click to enlarge - Luke Awtry
- Lunch bento box
Sitting at a table at Sakura Sushi & Kitchen finishing up a late lunch last week, a pair of diners chatted animatedly over their bento box and bowl of wakame udon noodles.
Colchester residents Dunja Hegeman and her 14-year-old daughter, Alizee, said they had stopped by the small Japanese restaurant in the Taft Corners Shopping Center after running errands nearby.
"We like Asian food, and I was hungry," Alizee said. Her mother added that the reasonable prices appealed to her.
Listing the items in the $9 lunch bento box — miso soup, four California roll slices, salad, rice and two good-size pieces of tempura-fried horse mackerel — Dunja called it a lot of delicious food for the money.
Alizee said her big bowl of broth filled with chewy noodles, seaweed and broccoli ($7.75) was very good and too much to finish. That might have had something to do with the fact that she had sampled her mom's lunch, too.
"Alizee wanted to eat mine, but I didn't allow it," Dunja said with a smile.
click to enlarge - Luke Awtry
- Spicy tofu don bowl
I also chose the lunch-size bento box — a filling and satisfying deal. A dinner-size version without the rice costs $11.75, and either box can be ordered at lunch or dinner. The type of protein in the box changes weekly, with updates on the restaurant's Facebook page. Recent offerings have included mahi-mahi teriyaki and bird's nest tempura of chopped vegetables and shrimp.
The California roll was fresh and came with a generous mound of pickled ginger. The oniony, tangy salad dressing made it easy to eat my greens. I was not sure what to expect of horse mackerel, but the two pieces of fish, each with a tiny tail poking out of its crunchy sheath, were flaky and moist and came with a compellingly sweet-tart sauce.
Co-owner Tomoko Ohira later told me that was Bull-Dog tonkatsu sauce, one of the small selection of Japanese groceries Sakura carries. It also offers the curiously named Vermont Curry sauce, a very popular Japanese product, which Ohira told me is the base for the sauce on the chicken cutlet curry ($8.50) I had enjoyed on my first visit. On that evening, I also shared a crunchy vegetable tempura appetizer ($6) with my dinner companion, keeping my meal under our Dining on a Dime budget of $12.
Meeting that target is easy at Sakura. Just a few menu items rise above it — such as the teriyaki salmon dinner ($12.75) my friend selected, featuring two well-cooked pieces of fish swimming in sauce and served with salad, rice and miso soup. We also each indulged in a Sapporo beer ($3.50). The cooler holds sake and containers of that addictive salad dressing to take home.
click to enlarge - Luke Awtry
- A diner at Sakura Sushi & Kitchen
Ohira said keeping prices affordable is important for the family-owned business. She works with her husband, Isao, and their two sons, Masa, 26, and Yoshi, 23, plus five other employees.
The couple, now both 61, came to Vermont in 1998. Isao was the sushi chef at Sakura Bana Japanese Restaurant on upper Church Street until it closed in early 2012. The Williston and Burlington restaurants were originally owned by one company, from which the Ohiras bought the Taft Corners Sakura in 2017.
The low-frills spot has an additional unexpected perk. The glass-fronted order counter holds charming Japanese ceramic bowls decorated with cats and flowers, all priced under $12: holiday gifts on a dime.
Dining on a Dime is a series featuring well-made, filling bites (something substantial enough to qualify as a small meal or better) for around $12 or less. Know of a tasty dish we should feature? Drop us a line: [email protected].