Pressed sushi, donburi top Sakura’s uncluttered menu

Sakura Terrace offers the slimmest of menus — donburi with a few salads and sushi thrown in — but simplicity appears to be working. At dinner there recently the restaurant was packed and was hosting a couple of parties of eight or nine. That may be a matter of holiday revelry, but the combination of atmosphere, reasonable prices and the humble bowls of fish and rice are bound to keep people coming back long after the holidays.

The restaurant sprang up in the space formerly occupied by Peppa’s, which closed last year. The space looks reborn. Gone are the traces of the former takeout operation, and in its place are modern and chic lounge seating, artwork and a garden terrace.

You can choose to sit inside or out, even if the outside view is of King Street traffic. It can be rather noisy outside during rush hour, but after 7 p.m. it’s much quieter and even pleasant.

The menu starts simply enough, with varieties of "zusi," the house’s unique pressed sushi. It’s sort of like a layer cake cut into rectangles, though in place of the cake and frosting are rice and flaked salmon and fish. An order of Sakura Oshi Zusi ($13.50) comprises two pieces each of yellowtail, salmon and ahi zusi. Compared with nigiri elsewhere, the block of rice is much bigger than the thin strip of fish, which puts it on par with fast sushi offerings.

If it’s fish you want, skip the zusi and just go for the yellowtail and ahi sashimi ($13.50) or salmon and ahi sashimi ($10.75).

There’s also a jumbo shrimp cocktail appetizer ($13), four shrimp beautifully presented in pyramid fashion with cocktail sauce. If you get the shrimp, you can skip the shrimp salad ($9.75) because the shrimp is the same with both dishes. Opt for the chicken ($9.25) or sashimi salad ($10.75) instead, the main ingredient topping a bed of mesclun and finished with a light dressing of soy and ginger.

But the star of the menu is the restaurant’s signature Sakura chirashi sushi don ($18), rice layered with a beautiful arrangement of ahi, yellowtail, salmon, ikura and uni, also with grilled salmon flakes.

Ikura and uni don is the priciest of the donburi offerings, at $23. Don’t let that price scare you away, because there are also a number of bowls that are less than $10.

Ahi poke don studded with the surprise crunch of chopped cashews is $9.50. There’s also ahi sashimi don ($9.75) and spicy ahi don ($9.75).

For the non-fish eaters, there is a light Korean-style spicy chicken don ($8.75), yakiniku don ($9) and spicy yakiniku don ($9.25).

Considering the small menu, the restaurant offers a full bar with everything from wine and whiskey to sake and shochu.

Also, make sure you inquire about the day’s desserts. Only green tea and vanilla ice cream appear on the menu, but I found out too late the restaurant also offers homemade specials.

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Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.