Kai Japanese Cuisine

So me and my cousin were in the city for a day and happen to walk by this spot! For starters the look on the outside and the view from the window had a dope appeal so we went in. The staff was friendly and welcoming. I believe the servers name was Mindy… Sweet as pie! Anyways the Sushi was beyond amazing! I thought I had good Sushi in Jersey but this place put me at a loss for words! We had the Dragon Roll and that was beyond amazing! My only wish was that I was in philly for one more day to get some more! I will definitely be back!!!

I can’t comment if this Japanese restaurant cooks authentic Japanese food, but the food here is delicious, especially the volcano sushi. It tastes a little spicy and comes with a sweet and soft taste. The restaurant itself is kind of small, but the taste of food is good. However, the restaurant does not provide many choices of alcoholic beverages.

OMG… Spectacular is all I can say! The good was awesome! They even serve Takoyaki!!! That was the best part. It is very hard to find. We had a group in so we thought we would try it. I am sure glad we did. The only bad thing is when you sit by the window you have people practically in your lap from outside.

Note: this is for a take-​out order, not a dine-​in experience. The food was nothing special. Based on these reviews I should’ve tried the sushi. I ordered a bowl of the Kai Ramen and started with the Vegetable Gyoza. The pot stickers were really tasty — cooked to have great texture and flavor, and the dipping sauce was good (not too salty). The soup left much to be desired. I realize that take-​out is a different dining experience, but the broth just wasn’t interesting. The meat was cooked well, the noodles had good bite, but it wasn’t anything that I’d go back for. I can cook my own noodles at home — it’s the broth that provides the backbone. So without a solid spine, I’m not really interested.

This is my fiancé and I’s favorite sushi place. The rolls are substantial and always fresh. It is a huge pet peeve of ours when places shred the fish to mix with a sauce then make the sushi (seemingly to stretch the fish). But this place keeps the fish intact and does not skimp! A little pricey in comparison to other sushi places in the area however I am willing to spend an extra dollar for a higher quality.
The fact its a byob makes it even better!

A beautiful modern space, cheerful service, and good food, Kai Japanese Cuisine is another hidden gem of a sushi place in east Philly.
The first thing you’ll notice walking into Kai Japanese Cuisine is how beautiful the space is — well lit, all new furnishing, with seats built into the floor so you can have that traditional sitting on the ground feel… while sitting in seats. Coupled with the fact that my girlfriend and I were taking advantage of a Groupon, we were very happy just walking inside.
We started our meal with the steamed pork Gyoza. A simple dish, the pork was flavorful inside the perfectly cooked wonton wrappers. For Sushi, we ordered the Rainbow Roll (California roll topped with salmon, tuna, yellowtail, white tuna, striped bass and avocado) and the Tiger Roll (Spicy salmon, cucumber, masago topped with shrimp and avocado). I’m not sure which one I enjoyed more, as they were both solid sushi, well-​prepared and flavorful. We ended our meal with the Tempura Ice Cream (Green Tea and Vanilla in a Tempura crust). How they get that crust around that ice cream I’ll never know, but it was more than enough for two people and a good way to end the meal.
Overall, we really enjoyed our meal and the overall atmosphere, and even without a Groupon it’s definitely worth trying out.

Excellent sushi, friendly service. We found a parking spot right out front, and in Phila, parking is free in the evening on Wed. and some holidays.

I came here for dinner because I bought a groupon a couple weeks ago, but it turned out that I was mistaken and I actually had a groupon to a different sushi restaurant. Even so, I think this might be my new favorite sushi place, and I will definitely be back again, groupon or no groupon. I’ve been looking for good sushi restaurant since I moved to Philadelphia last year and have so far been pretty unimpressed with most of the options in Center City. I think this place might be the first one that I’ve really liked. The fish is fresh, the rolls are made well, and the prices are fairly decent (about $ 50 for three specialty rolls and two orders of nigiri). We were here on a Tuesday night, and just about every table was occupied but it was quiet and comfortable. Plus the servers were really nice and attentive. Absolutely recommend, would eat again.

