CinKuni (Italian & Japanese Cuisine) — Restaurant in San Diego

This meal was very disappointing. I love Japanese food and Italian food. My small group had high hopes based on reviews and the whole idea of fusing two unique and incredible cuisines.

Appetizers were gyoza (decent) and tomato bruschetta (very meh, literally salsa on toast).

Two meals (chicken parm & shio koji chicken) came out probably 20-30 mins before the statue of david pizza was at the table.

Parm was decent, although not flavored well besides the overly salted potatoes. shio chicken was literally unseasoned/unsauced chicken breast with a few pieces of grilled bok choy. That's it....

Pizza was devoid of flavor and even with a slice folded in half, drooped when you held it and dripped oil. Bland toppings just fell off as each slice was picked up.

It's not like these items were particularly inexpensive either like 'what do you expect?'. For the $20+ entrees, we expected... something decent. There was no chili oil/flakes or Parmigiano cheese or salt/pepper at the table to enhance flavor either.

The ambiance was sad, the back patio smelt of weed, the restroom was dirty, slippery, and had a trashbag over the urinal.

The service was poor as well. The waiter was very aloof and unconcerned with the fact that we had to watch the last person eat after we had already finished our meals. There was no 'how's your food' or 'i apologize for it being so slow' or 'how can i make this right' or checking in with us. It was only 'they're working on it'. There is no 'they'... dude... you are the face of the restaurant. You are on the same team. This is a customer facing role where people skills are necessary. Why couldn't he at least pretend just a little bit like he cared about our experience?

I'm honestly shocked at how bad this dining experience was... it's probably been 10 years since I've had such poor service/food. I felt robbed. San Diego has much much better to offer.

I don't often write reviews, but I felt obligated to say something after seeing the difference between the typical review and...

I went here with some friends after Pride, still decked out in our rainbow gear and, and we were treated respectfully. That's already a big plus in my book! We ordered the Harajuku Girls roll, 2 Vegan Tan Tan ramens, a regular Tan Tan, and a Statue of David Pizza. My friend asked for gluten-free noodles in her Vegan Tan Tan, and the waiter wasn't sure the noodles were gluten-free, so he asked someone from the kitchen to talk to us. That person said he was "90% sure" the noodles were gluten-free. In my opinion, this was a big red flag. The restaurant should be absolutely sure what is in their food so that their customers' dietary restrictions and allergies can be accommodated.

Before our orders arrived, we were served an appetizer of pizza with a butter dipping sauce that doubled as a candle. The pizza was absolutely amazing - salty, umami, delicious. The waiter said that if we posted a picture of it on social media, we would get free tiramisu for dessert - YES PLEASE!

My friends thoroughly enjoyed the roll, pizza, and regular ramen. My gluten-free friend received her ramen with fried tofu, which was covered in a gluten-containing batter. I thought the guy from the kitchen should have caught this when my friend requested gluten-free noodles. They tried to make it right by bringing her some fresh tofu. My Vegan Tan Tan was pretty good. The marinated egg was just so-so but the noodles were tasty, the broth was flavorful, and the fermented tofu was delectable! At the end of the meal, we got the tiramisu as promised, which was pretty typical (and not matcha tiramisu, which I was secretly hoping for).

Overall, I thought the place was pretty solid. I appreciated their attempts to be fusion-y...

Highly recommend this place! Definitely will come back again~ ❤️

The food was absolutely delicious with so many yummy options. I wanted to order one of everything, but there's always time to come back and try something different. The interesting thing I've never seen before is that their Lil pizza appetizer they give you like breadsticks comes with a little butter cup that's lit up like a candle. You're supposed to wait until the fire goes out to have it melt the butter away, but you could totally just dip the pizza in it if you can't wait to eat it any longer. The pizza you order also comes out on of those wood boards with the handle that you see when moving the pizza in and out of the brick oven! The ramen, especially the Godzilla, is a high recommend. Love the taste of the meat soaked in the tonkotsu soup, and the noodles were so soft and long enough to continuously slurp up~ The desserts, absolutely divine. Big fan of their matcha tiramisu with lovely presentation. There were just no complaints at all with the food, I'm just sad I don't have enough space to eat it right then and there, but at least I can eat it for leftovers!

The servers and staff are all lovely people. One of the owners also came by to check on us and saved a pizza from Falling over! Was all fun 🤭

The atmosphere is fun and cozy. Absolutely adore the mural and art on the walls and they have a cozy sitting area in the corner with a big screen TV to watch a football game. You could also see the big brick pizza oven and them making the pizzas from scratch. Just a lovely mix of the Italian...