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Kinkaku Izakaya
#1
Kinkaku Izakaya
217 King St. W
Kitchener, Ontario
(519) 208-2688
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#2
With so many Sushi Restaurants in the Region now it can be tough to choose which one to go to. I tried Kinkaku Izakaya on Thursday night - I had heard that it recently changed from a Menu only to an "All You Can Eat" format.

The restaurant is located almost directly across the street from Kitchener City hall so the store front is narrow, but the restaurant inside is long and narrow going back quite a way. The decor is wood and exposed brick - I don't know what was in the location before, but it's a great atmosphere!

The food is (in my opinion) very high quality - the staff was super friendly and helpful - and there were items on the menu I've not seen at any other sushi restaurant. They have "House Specialties" and "Kitchen Specialties" which are delicious!! There also seems to be a lot of non seafood items so that you can take your non-sushi loving friends with you! (steak, chicken, beef ribs, meat skewers, etc) and also several Veggie selections. They even have a Deep Fried Mars Bar on the dessert menu! Yum!!

My only complaint is the bench seats in the booths are hard wood - it feels like you're sitting in a church pew! I suppose that strategy ensures you won't have people lingering too long for the "all you can eat"! haha

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[Image: 1891221_691577280897863_1290940482062386...11227d9fc9]
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#3
Silver Spoon was the previous occupant of that location. I've heard that the a la carte menu items are vastly better than the "All you can eat" menu. Rumour has it that the owners didn't want to switch to an all you can eat format, but were obliged to do so to respond to the local market.
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#4
panamaniac Wrote:Silver Spoon was the previous occupant of that location. I've heard that the a la carte menu items are vastly better than the "All you can eat" menu. Rumour has it that the owners didn't want to switch to an all you can eat format, but were obliged to do so to respond to the local market.

Was Silver Spoon decor all exposed brick and hardwood?

I also heard the same thing about the owners being forced into all you can eat format due to local market, panamanic. I wasn't there before the switch over, but the menu seems to have retained it's high quality items - even in the new format.

Anyone have experience at Kinkaku Izakaya before the switch to all you can eat, and can chime in?
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#5
Shawn Wrote:
panamaniac Wrote:Silver Spoon was the previous occupant of that location. I've heard that the a la carte menu items are vastly better than the "All you can eat" menu. Rumour has it that the owners didn't want to switch to an all you can eat format, but were obliged to do so to respond to the local market.

Was Silver Spoon decor all exposed brick and hardwood?

I also heard the same thing about the owners being forced into all you can eat format due to local market, panamanic. I wasn't there before the switch over, but the menu seems to have retained it's high quality items - even in the new format.

Anyone have experience at Kinkaku Izakaya before the switch to all you can eat, and can chime in?

Funny, but I can't really recall. I suspect that it was, at least partially, with the chocolate shop out front and the funky restaurant section in the rear. I think the new owners put a lot of effort into fixing the place up.
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#6
panamaniac Wrote:Silver Spoon was the previous occupant of that location. I've heard that the a la carte menu items are vastly better than the "All you can eat" menu. Rumour has it that the owners didn't want to switch to an all you can eat format, but were obliged to do so to respond to the local market.

That's been the case at a few places I believe. It's too bad most people in Waterloo Region don't appreciate good sushi enough to sway from the AYCE menu
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#7
"Good sushi" and "Waterloo Region" really shouldn't appear together.
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#8
Edit: Better quality sushi hah
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#9
Spokes Wrote:
panamaniac Wrote:Silver Spoon was the previous occupant of that location. I've heard that the a la carte menu items are vastly better than the "All you can eat" menu. Rumour has it that the owners didn't want to switch to an all you can eat format, but were obliged to do so to respond to the local market.

That's been the case at a few places I believe. It's too bad most people in Waterloo Region don't appreciate good sushi enough to sway from the AYCE menu

Yes. I find it super annoying that it's hard to not get all you can eat sushi. There used to be good sushi at the place in the Seagram's Lofts, now closed. Also, as someone had previously mentioned, Tomu on Erb is good, as is Watami on King St.

We have been to Kinkaku Izakaya once, and it was good. Can't remember what we had at the moment.

There were indeed a lot of renovations from the Silver Spoon space. It feels a lot more like a rectangle now than it used to. All the brickwork is new.
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#10
The real shame is that an "izakaya" isn't a sushi restaurant at all... it's a tapas bar with emphasis on drinks and small plates to have with your beverages, and serves food that you won't find on most sushi menus. The original Kinkaku menu had hardly any sushi - some high-quality carpaccio, but definitely no rolls. But apparently most of the people walking in the door were assuming that not only did a Japanese restaurant have to serve sushi, it also had to be AYCE (when I talked to the owner she said that's what "90%" of walkins expected). I think they panicked when business slowed down in July, and thought they had to change to meet what they perceived to be the demand, instead of letting people discover a concept that's unique to this area. Then again, the owner was visibly pregnant last time I was in there and I can't blame her for being risk-averse and giving people what they want.

I think that still leaves an opening for someone who wants to open a real izakaya in the region. Surely there's room for one restaurant in the region that aims a little higher than the lowest common expectation of what a Japanese restaurant can be.
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#11
Re the sushi place that used to be beside Seagram Loft - the former manager of Casa Mia now runs the cafe in the Balsillie School. He still makes amazing sushi, as well as great sandwiches.
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#12
DanHerman Wrote:Re the sushi place that used to be beside Seagram Loft - the former manager of Casa Mia now runs the cafe in the Balsillie School. He still makes amazing sushi, as well as great sandwiches.

Good tip. I take it the cafe is open to the public?

(The Whitehead Institute in Cambridge MA had good food when I was there. In fact it was subsidized, which eventually caused problems. There are web pages out there comparing various institute cafes.)
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#13
Yes, it's open to the public (9-4pm M-F). The rest of the building isn't public but for the cafe you can enter the BSIA from the main entrance on Erb Street. The Cafe is in front of you as you walk towards the back of the building. Great sushi, sandwiches, coffee etc.
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#14
Back to Kinkaku Izakaya. I noticed today that there is a small sign inside that limits the amount of time you can sit in the restaurant (1hr 30min for lunch, 1hr 45min for dinner). Is this for real? If they are that busy, they should shift to two separate servings or something, imho.
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#15
> Anyone have experience at Kinkaku Izakaya before the switch to all you can eat, and can chime in?

My officemates and I went four or five times before they switched over and generally found it excellent. After they changed over the menu in the window looked like a generic AYCE place and seemed to be missing many of the previous items. We haven't been back since so I can't compare.
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