In the most unlikely place to open a restaurant, on one of the country's less traveled roads, is a small sushi restaurant called "Sai Saki". Inside this 12 square meters you'll find more chairs than the place can fit, the lights don't work and chefs are playing on their phones... I didn't know what to expect.
This small restaurant, or what looks more like a delivery kitchen, is painted in green and white. It's not too clean and not too organized. We sat and waited to be served. You'll find two ladies from the Philippines rolling some Makis...
The menu is overused and have orders by past clients written on them and the images are not appetizing... You'll find crab, lots of it, salmon and avocado, repetition of items with different names. I'm a fan of small businesses and street eateries and I'm sure this place can surely give a better first impression...
Expect to endure the noise of a fridge back in the kitchen... while there's no music and there's a TV turned off.
Then a man just walked in and passed behind the counter without wearing gloves or cleaning his hands...
I thought let's wait and eat.
Tonight's experience:
- Marinated salmon served in a wooden bowl, a generous portion of fresh quality salmon slices served in lemon sauce, black sesame and chili pepper.
- Temaki; A crunchy nori leaf, a bit of rice and lots of fish. Crab sticks or salmon cubes, chewy rice but good and generous portion of fish. It's not bad for a sushi diner.
- The maki rolls are big, four pieces in each order. I loved the salmon quality, the rice is not sweet, the pieces are neat, the quality is better than many sushi places around the area and the mango is enjoyable. It's not bad at all for what it is. If I am looking for a place sushi delivery, this is a restaurant I'll consider.
- Try the caterpillar special maki, for LBP24,000 you'll receive a long snake topped with avocado, filed with fried shrimps tempura, covered with mayo and teriyaki sauce, served warm. I enjoyed it's sweetness as well as the ripe avocados and crunchy breaded shrimps.
The verdict:
- Good street food sushi; fast casual and good for delivery but not an enjoyable experience for dine-in.
- I would suggest redesigning the place.
- Train the staff to be more attentive and more professional; phones should not be allowed during working hours.
- Music is needed around the place.
- Clean the menus and probably and consider a more appetizing photo shoot.
Lol: check the bill written on a piece of paper and changed twice. This was the weirdest of dinners, we sat, we ate, we didn't speak, we paid $40/person without checking the details and left.
Naccache's "Resto de Quartier" sushi restaurant is called Sai Saki. Give it a delivery try.
