Satsko

Ha! I noticed that you closed down shortly after my review. Take that Satsko…

This was a great little sushi place around the corner from a hotel I stayed at this weekend. The menu as smaller than I’ve become accustomed to at a lot of sushi places — and it was a bit strange to have sushi being made in a kitchen instead of in front of you at a sushi bar. However they had some creative rolls and the pricing was fair for the quality and portion sizes.
I started with the guac which was made with wasabi in it (which is funny as hell if you’ve seen Dr. Steve Brule). Terrific stuff. Went on to share a few rolls with my GF including one that was almost like a wrap made with a cucumber used instead of a tortilla.
Sapporo on tap for $ 4 a pint during happy hour made me very happy. Killer service was topped off by a complimentary shot of hot saki at the end of the meal. I’m normally more of a cold saki guy myself (mmm… Kokuryu black dragon…) but it was the perfect end to the meal.
I’m adding it to Blue Ribbon as part of my proof that sushi is probably the one thing NYC does better than Philly hands down.

Every time I’ve been to Satsko’s, it’s been a complete, utter shitshow. And I mean that in the best way possible.
It’s the kind of bar where, when one person orders a sake bomb, EVERYBODY orders a sake bomb. I’ve been told that Satsko herself can knock them back as quickly as a spritely young college student. And though the bar is quite small, Satsko’s really makes this to their advantage — the staff here is incredibly friendly and is really good at getting the entire crowd together for bombs. My friend and I once stayed here until 4am to hang out with the bartenders that we’d just met that night (Shout out to the British Alistair if you ever read this. I realize it was your last night but you made me and Clay’s night amazing. You probably don’t remember us. Nevermind.).
I will say that some of my craziest memories — CENSORED COUGH EHEM WHAT — were a result of this place. Again, I repeat — I mean that in the best way possible.
So overall, good ambiance, GREAT staff, and always a fun time. The only downsides is the meh food and the fact that they don’t serve hard liquor ;-D Okay, also, the bill gets a little pricey. Apparently, the last time I went, our bill racked up to around $ 300. Oopsy. Damn sake bombs.

Sushi was good. I had spicy tuna and eel avocado. Overpriced. No need for that.
I didn’t like that the sushi was being prepared in the kitchen. I like watching the chefs create sushi out in the open.

Had the amazing eggplant special with shrimp, scallops and miso sauce. See picture

I went to Satsko for a «sushi-​making class». My friend had taken a class already, and did not recommend it. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed myself.
The restaurant is super tiny and kind of in a random spot, on a low key street.
However, I really enjoyed the class. They also offered a generous amount of food. I left the class stuffed. The class also included a shot of sake, which I thought was nice of them.
I would recommend this place for the experience.

This is based on the Dealist deal for sushi making class:
If you are seriously trying to learn how to make sushi, this might not be the thing for you. The sushi making demonstration was very short and not too informative. The teacher only told us how to put the rice onto the nori, but didn’t teach us any tricks or gave any tips. We were also packed in a very tight space. All the important information I learned was actually from the girl sitting next to me. I think that next time, I would spend the 25 dollars on prepared sushi! This deal is normally 42 dollars, so I would suggest finding another place to learn how to make sushi.
See my sushi making adventures on my blog! (website is on my profile!)

Went here the other night with my girlfriend before going out. I had been here drinking once before with some friends, but had never tried the food. We were promptly seated upon entry, and brought a bottle of water by our hip waitress who was a delight throughout the meal. She immediately noticed our table was wobbly, and deftly fixed it with a folded napkin. We ordered a carafe of sake of the menu, and the bar tender told us it was his favorite as he was pouring.
We got the meat gyoza and the tuna tartar for appetizers. The gyoza was hot and flavorful, and came with a delicious and spicy sriracha like sauce. The tuna was sublime. I could eat it night and day.
For the mains we got the Eldridge Roll and some Salmon and Avocado Roll. The food came out relatively quickly compared to what some others have said, and was good. The Eldridge Roll was a little overblown with ingredients, but that’s what’s popular these days. It had a sort of nutty flavor I couldn’t identify though. The salmon roll was awesome. All in all it was about $ 90 with tax and tip. Not bad, I’d eat here again. This is a great place to take someone if you’re showing them the cooler parts of the Lower East Side.

