SAIA Sushi Asian Grill

Well it was New Year's Day and the first day of BPB "Order the Yelp" month, and I couldn't figure a better way to kick it off than to head over to SAIA for a nice Tuna Tatare, and a "Yelp Roll."

I've eaten at SAIA previously and have always been pleased, particularly with any of one their Sashimi dishes, so I knew I was in for a good time of eats, but I hadn't expected the other delightful surprises that were in store for me. First off, when I hit my check-in up popped a Yelp 30% off coupon. I didn't think I could be more thrilled with that but I was, because it not only applied to my Yelp Roll but to my entire check including drinks. Hence, if there was ever a time to go overboard with things, this was it, so added on to my order a couple of Sazerac cocktails and a plate of Pomegranate Duck.

First off, the Sazerac, a time honored Southern favorite dating back to its inception dates of the 1830's is rarely seen on a restaurant menu. Named for Sazerac de Forge et Fils, a brand of cognac, it is a combination of rye whisky, cognac, Peychaud's Bitters, and absinthe and I have to say that SAIA makes a great one, actually using a low dose of an absinthe, which has only recently been re-legalized in the United States. Maybe my affection for the drink might be summed up in the original saying: "Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder." Of course it isn't the good old absinthe that gave everyone those infamous Green Fairy hallucinations, but the new stuff does pack the subtleness of the original flavor.

When my Tuna Tartare arrived is was in exquisite presentation with nice little hunks of real belly cuts (they list it as "big eye) of tuna, truffle oiled with ginger, cilantro and jalapeño on top of a crunched noddle bed; totally delish!

The Yelp Roll, another outstanding dish, made up especially for us (that is we Yelpers), with a combination of tuna, salmon, escolar, kanikama, blanched spinach and tobiko wrapped with cucumber and spiced with yuzu balsamic...like how could one ask for anything better.

As for the Pomegranate Duck, it was a nice breast cut, but to me over done with the skin too fatty for my tastes as I generally expect it seared crispy, but then this may be a matter of preferential tastes; hence I'm not deducting any on that count and going Five Stars on the meal as everything was unique, had good style, presentation and great flavors.

We found out about SAIA from a Home Show/convention. After tasting the delicious lamb lollipops samples Chef Subin prepared for the audience, we had to check out the restaurant.

The menu is adorable. It's made with chopsticks. The beautiful ocean can be seen from most of the tables.

We mainly had sushi, but my favorite dishes of the night were the tuna tartare and ginger flavored rice in the sliced steak dish. I don't know what Chef Subin does to the rice, but I ate every grain even though I was already full.

Speaking of Chef Subin, he was nice enough to stop by our table since we were one of two tables in the restaurant at the time. He was friendly and takes a lot of pride is his work.

It was quiet on a early weeknight in the hotel restaurant, but the tables filled up towards the end of our meal. We had a great night out made better by a Chef's visit to our table.

After returning to SAIA I feel compelled to write a new review and finally round up to 4 stars.

After valeting ($5 with restaurant validation) we were shown to our table by the hostess. Didn't catch her name but she was very friendly and remembered me making the reservation on the phone with her earlier.

We sat against the back wall looking out on to A1A at the high top table, which was more comfortable than it looked and somewhat private. Our waitress took a while to drop by and by the time she did we were already ready to order our drinks and food. She said she was swamped and apologized for the delay, but I think she was just having an off night.

First up - the drinks. I opted for the SAIA rita, but I wasn't crazy about the sweetness or the jalapeno seeds I kept sucking up in my straw. The bf went with the Bipolar cocktail - I tried it and wasn't a fan, but he seemed happy enough.

We started with the tuna tartare and the lamb lollipops. If this review was just for the lollipops I'd be giving 5 stars. Wow! I was expecting some sort of lamb cube on a stick but these were whole lamb chops with the bone to simulate the stick. The meat was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. The sauce was delicious. Yeah I could go on all day about this lamb!! The tuna tartare was also good, but I'm not sure how much of that has to do with the truffle oil it was slathered in. I'm a chopstick master but this dish was a little hard to eat with just chopsticks.

Next up - the surf and turf roll and the knock out roll. For the bf, the knock out roll was just that... he loved it and kept exclaiming how good it was. I'd had the surf and turf roll before at Yelp events and loved it...no difference here, this was just as good.

We opted to skip dessert and head elsewhere, but overall it was another pleasant night at SAIA. This place is beautiful and I love the layout with the kitchen out in the open.

3 1/2 but rounding up to 4.

Yesterday was my third visit to SAIA and my first for a full dinner (the first two were Yelp events).

