Kang Nam — Restaurant in Doraville

Kang Nam Japanese is undoubtedly one of the best restaurants in Atlanta, earning a well-deserved 5-star rating from me, the highest possible. Their food is exceptional, but allow me to share a personal experience before delving into their culinary delights.

On a recent Monday evening, I dined at Kang Nam and accidentally left my shoulder bag, which contained a luxury brand purse, behind. The realization struck me on Tuesday afternoon. After searching everywhere at home and in my car to no avail, I called Kang Nam in a last-ditch effort. To my immense relief, they informed me that they had safely kept my bag. This was more than just finding lost items; it was about recovering my ID, student card, library card, shopping cards, and crucial credit cards, including irreplaceable foreign ones. Their honesty and professionalism deserve more than just stars – they deserve immense gratitude.

Now, about their food: Kang Nam's portions are incredibly generous. We ordered abundantly, yet couldn't finish everything.

First, their dinner combo featured some of the freshest sashimi in the Atlanta area at a comparable price. In cities like New York, such a sashimi dish alone might cost around $45. The sushi combo is substantial enough to satisfy two people, especially if they've had a late lunch.

Second, their Chicken Don is a must-try. What sets it apart is its unique sauce, creating a comforting, homely flavor reminiscent of "meat over rice" dishes or the Chinese "Ban Fan (拌饭)." We couldn't finish it in one sitting, and it generously served as lunch for me and my husband the next day.

Third, the Spicy Tuna Sandwich was a novel experience. Imagine a sandwich with a crispy, fried exterior made of bread or cracker crumbs. It's not only delicious but also hard to find in other restaurants.

Lastly, the Gyeranjjim (Korean Steamed Eggs) was exceptional. Larger in portion than what other restaurants offer, it was silky and flavorsome, making it a must-order for me at Kang Nam.

In summary, Kang Nam Japanese doesn't just impress with its food; their service and integrity are equally...

My girlfriend and I came here for dinner. We had an unpleasant experience with the food here, but we want to express that the server/staff were incredibly respectful and which is why I’m giving a 2 rather than a 1 star review.

The worst part of this experience was finding a parasite/worm in one of the pieces of sashimi as shown in the video (The sashimi was a side from the grilled mackerel combo). We informed the server and one of the staff members came to our table and paid for our meal. As kind as that was we shouldn’t have to experience parasites/worms in our food.

The Chirashi Don was respectfully one of the worst Chirashi Dons I have ever had. The white fish was chewy and I couldn’t tell what kind of fish it was due to the off-putting taste. The one piece of surf clam that was in there had a lot of sand. The tuna tasted and looked frozen. I could barely taste any vinegar in the sushi rice and the sushi rice had bonito flakes and furikake. I will respect the choice of using furikake but, (even though I have never seen anyone use it and didn’t fit the meal in my opinion) the sushi rice definitely needed more rice vinegar. Despite the large square bowl there’s only about an inch of sushi rice which seemed a bit deceiving; Chirashi Don traditionally has a lot of sushi rice.

The grilled mackerel was over salted.

The miso soup was awful. It didn’t taste like miso soup at all and had a gassy, fishy taste.

We ordered tempura vegetables which was good overall. The sweet potato tempura was the only tempura that wasn’t cooked well (it was undercooked).

Despite my harsh cirque on the food the salmon sashimi and salmon roll that we ordered was decent.

I genuinely wanted to like this place as my friends have said good things about this place. I have never written a review before but the parasite in my girlfriend’s sashimi made me feel the need to share our experience. Thanks...

Aug 8, 2025 Returned with my wife... Almost didn't get to eat here as we didn't have an appointment. But, a table was available though it was a fish bowl kind of spot, for which the maître d'head apologizes a few times throughout the dinner.

In my previous review, I pointed out a few corrective suggestions. It seems they may have taken them to heart and made significant improvements or full corrections on all aspects of my previous suggestions. As such, the rating has been upgraded to 554 (from 443). In addition, I now highly recommend this place for top value and excellent food as well as very attentive service!

Prior visit First timer here. Chosen because of good reviews and apparent value. Well, it was an interesting experience.

First, it appeared that there are more private rooms than open seating tables. The servers and folks at the sushi bar seemed pleasent and welcoming.

Chose to have the Gang Nam Jungsik to experience a spectrum of food available at this place.

The course started to go as described by others. However, things seemed a bit rushed for me where the next course came, though I was still working on the prior course. At the later stage, it appeared the last two courses came together. Then, the bill came when I was far from finishing all the food. This was unlike the descriptions in various reviews and made it somewhat difficult to enjoy the experience.

As for the food... Fresh and tasty sushi and sashimi, as well as the fried shrimp and potato. Grilled mackerel was a bit blend and fishy. All the "Korean food" (side dishes and the spicy cod soup) could be better - a bit more of salt and flavoring would make them better. The spicy "seafood/cod" barely had seafood flavor likely because there were practically no fish (a few bones with very little meat) in the soup. Hopefully, it was the leftovers from carving a fish...

4 stars for the Japanese...