Kinji Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Christchurch

I've been here maybe 5 times now. Recently I brought some friends that were visiting from Australia to eat here and did not have the best experience. First off, the young waitress accidentally entered the wrong order in, we ordered the sushi+sashimi platter (as it had nigiri and miso soup), but were given the sashimi platter (35$ more expensive). The waitress had confirmed this order when we were ordering as there is only 1 miso soup and she asked if we wanted to order more as we had 3 people. We could tell she was very flustered with her mistake so was happy to pay for the wrong dish despite it being more expensive however asked if we could still get 1 miso soup and 1 rice as that's what was in the original order. The older waitress/manager? then said she was happy to provide free miso but wanted to charge extra for 1 bowl of rice and hinted that it was our fault for not confirming the order when it arrived. Mid way during the meal a homeless woman walked in and tried to get a seat with the staff. When that didn't work she came to our table to try sit with us in the spare chair we had. I looked to the staff to try get some help and saw 4 of them just standing at the counter watching this happen. You are responsible for the safety of your guests that is in your establishment I am so...

Had a belated birthday celebration by having the 8-course omakase here.

We were fortunate that Chef Kinji was back for the month of May and got to enjoy his well-balanced dishes using fresh ingredients.

The first dish with fried salmon was the star for me - crispy on the outside, tender and juicy meat inside. There was such a variety of sashimis (various types of fish) and other cooked proteins (beef, lamb, prawns and unagi).

For the price of $100, this omakase is well worth its price with the range and heartiness of the food you get. We also ordered desserts (green tea tiramisu and crème brûlée) to end our dinner on a sweet note.

Service was great and the atmosphere cosy. The restaurant was packed throughout the night with at least half the customers being Japanese (so you know it’s authentic) and everyone seems to know someone from another table, creating a friendly and homely vibe.

It was such a memorable experience and the only bad thing was that they fed us tooo much - I haven’t eaten so much in ages!

This is one of the best meals I’ve had in Christchurch. Highly recommend their omakase (go with an empty stomach) and have it while Chef Kinji is...

What an incredible experience. This was my first Japanese food experience, for the most part. MAKE A BOOKING!! It is probably the only way you'll get in here because it has very limited seating. We arrived 5 minutes before our booking and unfortunately we had to wait for our table to leave. However they were on it and the patrons were gracious enough to leave. Once seated we reviewed the menu and a server came to take out our drink order. We ordered Ozeki Soju, Sweet Umeshu (plum wine) and water for the rest. We ordered some seared salmon Nigiri, a tempura shrimp sushi roll, a miso soup and order of Gyoza. All were amazing and flavorful. We all agreed made fresh. For our mains we ordered Teriyaki Salmon, Beef Tendon, Tataki Beef and Chicken Teriyaki Sizzle. All were again hot, flavorful and delicious. Overall it was an excellent experience. Our server knew English and we were never without water. Our son who studies Japanese even got to thank the chef in his native Japanese which topped off a great evening. So looking for some Asian cuisine and are needing a place with great food? Make a booking here, you will not be...