I used valet parking ($5 validated) and waltzed right in. It was not full on a Sunday night and looked completely different than during the Yelp events: a little more toned down. We were seated towards the back facing A1A. I'm guessing this way the restaurant appears fuller to onlookers? The first thing I noticed was the strong food smell (and a huge pet peeve). The open kitchen sits right in the middle with no barrier. I never noticed that problem on Yelp event nights , but it was a huge one last night. They really need to remedy that (perhaps a full or even half glass partition?). No one likes to leave a restaurant reeking of food! There was also a mess of cushions behind our table, towards the back corner: a huge eye sore. They store the cushions for their outside seating in plain view and it just takes away from the sleek, chic decor they are going for. One of the hostesses was also storing her purse there. Awful!

Our waiter came by immediately to take our drink order and tell us about the menu. He was very nice and on top of everything the entire night without intruding or being overbearing. These are the items we tried:

Scallop Ceviche- Very refreshing and cilantro heavy. Loved it.

Mongolian BBQ Lamb Lollipops- I love everything about this! The are New Zealand farm raised and served in teriyaki. Truly stellar!

Miso Scallop- served with a honey miso sauce and sitting on top of a Japanese yam wafer. Delicious!

Crazy Salmon Roll- This was my least favorite although it was still good. It was cool and fresh but the salmon skin varied from crispy to chewy (and thus unpleasant to eat at times). I would have also loved more of the wasabi mayo.

Ocean Blue Roll- This one was as good as the first I tried it at the Yelp event. Actually, it was probably even better since I didn't have to share it. Ha!

Grilled Sea Bass- Simple, in a chili sauce, over ginger rice with Napa cabbage. Cooked to perfection!

White Chocolate Crème Brûlée Martini- So sorry to the hubs but this drink and I had a moment (or two) and I plan to go back for more one day soon: Bacardi Rock Coconut and Godiva White Chocolate topped with a caramel crisp. I sipped on this slowly instead of ordering a dessert and it was the absolute perfect choice!

And that, my fellow Yelpers, is why I had to round up to 4 stars. While the food smell and messy layout annoyed me to no end, I easily forgot bite after bite. I loved every single thing we ordered. I will be back for more and perhaps just request to be seated outside. In the mean time, I will always have my martini memories. Nothing can take those away...sigh...

Very cool hotel!!! The restaurant is right at the tip of the hotel, facing A1A but you cannot see the ocean if it is night time.

Drank the hello kitty drinks which have nothing to do with hello kitty, they are simply ginger based drinks. very good.... but morning after is awful! I was so sick and hungover and my throat burned of ginger.

Being vegan at the moment, I could only enjoy the veggie roll and the rice. The veggie roll had fantastic flavor and texture. I really liked it. Rice was good but not memorable. And coming from California, when someone calls it Avocado Fried Rice, there should be more than 2 really small pieces of avocado on the rice....

The rest of my party, who eat meat, really liked all their dishes. the highlight was an appetizer of just raw hamachi and jalapeno. we ordered 3 orders of it for 5 people!

Prices are a little high but overall it's a great date spot.

This restaurant is very underrated, being slightly hidden in the B Ocean Hotel on Sunrise and A1A. It's ambiance was very asian fusion inspired, but carried a New York trendy feel to it. The menu carried quite a bit of flare, from the sushi to the non-fish dishes.

While we originally looked at ordering separate drinks, we settled on sharing the Scorpion Bowl, a large bowl of 5 alcohols with various juices and fruits. It was great for sharing and lasted the entire meal.

To start, the chef sent us 2 tasters: a garlic and jalepeno green bean salad with fresh green beans (very tasty with a strong but quckly fading spicy kick), and some pieces of asparagus veggie sushi (very well liked by my father, the only one who eats asparagus in the family).

As for entrees, my father had the mongolian barbeque lamb lollipops which were amazing. The accompanying sauce was a perfect compliment, and the lamb was as tender as possible. My mother ordered the pan-fried pork tenderloin with sauteed mixed vegetables and the fried rice. Very well-cooked again, and extremely well-spiced.

As the sushi lover at the table, I ordered 2 rolls. The first roll was the garlic hamachi roll which came with cilantro and jalepeno inside. While I was nervous about the jalepeno overpowering the yellowtail, it was actually a perfect combination. They must have taken the jalepeno seeds out, as the spice was well adapted to the fish, and the pepper was more included for the jalepeno's distinct flavor. The cilantro was pronounced, and the hamachi was very fresh. Overall a 4.5* roll.

