Kinjo — Restaurant in City of Saratoga Springs

I didn't stop in for the teppenyaki, just the sushi. I prefer a more exacting display of knife skills than banging around with a spatula can provide - but I only received a small demonstration here, much less than I had hoped.

This restaurant is hidden away off the main street in a small strip mall, but with plenty of parking. As usual, I chose to sit at the sushi bar, probably about half the size of the alcohol bar - in this restaurant, a tiny, cramped area (photo), right next to the main entry door which might seat four very small guests. At least the [mostly muted] wall-mounted televisions were all over the restaurant except in the sushi bar area.

The website insists this is fine dining, but I found it a bit confusing, as if they were not sure of the exact type of guest they wanted. The late lunch I was served did not provide any more clarity. The staff was pleasant enough, and pretty quick. The waribashi and the fork probably shouldn't be sitting alongside the cloth napkins and thick bound menu.

The food itself began on a high note. The chef presented me with an amuse-bouche (photo) of asparagus and cream cheese wrapped in scored salmon, then fired with blowtorch, and topped with salmon roe. A simple, balanced presentation. Only a handful other local sushi bars have presented me with amuse-bouche, and they almost always consisted of a covered ball of shredded surimi. I enjoyed time the chef spent preparing, then tasting this small beginning.

The rest of the meal was a bit of a letdown, starting with the lukewarm soup, although it was not totally without taste. The sushi rice itself was lightly seasoned. The two-plate main was simply plated, with minimal decoration, but overall only average. I ordered my normal pair of maki and handful of nigiri. The maki were on the lower end, with the non-spicy salmon being the least pleasing of the pair. The nigiri were not bad, with the bass and fluke standing out, and I was very pleased with the scallops. Only one chef prepared all my fish dishes, the other chef (photo) was busy doing prep work for the night service.

But I was somehow expecting more. All in all, I'll most likely return pretty soon. I just hope they figure out how to seat more than three people at the sushi...

It was our first time going to a hibachi restaurant and sitting at an actual hibachi table costs 18% more, so we sat at a normal table, but you could still see flames and hear the joy of others, which was pretty cute. They had the birthday song go off twice while we were there. Quite a fun crowd, but the table we sat at felt surprisingly quiet and private. Loved every minute.

The waitress saw us struggling to know what to order, so she recommended a double hibachi plate, where you get two different types of meat on just one hibachi order, and to get appetizers on the side. We got lobster and filet mignon hibachi in addition to crab rangoons, pot stickers, and shrimp dumplings- shumai. The lobster was disappointing and rubbery, very glad we only got one portion of it. Everything else was fantastic. My husband was not a fan of the shumai, said they were too mushy and flavorless, I liked them dipped in the sauce each bite. I did not particularly like the pot stickers, but he loved them. The crab rangoons were crunchy and robust and delicious. The filet mignon was incomprehensibly fantastic. I cannot express clearly enough how exquisite the filet mignon was. I used to be vegetarian, but Culver's burgers and my husband's cooking converted me away from that about 10 years ago. But eating Kinjo's filet mignon made me weep for the vegetarians who will never experience the joy of meat, much less the pure ecstasy of Kinjo's exquisitely prepared meat marshmallows. Biting into their hibachi filet mignon was like biting into a little piece of happiness and heaven. We had them cooked to medium. I am a "cook it until it has no moo" kind of gal, but filet mignon on medium was divine.

I even ate their purple carrot and orchids. Wow, so tasty. And so beautiful.

It was an incredible experience. And as soon as we got home and grabbed our mail, we saw a coupon for $10 off $60. We spent $62. RIP. This was a once in a decade experience for us and our budget was $60, so if we'd had the coupon we would have gotten a dessert, oh well. If you have the coupon and are wondering if it's worth it, absolutely 100%. If you don't have the coupon, come on in anyway, it was delightful and worth...

Bad service!! I often came here but today was mostly terrible! There was only 3 tables including us but the staffs were talking loudly (looked older than us) and the other staff, she suddenly wiped the menu up next to us with smelly cloth (I smelt wired while she used it. I thought they didn’t open yet. They mopped too because I saw the floor was wet when we leaved) And when she got our order,she served without manners and she didn’t make us feel welcome at all. Maybe she had a bad day or might be irritated. But when we left she finally smile slightly.....Why? I don’t mean all staff are not good. I think they are kind and good but some staffs.... even there are few customers.(Or if you are not ready to open, open please after being ready) I never saw the staffs talk loudly next to customers and clean up or wipe things next to guests while customers are eating in Saratoga springs. Don’t come Tuesday especially...