Sunday, March 04, 2007

Holy Saluki Roll!

Following yesterday's thrilling Saluki victory over the Bradley Braves, I joined a small group of friends for dinner at the new Japanese restaurant on Main Street: Sachi (where Bistro 51 used to be) -- and it was even more delicious than Matt Shaw's last-seconds put-back to advance SIUC to today's MVC championship game in St. Louis.

I had flounder, rice and mixed vegetables for 7.95, but 12.95 got a young alumnus a "Saluki Roll": Fried lobster, w/avacado and cucumber. Not sure what's "Saluki" about the ingredients, but it tasted great. I liked the food so much, I scanned the menu and posted it for future reference.

Perhaps I'll order something after the Salukis roll over the Creighton Bluejays this afternoon. Sachi will be open at 5 p.m. today (Sunday). The Saluki game will be televised on CBS beginning at 1:05 p.m.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

They have their menu online too. The cool thing about their online menu is thay have items not on their printed menu that you can call in advance and request(normally about a day in advance).

The owners and staff are really friendly. I'd have to say this is our favorite place in town.

Unknown said...

Dave ... glad you liked Sachi. Can't say the same, sadly. Last time I was there (i've been twice, so I can't be accused of not giving them ample chances), the wife and I had several different rolls, as well as a platter of sashimi (white and red tuna, snapper, squid, etc ...) Neither was very good, and the freshness was a bit questionable to be honest. Not something I like to have any doubts about with sashimi, particularly.

I just wasn't impressed, and neither was the wife, a self-proclaimed "sushi snob."

I thought I would have been able to wash the mediocre sushi down with a Kirin Ichiban, or even a Sapporo, but alas ... no beer either. On this note, though, I realize a liquor license is a bit of an undertaking in Carbondale.

If we're in the mood for sushi, unfortunately, we insist on making the trip to Saffron in Cape, or the Drunken Fish in St. Louis.

I like to keep it local when I can, but the two "sushi" restaurants in Carbondale just don't do it for us.

Anonymous said...

I love Sachi. I had the steak and chicken teryaki, which was excellent, get it with the hot mustard, which they mix themselves. Then split a dragon tale with my dad. He commented it was some of the best sushi he'd had since he was in Okinawa.

They do have their liquor license now btw.

I think the "snobs" have missed the boat.

Unknown said...

I notice that the 'snobs' are the only individuals on this blog who have extensively tried the sushi, and I wholeheartedly agree with them. Sachi's sushi is terribly lacking in presentation, freshness, and taste. My friend and I enjoy Kaya (but know better to claim that they have 'good' sushi) and were excited to try the new sushi joint in town. I had the Saluki Roll, which looked like it was haphazardly thrown on the plate, the rice was hardly holding the thing together, and my fried lobster might have well had been fried anything. My friend got the dragon roll, and an avocado roll to go, and she certaintly wasn't impressed either. We both felt that Sachi offers absolutely nothing over Kaya when it comes to sushi. Also, the owner spent most of the time yelling at one of her employees in plain view of the customers instead of getting us simple things, like our tea. Mabye it was because she thought we were dumb college kids who wouldn't care or notice, or mabye it was because it was 2 in the afternoon, a notable slow time in the world of restaurants. Whatever it was, I do not think that I will ever go there again when Kaya offers better food and a better atmosphere.