I got delivery from this Sushi restaurant to an apartment building that I was babysitting in on a Saturday night. The building is kind of confusing to navigate, so I assumed the delivery man would have some trouble and was expecting him to call when he arrived. He did but instead of letting me explain how to get to the apartment he was hysterical on the phone– screaming to the point where I could barely even hear what he was saying. After 10 mins he finally found the apartment and when he arrived he continued to scream at me when I had a baby sleeping in the next room. The sushi was okay nothing to write home about, but because of my experience I’ll probably never order from here again.

Uhhhh. okay so let me start that the place looks great and customer service was A+ but the sushi needs to have better quality fish. I’ll leave this as my initial review because I will give this restau another chance, looks like they have potential. Menu has a lot of offerings btw

I was a big fan of this place! It’s cheap for great rolls ($ 10 for most specialty rolls), it’s byo, and the service was great. It’s small but decorated in a calm welcoming manner. We were a party of 10 and they were so accomodating to our rowdy bunch. They even gave us free edamame to start and split all our checks without asking.
They had pretty different types of rolls with lime or crunchy pearls, many types of wraps besides seaweed. Thought they had some really cool ones going that were much cheaper than other special places like this. Our rainbow roll came with a very generous amount of fish, we got a delicious pyramid shaped roll, their special of the day that had pulled crab, tempura, and eel on top was so tasty. Even their spicy tuna from the regular sushi menu got fancified with the crunchy pearls which ended up being our favorite.
Will definitely be back here soon.

Came here with a groupon and my boyfriend and we were pumped for some delicious sushi and Kai definitely delivered.
It’s BYOB for starters so we brought ourselves a couple beers (or you know, 10) to get things going. Ordered miso soup as an appetizer and it was probably the tastiest miso soup I’ve had in all of philadelphia. It was so flavorful, but not salty. And the seaweed was also really good. Slimy, yet satisfying.
For sushi, we got the rainbow, pyramid and spicy tuna roll. All were really great with very fresh fish. I usually get sick of sushi after a while but here, it was easy for me to keep going. The spicy tuna roll was my favorite for sure! Be warned, their crunchy is not your typical crumbled tempura batter, but it’s more like small rice things. My boyfriend wasn’t a fan, but I loved the texture of it. A nice break from the fish texture. Like eating Rice Krispies on sushi, but you know, it’s not cereal.
We also got ice cream for dessert which was vanilla, green tea, and red bean. I love green tea ice cream, but the red bean blew me away! Sweet, but not too much. Really tasty meal and dessert!
Our service was also excellent! Will return again and perhaps try those specials they had lined up :)

I was in the mood for a fast flavorful lunch to ease my busy work day. I went to this very cute little Japanese place to get a takeout express lunch box, and it was so damn good. A lunch bento chicken Katsu was just what i needed to boost my mood.
My bento consists of steamed rice, crunchy and delicious Japanese-​style fried chicken cutlet, 4 piece california roll: my favorite, steamed vegi dumpling and a side of green salad with ginger dressing. Everything taste mmm-​mmm good. Winner lunch!
Five Unilocal

I almost gave this place 1 star because I’m a sushi snob… but the place was clean and decorated nicely enough. My friend and I ordered the tartare, which looked pretty enough but tasted mediocre. We also ordered 3 sushi rolls, including a philadelphia roll, all of which were subpar and had a strange taste to its rice.
The good thing was that I had a groupon for the business, which was easy enough to use and made the meal cheap. Our service was also pretty nice; the restaurant was very empty though, so the atmosphere was a bit awkward – just seemed like 3 waiters staring at me and my friend in our corner the whole time!
Looked like a BYO place though, so might be a intimate place to go with friends for some beer and cheap sushi.

