TABLES FOR TWOSAKANAYA403 E Green St. Champaign (217-344-1400)

SAKANAYA IS DEFINITLEY THE place to go when in the Champaign-Urbana area. Its a chic little place for anyone looking for a nice restaurant. It was surrounded by other restaurants, but it stood out because it was the only sushi place and was located on the corner of the street. This restaurant is walking distance from the University of Illinois campus. When you first walk in, you see the sushi bar/ kitchen where they make all of their food. The inside is very clean, the lights are dimmed, and the dcor is simple, yet beautiful. The walls had a silver wave-like pattern with a blue spotlight on it, which resembled a body of water. The ambiance was calming and soothing. There were paintings of sushi and various fish on the wall. Its a pretty small place. When customers walk in, the hostess asks you for a cell phone number so they could text when the table is ready. A hostess with heavy eye makeup will escort you to your table. It was extremely busy, but the wait moved quickly. It gets busier as the night goes on, since college students are their main customers.The menu was easy to read, because all of the meals were spread out on just two pages. The cups they give you for water are so petite and cute. You are only given chopsticks to eat, but silverware is available only on request. Everyone gets miso soup as a starter. It is included with his or her meal, which everyone was excited about. It is made up of tofu, green onion, and wakame. The staff was super friendly and the service was quick. The California Roll Sushi was a table favorite. It was filled with crab, avocado, and cucumbers. The taste and look was very pleasing, although, they could have done a better job with the presentation of the sushi. As you can see in the picture above, the rice looks a little messy on one of the pieces of sushi. It was plump, yet light, flavorful, fresh, and just the right amount of squishy. It didnt fall apart when it was lifted off the plate with chopsticks. The Shuyo Ramen was excellent, but a tad spicy. Some of its ingredients are pork-based soy broth, bamboo shoots, pickled ginger, dry seaweed, wakame, and chasu. The texture was gummy and doughy. The presentation of the food on solid black dishes accentuated the vibrant colors of the fresh vegetables. It made the food pop.There arent a lot of negative things to say, but one of the weaknesses was not bringing everyone at the same tables food out at the same time. They were busy, so the kitchen was probably overwhelmed. At first glance, the chefs seemed to be focused and hard at work. As they moved quickly from station to station, it looked like they were scrambling to keep up with orders, when really they were chasing a fly with a torch. Although that would normally disgust most people, everyone was having such a great time that it was amusing and entertaining. It was so loud, that hearing your own conversation could be a challenge. All in all, this is definitely a restaurant to return to. -- Daniella Ballarino

Lunch and Dinner ($10 - $20 Entres)Mon-Sat: 11:30am 2pm, 5pm 1amSun: 5pm 9:30pm