Sakura Tokyo

Catch dinner plus a show

640 Park Avenue, Worcester 792-1068
Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 a.m.
Sun. noon-10 p.m.
Weekday buffet 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Weekend brunch buffet noon-4 p.m.
Major credit cards
Full bar
Handicap accessible

by Jim Johnson

In years of dining at Sakura Tokyo, I've never been disappointed. I still remember my first visit, when I joined friends for traditional Japanese appetizers and entrées (including superb ginger pork and chicken teriyaki, and a giant bowl of soup with stir-fried noodles and chicken). For my second visit, I bellied up to the sushi bar and enjoyed the "show" as much as the food.

Another visit brought me to one of Sakura Tokyo's eight tappanyaki tables, where a chef prepared dinner in front of 10 happy customers. And, at lunch, I've eaten more than my fill of appetizers, soups, maki rolls, and the like from the bountiful, all-you-can-eat buffet ($7.99).

To round out my Sakura Tokyo experience, I still need to attend the weekend brunch buffet. Also all-you-can-eat, it includes appetizers (such as teriyaki beef, scallops tempura, fried chicken wings, and fried dumplings), the sushi bar, and most tappanyaki choices -- including fish filet, steak, shrimp, chicken, and vegetables but excluding lobster, swordfish, salmon, and filet mignon. Not bad for $8.99.

From the outside, the restaurant appears plain or even run-down. Inside, it's another story. Bright lighting lends a cheerful tone and helps highlight the clean, modern setting. When a friend and I arrived, our server, dressed in a traditional black robe, greeted us and ushered us to seats at one of the smaller tappanyaki grills, just behind the sushi bar.

After we cleansed our hands with moist face cloths, our server returned with two cups of hot tea and, a few moments later, with light and refreshing Japanese onion soup. As four more people joined us at the table, we also enjoyed fresh, crisp salad topped with mild ginger dressing.

Tappanyaki dinners also include shrimp appetizers, vegetables, rice, a choice of chicken, beef, various types of seafood (or combinations thereof), and dessert. Most humans find that sufficient. But we'd just run four miles after work and rationalized gluttony in the form of sushi and maki rolls.

In truth, I'm still a bit queasy about eating raw fish and generally avoid the most daunting ones like sea urchin, octopus, surf clam, and fluke. Still, I do enjoy cooked sushi (shrimp, smoked salmon, and eel), and I easily tolerate tuna in maki rolls (although I could do without the crunchy fish roe).

I also like the ritual of sushi, and Sakura Tokyo does it right. Our order came out carefully placed on a decorative ceramic platter. After our server poured soy sauce into two small saucers, we used a chopstick to stir in dabs of sinus-clearing wasabi.

While our neighbors at the table concentrated on their drinks, we grabbed away with our chopstick pincers, dipping pieces into the soy-wasabi mix. Sushi comes two to an order, and we'd ordered shrimp ($3.50) and eel ($4.25). Each maki roll is sliced into six pieces, and we'd ordered tuna roll ($4.25), eel and cucumber roll ($4.95), Boston maki ($4.95) with smoked salmon and avocado, and spicy tuna roll ($6.25). As always, they were fresh and tasty. We nibbled throughout the tappanyaki courses that followed, finally stopping the insanity and asking for a leftover container just before dessert (a choice of ginger, coconut, or banana ice cream).

I've always considered tappanyaki a form of performance art, and our chef delivered, slicing and dicing our dinners with blurred-finger precision. He kept the drama restrained, avoiding the often bothersome clamor of clanging knives and clacking shakers. And, despite bizarre comments from an obnoxious customer, he maintained his dry humor: after deftly flipping a shrimp tail into his pocket, he told us he used to play for the Celtics. "I left," he deadpanned. "That's why they lose."

He handed out ginger and mustard sauces, followed by tender shrimp and fresh vegetables. I'd ordered the seafood combination ($24.95) and watched as he cut and tossed scallops, calamari, salmon, and lobster, mixing in sauces and spices and cooking each item just right. The calamari was surprisingly tender, the lobster (served back in the tail) as good as it's ever tasted.

My friend found her swordfish ($19.95) equally divine, sliced into cubes and topped with a light sauce.