Kinemi's Kitchen — Restaurant in Vancouver

We had dinner here last night and here are the highlights: 1) TERRIBLE customer service and 2) the quality of food was average in quality. What stood out the most was the bad service. It looked family run (cash only!) and the owner's wife was on the floor. When we arrived, I noticed that she had a frown like "why are you here?". Perhaps, she was having a bad day, so, I tried to ignore her unwelcome appearance. We didn't want to ruin our mood because of her expression (or lack of). Maybe, she's more fluent in Japanese as it is a Japanese pasta restaurant (quite a small place - the washroom is through the kitchen, at the back). She was a woman of very few words - no "hello" or anything. She brought us cold water. I asked if they had hot tea and she told me to have hot water instead. We assumed that tea costs money so she was adamant that I should have hot water though paying for black tea wouldn't have been a problem. Alright! Hot water was fine though. When she returned for our orders, she had no smile. She simply wanted to take our orders. It felt like we were burdening her business, or something to that extent, and it was written all over her face (there were two other tables of customers besides us - less than a quarter of the space filled). We ordered our dishes and waited. It didn't take too long for the food to arrive (it wasn't busy). We had one with lobster cream/tomato pasta and the other with beef. We were not impressed. It tasted fairly average. I didn't think the lobster was very fresh and the pasta tasted less than al dente. It tasted a bit hard. We could've made the pasta ourselves. The positive side was that they de-shelled the lobster. There was no "thank you" after paying and leaving a generous tip for the lack of service. She was too busy talking and laughing with her friends who had arrived shortly after we ordered. We saw a drastic difference in her personality - gleaming and cheerful while chatting with her buddies. I guess it's important to keep friends but not patrons. I think that sums up our experience. Try at...

Kinemi's Kitchen is a homey restaurant hidden away in Champlain Crescent. The pasta and Italian food is definitely different than what you could normally get around Vancouver.

The restaurant itself is pretty small and there is a limited amount of staff. From our visit, it appears to be just the one wait staff in front and another in the back. There were a couple of other patrons when we arrived and we were seated after a minor wait.

We ordered the Lobster Spaghetti and Pizza. The Pizza looked quite appealing despite being quite doughy with limited toppings. The dough was quite thick and was more like bread than a pizza crust. The tomato sauce and cheese were pretty good but overall, we thought the pizza was rather plain. The Lobster Spaghetti, however, looked amazing. The taste that was lacking from the pizza was definitely found on in the Rose sauce of this dish. The spaghetti was cooked perfectly but the lobster was overcooked. This resulted in a bit of a rubbery texture to the lobster itself. When you were combining it with the spaghetti and sauce, it still tasted great.

Service was a bit lacking but is sufficient. The wait staff was there but it seemed like they did not really want to be there which is rather unfortunate.

At the end, we saw a lot of potential but did not really see it realized. The dishes looked great but the taste was always a bit shy of what you're expecting. This place feeds yours eyes before your mouth which is a bit disappointing.

We would definitely recommend trying the Lobster Spaghetti though it is...

I've been hearing this mom & pop hole in the wall pasta place for a while now. Tons of my friends have recommended me to drop by here a long time ago, like even before 2015 LOL!! I just haven't had the chance nor did I ever have it top of mind to drop by this place. And to be honest, this is the better side of pasta I've had compared to MANY chain restaurants in this city. That is something to be said about the quality of pasta in Vancouver..... Oh and another point IT IS CASH ONLY! So bring some money with you!!

My friend and I came here to meet up and I suggested this place since he was wanting something pasta for the night. We arrived and we saw the daily specials, as usual that always gets my eyes. We just ordered the daily specials which were the Penne with Tomato Spicy Sausage, and the Wild Mushroom Truffle Carbonara. They both came out hot plate delicious. Each one has a different flavour to it and it was the perfect mix honestly. And on top of that, the wild mushroom one was my favourite as it has a very distinct aroma to it. I enjoyed the penne pasta a lot as the spicy sausages were plentiful in the plate.

The food is not bad decent as the hole in the wall pasta was delicious. And on top of that love old kitchen wooden chairs they have for each table, as it reminds me I was in my own grandma's kitchen. For sure will be coming back for more pasta...