Looks like yet another Japanese steakhouse will be coming to Apple Valley in the upcoming weeks. Kami Japanese Restaurant will be opening up shop in my ever favorite area of Apple Valley, the shitty Legacy Park area.
Kami Japanese Steakhouse was listed on the March 22nd Apple Valley City Council agenda as applying for a liquor sales permit (including Sundays). This will obviously be a direct competitor to Osaka Seafood and Steakhouse and the other establishments in the area (Two Guys from Italy and Jan’s Brown Bag Deli).
If you’re looking for work, you can check out this posting on craigslist for servers, bartenders, bussers, dishwashers, teppan chefs, sushi chefs, and kimono clad hostesses (very similar to the cheap imitation kimonos worn over at Osaka I’m certain).
Related posts:
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Kami Japanese Steakhouse is now open.
Has anyone tried it out yet? If so, please let us know what you think!
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:53 pm
kamis owners are the same as Chans in front of cub-dodd and cedar- there i recieved piss poor customer service and
attitude. i will boycott kami and continue to make my trek to target, origami, kikugawa, sakura, eddie chens, world buffet, grand buffet and many others first.
June 8th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Great Food, Great Service and beautiful restaurant! I will surely be a regular!!
June 11th, 2007 at 3:24 am
Best japanese restaurant. Food, service and environment is outstanding. Ill be back for sure.
June 11th, 2007 at 7:29 am
Best japanese restaurant. Food, service and environment is outstanding. Ill be back for sure.
Compared to what?
June 12th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Wish I could give you people an honest review of the place. I cant because odds are i will never go there. Thats my deal though, Ive been spoiled(Japanese sushi bars in Japan). My wifes from Japan and we have our favorites here in the twin cities.
We’ve tried a lot of places. We are very picky. We research a place a lot before we decide to spend a hundred or so there. or the wife calls some Japanese friends who may have tried it. My point is just because we are getting so called Japanese resturuants in the south metro doesnt make them worthy . My wifes friend who works at a Minneapolis Japanese resturuant said Apple Valleys pricing is about 20% higher. I’d spend the gas money to go north.
And besides- its really fun if you can speak a little Japanese to the sushi chef. And she/he will have fun too. domoarigatogozaimasu
June 13th, 2007 at 1:28 am
My friends and I went there a week after opening.
The restaurant is beautiful and upscale.
It is very expensive compare to downtown japanese restaurant. The sushi is fresh and good. Don’t order the entree. The entree sucks big time. Never in my life spend 20bucks for a pierce of shit.
The sushi chef are friendly and nice but the head chef, John sucks big time. He is totally not professional at all!We were asking him for recommendation and he couldn’t make decision!
Overall, it is a nice environment with yuks food (Except sushi).
June 13th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
sounds like i thought it would - seems like John kept going down and down and down in his career.
Kami Head Chef John Ames started at Ichiban Japanese Steak House in downtown Minneapolis in 1994. He’s also earned his reputation at Saji Ya Japanese Restaurant in St. Paul and most recently at Fuji Ya in Minneapolis.
http://www.thisweek-online.com/2007/May/25japaneseav.html
In the Japanese community as far as I know and personally know, the above resturuants are not worthy. Not worth noting on a resume.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
gfry,
Instead of continuously spouting off about how this or that sucks and “are not worthy”, why don’t you list what *you claim* the local Japanese community finds worthy?
June 13th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Origami-next to the fed-Hennepin bridge
Kikugawa-over the bridge- University side- old red brick road-Riverplace
Sakura- saint peter st and kellog- near st paul hotel
these are the main three- im done commenting- unless something deserves commenting- sorry to waste anyones time- best be gettin outside and enjoyin this hot sunny Wednesday
June 13th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Origami
Kikugawa at Riverplace
Sakura Restaurant & Sushi Bar
Thanks for the alternative suggestions.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
have a good day Bill- your welcome
June 15th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
We went to Kami a couple days after it opened. It’s very beautiful inside. They have two separate menus for the main dining area and the tepenyaki areas. Unless you’re absolutely sure you want a “show” make sure you reserve a table in the main area since there is a surcharge for just sitting in the tepenyaki rooms. Odd.
