The Weekly Eater: Sakura Terrace has crafted an intriguing rebirth

Last year brought so much bad news for the dining industry that I overlooked at least one restaurant that showed second acts are possible.

After a six-year run, Sakura Terrace closed in spring 2018, long before the pandemic, and the space was put up for lease. When there were no takers, the restaurant’s owner in Japan decided to try again with a whole new team in place. The executive chef is Hideaki Kishishita, formerly with highly rated Kaiwa (now shuttered) at Waikiki Beach Walk, and manager Man Bong Ching, formerly with the upscale Teppan­yaki Ginza Ono­dera (closed) and Kikue Restaurant.

Sakura reopened just as the first COVID-19 shutdown began last March. Close to a year later, the restaurant is still in the game and, despite continuing challenges, is offering a menu that, for a few hours, can make one forget the pandemic ever happened. There’s no feeling of shortcuts or lack of the ingredients we crave when at a Japanese table.

Social distancing is no problem. Indoor space is limited due to the build-out of an extensive sushi bar that fills just about half the room. Luckily, the restaurant was conceived with an outdoor terrace in mind, which proved prescient now that many people prefer the relative safety of open-air dining. Just keep in mind that sitting outdoors means contending with the noise of King Street traffic.

What might make ordering a bit confusing is that menus differ for lunch, dinner and takeout. Dinner is an a la carte affair, but the lunch menu comprises a handful of set bento, or teishoku — comprising a main dish plus small salad, rice, miso soup and three side dishes.

The Special Nori Bento offers great value at $11.99. A bed of rice is layered with sheets of nori that keeps the rice warm while you enjoy the starters, until you get to the main course of pan-fried salmon and fishcake. When I lifted the nori after finishing everything but the fishcake, the last bits of steam were released. For $14.99, a deluxe version includes a mini order (about four pieces) of sashimi.

Lunch bentos may also be ordered with entree selections including miso butterfish ($21), sushi (four nigiri and one roll, $21), chirashi ($21), or donburi (rice bowls) topped with salmon ikura ($17), spicy tuna ($15) or thin-sliced beef ($10).

Items only on the takeout menu include a maguro steak bento ($15), tonkatsu bento ($15) and maguro burger with truffle-salted sweet potato fries ($11.99).

Ingredients in some dishes may vary depending on whether you eat in or dine out, as with a pipikaula salad served to-go with spinach ($8.99), or with watercress ($14) when dining in at night.

In the evening, chef Kishi­shita brings back one of Kaiwa’s signature dishes, renkon with cheese ($9). The lotus root is sliced thin, arranged in a pan and coated with a blend of cheddar, Monterey Jack and Swiss cheese that oozes into every puka, essentially creating a sort of cheese pizza as the melted cheese surrounds the crisp renkon.

Everything on the menu is appealing, so I ordered a lot of starters, expecting the small portions I associate with many Japanese restaurants. I learned that even though the food style is Japanese, the portioning is local-sized. A combination of foie gras and daikon ($18) was radish topped not with a dainty cube of foie gras, but a whole slab. An order of potato salad ($4) was not one delicate scoop, but a whole bowlful. Dashimaki tamago ($7) was not a thin omelet, but a loaf of deliciousness. Other favorite dishes included the salt-grilled hamachi collar ($19) and grilled bacon ($7) presented as thick cuts of pork belly.

If you want to splurge, the priciest dishes on the menu are 8-ounce cuts of USDA prime rib-eye ($30) and Washugyu sirloin ($45) that arrive on a sizzling platter. Sashimi, nigiri and sushi rolls from the sushi bar round out the menu.

I’m glad to see this restaurant make its comeback. I hope that with a gradual return to business we will see more reopenings than closings.

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Sakura Terrace

1240 S. King St.

Food: ****

Service: ****

Ambiance: ***

Value: ***1/2

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Call: 591-1181

Hours: Lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays; Dinner 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays and Sundays; 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Prices: About $40 for two for lunch; $60 to $75 for two for dinner

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Ratings compare similar restaurants:

**** – excellent

*** – very good

** – average

* – below average

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