Giant Sakura starts anew in Rolling Meadows and gets the sushi right

The longtime Asian restaurant Sakura on Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows last year became Giant Sakura - not really bigger, but refurbished under new management. Now it has the feel of an upstart: still rough around the edges but with an attentive staff eager to impress. Most importantly, it gets the sushi right.

You'll find Giant Sakura on Algonquin Road, just west of Route 53 in the dingy shopping center anchored by Stadium sports bar. It's not terribly attractive from the outside, but inside the place is redecorated with a dark red base and pink and blue accents. A lot of the pink comes from images resembling the pink sakura flowers that bloom on cherry trees. There's no conceit here; it's cozy enough with decent seating for individuals, pairs or groups.

It's always exciting to see beef roll on the appetizer list - beef that wraps around asparagus and drizzled in unagi sauce. Giant Sakura also purports to add cream cheese, but we could not detect it, nor could we taste much of the asparagus, which is unusual. It's likely because the rolls were simply too small. Much of the beef also turned out to be fatty, so this was a disappointment.

Crab rangoon is among the appetizer offerings. You get four pieces that are smaller than you might expect and spicy mayo sauce. It was fine if not exciting. You can also get edamame, gyoza (dumplings), soft shell crab, shrimp and vegetable tempura, and salmon skin, as well as a Korean-style spicy sashimi bowl. Miso soup and typical Asian salads are offered, too.

OK, so let's focus on the sushi, starting with the namesake special roll, the Giant Sakura. It's a spicy tuna mix, avocado and cucumber topped with tun and red-beet garlic mayo. You'll notice once again the distinctive pink color. It tastes like it sounds - fresh raw tuna with a hint of beets. It's actually a nice change of pace.

We enjoyed the Miami roll - shrimp tempura, avocado and jalapeño topped with crab mix, cheese, unagi sauce and tempura crunch. And bringing just a little kick was the Scorpion roll - they say it's a “super-sized” maki roll filled with shrimp tempura, soft-shell crab, avocado and cucumber topped with spicy tuna mix, unagi sauce and a spicy mayo sauce.

Neither of these could be as hot as what Giant Sakura calls its “Hot Jalapeño Hot” roll. Besides the not necessarily hot jalapeños, this also has cilantro, spicy jalapeño dressing and Sriracha sauce to join the tuna, avocado and cucumber. There's also the Hotategai Volcano roll - tuna and crab mix topped with avocado, spicy scallop, fish eggs and unagi sauce.

We did make room to try Giant Sakura's salmon skin roll, on its list of traditional rolls. The kicker here is they fry the salmon skin. Boy, did that turn out to be a good idea. We tried it, we liked it.

Like more traditional Japanese restaurants, our complete dinner order was presented on one platform for all to dig into. The pretty large menu allows for ordering typical sushi, a couple of pieces at a time.

But Giant Sakura has just a few choices for the sushi-wary, like Korean-style platters with chicken, pork or beef on white rice with steamed vegetables, and udon with shrimp tempura, chicken, beef or only vegetables. There's also ton-katsu or chicken-katsu, cutlets with rice and vegetables.

You can get bento boxes with rice, miso soup, salad, some tempura, and some basic sushi and sashimi. And there are dinner platters that provide soup or salad, a special roll, a traditional roll and then a chef's choice of sushi.

Finally, for dessert, your only choice is mochi ice cream - ice cream inside a gel-like rice cake shaped into a little cup. That may or may not be your cup of tea, but at the very least you'll have some ice cream with a choice of flavors, including green tea and mango.

The new Giant Sakura seems to still be feeling its way a bit, but the sushi is fresh and tasty and the prices slightly below average for the suburbs. Giant Sakura will do fine for your lunch or dinner sushi fix.

Giant Sakura

4011 Algonquin Road, Rolling Meadows, (847) 397-2166, giant-sakura-restaurant.business.site/

<b>Cuisine:</b> Japanese and Korean

<b>Setting:</b> Traditional Asian

<b>Entrees:</b> $7-$10 for traditional rolls, $12-$16 for special rolls, $5-$8 for two pieces of sushi, other lunch options $9-$12, other dinner options $11-$55

<b>Hours:</b> 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday

<i> Restaurant reviews are based on one anonymous visit. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it cannot recommend.</i>