We ordered a Sashimi surprise platter along with a specialty roll called Rock and Roll, tempura, wakami salad and chicken skewers for our toddler from the children’s menu. Our waiter was extremely friendly however had absolutely no knowledge of Japanese cuisine. Maybe in time he’ll learn, I’m sure of it. Well, it took more than 45 minutes for our entrees to arrive! And it was mainly items from the sushi bar - no cooking required! There were 4 sushi chefs and maybe a handful of customers at the sushi bar so we weren’t sure what the hold up was. The Sashimi seemed fresh although one of the “surprises” was a briny lobster that tasted horrible and the roll was so-so (very pricey at $14). The tempura serving was scrawny for $8. The place is too pricey for what they offer.
Osaka on the other hand has improved since we last went there in February. They’re using a different tempura batter it seems - very light and crispy, almost itentical to Fuji-Ya. I have a way of judging Japanese restaurants on the freshness of their sushi and their tempura. Their lunch boxes are decent enough. And their udon bowls are tasty.
We’ll probably give Kami another try - maybe in a few weeks after they get all their kinks out.
June 17th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Hi there,
I’m from Japan and I tried “Kami” the other day.
I ordered Chicken Tempura dish, my husband ordered Shrimp Tempura dish, and my kids ordered Kids menu.
The Restaurant inside is beautiful, but the flavor is not really impressive… :( They use real Japanese rice for Sushi, but don’t serve with your meal.
They use the long Grain instead of Japanese Rice. My husband who is American, even could tell the rice isn’t Japanese. We were pretty disappointed with over roll with the meal.
If you ask me to, I recommend “Sakura”. It’s more traditional Japanese food I think. :)
June 20th, 2007 at 7:36 am
Well, it would appear that the Kami astroturfing shills are out in full force attempting to flood my comments with pro-Kami statements. I have already approved one of their comments in the past here: here. As for the rest, I am going to post them all here in one shot with the disclaimer that they are all from the exact same source and should be ignored.
To the moron posting in favor of Kami over and over again, I suggest you stop. It really puts Kami in a bad light when you do shit like that.
Here are the three new comments:
mutsumi (not verified):
Last week my fiance and I planed to head out to Enjoy for a romantic dinner together. Instead, we saw Kami and decided we should check it out. Kami serves the finest sushi w/the most fresh selection of fish ever in the TC. Sevice was very friendly. The elegant restaurant offers quite a calm and relaxing ambience. Teppanyaki show was full of excitement, I had a blast! Notice how there wasn’t a grand opening yet… GFRY? kami is a NEW RESTAURANT it hasn’t fully put out its advertisement for a reason… Probably because they would like to improve their business to it’s full potential before they can officially open. AS for Mr. John Ames, yes we all know his rep. I have no idea how he landed the title of being “HEAD CHEF.” My overall experience at Kami was phenomenal. I definitely enjoyed my time there.
lov2dine (not verified):
Kami serviced us with friendlyness, finest fish, the most tasty and exciting show in the TC. I just know Kami will EXCEL to its fullest potential as a fine japanese cuisine!
jr34 (not verified):
My buddies and I finally stoped into Kami last weekend. We sat at the teppanyaki table. Our server was really friendly and the chef gave us a very impressive show. The filet mignon was scrumpcious. I also ordered the blue fin tuna (maguro) sashimi from the sushi bar while sitting at the teppan table, it was rich in flavor I strongly recommend it! Finally, there is a place near by to stop in for some quality fish, fine japanese cuisine and entertaining dining experience. I’m a huge sushi fan and I surely am comin’ back!
Fucking morons.
June 28th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Well, the wife and I broke down and decided to try Kami out. I’ll try and give my unbiased opinion.
The interior was nice, they definitely stuck a few dollars into it. Paper windows, high gloss furniture- glass bowl sinks in the bathroom- it was nice.
The hostess was nice. I had a sashimi platter and the wife had a sushi platter. It did take longer than expected to get these. Especially since there weren’t many people in the place, on a weekend night.
The fried food, deep fried tofu and tempura was very good( small portions), but the sushi was not that great. My wife commented that it had probably been brought in frozen. I could definitely tell that some of my sashimi had very little taste and the firmness of some of the fish was lacking. Probably meaning it was frozen. The Miso soup was good. So was the beer. Didnt ask if they had Sake.
Would I return? Maybe if I won a few hondo at mistake lake and I was hungry enough.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Thanks for the heads up!
July 5th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Note to gfry, ALL sushi fish and sashimi in Minnesota (and in law-abiding sushi places nationwide with very few exceptions specific to the type of fishes) has been frozen. That doesn’t speak to the chef’s skills at thawing the fish (of utmost importance) but you can’t just say “it seemed like it had been frozen” as though that in itself is bad.
