Kinjo Sushi & Izakaya — Restaurant in Milpitas

Went for their soft opening over the weekend and had mixed feelings. Would've given 3.5 stars if that was an option, but rounded up to 4 since it's their soft opening and I know things take time to smooth out.

we got 4 rolls, miso cod, Kinjo appetizer, pork belly mochi skewer, and chicken skin.

I'll start with the good: The rolls were surprisingly delicate, neatly assembled, and well flavoured. The scallop Hokkaido roll was our favourite with fresh lemon slices and raw scallop across the top of the roll, was a great combo!

The pork belly mochi skewer was also yummy with a soft mochi wrapped with crispy pork belly. A bit pricey at $6 a skewer, but yummy!

Then onto the disappointing: all the food ran quite sweet the appetisers and specials were all a bit of a miss The cod was the best of the 3, but it had a lot of fish bones and the miso flavor wasn't that strong the crispy chicken skin came cold, which is a bit off putting bc cold chicken skin is not it. It was crispy and interestingly season (had sugar?), but think it would've been much better hot then the kinjo special appetizer: this was absolutely not worth it at all. At $18 for a tiny bite, it should be perfection. But the tofu was too firm, the jelly wasn't flavourful enough, and the uni/ caviar was surprisingly bland.

On this appetizer in particular, we also had an AWFUL customer service experience:

The server delivered the dish to the wrong table. I saw the other guest reach for it with their chopsticks before everyone realising it's not for their table, then the server took it away to the counter. I watched them verify a whole bunch, leave the item on the counter to go check on some other tables, then a different server came and brought that same dish to us. I asked if she was sure it wasn't touched by the other table, and she said yes...I mentioned I saw the other table reach for it but idk if they touched it... and she said oh do you want a new one? I said it's fine as long as they don't think it was touched.. and then the server passive aggressively insisted on bringing a new one, but DUMPED the old one?! It was so incredibly WASTEFUL. Most other great dining experiences I've had usually just give them the dish if there was an error, since it would be wasted if taken away anyway, and bring a new one just to be sure everything was all good. So we were really shocked when we saw the server just dump such expensive ingredients away...

The service (esp the guy, not the girl) was otherwise slow but friendly. The atmosphere was fine, music a little loud.

At soft opening prices it's possibly worth a try, but think I'll wait a long while for their operations, flavours, and customer service standards to stabilise before...

This is definitely going to be contender for the best japanese restaurant in Milpitas! They're only in their soft opening so every bill is 20% off. But from what they have so far on their soft menu is really good with their kinjo rolls and tempura hand rolls and their beef izakaya skewers! Everything feels really fresh and seasoned really well! They may seem a little bit more pricier than average around $19 per entree but two sushi rolls should be able to feed the table as well as whatever other small dishes you would like to order such as chicken karrage, tempura that just has the right amount of breading and more! I was A little bit worried about the portion sizes of the skewers but I think the quality could justify it... Maybe... $8 for 2 beef skewers is something to think of... The tempura hand roll I had also had a lot of different toppings on it, including crab and avocado and the tempura all working well together in the taste! We also haven't even mentioned that every single table gets their own garlic baked edamame! It's probably the best I've ever eaten and the fact that it's included at every single table goes to show how serious they are! The decorations also look really nice as well, combining a modern look with a Japanese feel to it. Service was also very attentive to as they came around often filling water even if you just only drink a sip out of it. You can see sushi chefs working in the front as well as the kitchen being open. Hopefully this is a restaurant that can stick around for a long time as this spot replaces both of vegan restaurant and even a Japanese/Korean...

We’re regular customers at this sushi spot. We probably eat here twice a week! It’s honestly our favorite sushi place. The restaurant is always clean, their sushi is top-notch, and their garlic edamame is the best.

On top of the great food, I really want to thank their staff for being so accommodating. We dined here today on Labor Day, and despite being packed with customers, the staff still went above and beyond. After paying our bill and leaving, I realized I didn’t have my wallet. Thinking I might have left it on the table, I went back to ask if they had seen it. They hadn’t, but when I asked if it was possible to review the CCTV, the manager, despite being in the middle of such a busy shift went out of his way to contact the owner and arrange for the footage to be checked. He assisted us for almost an hour.

It turns out I hadn’t lost my wallet there after all. I had left it somewhere else but I truly appreciate the kindness, patience, and effort of the staff.

Kinjo Sushi isn’t just about amazing food, it’s also about amazing people. We’ll definitely keep coming back. Highly...