Kaihana — Restaurant in Des Moines

We have yet to find "Our" sushi place since we moved to the area. The sushi scene in the South Sound is ok but usually nothing to rave about. But today that changed. It was my birthday and I usually just pick a place I haven't eaten at yet for the day and give it a shot. I chose correctly. Kaihana is new and has only been open for a month or so. It's menu is small and just at first glance if you are used to large sushi menus you might be turned off. But don't be! Smaller menus mean they can focus more on the food. We ordered 3 rolls, Edamame, Gyoza and Takoyaki. The Takoyaki was the best we have ever had at a sushi place. It wasn't gooey in the inside and the octopus was tender and melted in your mouth. Perfection! Gyoza and Edamame were great also, but the Takoyaki was for sure a must get. I was apprehensive about the sushi because the entire menu has avocado on every roll. Most places use Avocado as filler to pad their rolls, and honestly I am not a fan of Avocado in general. But I was impressed and surprised when the chef SPREAD the avocado on the rolls, not using it as a filler and let me tell you that it made a difference. I ate every roll and it's was amazing. The building is small and cozy and the energy the employees have about the product made the experience perfect. We plan on returning every time we want sushi and You should also give this small business a try. Stay away from the sushi chains here. Support...

The food was fantastic but the service was terrible and at really no fault of the waitstaff. They seem like they had no training and poor communication between staff so I 100% put it on whoever is managing this place now for failing to outline proper protocol. Also they had only two servers working. They were also running a full bar, cashiering, busing, and serving well over 7 4tops plus the main room that filled up. You need a MINIMUM of two extra staff working. It was a holiday, my husband and I were doing Valentine's day dinner there. My food came out 35+ minutes after ordering, my husband's came out 15 minutes after that, and somehow two items didn't end up on our tickets. The service kept asking us if they had taken out order already. If these two lovely, kind women were properly trained on order taking and had a full waitstaff, they wouldn't have been so scattered and clearly stressed out. They brought out the check before we received our appetizer we ordered. I'm grateful we got comped for that. The food is great, we will definitely come back, but not on holidays or busy times. Management, please hire enough staff and bussers. It's expensive, but going without it will hurt your business to have continuous mistakes like this. Ours definitely wasn't the only table to get missed orders that night, and I'm sure others were not as patient. We are empathetic and want to keep small...

First time to eat here but definitely won’t be the last. This place is a little gem in this itty bitty town square that I’ve driven past multiple times before but never thought to try because I’m more inclined to try fancier sushi places. My sister who lives walking distance recommended this place so I gave it a try. The server was hospitable and kind. Great service! Not a lot of sushi roll options and no other entrees which is great for me, I wasn’t overwhelmed with what to order. The miso soup was flavorful, almost a little too salty but I’d rather have that than bland miso. I can just add water lol. Love that they didn’t skimp on the tofu and seaweed. Server was prompt in refilling the comforting hot green tea for us. The takoyaki was ok, calamari was so good, light and crispy and soft on the inside. Everything else that we ordered like gyoza, kaihana roll, dragon roll and rainbow roll was good, but I loved the deluxe sashimi platter. The 16 pieces of fish were not small and they were fresh, and came with miso soup and a bowl of rice. Good for the price! Overall, the food was good and what you’d expect from a regular sushi place, but I want to come back soon for the sashimi and because of the great service. I also forgot to try the tiramisu matcha so I’m looking forward...