food came out fast and extremely fresh!<br/><br/>Lovely staff and overall great experience!

Beautiful fresh food. Really impressed with this place. The sashimi was prepared fresh, and there was hardly a wait for the food. ice, cosy restaurant. Would definitely go back

Amazing!. Reasonably-priced japanese in the Clayfield area. I highly recommend to any passer-bys. With a cute japanese themed decor, this place is very inviting. Though I am not japanese, I am going to say the food is authentic japanese. I ordered sushi rolls and the spicy chicken udon soup, which had to be the BEST udon soup I've had.

My partner and I eat here on a regular basis and have been doing so for over a year. Although having not eaten there for almost 4 months, last night we were very disappointed.. It seems they've changed the recipes on some of the sushi rolls that we loved.. double dragon our favorite roll is definitely not how we remember it.. not as tasty nor flavorsome and for some reason now contains green spinach? And the amount of miso soup we got was poor to be fair, it was like to big mouthfuls and that's it!! If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Great. Love this place, small but the food is great. Been heaps of times and the food is always great.

Waited over half an hour for takeaway to discover our food has been sitting in their kitchen and they hadn't told us it was ready. Food was bland and quite uninteresting. Usually a lover of Japanese food. This was very average.

I really love Sakana. The food is fresh, delicious and the staff are friendly and attentive. Never had a bad experience and I have recommended to many friends.

Great takeaway option. Tiny place, so we resorted to takeaway - fabulous quick option - Tried the teriaki chicken and beef, sushi and chicken kaarage, really enjoyed it. Even my husband enjoyed the miso soup, even though he is not a fan. Really tasty meals, reasonable sushi (no, not great, but very acceptable). Looking forward to trying more menu items.

Love. This is a great place for dinner. Causal, always delicious but hard to get a seat.

Awesome!. We love this place. Never gone past the dragon rolls. So good. I know its not authentic Japanese, but its sooooo good who cares!!

We had 2 meals both were horrible in taste. I would never again eat here

Friendly Korean staff. Tasty food. Not true authentic Japanese,but good,none the less.

It can't be a Japanese restaurant. I'd just been there. I have to say this is not a Japanese dinner.<br/>Honestly they are not japanese but korean.<br/>The food was poor and the udon tasted like simply instant.<br/>Besides the service, hmmm the worst ever!!<br/>Hardly can hear the waitresses voices they don't care much.<br/>There was a kid who accidentally hit the glass wall, which there was no sign, <br/>no one belongs to the restaurant pay attention and said something to the girl and the family.<br/>That was surprised!!!

SO over priced!. I brought takeaway from Sakana tonight and was shocked at the price - $22 for 2 pieces of salmon nigiri, 2 pieces of tuna nigiri and a salmon roll. I am happy to pay for quality but this is the most I have ever paid for this amount of sushi, even after 14 years in Sydney. The quality was acceptable, not amazing but not bad but I am certainly not returning at those prices. They need to reconsider their pricing or as soon as a reasonable priced alternative opens nearby they will go under.

Best Sushi in Brisbane. Unfortunately its out at Clayfield and is tiny, but the young helpful staff do make the BEST sushi in Brisbane in my humble opinion. Wagaya is the most fun Sushi in brisbane (touch screens are great as is service) and Sono and Sake are both great fancy places for a special occasion but the food is not as good as Sakana, just the surroundings.<br/>It's a regular favourite place for me, check it out! (Eel is the BEST)

The first time we went here we loved it. Being from Vancouver our sushi standards are high and of all places in Brisbane this reminded us most of fresh delicious generous sushi we get at home. Our second visit however was wrought with disappointment. The Spicy Tuna rolls which we enjoyed so much on our first visit contained virtually no tuna. In fact you practically needed a microscope to discover the small tumor of red flesh growing on the mound of fried tenpurah bits that occupied 90 percent of the roll. The crunchy fried goodness of the tempurah will fool most amateur sushi diners into thinking its actually good, but it did not fool us. Upset with what we had been served, we kindly informed the waiter that this ball of fried crunch was not the fresh tuna roll we were expecting. Instead of graciously taking it back, replacing it or removing it from our bill, we were given half an orange with some toothpicks in it to share as "compensation". Sadly I don't think well be back for a third visit soon.<br/><br/><br/>-----08 Feb, 2012-----<br/><br/>The first time we went here we loved it. Being from Vancouver out sushi standards are high and of all places in Brisbane this reminded us most of fresh delicious generous sushi we get at home. Our second visit however was wrought with disappointment. The Spicy Tuna rolls which we enjoyed so much on our first visit contained virtually no tuna. In fact you practically needed a microscope to discover the small tumor of red flesh growing on the mound of fried tenpurah bits that occupied 90 percent of the role. The crunchy fried goodness of the tempurah will fool most amateur sushi diners into thinking its actually good, but it did not fool us. Upset with what we had been served, we kindly informed the waiter that this ball of fried crunch was not the fresh tuna roll we were expecting. Instead of graciously taking it back, replacing it or removing it from our bill, we were given half an orange with some toothpicks in it to share as "competition". Sadly I don't think well be back for a third visit soon.

The worst thing you can do when making sushi is use a rotten avocado - this place seems to love them..disappointment.

Enjoyable. I've visited this tiny Japanese restaurant a number of times and have yet to be disappointed. It's cosy, the staff are friendly and even though the food can sometimes take a little longer than ususal to get to our table (even though it is a small restaurant) the food always tastes great!

Great food and service. After reading others' review, we tried Sakana for the first time tonight. We had bento box with salmon teryaki, bbq eel and gyoza. The bento box was particularly good, everything in it was delicious. The waitresses were polite and attentive. We enjoyed the experience and will definitely go again.