Kami is a nice addition to the south metro scene. I haven’t tried Osaka yet so can’t compare. I thought the sashimi assortment (2 people, $50 I think) was perfectly adequate considering I was ordering from a table and not directly from the itamae. I would like a chance to sit at the sushi bar and see if they have any “off-menu” things or what kinds of recommendations they make. I’ve found that you never really experience the quality and breadth of skill at Japanese restaurants just sitting anonymously at a table.
I was a little disappointed in the lack of cooked items on the standard (non-teppanyaki) menu. If you don’t like tempura, you’re having a hard time finding something to eat. Hopefully they’ll expand with AT LEAST teriyaki, cooked fish and some of the other Japanese-American standards. There were even very few rolls that didn’t have either raw fish or roe (I was struggling to find a non-sushi loving dining companion something to eat…the rolls with cooked fish, crab, shrimp, etc. had roe on the outside).
The ambiance is very nice and the place is probably instantly one of the more fun options in the south metro for parties of 8-10 either at the teppanyaki tables or the private “tatami” rooms in the back.
Hopefully they’ll expand the cooked items and breathe a little more adventure sushi roll offerings (sure, not pure/traditional Japanese cuisine, but…). Regardless, after one visit I was enthusiastic that they have it here in the south metro.
p.s. - because it came up in earlier posts to provide specific places for comparison…I would compare the quality at Kami to Benihana (the sushi bar, not the teppanyaki) in Golden Valley although the atmosphere is much better. Maybe Saji-ya on Grand. All three are better than Ichiban’s sushi bar.
In MSP, Origami Downtown and Bagu are my preferred places for sushi/sashimi and Tanpopo in St. Paul for cooked Japanese. Sakura too although it’s been a while since I’ve been there so that’s based on experiences over a year ago.
July 7th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
MSPD, being I am no fish thawing expert I did some minor research and the fish we get here does come frozen. We also get it chilled. It may even come live if someone is willing to pay to have it shipped in that way.
Maybe its a comparison of frozen, one week and year old sandwich meat. Not sure, but one style of Sashimi we had was mushy and had very little taste. Bottom Line. It is very possible it was the way it was thawed, like you said.
But the wife being from Japan has never said anything remotely close to what she told me about that Sashimi that night.
Gfry
Fish Distribution is not my Expertise
July 9th, 2007 at 10:47 am
gfry, no worries. I’ve done quite a bit of research on the topic in the past.
For commercial/restaurant use, the fish must be frozen to certain temperatures for specific lengths of time if it is to be served raw. For personal use, or for fish to be served cooked as you mention, it can come chilled or live.
The difference that we diners see in restaurants is in the method of thawing and preparation as well as the restaurant’s ability to source good quality fish.
I had set my expectations fairly low (”suburban sushi joint”) and was pleasantly surprised that the fish at Kami (the stuff I got at least) was handled well and had good flavor/moisture/oil content. I was especially impressed with the tuna belly and the mackerel.
Like I said earlier, not of the quality and variety you get downtown but when you’re expecting “marginal” and get “good”, especially in this part of town, that’s a good thing. I certainly didn’t feel the $50 was a waste of money at all.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
John Ames also worked at King’s Fine Korean Cuisine in Fridley. I believe that was his last place before heading over to Kami.
I laugh at the restaurant employees/staff that try to flood a post with positive comments. I laugh because they fail at it. I’ll let one comment like that get through but the rest get deleted.
With regards to sushi places, my favorites are Origami West, Origami, and Nami. Rysuke at Origami West is the most creative and inventive sushi chef I have encountered. I have dined at almost all sushi restaurants in the Twin Cities and with a few in Chicago, Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles, so I am reasonably confident in my assessment of Rysuke’s skill.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I laugh at the restaurant employees/staff that try to flood a post with positive comments. I laugh because they fail at it. I’ll let one comment like that get through but the rest get deleted.
It’s so much fun to point and laugh at them though! :)
July 11th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
from my circle of friends- john- the head sushi chef- is known as baka john- some korean wanna be sushi chef
July 12th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Kami owner spent tons of money on this restaurant
but hired John as head chef. This doesn’t make sense
at all. I am Asian and I always go for the food first, then service and environment.
I tried the ginger pork and i as an amateur home chef can even cook better food than that.
