Bob S.
Yelp
tl;dr: Food is good, service is good. Ambiance, product quality, and alcohol selection needs to be improved. Get there early for a bar seat.
I would give 3.75 if I could.
Pardon me if I may, but this review is long and painful. Dinner for for two is exactly $509.35, which, includes an auto-gratuity of 18%. The menu has a few sake flights priced at $40 for three pours, $110 for three pours, and $125 for 7 pours. Outside of the flights, the sake selection starts at $55 for a bottle but then jumps to $110, and as high as $560. There's only one beer on the menu that is $10/pint and glasses of wine range from $20 to $50. There are also a few supplemental nigiri choices that range from $7 to $15 that can be ordered before the nigiri section of the meal is over. We opted for a few flights and a few beers, our overall total was $698.11.
Alcohol aside, when you're paying $500 for dinner, the bar is extremely high and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that the food be absolutely perfect, the service to be above and beyond, and maybe a hint of theatrics, or a combination of all three. Unfortunately, Okesutora falls to meet the standard that has been set by the other restaurants in Sacramento at this price point and it's painfully obvious where the corners have been cut.
To start the meal, each group is offered still, sparkling, or ice water without being told the cost of each option. This is fairly standard for fine-dining but it would be nice to know before-hand that you're going to be paying $6 for each bottle of Aqua Panna. Once everyone is seated, service kicks off with an introduction done by Chef Hieu where he goes over the house rules, how service works, and what to expect during dinner. Chef Hieu explains his Samento heritage and how he's proud that he's formed connections in his hometown, his time in Vegas, and his culinary journey. The first red flag was during this introduction where Chef Hieu announced all of the produce they use is sourced from Produce Express. I have nothing against Produce Express, but they are far from best when it comes to produce and it's surprising that a restaurant of this caliber wouldn't be sourcing their produce directly from local farms. For reference, Produce Express is also used by dive bars, sports bars, and fast casual restaurants throughout Sacramento (think Blue Cue, Alaro, etc.).
Shortly after the introduction, one of the staff went over how they use fresh wasabi (which was absolutely fantastic), and very adamantly explained that once it's grated, wasabi begins to degrade and loses its flavor/potency in about 15 minutes. It was very surprising that they announced this given they grated all of the wasabi they used at the very beginning of service and used the same batch throughout the entire 2.5 hour meal. If wasabi is so integral to the food you're serving, and you truly believe that the quality of it degrades so quickly, wouldn't you grate it as you go? It's possible they did grate the wasabi in the kitchen instead of on the floor, but if they did, it wasn't made apparent.
Some of the dishes had truffle oil, which, a few diners did not eat. The restaurant did not do anything to compensate them in any way and instead only offered an apology. The seats were a tad uncomfortable, especially considering you're sitting there for just short of three hours.
On a more positive note, all of the nigiri was absolutely fantastic and I wish there was more of it. I would have happily given up a few of the other dishes for more nigiri. The desert fell flat for me and the soup they served was one-note spicy and had a some room to grow. There were a few free drinks and a few free off-menu items, which, were both really nice to have. The decor is minimalist and modern but if you're sitting at a table, you'll literally be sitting in the dark. One of the tables had complained that it was dark and difficult to see what they were eating and there was apparently no way to get more light to their table.
It would be nice to see a change in produce, a slightly faster pace, dishes that are focused more on flavor profile and less on plating gimmick. Some quick/easy improvements that the restaurant can make are collecting dietary restrictions ahead of time (like every other fine-dining restaurant does), better lighting at the tables, personalized menus, and a shorter more assertive call to action (they literally said "Pardon me if I may" to get everyone's attention before every plate). I plan on coming back at some point but I fear this place will have the same fate as the previous restaurants that lived in the same space.