Birthday girl chose this restaurant at the last minute since it could accommodate our group of 10 on a Saturday night, despite Satsko’s smallish size. That should have been a bit of a tip off. While the food was indeed underwhelmingly average, it’s the shoddy service that will keep me from returning.
Everything started off okay. We ordered sake bombs ($ 8) and apps while friends trickled in. The «pommes frites» were McDonalds-​esque, albeit served with spicy mayo, and probably the best of the apps that I tried was the wasabi guacamole (at least, of the non-​meat variety. The fried chicken smelled really good.)
Ok, here’s the bad: we all ordered sushi. No big deal, right? There’s nothing else on the menu as an entrée. Ok, but why oh why did we need to wait **over an hour** for our food? It’s not like anything was being cooked! Three people, including the birthday girl, had to go up to both the waiter AND the chef to ask what the deal was. Since we did have a reservation it’s not like they didn’t expect us. And towards the end of the evening the restaurant cleared out. So again, why the hold up?
The sushi, by the way, was very average.
Then, when we were paying the check, they had double charged us on the sake bombs! What? And it was almost all cash with just one card, and one of us had to negotiate for, no joke, half an hour to get the bill correctly split. As a pathetic afterthought, they gave our irate table a leftover bottle of sake on the house and then a melting plate of green tea ice cream with a candle in it for birthday girl. We just wanted to get the hell out of there.
There is no reason why this dinner should have taken three hours. DO NOT come here with a group and only come here if you want very no-​frills sushi.

I’ve heard amazing things about Satsko Sake Bar, so I thought I’d try out the sushi restaurant. All the reviews say «I can’t believe the restaurant was empty inside and the food was amazing!»
First part is true. The place was dead empty on a Thursday night. Besides us, there was one girl sitting by herself watching a movie on her iPod and a couple at the bar. Nice.
Pro:
Good sake selection. Unique dishes like wasabi guacamole. Way friendly service. $ 5 sake bomb specials on Thursday.
Cons:
Food wasn’t amazing. Good, but not mind blowing. Service was nice, but too nice. You know when you want to have a conversation with the person you’re having dinner with but the staff wants to tell you their life story? Yeah, that’s this place.
Reason why the restaurant is dead empty:
They have this bright red satin Asian print fabric for the seat backs and seat cushions. It just looks really cheap and cheesey. Outside is a red streamer flapping in the wind. It just makes the place look super cheap and cheesey.
Overall, if you’re in the area and are in the mood for sushi, check it out. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here.

The sushi here is really something special. The weird thing is that my mom & I were the only ones there for dinner, it was a Tuesday night at 7 so I guess that is early. Our service, however, was AMAZING as a result, but if it had been bad, how sad would that be?!

Who said sushi has to be served cold? The cozy house of Satsko just south of Houston on Eldridge provides a simple, clean cut menu that makes raw fish a culinary comfort on any chilly Winter night.
Among the Eldridge specialty, spicy tuna, and salmon rolls, the dragon maki was my favorite. Warmly grilled eel with avocado and a hint of jalapeño, the roll was fulfilling with an extra subtle kick.

