Kenichi

05/08/2008 Posted by Shlazam

Went to Kenichi last Thursday night, what a way to start the weekend. The place was dark and full of energy. Both the sushi and the hot food was wonderful, especially after taking some recomendations from the staff, who were fun, interesting and extremely knowledgable. The chef's prepared some of the most aesthetically pleasing, harmonious dishes-definetely give the specials a shot! And don't neglect the pan-asian kitchen, even non-sushi eaters can have a wonderful meal. The cold sake the waiter recomended was great and the atmosphere and buzz of the place really kicked off a great night. Definetely make reservations, andf come before 8 if you want a more peaceful atmosphere. Expensive but ultimately worth it.

04/27/2008 Posted by austinfoodgirl

Kenichi has better kitchen food than sushi. True art of sushi is in making the tofu, but they buy their's already made. The restaurant seems hip, but when you look closer: the chairs are chipped and torn. They charge a lot for their food, but they don't know how to upkeep their restaurant. I recommend Uchi's (Owner Tyson Cole was trained by the owner of Mushashino's) or Mushashino's (service is not so great here, so go eat at the bar-sushi is worth it).

04/16/2008 Posted by Darkirish

It had been awhile since the last time I went to Kenichi, but a few friends of mine and I were able to squeeze in without a reservation a couple weekends ago, so we decided to grab a quick bite to eat before heading out to the clubs. My friends and I all agreed that though our waiter was attentive and made great suggestions, the sushi was flat in appearance and took forever to make it to our table. Honestly, we would have eaten twice as much in half the time if it didn't take forever to come out. But the service really saved the night with some great drink recommendations, a ton of knowledge about the food, and an overall impression that he wanted us to enjoy ourselves.

04/04/2008 Posted by cancerjenn

I went to the place for the 1st time to do a birthday celebration for my girl friend last night after hearing from family and friends how great the food is ... unfortunately, the food was not worth the charge. I mean, it didn't taste horrible but it wasn't the quality that I thought it would be since the place is known to be great!! In addition, the pictures on the company website look pretty good. The three different sushi rolls I ordered was in different sizes and falling apart by the time it came to the table. The other dishes that my dinner party ordered did taste bad such as the baked salmon with vegetables. So I probably will not go back there again ... I just feel that the money we paid for dinner ... I could have got much better food at other sushi places around town!!

03/29/2008 Posted by jonnythan69

I am guessing that Kenichi gets its business from business travelers and out of towners who dont know any better...This place would be out of business if it was not for where it is located. I went there one evening and we were sat at the sushi bar which is right across from where the waitresses get the drinks. It was very inconvienient because they were reaching over our shoulders and over our food to grab sushi from the chefs to serve to the tables. Sushi that tastes so bad should cost about 4 times less, but I am sure that the location costs a lot. I am really surprised that they dont take pride in making the best sushi arangements possible and look at ways to enhance what they have...I guess they know that there will always be people coming by because of the location so they dont have to worry about getting people to come in. I think that is sad because people leave Austin after eating there thinking that this is all that Austin has to offer.

Pros: close to home

Cons: food, service

01/28/2008 Posted by devls24

Recently went to Kenichi and was torn after my experience there. Although we were seated promptly at the sushi bar for a Saturday night, I was not impressed with the wait staff took 20 mintues just to take our drink orders. The waitress then showed up and did not even bring me a drink. After she brough my friend a drink, she left and didn't come back for another 20 mintues. On top of forgetting a drink, she also forgot an item I ordered from the kitchen. The saving grace was the guy preparing the sushi took great care of us. He was the best part of the night. The waitress could have comped us or at least offered us something for her lack of attention to client's orders. The sushi was fairly good, but I'm not sure that I'd go there again. There are better places to eat sushi! On another note, the music was fun to listen to. And if you go on Wednesday, their resident DJ always plays a good set.

Pros: Atmosphere, Music, Yuppie Watching, Drinks (when brought promptly)

Cons: Wait Staff, so-so sushi

01/18/2008 Posted by newnarwhal

I wouldn't recommend this restuarant - having made complaints about service in the past I've had no satisfactory outcome though i have contacted the manager and owner.

09/22/2007 Posted by eldiablo666

We had a reservation last nite. We arrived early and we were blown away by how busy it was. After some cold sake we were shown to our seats. I love the energy of this place! Great food, sushi and music. Everybody was having such a good time, i don't know what has kept me away from Kenichi for so long. I ate the 8 oz filet, and had the kitchen slice it for me, it was incredible. We will be back soon!!

Pros: sushi, entrees, location

09/16/2007 Posted by mazzydan

I love Kenichi and will always recomend it to people looking for some great sushi downtown. Over the last few months there has been a large turnover of the staff and of the service as well. I've had some major events there with my family, friends and business but lately it seems like even with days in advance I can't get a decent reservation and if I do the service at the tables is questionable. Two visits in a row I either recieved other tables food or someone trying to pass off not so tasty fish as a plate of austin style sashimi. The people at the Bar however give amazing service despite the rest of the staff not always following suit, and have made up for the lack of service found elsewhere at Kenichi. I still recommend it to people, but expect it to be just as trendy and hard to get a table as ever.

Pros: Great food, drinks and bar staff

Cons: Cross your fingers on not geting someone else's food or a bad piece of fish

07/25/2007 Posted by kace32

I took 2 of my our of town friends there because of the location and atmosphere...what a MISTAKE!!! The service was terrible, they forgot my dinner and did nothing about it and it took 2.5 hours for 3 of us to eat. I will never, ever, ever go back to this place. Plus, they serve their sushi almost warm, its disgusting!

Pros: It downtown

Cons: Bad food, bad service all around, always too busy

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