Date Visited: 15 March 2015
Meal: Lunch
Diners: Me, Wendy, Andy, & Britney
Experience: Having celebrated two birthdays in the middle of the previous week, we didn’t need much of an excuse to have a nice lunch out after church. I’d seen the announcement for Sakura’s opening in Leesburg Today a few weeks ago, so we decided to give them a try. The full name of the restaurant is “Sakura Japanese Steak, Seafood House @ Sushi Bar” and this is their 22nd location. Most of the other locations are in Maryland and Virginia, with a couple in New Jersey and one in California. In Leesburg, Sakura is located in the new Fort Evans Plaza II shopping center, in the location of the short-lived Japanese Kitchen. In terms of similar cuisine in Leesburg, Sakura competes with Kobe Japanese Steak & Seafood.
Sakura’s signature offering is Teppanyaki-style dining, so that’s what we went with. All entrees come with a choice of appetizer: Chicken Liver, Sauteed Mushrooms, or Teppanyaki Shrimp Flambe; we all picked the shrimp. All entrees also include Shoyu Onion Soup (different! very tasty), Sakura salad (typical ginger dressing), assorted vegetables (grilled), and steamed rice or fried rice. I chose the Teppanyaki Steak & Shrimp, Wendy chose the Shrimp & Scallops, Andy chose the New York Steak, and Britney chose the Salmon Steak. Our chef for the Teppanyaki “show” was Tamio, and he did a great job demonstrating all the standard tricks such as the flaming onion ring volcano, etc. It might not look like there is much skill involved in the actual cooking, but I thought he did very well, especially getting the Scallops just right. The meal also included Sakura’s homemade sauces, one of which Tamio called “Japanese Ranch”. They were both a little different than the standard ones you might expect.
Overall, we were very pleased with our meal, and will probably be back to try the Sushi. As mentioned above, our chef Tamio was great, and we were well taken care of by our server Crystal. We were also warmly thanked by manager Aaron on the way out. Give Sakura a try yourself! (and when you do, check out the coupons on their website)
Location: 516 Fort Evans Rd. NE, Leesburg, VA, 20176, 703-771-6395
Web site: http://sakurasteakhouse.com/
Total bill: $107.09 + $20.00 tip = $127.09