July 14th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Well, I have been to Kami 2 times now. Once for Teppan and once for one of the dinner rooms. Overall the place is elegantly appointed and nice to be in. That said, I have some issues:
1. Will someone please tell them how NOT to overcook the edamame - it is like eating beans out of a snot rag!
2. The staff needs to stop being so pushy and start learning their cuisine. Very unknowing of the food there but try to push you into spending more money. I will gladly spend a couple of hundred dollars for me and friends if the food is great and the service equal. This place isn’t that!
3. Get John outta there. Bad vibe is all I am saying - Who is he blowing to keep working?!?
4. Pick up the pace - Every order I have had from the bar to sushi to salad, etc has been painfully slow to get to the table
5. Please get the white chicks out of the kimonos. Looks silly to see a white girl who is pudgy walking around in those sandals with white athletic socks on as well. TACKY!!!!
Overall, the manager there needs to stop drinking so much and worry about her hair less, and spend more time on the restaurant!
July 29th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I had a horrible experience at Kami. Everything was going okay, my mojito was terrible, so I would not recommend getting one from there. Then they forgot my chicken. The chef apologized numerous times and I thought I handled the situation well, I didn’t get too upset and didn’t make a scene. Then I got the bill and nothing was taken off, even though I got my chicken after everyone was done eating. I told the waitress that I thought I should get some type of discount since they screwed up my order. She comes back and said she talked to the manager and gave me “free fried rice” which amounts to three dollars. I was extremely upset and the couple next to us just shook their heads and said do not give her a tip, which I didn’t. I just can’t believe that they didn’t do anything more. This was my first experience there and there is a competitor across the street where I had a much better expereince. All I can say is I hope they are not hurting for customers because for every angry customer that walks out of there, they will tell atleast 100 other people. It is surprising that they even forgot because I had to repeat my order to the waitress three times and to the chef once. I will not be back and I certaintly will be telling many people not to go there.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:51 am
went there with my friend joe and the service was horrible it took 45 min to get our food and they didnt bring it out at the same time, i was halfway done with my food b4 joes even got to the table……they really need to train thier staff better and have them know what is on the menu….they also should hire a new bartender i ordered a vodka tonic and it barely had any vodka in it…..at osaka they are much stiffer drinks and the bartender there will stiffen it up if you ask him 2
July 30th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Rachel M, do you think you’re being fair here?
Yes, it sounds like your situation was unfortunate and I wouldn’t fault you for not wanting to go back. However, the place has only been officially open for about a month now. There is a reason restaurant reviewers won’t publish a review of a place until at least a couple of months of regular operations have gone on. They want to review the place after they’ve had a fair chance to iron out the service and details.
Your post also smacks a bit of the “entitlement mentality” that so many restaurant visitors have developed.
There was a problem.
They apologized profusely for the problem and got you your chicken.
You stated you thought you should get some sort of compensation for the error.
They gave you compensation (which they are under no duty to do).
You deemed the compensation unfair, made a scene that attracted the attention of another table and are promising to tell all kinds of people not to go there.
I’m not taking a personal shot at you and maybe this is a debate for another place, but you sound a bit unreasonable. Taking one experience in which the restaurant, in its infancy made a small mistake and telling everyone you know to avoid the place is a bit extreme.
I don’t have any sympathy for places that put out a crappy product or consistently OVER TIME prove uncaring about their service, but especially in this neck of the woods where we really, really need places of this kind, in order for places to survive, they should at least get the benefit of a fair shake. Tell your friends what happened, but be fair about it and then let them go and judge for themselves.
(By the way, I’m curious…you ordered a mojito, chicken and fried rice at a Japanese restaurant? Maybe this isn’t even your kind of place to begin with.)
July 31st, 2007 at 10:19 am
Taking one experience in which the restaurant, in its infancy made a small mistake and telling everyone you know to avoid the place is a bit extreme.
I don’t agree with expecting something to be taking off your bill because you weren’t pleased (I refuse any suggestion of that and instead ask that they promise to never make that mistake with anyone else again — this usually causes the server or manager to give me a strange look before walking away without saying anything) but I don’t think that we should ignore these issues because they just opened.
Kami’s owners obviously read this site (see the astroturfing non-sense above) and should be full aware of the fact that they are not doing so well. If I had a vested interest in the operation of my business I would make DAMN SURE that everyone on staff turned right around. Mistakes happen but it seems like Kami (and plenty of other restaurants in that little section of town) can’t get it straight.
