Kashin Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Cary

I am very particular about sushi, and despite the fact that there are several decent sushi places all over town, this place is still ranked the best in town to me.

I judge sushi in three basic categories. The first is overall freshness. The second is technical execution. The third is in taste or palette. I will explain.

Most sushi fish is flash frozen, not just to help ensure freshness during long transports, but also to kill parasites. This, in turn, makes freshness slightly deceptive in that it is not as difficult as it may seem to achieve. And yet, I have had plenty of sushi that I can tell is not fresh. Therefore, it pleased me to have seen Kashin politely refuse to make something simply because they no longer have any more fresh ingredients left. To me, freshness is the bare minimum for quality sushi since any decent restaurant can serve fresh food. However, this is still vital.

Then comes the chef's technical execution. For example, a good sushi roll should never fall apart on you. I have gone to fancy, expensive sushi places, and much to my shock, they have served me rolls that were already half way to unraveling, and I haven't even touched it yet. To me, it just tells me that they don't care about their work, and except being dragged by friends and family to go there, I never visit those places again. Kashin has yet to fail me once over the many years that I have frequented there. There are other examples, but this is one common example that I look at.

However, any decent sushi restaurant can display basic sushi making competence. My last category, taste and palette, is what really separates Kashin from the rest. While I typically order omakase, or chef's choice, I also usually order some rolls on the side. These rolls are the ones that I always pick to compare each restaurant, but of course, I never tell any of the chefs that. One such secretive roll I use to judge with is the futomaki. I am amazed at the different varieties and tastes each restaurant has on this roll. Some are surprisingly awful considering the suppose stature and fanciness of the restaurant. It is as though they have never sampled their own rolls to realize how bad it is.

Of them all, only Sonos (another great sushi restaurant) has ever caught themselves on how bad it was, apologized, and took it off my tab, all without me saying anything. At least they were paying attention, and that is a very good sign. However, not only is Kashin's futomaki (they call theirs the big roll) superb from the very beginning, but it is the only futomaki I have seen done right, with the right ingredients, and actually tastes amazing. I have had other futomakis that were technically made well, but due to the poor choices of ingredients or its execution, it ended up tasting badly.

If you have read this far, I need you to do me a favor. Don't tell everybody about this place. Just your close friends and family. Kashin is a small place, and if the public found out how great this place is, I might not be able to get in and eat there.

Jokes aside though, don't let the strip mall, hole-in-the-wall facade fool you. When it comes to great sushi, most don't come close, and fewer still match this chef's...

First time here, and it seems like most sushi places here in the United States don’t know how to make good maki rolls. I ordered the sashimi lunch combo, which came with only 6 pc sashimi and soup/salad/rice and that was $24-25 usd, nothing special at all, and it to be honest quite expensive for what I got. And I also got the spicy salmon maki rolls, and that was nothing spectacular as well, it was so small and there was barely any salmon, or sauce and it was $10 usd, and lastly the crab and avocado 🥑 rolls which had BARELY any filling inside but a TON of rice on the outside. I’ve eaten a ton of sushi in my life and this has to be the most non authentic type of sushi. It was take out, don’t know if it had anything to do with it being take out versus dining in. Seems like a lot of people like it here but don’t know if anyone even know how to eat tradition sushi. Altogether I paid $45 usd.. very expensive for the amount of food and the quality I’ve gotten. I’m from Toronto Ontario and we make the best Asian/Japanese food out there and very authentic. So when comparing, I can say that this is not...

My husband works nearby and months ago I inquired about this restaurant. He said, "not good." I should have listened but I was running errands nearby and thought I should still try it, what a mistake. I arrived at 11:30, right after they opened, there was one person at the bar and one occupied table. Rather than bore you with the details... my soup and salad arrived just before 12, then my bento box, which lacked any finesse at all, at 12:20. Five minutes into eating and after having to go track down soy, the waitress dropped my check on my table while I was eating, (getting busy and I guess she needed me to get out). So I put my card with the check, then waited 30 minutes, yes, 30 minutes for someone to take my payment. I watched a couple stand at the door for 10 minutes before realizing, I'd have to walk to the kitchen to pay. Which I did. No one apologized or gave a darn. Only once in my life have I not tipped before. Today became number two. The sushi nearly $17, was left half uneaten because it was so bland. Do yourself a favor and go...