TABLES FOR TWOSAKANAYA403 E Green St. Champaign
(217-344-1400)
SAKANAYA IS DEFINITLEY THE place to go when in the
Champaign-Urbana area. Its a chic little place for anyone looking
for a nice restaurant. It was surrounded by other restaurants, but
it stood out because it was the only sushi place and was located on
the corner of the street. This restaurant is walking distance from
the University of Illinois campus. When you first walk in, you see
the sushi bar/ kitchen where they make all of their food. The
inside is very clean, the lights are dimmed, and the dcor is
simple, yet beautiful. The walls had a silver wave-like pattern
with a blue spotlight on it, which resembled a body of water. The
ambiance was calming and soothing. There were paintings of sushi
and various fish on the wall. Its a pretty small place. When
customers walk in, the hostess asks you for a cell phone number so
they could text when the table is ready. A hostess with heavy eye
makeup will escort you to your table. It was extremely busy, but
the wait moved quickly. It gets busier as the night goes on, since
college students are their main customers.The menu was easy to
read, because all of the meals were spread out on just two pages.
The cups they give you for water are so petite and cute. You are
only given chopsticks to eat, but silverware is available only on
request. Everyone gets miso soup as a starter. It is included with
his or her meal, which everyone was excited about. It is made up of
tofu, green onion, and wakame. The staff was super friendly and the
service was quick. The California Roll Sushi was a table favorite.
It was filled with crab, avocado, and cucumbers. The taste and look
was very pleasing, although, they could have done a better job with
the presentation of the sushi. As you can see in the picture above,
the rice looks a little messy on one of the pieces of sushi. It was
plump, yet light, flavorful, fresh, and just the right amount of
squishy. It didnt fall apart when it was lifted off the plate with
chopsticks. The Shuyo Ramen was excellent, but a tad spicy. Some of
its ingredients are pork-based soy broth, bamboo shoots, pickled
ginger, dry seaweed, wakame, and chasu. The texture was gummy and
doughy. The presentation of the food on solid black dishes
accentuated the vibrant colors of the fresh vegetables. It made the
food pop.There arent a lot of negative things to say, but one of
the weaknesses was not bringing everyone at the same tables food
out at the same time. They were busy, so the kitchen was probably
overwhelmed. At first glance, the chefs seemed to be focused and
hard at work. As they moved quickly from station to station, it
looked like they were scrambling to keep up with orders, when
really they were chasing a fly with a torch. Although that would
normally disgust most people, everyone was having such a great time
that it was amusing and entertaining. It was so loud, that hearing
your own conversation could be a challenge. All in all, this is
definitely a restaurant to return to. -- Daniella Ballarino
Lunch and Dinner ($10 - $20 Entres)Mon-Sat: 11:30am 2pm, 5pm
1amSun: 5pm 9:30pm