August 6th, 2007 at 10:27 am
I went to Kami on Sunday for lunch and can’t say enough about it! It was wonderful. Sat at teppan table - food was wonderful. Service was wonderful. I’m used to Benihana in Golden Valley - A long way to go since I live in southern metro. The decor was very impressive. The tea rooms look fun, you sit on the floor and the floor is cut out under the table so your legs dangle. I can’t wait to go back. Everyone was very friendly. I’m so happy we finally have a restraunt like this in So. metro!
August 10th, 2007 at 1:14 am
The place is wonderfully decorated yes….but the service is horrible.
I understand having to wait for the check when your server is extreamly busy running all over the place, but when I went the place was dead. and our server was too busy chatting with the sushi chefs to give us our bill. I was thinking about just walking out, it took longer to recieve our meal, two orders of sushi (because the chefs were too busy chatting about other things, and then fighting on who should make the sushi rather then actually making it) and to recive our bill then it did to eat it.
The place is slightly overpriced for the amount of food recieved. I would rather drive to benihanas, an hour and half drive, not including traffic.
And i agree with an earlier comment, get the white american chick(s) out of the yukata, its really tacky, specially since she walks like a man in it and is not wearing the right socks.
OVERALL: A Great Disappointment
October 21st, 2007 at 3:29 am
if your main complaints are of hostesses not being in the right socks, i think the restaurant is probably doing something right.
October 21st, 2007 at 10:21 am
I think that the numerous other complaints, aside from the way the staff is dressed speak for themselves, and for you to minimize everything down to that one point is just ridiculous. Just from the comment that you chose one inane point from also mentions:
1. “The place is wonderfully decorated yes….but the service is horrible.”
2. “The place is slightly overpriced for the amount of food recieved (sic).”
3. “…it took longer to recieve (sic) our meal, two orders of sushi (because the chefs were too busy chatting about other things, and then fighting on who should make the sushi rather then actually making it) and to recive (sic) our bill then it did to eat it.”
October 24th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
I’ve ate at a couple teppanyaki places in minnesota, I’ll list the best in order
1. Benihana (golden valley & maple grove)
2. Ichiban (minneapolis)
3. Osaka (apple valley)
4. Mt. Fuji (maple grove)
I’d go back to all those places for sure, as for Kami. NO WAY! I agree w/ whoever said they need to get ‘those white girls out of the kimonos’ the hostess was a VERY dorky looking white teen w/ huge glasses that looked like she just woke up (her hair was VERY messy) and her braces protruded like no other, she also talked very slow and monotone for a long time about the restaurant before we were seated. The food was ok, not horrible, but the chef we had was amazingly slow at cooking. it looked like he was pretending to throw a knife in the air. His skills were very very bad, it couldn’t keep my attention for a minute. So that is what I have to say about Kami!
November 25th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I have never left a dining experience without eating before in my life. 4 people ordered several rolls. We waited a good 45 minutes then asked the waiter. He seemed confused and gave us a lame excuse about many large parties. Does that mean you only get served if your in a large party? He said it will be up shortly. We waited another 25 minutes with no food. He actually ignored us now. We called him over and said to cancell our order and bring us the check for the drinks and call the manager. He never came back. We walked up to the check out area and asked for our bill. Some rude lady told him to ring us up. I was never so upset in my life. Two hours, for no food, or apology or anything. Even if it was a bad night for our waiter, shouldn’t someone have cared that we left??? We never go anywhere for a second chance. What a shame that Kami is off our list.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
My god, give these people a chance. The reason Apple Valley has no fine dining establishments is because of people like yourselves. Most of you probably commute to get here, so do me a favor and stay out of our town!
November 28th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
My god, you can’t be more wrong. The reason Apple Valley doesn’t have many fine dining establishments is because the fine residents of Apple Valley elected officials that prefer to open space up to chain fast-food and near-fast-food (think Noodles) restaurants.
I have no sympathy for Kami being that they astroturfed here. You lose all support for the little guy (which I’m more than happy to provide) from me when you attempt to persuade via lies.
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I and my boyfriend have eaten at Kami 4 or 5 times. We’ve eaten at the sushi bar and have always been treated well by the chefs; the service was friendly and timely. Perhaps it’s different in the dining room, but we have always had a nice experience there. We certainly prefer it to Osaka where we found the atmosphere to be obnoxiously loud and tacky. The “stools” at the sushi bar were completely the wrong height. The food was so-so.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I have now been to both Osaka and Kami. Both places we had hibcahi and both places I had essentially the same entree. Filet and scallops.
