Kyatchi — Restaurant in Minneapolis

I've now been to Kyatchi a number of times and find it not only to be one of the best Japanese restaurants in the twin cities but also one of the more unique eating spots you can come by. Whether dining on your own at the sushi bar, on a date with a special someone, or out on the town with your family, this place is a must if you're craving Japanese.

From their sustainable seafood, to the unique pressed-sushi, to their hand-crafted Ramen with pork belly, you really can't go wrong: everything is made with a passion for excellent food and with the highest quality of ingredients. You can taste the care each chef demonstrates in their cooking in each and every bite.

For me, one of the most surprising aspects of my visits is that even though I love love love sushi (and their sushi is amazing), it is rarely sushi that I crave when I am there. My advice would be to get a few things to share so you can experience items throughout the menu. The chicken kara-age is an absolute must: perfectly crispy, marinated chicken with a perfect touch of citrus and a mayo sauce that will make you smile (also, the Tofu Kara-age is also amazing if you're not into eating birds). Looking for something really unique? Try the Agedashi Tofu and be wowed by the super soft tofu and dashi broth. The Ramen is delicious and a must for the Ramen fan in you. I also can't not talk about the Hot Dogs. This place has a "Japanese Baseball Theme" and with it comes the hot dogs, all unique, all thoughtfully put together, each one delicious. I also really enjoy the Ika Shogayaki, translated to "not your grandma's calamari" (JUST KIDDING, that's not what it means but it should be!). This squid has been marinated to perfection in soy and ginger to give it the perfect flavors, and then grilled. It's fantastic and a must for you seafood lovers out there. Finish your meal off with some donut holes (you'll want to drink the caramel glaze, it's so good (nice one, Ben DeCamp)) or with the new black sesame seed panna cotta (incredibly unique and tasty, and something I would never order unless I was told. So good!).

I could go on and on about the donburi rice bowls, the pressed sushi, and sushi rolls. But you should totally hit this spot up for yourselves. They also have a great happy hour with a nice beer and sake selection.

One more thing to note: You get the feeling that EVERYBODY likes working here. The service has always been excellent for me, the chefs have come out and said hello, the line cooks and other servers always seem to be having the most fun, and I believe they raised the wages to support their employees. It creates a fun and inviting culture that makes you want to be apart of the team, and definitely helps you decide to come...

Came here as a special Christmas present/Friday night date with my husband, who made reservations in advance. We’d heard good things and rarely get the chance to go out since he works in the restaurant industry and I work in retail management, so this was an occasion we were very excited about. We weren’t greeted but walked to the host stand where we were stared at by a blonde waitress with a ratty Fleet Farm hoodie and sparse leggings underneath, who pointed to our table from across the room rather than leading us to it. She was sullen throughout our experience, to a point where I genuinely wondered whether she ought to go home or find a new industry. When taking our order, she asked “what do you want?” as if it pained her to have to ask. Never introduced herself, never spoke about the menu or specials, didn’t offer us drinks or ask if we were ready. Fine, everyone has an off day, that’s whatever and even though it wasn’t a pleasant experience, we were there for both food and atmosphere. We ordered gyoza, karaage, salmon maki rolls, and their summer rolls to share between the two of us. Unfortunately, the gyoza was fishy and I couldn’t stomach it, though my husband didn’t mind (I suspected they shared a pan with some fish sauce or other, not a big deal ultimately but not to my personal taste for a pork gyoza). The first three salmon maki rolls were fine, small and not flavorful but nothing inherently bad, but the fourth tasted strongly of mold, to the point where I drained my water and my cocktail trying to get the taste out of my mouth and still had a strong aftertaste. I asked my partner whether we should say something to our waitress but he said, essentially, that at this point it wasn’t worth it, so we just avoided the rest of the plate. The karaage and summer rolls were nice, but I found myself still hungry after having to skip most of my meal. I figured pancakes would be safe and filling so we ordered the pancake dessert and, unfortunately, they were very dry and the whipped cream they came with was soured, so only had a bite of each before deciding to leave and go elsewhere for a better dessert. It was nice to not have to worry about tipping, but a $110 bill for food that’s gone bad and poor service was a bit of a slap...

So, I was craving some authentic Japanese food and after a quick Google search, I found Kyatchi. Now, needless to say, I know that truly authentic Japanese food is a rarity here in the U.S. All you really ever get is sushi and ramen! But, the menu seemed promising to me at the time.

I had never seen OSHIZUSHI (Kyatchi's famous pressed sushi) before, so I ordered the: SAKE OSHIZUSHI * (GF) $22 "our famous pressed sushi with salmon, slice of lemon and tobiko"

^^ This was really flavorful and had the thinnest lemon slice I've even seen! The lemon really enhanced the flavor of the salmon. However, for the price, I was honestly expecting a bigger serving size to potentially share with my partner... but, it was an extremely small sushi roll.

I also ordered one of the KUSHIMOMO (SKEWERS). I chose the SHISHITO (Japanese sweet chili pepper) in a yakitori sauce, which the waitress recommended. It was really good! And reasonably priced at $4.25.

The last thing I ordered was a Ume (pickled plum) Shiso Maki Roll for $8.75. It was very interesting, especially to my particular palate, and I'm so glad I gave it a try! I'm not sure if I'd order it again, but it was definitely worth the try. However, the price seemed a bit steep since this roll ONLY had the pickled plum, rice and Shiso leaf. Unfortunately, I don't know if those items are pricey, but it just "seemed" high to me. Usually, vegetarian Maki Rolls are closer to $5.

My partner ordered a bowl of Ramen for $15 (which is a very standard price, in my opinion) and he really enjoyed it. The broth was flavorful and not too salty like some I've had before. The pork belly was also really, really delicious!

The only thing I didn't like about the restaurant was that they played hardcore EDM (that I would love at a music festival or dance club) which I just did NOT think suited the environment at all. It really made me feel rushed and a bit anxious considering I was really in the mood for a relaxing, authentic dinner.

Other than that, my partner and I enjoyed ourselves. I wouldn't order the pressed sushi again due to the price/quantity, but everything else was reasonable enough. Kyatchi isn't my favorite Japanese restaurant but I do like that they have more than just ramen and sushi...