Quite little Japanese jem. Great experience. I had the sizzling beef which had lots of flavor but I would ask for mild next time as I got a medium and it brought tears to my eyes, my wife had the veggie roll and she said it was the best sushi she has ever had. Love the north Brisbane location.

Awsome great service too!! Bento box amszing

Fast, tasty food! Great value for money and worth a try. Only 2 negatives- The chicken karage uses brown meat not breat which i know some people like but I'm not a fan. Bring a jumper if you are sitting outside as there are no heaters!

Love this place. Our family gets sushi from here at least once a week. The service is so so friendly (love getting a smiley face or 'thank-you' messages on our takeaway boxes!) and the food is consistently fresh, well-presented and just overall tasty. Definitely a favourite.

Cracking value. The service was outstanding and the atmosphere brilliant in our little room. The food was among the best Japanese I've had in Brisbane, the sashimi fresh and firm with fresh wasabi and the seafood udon soup brimming with prawns, mussels, squid and scallops (broth was a little weak compared with some, but this is a small bugbear). Highlights of the menu were the okonomiyaki, thin but plump with seafood and generous swirls mayo, and a free serving of spicy banana sushi. While the sound of that may turn off traditionalists and prudes, it was texturally sumptious, had a great balance of flavours and a kick of chilli to counter the sweetness. Give it a try.

Love It!. This is a great place! It's great value for money and their dishes are delicious!<br/><br/>If you love salmon, you'll love the Salmon Teriyaki dish.

Freshest and tastiest Fusion Japanese I've had in Brisbane. Service is friendly, atmosphere is intimate and interior brilliant. Definitely going back!

Run by Koreans. Service was fine friendly and efficient. Sushi rolls were average for the price and definitely not authentic Japanese style. The Korean food was ok. They should market themselves as a Korean restaurant rather than a Japanese eatery. Expensive corkage cost more than the drink itself.

Bogans love it.. If you've never eaten real Japanese Food then you'll love this place. <br/><br/>Fit out and atmosphere looks authentic till you see silver bling on the menu and hear kankoku-go in the kitchen.<br/>Sashimi was not fresh, tried to feed me a raw Thai prawn??. Plus many things just not right about this place, I'm sure their Bulgogi might be good.<br/><br/>91% liked... Hey!!! Overpriced Krusty imitation gruel.

Fantastic food and not expensive. Sizzling plates are good value with rice salad and miso soup for under $20. Byo and bottle shop next door.

Cute and friendly Japanese sushi bar restaurant in a great location with easy parking. We ordered the dinner bento box with sashimi, tempura, teriyaki chicken, and sushi. I was so impressed, the sushi was the best I've had in brisbane. I will definitely be back!! Also pretty affordable too, and the staff and chefs are actually Japanese and lovely. Definitely recommend!

Disappointed. After reading several reviews i expected the meals to be fantastic, but i was greatly disappointed. We ordered Agadashi tofu and Gyoza for entree, they were both a let down, the tofu was the size of two match boxes put side by side and sliced into five small pieces which cost us $7.50, the Gyoza was thick and chewy, and was badly deep fried instead of being pan fried. For the mains we had ordered a small sashimi, the fish was not the freshest but was still acceptable, the Salmon Teriyaki bento was thin, the tempura was acceptable and rice given equated to two large soup spoons, Miso soup given was not warm. Food was disappointing, but the korean staff were friendly and helpful. We will not be returning.

Great little casual restaurant. Love the wood fitout and the staff are authentically charming. Some of the dragon sushi on offer is a bit odd but worth a try.

YUM!. The food was fresh and delicious! The servings are very generous and value for money! Can have a solid meal for about $15- 20 per person! We sat outside at the end of august with an outdoor heater and it was lovely (group 0f 9). We tried the Bento Boxes which were huge! The Gyoza, Karrage, and wakame salad were all delicious! <br/><br/>Be sure to try the spicy banana - you will be surprised at the complex flavours. The Chef wouldn't tell us how he makes it, his secret recipe. <br/><br/>The meal was finished with complimentary orange slices to cleanse your pallet! <br/><br/>Make sure you try this restaurant, you will be very happy afterward and they even heated the bottle of Sake we bought from the bottle shop next door! It will be our new local for sure!

Great sushi rolls, cheap meals, BYO with a bottle shop next door. Try the French kiss roll. The gyoza isn't great though. Very good value

The food was excellent, the spicy banana was different but great. The food was really fresh. Will be back for sure.

So Tasty. I really like the food at Sakana, It is different to any other japanese food I have tried in Brisbane. The Sushi rolls are very different and incredibly tasty. The servings are very generous. In addition to sushi, ther are lots of other more traditional japanese food such as udon nodles, sashimi, tempura. I am slowly working my way through the menu.<br/><br/>Decor is very fresh and the staff are enthisuastic and helpful however, I think that there quick success may have caught them by surprise.<br/><br/>Highly recommended and a great place for lunch. I am already a regular.

Going with the Japanese theme from my last Salmon Don post, I thought I go with the flow and let you in on a place up at Clayfield where we also do our grocery shopping. Although I can't credit myself for finding this place (that credit goes to a newspaper who was doing a top 5 place for Japanese food / sushi rolls), it was nevertheless a pat in the back for actually checking out Sakana. The place is small cozy, the inside can probably accommodate around 20 pax, with the option of sitting outside. If you look at the menu, you will see that it skew towards sushi rolls and their sizzling plates. Having read about how good their sushi rolls, we had to order one. Deciding against a sizzling plate which looks and smelled good from across the other table, we ordered something healthier; chirashi sushi. A simple salad with a vinaigrette dressing and the basic miso soup to start the meal. The sushi rolls are all huge and fusion styled. We had a topping of crab meat and tempura batter and insid