My second roll was the spicy crunchy tuna roll. As a fairly standard roll to order, I was not expecting anything special. However, I was blown away. By far the best tuna roll I've every had (and that's a lot of tuna rolls). The tuna was perfectly crushed, and unbelievably fresh, the hotness was at a perfect level, and the crunch was the right amount However, what truly made the roll, was the toppings: a piece of white tuna, a slice of cucumber, and a dab of fish roe. The white tuna was exquisite, and everything just combined flawlessly. Truly a spectacular, 5* roll of sushi!

Finally, for dessert we got the tirami-sushi (a tiramisu shaped as a sushi roll), and the lava molten cake which were both very good.

5 stars for sure, and we will definitely return. The service was impeccable, and the chef even stopped by to ask for our reviews. By far my favorite asian restaurant in South Florida, and very comparable to any high-class asian fusion restaurant in NYC.

I really wanted to like SAIA more than I did. It was very modern, classy, elegant - but without the stuffy feeling. Located inside the Sonesta hotel (to the right), my husband and I were immediately seated after walking to the waitress stand roughly 30 mins before closing.

We were greeted within 5-7 minutes and moved to another table as the draft was very cold and chilling to the bone (for me at least). We both had drinks, my husband the tasty Ruby Foo and I the Blushing Lemonade. The Ruby Foo was delicious, tasted like a refreshing strawberry drink sans alcohol . I'm sure there was some alcohol in it but you could not taste it, nor did you feel it after one drink. On the other hand I had the Blushing Lemonade which is very lemon-y (which I love) and stronger than the Ruby Foo although you could not taste the alcohol. The blushing lemonade is served in a martini glass with little bits of blackberries inside the glass. I thought it was really good and found that you have an upfront taste of lemonade and a finishing taste of blackberries/fruit. I definitely had a slight buzz after finishing it.

We decided to go with the Mongolian barbecue lamb lollipops small bites thanks to fellow yelpers reviews. We had them cooked to Medium (chef recommendations) and they were juicy, tasteful and delicious. There was plenty of meat on the lollipops and we throughly enjoyed them.

We also ordered the Fire Dragon roll without avocado because my husband is not a fan of it. It was okay, it wasn't the best sushi we've had as we reside in Maryland and have had better and fresher quality sushi. I wouldn't order sushi from SAIA again, but I know my husband would love another round of the lollipops ANYDAY!

Overall, it was a nice dining experience, but not enough to that I would want to return again unless we wanted to grab some delicious drinks and small bites.

I had a nice dinner with my wife. The place was mostly empty and the decor had the new car look and feel. We sat at the sushi bar and started off with some sake, beer, and wine. The trifecta:) The sake is expensive, but what's cool is that you get to select what serving vessel you want it poured in. I chose a nice stone one with a matching stone cup. They also have the traditional square bamboo cup which looked interesting, but I'll pick that one next time.

Make no mistake that this place is expensive. We ate some surf clam, a blue crab roll, and a tropical roll. The blue crab roll was my favorite. I never had mango in a roll before so the tropical roll was a first for me. It was tasty and even looked to pretty to eat (see pic).

Service was excellent and we even got to meet the head chef (see pic).

Overall, great meal, drinks, view, service, and ambiance. Remember to tell them Dan sent you and Stay Hungry!

This is a sleek restaurant situated in the B hotel with windows facing the Atlantic Ocean across the street. On a Thursday night, while staying at the hotel by myself during a business trip, I wandered down here for a solo dinner rather than deal with the hassle of going to Las Olas with my car. As a hotel guest, a complimentary California roll coupon came with my room key and I tried the lamb lollipops (which were quite good) and the scallops over japanese yam. This was plenty of food for me.

Small plates are substantial in portion size and average $13-$15 each. I'd say that two people could share three of these and it would be plenty. I also tried the SAIA-rita (an Asian take on a margarita, with jalapeno for spice) and it was awesome-- refreshing and not all sugared-up. It definitely had a little more alcohol than the taste let on- it gave a little kick to a relative lightweight in the drinking category.

I would definitely recommend coming here if you are staying at the hotel-- the restaurant was more full than not when I came and I think it was mainly hotel guests. I do not know the baseline for the restaurant scene in Ft. Lauderdale so i'm not sure where in the heap SAIA falls and whether it is worth driving to the beach for dinner; however, I think you will find an enjoyable experience if you do. Additionally, this seemed to be the only non-chain upscale restaurant within a mile or so radius. The nearby mall has several chains but right on the beach, dives were all I could find (no pun intended). The staff is friendly and attentive.

Went here on a Thursday afternoon after work! Our waitress was excellent and super attentive. We ordered for appetizer the tuna tartare and a miso soup. Everything was delicious. The tuna tartare was totally different than others that I have tried. We ordered two sushi rolls, a spicy tuna and the knockout roll. Everything was super fresh. Also my drink was delicious, I had a Saia Rita. Will definitely be back.