ohdenny

Sakura House is located in the Knox O-Zone and from memory it has been there ever since the O-Zone opened. However it has appeared to have gone through multiple management changes throughout the years it has been opened.

I have eaten there a couple of times over the years and probably on my first visit my impressions of this restaurant were okay. For Japanese food in the area, it was probably one of the better eateries, it was amazing by any means but you would get a decent Japanese meal for a decent price.

On my last visit here, earlier this year, you could definitely tell there were changes with ownership. I could distinctly tell before that the workers were indeed Japanese, however from my latest visit it didn’t seem like the case. I could be wrong though but it certainly didn’t feel like it.

The prices here seemed largely the same, maybe slightly more, but that’s with most restaurants over the years. The menu contained Bento boxes, Rice and Noodle dishes, all the common dishes you would normally find in a Japanese restaurant.

I must note though, Lunch specials are the usual ~$10 dollars but if you come to eat before or after these Lunch time specials the prices are at least $15.

I ordered the Japanese Beef Curry rice, as I usually like Japanese Curry because it’s quite different from the Malaysian/Singaporean Curry and there are POTATOES!

I had a lot of issues with this curry, starting from the really strange marinade they seemed to put on their beef. The extra spices or whatever they let it sit in was too overpowering and basically you would find it hard pressed to actually get the Japanese curry flavour from it.

The actual curry flavour when you can taste it, is decent, but I would actually prefer the Japanese fast food restaurant, Hanaichi in QV, Melbourne. Their curry is pretty good, and along with the decent pricing and quick service you cannot go wrong there.

I probably can eat anything potato, except when it is undercooked. These potatoes, even the carrots, might I add, had a noticeable bite to them. The rice was slightly soggy too. I have no idea if this was just an off day for them, but even my family member’s meals didn’t look or taste that great either to be honest.

Overall, this was a very disappointing experience. I have no real intention of eating here again for sometime unless there appears to be new management but even then I would proceed with caution. If you want Japanese food in Knox, I would even recommend Sushi Sushi over this but if you really want to try it for yourself, go right ahead!

Sakura House

Shop 2222 Knox Ozone
Knox City Shopping Centre
Melbourne VIC 3153

03 9801 0368

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