Satsko was pretty deserted when my friend and I came for dinner on a Wednesday night. After subduing the challenge of finding the door to the restaurant (it’s somewhat hidden), we sat down and immediately ordered the «hard times» sake tasting. The six small glasses of sake were a great call because the fantastic variety of pale white liquids lends the pleasure to a nighttime learning and experimenting experience.
The gyoza and calamari were killer.
The sushi rolls were phenomenal. Creative, to boot. We were both extremely impressed, especially considering no one else was there to partake!
These days, it seems every restaurant has some sort of chocolate volcano cake on the menu. Most of them are pretty average (is that overly tautological?), but Satsko’s was terrific — vastly superior to what you might expect at a typical Japanese sushi shop. If you’re craving a little sugar by the end of the meal, we highly recommend giving in for this delicious indulgence.
Like many other Unilocalers, I feel obliged to go out of my way and compliment the insanely awesome restaurant staff. Our bartender/​waitress/​hostess/​new friend was Natalie (Weds only), and she’s super!
Come on a Wednesday! Make sure to try the unfiltered sake! Order lots of sushi! Hang out with Natalie!

I went here around 7:30 on a Sat. night, not too packed… but it got a bit more busy towards the end of the night. They played a lot of hip hop… surprisingly! I felt like I was eating sushi in a club… not that I mind.
For appetizers we got pommes frites which came with some sorta japanese spicy mayo/​mustard sauce and the calamari with tartar sauce. I would skip the pommes frites, nothing special. Calamari was very good though. They have a small selection of appetizers, salads and rolls.
We had the sushi/​sashimi combo, eldridge roll, spicy tuna, dragon roll, naruto roll. I def. recommend the naruto and sashimi… it was fresh. But the eldridge and dragon roll weren’t impressive at all. And they put cilantro in the dragon roll… why…why would you do that! I hate cilantro and quite honestly, I don’t recall seeing cilantro as one of the ingredients. It clearly said, «Anago (eel), avocado, jalapeño»…NO JALAPENO at all… i got yucky cilantro. Or is cilantro the new jalapeño now?
I’m confused, did i come to the wrong restaurant? I mean, I called the day before to make a reservation at 7:30 and when I got here, they couldn’t find my reservation and said they had another chain, so I might’ve called the wrong one. So I checked my phone and it was the same exact number as the one in that restaurant. But that’s okay, they didn’t make a big deal out of it and graciously seated us. The staff here are superb. But now I’m really starting to think maybe I did set foot into the wrong place considering there are so many great reviews about this place and yet I left disappointed.
I’m sad to say, I don’t think I’ll be back. But the sake ice cream was the highlight of the night.

When, not if, you stop in make sure Austin Power is there (Sun, Mon or Thurs). He bartends, he serves, he rocks his playlist, he chats, he saki bombs with you … and, YES, his real name is Austin Power.
Recommend the fried chicken appetizer, unfiltered house sake, any of the rolls and the chocolate volcano dessert with the sake ice cream. I just drooled thinking about it.
Austin MAKES this place with down home charm.

What a wonderful little place!
Tuesday night «Roll-​your-​own-​Sushi» is awesome! You get a generous portion of *fresh* salmon, tuna, shrimp, and whitefish. *Fresh* veggies such as string carrots, cucumbers, and arugula. A heap of rice, a stack of seaweed paper, a rolling mat and you’re on your way! You’re allowed to play with your food! Fun, right?
The appetizers were all delicious as well! I definitely recommend the Hanger Steak or Gyoza!
The bartender was very knowledgable about saki and even let us sample some for learning purposes ;) The food was very fresh and the presentation was very pretty. Outstanding customer service, I was surprised the place wasn’t more crowded, although it was Tuesday night.
The price range is a bit too high (and distance a bit too far) for me to make this my regular sushi spot, but coming for the «Roll-​your-​own» with some friends definitely makes for an entertaining night out!