The chef at Osaka was talented and very entertaining.
The chef at Kami was a clutz and quite boring as far as hibachi chefs go.
The filet at Osaka was perfect, the scallops very pretty good.
The filet at Kami was overcooked and not very flavorful, the scallops were delicious.
Although I had a good time at Kami, I preferred my experience at Osaka much more. Although when I was at Osaka, there wasn’t any b-day songs.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Bummer on the lack of the Birthday Song but thanks for the great comparison. I have linked your review from the Kami post as well.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 am
The service is HORRIBLE and poor management. The foods are not that great; they are like sushi wanna-be. Never ever will I step in those doors again!
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Hey! Haven’t said anything in a while but felt this would be a good time - seeing as there was a debate in progress. Osaka’s food was good..but not something I would run back to. Lakeville person - if you missed out on the birthday song, you TRULY missed out on the true dining experience. We got it 3..maybe 4 times??
I personally have not heard good reviews on Kami, so why would I bother going?
I guess the thing that gets me is - I’m not from around here. I’m from NY..and I’ve eaten at some extremly upscale GOOD sushi places. I’m not from Japan, so I can’t truly claim I know what amazing sushi is. What I personally this, is that Ichiban does not get enough praise that it deserves. Last time I was there, I did the 29.99 all you can eat sushi for an hour. They make it fresh right in front of you - and you choose how much you eat. I was sitting next to a woman from Japan who was giggling at my funny (crappy) way of using chopsticks. So no..for 29.99 I was getting great food AND entertainment. I found the sushi to be awesome and I’m going again tonight - to see if it can be as good a second time around. Don’t even try to tell me that 29.99 is too expensive, because for an hours worth of sushi, it’s not.
Okay- I’m starting to sound too much of a commercial here. I haven’t been to origami yet, so I can’t compare. This just seemed like a fun one to jump in on :D
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Emily,
Glad to have you back and contributing to the thread! Thanks for the suggestion — I just wish Kim enjoyed sushi as much as I do :(
March 17th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
If you get drunk off the Sake (spl?) and tell them it’s someone’s birthday at your table, they will come out and bang their drum… It was great fun!! Hahaha…
March 25th, 2008 at 8:06 am
This place is FABULOUS. They have food and drink specials every night of the week, often until close, the service is PHENOMENAL (especially if you sit at the sushi bar), and the staff is friendly and very knowledgeable. I dread the day that this place is discovered by the masses, because its amazing and very relaxed.
March 25th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I dread the day that this place is discovered by the masses, because its amazing and very relaxed.
I’m sure that the owners of Kami can’t wait for it to be discovered.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I’m about to brave the AYCE sushi tonight. $25 seems like a bargain to me. I’ll report upon my return. :)
March 25th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
jorn,
Good luck! :)
March 26th, 2008 at 8:22 am
I joined two friends for the all-you-can-eat sushi on a Tuesday night. Kami has an ongoing AYCE sushi special on Monday and Tuesday for a mere $24.99. This was my 3rd visit to Kami, one other in “Hibachi” (as they call it) area and another in the regular dining area. We experienced the commonly-reported slow service in the latter.
I arrived first. The two young ladies who greeting me were extremely friendly, although very concerned about my whole party not being there simultaneously. They seemed quite worried that they would run out of space at the sushi bar; they were actually mapping seating there as they would at any other table. I suppose that makes sense under the circumstances. When I assured them my friends would be there quite soon I was seating right away, even though I cheerfully volunteered to wait.
I joined the approximately 8 other people spread across the sushi bar. Behind it were two sushi chefs, busily scanning the plethora of typical white sushi order sheets in an effort to keep up. The rest of the spacious and beautiful restaurant was sadly almost completely devoid of other customers. My waiter was asking what I wanted to drink before my butt even completely settled into the chair.
I admit to have some trepidation about the “restrictions apply” part of the AYCE special. My server was back in what seemed like seconds with my hate sake, and order card, and the instructions about the AYCE “rules.” It was obvious that the sushi order card for the evening was specific to the AYCE scenario. While I’m sure it was an understandable shortened list of items, I’m at a loss to come up with anything that I was disappointed about not appearing there.
