On a recent, rare midweek day off, the Family Chow went with a recommendation from one of our own Dad and headed to Sake Japanese Steakhouse in Latham. Dad has been a frequent visitor of the restaurant, which offers a 30-minute guarantee at lunchtime perfect for a quick business meeting.
Though we didn’t need to limit ourselves to 30 minutes, we were pleased to be seated immediately after we arrived. Sake is large, but broken up into a hibachi area, a sushi bar, sake lounge, private dining space and an all-purpose dining room. We opted to save the full hibachi experience for another visit more fun with a larger group.
We took notice right away of the engaging space, which makes use of glass and wood to great effect. The earth tone color scheme is enhanced by thoughtful lighting, which makes it feel open and intimate at the same time. The pop music playing in the background was just loud enough to entertain.
Sake’s menu is a hefty, embossed-leather tome, but we managed to focus our attention on their one page of lunch specials. Although we did not see a kids’ menu, there were plenty of “plain” options to satisfy picky eaters. Among the offerings are “Roll Specials,” hibachi lunches and some teriyaki, sushi and sashimi specials. We couldn’t resist straying a bit to order an appetizer of Gyoza ($6) one of our favorite Japanese starters.
Sake Japanese Steakhouse
611 Troy Schenectady Road, Albany
Food 4 C’s (out of 5)
Service 4 C’s
Family friendliness 3.5 C’s
All of our lunches included soup and salad that arrived as soon as we had finished our Gyoza. The dumplings were perfectly pan fried with crispy edges and a flavorful, meaty interior.
Mom and Daughter had miso soup to accompany their 2 Roll specials ($10) while Dad and Son received “clear soup” along with their hibachi entrees ($10-$14). The ladies enjoyed their soup with a pronounced sea and scallion flavor. The gentlemen were mixed, with Dad enjoying his bowl of salty broth and Son passing his along after a few sips. The salads also went three for four, as Son is not a big fan of lettuce. The rest of us loved the fresh ingredients, especially the salad dressing with its hint of pineapple juice.
Dad was unable to finish the huge amount of food on his chicken hibachi, which included fresh, succulent chicken, fried rice, noodles and a large serving of vegetables. Son also enjoyed most of his hibachi entree, especially the tender steak. He liked the rice and noodles, but only managed to swallow one piece of broccoli at the insistence of Mom.
Daughter loved her chicken tempura and California rolls even though she remarked the crab in the latter did not have as much flavor as others she has tried. The tempura roll was her clear favorite “easy to bite into and perfectly crunchy.”
Mom’s winner was the spicy salmon crunch roll, with just the right amount of heat, not too much rice and flavorful, tender bites of salmon. She also enjoyed the freshness of the avocado and garnish of toasted sesame seeds in the shrimp avocado roll.
For dessert, we picked three out of the seven offerings to share: the bomba ($6.25), the tempura ice cream ($4.95) and the mochi ($4.50). The bomba was a chocolate-coated ball of vanilla and chocolate gelato with a cherry in the middle. The just-thick-enough coating tasted like actual chocolate versus wax, and the gelato inside was equally flavorful. Mom didn’t react quickly enough to try even a bite of the vanilla tempura ice cream, which Dad and Son described as “delicious.” Daughter also loved her vanilla mochi (a sticky rice cake filled with ice cream) and appreciated the less mochi to more ice cream ratio. All of the desserts were presented with a hand-drawn cherry blossom made out of chocolate and fruit sauce adorning the plate.
Overall, we enjoyed our lunch at Sake from start to finish. While we had several different servers throughout our meal, we were well taken care of and not at all rushed. The food was fresh and plentiful and the desserts worth a trip by themselves. We give Sake 4 C’s for service, 3.5 C’s for family friendliness and 4 C’s for food.
The Family Chow hails from the Capital District and will be contributing regular reviews of area restaurants based on service, food and family friendliness.