The Short: Come for the sake, stay for the food, return for the people
The Long:
My mom lives right next to Satsko’s, but rarely goes herself. We were walking by and Satsko herself was sitting outside, and my mom introduced us. We stopped in later and I enjoyed a few carafes of sake and ended up making a bunch of new friends. It was awesome. I live in SF and I had never found such an awesome and friendly bar as this one.
(you’ll come for) — The Sake:
They’ve got the basics like Sho Chiku Bai (SF Bay Area Represent!), an old favourite of mine the ginjo Bishounen (Beautiful Boy), as well as super fancy daiginjo like Kubota Manju if you really want to impress that sexy person in your life.
(you’ll stay for) — The Food:
The food here is simple Japanese style comfort food to soothe and please your tummy while you tuck into a long night of Satsko bliss. Here are my recommendations for a perfect night:
I loved the asian Guacamole (reviewer up there, you are crazy for saying it was gross. I’m from the avacado state, and this is some yummy stuff!)
The Pesto Maki is the bomb, and even vege people will love it.
The Gyoza are the perfect combination of meaty and a little spicy/​tangy. Mmm…
The Champon soup (sundays and monday only) was totally the bomb diggity.
I had a small group of people, and we got the ‘make your own sushi’, and we all ate a ton of food and no one went hungry. Super fun, too!
Their homemade ice cream. No seriously. They make their own ice cream. You must eat it. Belly will thank you.
(you’ll come back for) — The People:
Satsko is the owner and she loves her bar, and it shows. The design of the place is very thoughtful, and she invented all the food herself.
Ted is the super cute bartender with the baseball cap, t-​shirt and jeans. He is super down to earth, friendly, and really cares about his customers. (He’s probably my favourite!)
Alistair has that super cute accent, and he is playful and upbeat.
Jordan rocks the house with Fred Astaire and runs the kick ass trivia night.
I love this place, and I told Satsko she should open one in SF. This place is pretty, unpretentious, casual, fun, and has lovely people. Visit. Say hi to Satsko. Make a new friend. I did, and I would do it again in a new york minute.

T, S and I were in a bind and they wanted sushi… so Unilocaled it and found this place near where we were.
After we sat down… T wanted to leave but S told her No and give this place a chance.
I mean you’re not going to find the standard sushi flair here, since this place is pretty creative on their maki.
We ordered the steamed shrimp shumai which turned out to be my favourite dim sum dish… the har gaw, which translates to be the crystal shrimp dumpling. So I definitely can appreciate the fact they have Har Gaw at this Japanese joint.
Asian Chicken was good but the maki… they were just okay.
I would come back here if I was craving for Har Gaw but not for sushi.

I came here last night for one of my Asian Meetup for a Sake tasting. It’s a small restaurant but the staff pitches in to do everything from bar tending to serving and taking orders. The bar tender is extremely knowledgeable about Sake, the names and different types as well as filtered vs. unfiltered. He is truly a Sake Master! The staff especially the bar tender is very friendly and welcoming. They treat patrons like it was their own house.
I high-​fived someone from our group which her finger nails accidentally dig into my hand which resulted me in bleeding. The bar tender was very nice and prepared who given me a band-​aid as I have very fragile and delicate skin.
The restaurant was very accommodating to our group eleven people for a Sake tasting on a Sunday night. They also gave us appetizers of Edamame, Gyoza, and shrimp shumai dumplings on a very long plank, which the presentation itself intrigues, all of us. The sushi and sashimi are very fresh and plentiful for the combo at $ 24.00. The sake’s can either be served in shot glasses as flights or in a carafe. The bar tender explains during the course of our meal the types of sake we were consuming as well as the contains on the gargantuan plank which is great for patrons who are not knowledgable in sake or Edamame, Gyoza, and shrimp shumai. Most restaurant staff of any level (waiter, bar tender, owner, etc.) does not describe in detail how sake is or what is being served. Extreme attentive customer service, thus five stars indeed!
I would totally recommend this restaurant for any Meetup or Facebook group events despite of it being rather pricey. However, I do not recommend this restaurant for children.

Yuck. I did not like this place… at all.
Service was horrendous. They were clearly understaffed. After the bus boy rushed us through our appetizers we proceeded to wait for over 25 minutes for our entrees, without a single apology or even acknowledgment from the wait staff. When the food came it was a sore disappointment. My boyfriend and I both had the mahi-​mahi, their «signature dish.» We were underwhelmed by the overly salty, odd tasting sauce. With so many phenomenal Japanese places in this city I will not be wasting another night at Satsko.