This is an almost brand new Japanese restaurant in the downtown of Frederick Maryland, which was opened beginning of 2022. As it's new, little or no customer reviews on the web. We initially wanted to go to the "Lazy Fish", restaurant nearby, which is highly rated and popular. As we had a party of 8, we had to wait for a long time to get in. So, we decided to take a risk and tried this new establishment, "Sapporo II". We were so glad we did. We got our table setup immediately with white table cloth. Both the interior and exterior designs of the restaurant are attractive. Our waiter was chatty and friendly who recommend for us 2x Sushi and Sashimi Platers for our party. It costs $140 each but it's totally worth it. They also included a complementary and smaller extra plate for each order. Be careful, however, on the ordering of Sake. On the menu, it could cost as high as $250 each. We ordered the house Sake that was $9 for a small size. It was good enough for my taste. Oh, interestingly, 8 whole lemons were provided for free with our ice water and Japanese tea. In the middle of a hot summer, it chills me down even just to think about it. Another pleasant surprise was overall it costed less than we expected for such a nice restaurant. I consider it as a newly discovered jewel. Hope they will keep it up next time when we return.
Couldn’t wait to try this place, and it did not disappoint!! Everything from atmosphere to service and lastly food was amazing! I was honestly shocked we got seated so quickly on a Friday night, it looked busy but it never felt cramped in there. Cannot wait to go back and try more of their incredible menu!
Absolutely incredible sushi, this is the place downtown Frederick has needed, and who knows maybe even Sapporo II needed downtown Frederick. If you want an unforgettable experience, sit at the bar (hopefully the stars align and you get Chef Song), and just let them know you trust them and how much you’d like to spend. They’ll ask you a little bit about your tastes/preferences/experience and then they’ll hook it up. Not to mention, the space is beautiful, clean, tasteful, modern, understated. Servers were attentive, warm, and hustled. An absolute steal/value for the experience you get. Any notion of competition now in the area is laughable. I make sure to go here every time I make it back to home to visit.
We have not tried our food but we stood 15 min at the door and nobody even acknowledge us. Then another 15 min at the empty table with no service, no water, no waiter((. They are half empty and still service is non existent. Two young kids with zero waiting experience. Hopefully food is better than service.Food was actually great. Service was still slow (( Sushi rolls looked and taste absolutely wonderful! Plan to go there again, hopefully service will improve.
Food - excellent. If you like Japanese or Korean cuisine, check this place out. The rolls were amazing, beef was good, can’t go wrong with a bowl of noodles.Cleanliness- great. New restaurant so I expect this but everything was cleanService - Slower than expected. Expect to be here for 90 mins during busy hours. However, I expected this as it is a new restaurant and they need to find their rhythm.Alcohol - they are waiting on their liquor license (I believe our server said that the restaurant should be able to serve alcohol at the end of February)Everyone was polite and prompt (as they could be).I will be going back probably mid summer
I don't know what we were more impressed with, the food or the service. The service was exemplary; the food was fantastic. We opted for the bibimbap for our first visit. If you get this, make sure to get the stone bowl version. Totally worth the extra couple of bucks. The rice is crisped *just* right. You want it to smell like slightly burned popcorn and it sure does! Next time we're there we plan to get the Flaming Roger (or something like that). I kid you not, they light the sushi on fire at your table, and the table next to us raved about it.
While I DO have high hopes for this restaurant in the future, they are definitely not ready for prime time, yet, and I will explain why (if you care to read on). While others might slam them for far less, and probably give them a one star review, I don’t believe that would be fair, and would hurt them unnecessarily. That is not, and never is, my intent. But, I do want other prospective diners, who look up reviews to make a decision for where to eat, to be informed, and know what’s going on. Here’s my breakdown:Decor/cleanliness:Decor is very nice; it's new, clean, and has interesting architectural details. Wooden Sushi bar is beautiful!Service:It was very clear from the time that we sat down, that all of the servers were completely “in the weeds,” which did not let up until we left, nearly 2 hours later. That’s how long it took to get through our meal, and not by our choice. We were not in a rush, but we were also not looking to sit there for an unnecessarily long period of time. Now, to be fair, we know that this restaurant is fairly new, and it was Saturday evening. That said, it has also been open for more than four weeks already. Multiple servers stopped by, at different times, not knowing where we were in the dining “process.” We were asked, on several occasions, whether we were ready to order, when we had already placed an order, or nobody would come around when we were ready to order, and had clearly placed our menus at the side of the table. We had difficulty placing each one of our orders in a reasonable timeframe, and we were patient, knowing they had not been open for too long. As it related to the food, with an extremely long delay and poor execution on our food (which the owner was clearly aware of) she did end up comping my Sushi dish (super skimpy at $17). My hope is that, in the future, they will understand that they were clearly slammed, and will slow down their seating, asking people to wait, in order not to sacrifice the quality of service and food that customers are paying for during this type of dining experience.Food:We ordered three appetizers (fried calamari, edamame, and seaweed salad) which took ~15 to 20 minutes to arrive after that order was placed, and came out "piece-meal," (not together). Appetizers tasted good. For our main courses, my wife and son both ordered hot dishes, which are made in the kitchen, while my daughter and I ordered sushi, typically made-to-order at the sushi bar. My sons noodle dish came out first, and we expected the other dishes to arrive right after. Sadly, that’s not what happened. About 10 to 15 minutes after that, and I’m not exaggerating, then my wife’s dish showed up, and she had ordered chicken teriyaki. this dish was served on a sizzling hot skillet, on which you would expect either fajitas or bibimbap to be served. Those of you who experiencedmyriad East-Asian dishes a fair amount, will know that teriyaki sauce contains a lot of sugar. As soon as the dish was placed in front of my wife, I told her that that the sugar would burn from that blazing hot skillet, and the burnt sugar would not be enjoyable or palatable. Sadly, I was right; replacing her dish with something else would have put us another 20+ minutes away from her eating (she did not say anything about her dish to the owner). About another 10 minutes after my wife’s dish came out, then my daughter sushi was presented, which was as ordered. Another five minutes after her sushi came out then my sushi was served, last.I started off by saying that I do, indeed, have high hopes for this restaurant, and these issues can all be overcome. I know that they can. I’m hoping that the owner see this, take this review to heart, and works on improving the things that need to be fixed. As another previous reviewer, who is a local guide, wrote before me, albeit much more succinctly, I will wait a few months before going back, but I will try them again since I believe that they will improve, and I look forward to that time.
Unique and very large rolls, well made sushi, great noodles. They have just opened so service is still working out the kinks but overall a great experience. Will be back soon!
No better Sushi in Frederick! I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I want everyone to go here, cuz then I wouldn't have a seat.
Best Japanese cuisine in town! High quality and tastes amazing and fresh! Must go when you are craving for sushi.