The rules were simple: During round one, you may order 2 appetizers, 3 nigiri and 2 rolls. Once you have sort of earned your way to subsequent ordering rounds, you were free to order ala carte’. Seems fine to me.
The sushi chefs were friendly and quite quick given the volume of orders before them. Sashimi was among the appetizer category, and I was quick to order that. Fantastic.
Subsequent items were handed to us at seemingly perfect timing as we finished off the item before. Everything was amazingly delicious! While all 3 of us managed to eat almost all of what came with round 2, we all enthusiastically agreed that we more than got our $25-worth of satisfaction by the end of the 1st order.
In summary, the all you can eat special at Kami will certainly have us coming back again. Every piece was divine, the service was top-notch, and we agreed it was very well worth it. I’m amazed at how few people were there. At no time were more that 50% of the seats taken, and the 3 of us were the last to leave that evening. I can only imagine that our positive experience was an anomaly (which I highly doubt), or the secret is still just too well kept.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:32 am
jorn,
I pay attention, quite a bit better than your average Joe, to the goings-on with local restaurants and it was news to me that they were having an “AYCE” special. I would guess that they were attempting to keep the numbers low (so they could keep up) but still pull in quite a bit of money on a night that they normally wouldn’t make a profit but that’s only a guess.
Thanks for the great review! I might have to head over there myself — sans Kim for some AYCE, mmm.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Bill,
I’m pretty sure they have been “advertising” it for a few months now. I know that my friend and I have been talking for several months about attending the AYCE, but I think the only way one would know is if you actually saw the little billboard outside the restaurant.
For reasons I can’t really explain, I’m kinda rooting for these guys. It’s been eerily empty every time I have been in there. Some how, Kami needs to get some more traffic.
If they had AYCE again tonight, it would be hard for me not to be there right now. It really was quite yummy.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
jorn,
Well, I just drove by today, to take a look at La Luz Cafe and I still didn’t see anything but I wasn’t really looking to be honest. I did see that they had a sign in the back to point the way inside.
To me, they would be a whole lot better off if they took down the cheesy window coverings and showed that there was actually an open restaurant inside. It honestly reminds me more of a porn shop than it does a restaurant. Then again, Osaka is much the same way :(
I am always rooting for the underdog but the fact that they astroturfed here really puts them at the bottom of my list.
March 27th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Yeah; the sign is at the door to the restaurant. It’s not like that little *cough* “mall” gets any foot-traffic. Still, leading with sushi isn’t gonna do it for getting the crowds in. People need to know it could be a place for fun and fine dining.
I agree with you, there’s no way drivers passing by would have any idea there was this beautiful place in there. Are these folks too arrogant or too stupid to advertise? I get Olde Pooper pizza ads in the mail weekly, and everybody knows about that joint. I’ve never seen a Kami ad anywhere.
March 27th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
jorn,
I saw some Kami ads at Cub Foods for a while (on the little check writing spot for lack of a better term) and I have seen them advertised in some of the random local fliers that get stuffed in my mailbox.
On the Ole Piper comment, while I don’t like eating there in person (we’ve been to the bar once and to the restaurant once and probably won’t return), I don’t mind their delivery but I do prefer Carbone’s food.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:34 pm
the reason why this restaurant is not busy, because you guys keep posting bad comments on here. i’ve been eating there for a few months now and i always had great experiences. john is no long there is been changes in the staff.
April 1st, 2008 at 6:30 am
Frank,
Be serious, please.
Thanks,
Bill
April 25th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I was there a month ago. I have been a lot of sushi place in minnesota. kami in apple valley. I think look very nice socialable. Its not to bad place to one on one time. The drive is a little bit out of the way. The Hostess was kind of a B****. she was rude. the host and i got into a e exchange of words. I sat at the sushi bar and the the sushi chef guys were very funny and entertaining. i would go back to just to chill and talk with those guys. The food was good. I didn’t have any compliants with the food. they have a nice varitey of sushi. the miso was great. they do have sake. the lady next to me was drinking it and she must have had a lot because she was fliting with me. service was kind of slow. they only have 2 chef on hand during the weekday. if you come in during 7-8pm, your sushi will take a little longer. i recommand coming at 6 or earlier. Or 8pm or later. Every monday and tuesday they have all you can eat sushi for $25 there is no time limit. the only other place that has all you can eat sushi is Ichibans, but there is a 1hr limit. Kami all you can eat is really a good deal. am going next tuesday.