Kai Sushi — Restaurant in San Sebastián

Omakase experience in San Sebastian. Local picks for sushi as well as some of other Japanese restaurants in Gros area. Always fully booked and need to book a week in advance at least. We were lucky to get booking for 9.30pm which was the last service on the day.

All ingredients were fresh and very different from what we usually get so enjoyed the new / different experience. Great to see some local cooking style such as Kokotxa dish which was the favourite.

Restaurant staffs were really attentive and helped us by explaining all dishes in English and recommendation of drink menu.

However, we noticed some services are lacking and improvements to make.

Previous dining time groups were standing at the door when we tried to go inside. This caused inconvenience for both ways not able to pass but no one was trying to sort this out. They eventually all left but walk in customers started coming in. We waited for a while to get started with drinks etc.

There are omakase and walk in bookings going on at the same time. Kitchen service seemed a little bit chaotic to handle all different kinds of dishes. It might be better to focus on one or the other with different times. Such as omakase available for certain time bookings and have aligned by having seated at the same time, getting served at the same time which most omakase sushi restaurants do.

All sushi and dishes are heavily seasoned. Salt during making sushi, topped up with sushi, remaining salt on dish makes even saltier sometimes.

Also, a lot of torching going on. Expected to have raw fish dishes but a lot of them were torched and half/fully cooked. Even oyster dish was cooked and served with meats. Our preference was to have raw oyster so it was sad but enjoyed the dish itself.

Nigiris can be served right after making rather than plate up on the platter. Sushi is always at the best when it was just made by chef but it had to be waited until chef made all 24 nigiris and sat there.

It was very new experience and fun to dine with local...

We came here two nights in a row because the first night was such a success. Coming from the US, we feel it's difficult to find a sushi restaurant that offers more beyond the casual tuna/salmon. Kai Sushi Bar had exactly the high quality of fish we had been missing: Uni ! Toro ! Chu-Toro ! Scallops ! Etc, etc.

The service was excellent and personalized, especially after a second trip once they got to know us better. We sat at the sushi bar and enjoyed watching the owner and masterful sushi chefs creating their beautiful dishes. We only wish we lived a bit closer to come back more often. However, since San Sebastian is so gorgeous, and this sushi bar was so great, I think we can safely say we will return very soon! If I had to leave any room for improvement, I would hope to see an even wider selection of fresh seafood for my next visit (this is me being extremely picky, because they already offer far more options than 99% of sushi bars we've been to in France/Spain/Germany/UK... but we always have to leave some room for improvement!).

One of our highlights, we asked if the chef could make us a Toro/Uni handroll with caviar -- it was so delicious we ordered it both days! They were also amazing with kids (though our 6 year old probably eats as much sushi as most adults!). Highly, highly recommend a visit, and make sure to reserve ahead of time so you have a chance of experiencing this excellent sushi bar with the most inviting chef and staff!

Shout out to our awesome waiter, Javier (I hope I spelled...

The good: the space is lovely, the wait staff is attentive and informative. The food is beautifully presented and is handled with care and skill.

The less good: we were quite disappointed with the food. We ordered a special maki dish, vegetable tempura, sashimi moriawase and braised eggplant with miso. The fish didn't have much flavor, some pieces were a bit tough. The eggplant was drenched in oil. The maki was overpowered with yuzu.

The tempura batter was nice and light.

All in all, there just seems to be a lot going on. We saw layers of different fish go by, some covered in melted cheese or broiled hot sauce. It's visually impressive I guess...

Obviously the chefs are experienced, hard working and skilled. I'm afraid this restaurant is just trying a bit too hard for what it delivers. Price point is high for a sub-par experience overall.

We left disappointed after all the glowing reviews here.

(For context if helpful : from a Japanese family, been to Japan...