Sakura Bana—Ridgewood’s Japanese Blossom

For more than 25 years, diners have battled poor parking on busy Franklin Avenue to eat at Sakura Bana in Ridgewood.  They stand in line for tables or a spot at the sushi bar on Friday and Saturday nights.

A ceramic cat on the sushi bar beckons the crowds.   Ken Kuriki, sushi chef and manager for the last 14 years, said that in Japan people welcome guests the way people in the U.S. wave goodbye.

That explains why the cat appears to westerners to be waving the wrong way.  But it is an appropriate mascot for a restaurant with authentic Japanese cuisine, and make no mistake, Sakura Bana, which means cherry blossom, is the real deal.   It is not a fusion or Asian restaurant.  It is a Japanese restaurant.

In the summer, Kuriki said, about 60 percent of his business is sushi and the other 40 percent traditional Japanese dishes from the kitchen presided over by Munemasa Yamada.  In the winter, sushi drops to 45 percent and the heartier fare becomes more popular.

On a recent visit, my partner and I chose from both menus.  We started by sharing two appetizers, the gyoza (fried vegetable dumplings) and the edamame.  We also sampled a Japanese pickle which was new to us.   The dumplings and edamame were very good, but I think the pickle may be an acquired taste.

For an entrée my partner had katsu don --a pork cutlet with onion, scallions and egg over rice.  It came with a salad and was pronounced excellent.   I had the "Glen Rock" roll from the sushi menu, which described it as "shrimp tempura, fresh salmon and cucumber with a spicy sauce and tempura chips." 

My only problem was that it came with eel skin wrappers, which hadn't been mentioned on the menu and which I don't like.  But it was otherwise a great combination and in an interview later, Kuriki told me to always tell the server that I don't want eel and he'll make it another way.

That led to an interesting discovery.   In Japan sushi is made with sea eel, Kuriki said, but in America "95 percent of the time it is fresh water eel which is oilier and sweeter." 

For dessert we had a shimmering mango pudding that was light and hit just the right note.

The staff at Sakura is excellent, attentive without being intrusive, and very pleasant.  "I want people to have a happy face," Kuriki says.  He grew up on a farm in northern Japan and came to the U.S. in 1984, worked briefly in North Jersey, then went on to the West Coast where he was a sushi chef in Cupertino for 10 years.

He came back to take on the job at Sakura because, he said, "it is more exciting to be near Manhattan."  

The original dining room on the corner of Franklin and Chestnut was expanded in 2007 when space next door became available, but the renovation took twice as long as Kuriki expected and they reopened just as the recession was looming on the horizon.

Things are, he thinks, getting better, and about 80 percent of his business comes from repeat customers.   The restaurant is now open Monday nights as well as Sunday nights and for lunch and dinner the other days of the week.  They've also added a delivery service.  And when the weather cooperates, there is outdoor seating under umbrellas. 

Of the village's eight Japanese restaurants, Sakura Bana is oldest and, Kuriki said, one of two that are owned and operated by Japanese immigrants. 

Food: Excellent

Dinner Entrée Price Range: $13 - $23

Atmosphere: Friendly

BYOB

Credit Cards Accepted

OpenTable: No