Awesome place! As soon as I walked in, I started to like this place. It was my groupon purchase try, but I think Im def coming back more often. Sushi is fresh and delicious but my favorite part was their takoyaki and nabeyaki udon. The closest tasted to original Japanese food. The staff is extraordinarily polite, they use some kind of phone? To put in your order so it comes out super fast too!
If youre a doubtful person, buy groupon and give it a try!

When I was walking around Center City with a solid urge for sushi after realizing that its been a few months since I’ve had it, I decided to try a newer location that I’ve been hearing good things about like Fat Salmon or Roe, only to find out that both were closed for the afternoon. With my craving amped up to 11 I hit the trusty Unilocal app which led me to Kai and a decent surprise.
Kai is located in one of those locations that I’ve been unable to figure out throughout the years, That has taken on a hard to count number of Asian inspired restaurants despite being just a couple blocks away from Chinatown and the many similar and oftentimes better options that lie within. Its also a weird location for any restaurant in general given that its within close proximity to a McDonald’s, parking garage, church, and all the random Market Street shops that don’t exactly point you towards the direction of grabbing Japanese cuisine. But out of the many spots that I’ve seen come and go at this location, Kai could be the one with the most staying power due to its eclectic sushi menu and well rounded selection of other options.
Since its been so long since I’ve had sushi at that point I was craving ALL THE FISH! So I was especially drawn to the Dragon Roll that combined spicy tune with shrimp tempura, eel sauce, jalepeno, and spicy mayo; and the Tiger Roll that touted spicy salmon and shrimp with masago, avocado, and cucumber. And while the Tiger did have a bit of a weird presentation, both packed some serious flavors that left me intrigued. Had I have known that that their was a Unilocal Deal for a free edamame appetizer with a purchase sooner, I wouldn’t have paid for mine (D’oh to bad timing!). But it still delivered the salty soy flavor that you’d expect to come with it.
While you won’t find better sushi options in Chinatown, you will still find them within a somewhat close proximity to Kai. But with the inventive special rolls, good lunch deals, and other not so fishy offerings; its still a good spot to dine or do take out at on a casual afternoon.

Four stars? You’ve gotta be kidding.
While the interior of Kai is bright and clean, and the service was swell, the sushi was, well, sad.
My yellowtail roll was fishy (!), my seared tuna roll was smoky (?), Zack’s pork belly app was not actually pork belly (it was just… pork?), the veggie dumplings were soft and wet with flecks of red bell pepper (?) and the worst part of all– too much mushy, unseasoned rice on all rolls.
I would not recommend this spot to anyone who enjoys high quality Japanese food.

I enjoyed this new addition to the neighborhood. It’s a small space, but they really did a great job with decorations and furniture. The tables are spacious and it’s a nice feel overall – love the fish lamps! The service was also comforting, everyone was friendly and helpful with questions.
The food was pretty decent. Started off with edamame, which you can’t really do wrong. Then we tried the following rolls: TNT, Naruto, Caterpillar, and Spider. The TNT was absolutely delicious. It’s like a better version of the Philly Roll. We enjoyed that very much. The Naruto roll had great fish – it tasted fresh. The ratio of cucumber to fish was a little high for my taste. I’ve had cucumber wrapped rolls before and here, the cucumber definitely masked the freshness of the fish, which was disappointing. The Caterpillar and the Spider rolls were also just «okay» to us too.
Overall, this place has great potential and I’m looking forward to returning and trying different rolls and updating this review.

Three stars for now cuz I have yet to try their sushi… So i would definitely be updating this again.
Ordered their Chicken Teriyaki lunch. It comes with a side of soup or salad. The meal also has four pieces of california roll, 2dumplings, rice, and duh, chicken. I have to say it was quite delicious. The teriyaki sauce wasn’t too sweet (thank god). The dumplings were good. For $ 9 or so, it was a decent size lunch. The staff all seemed friendly. Wish i had my Jefferson ID with me then I would’ve received a discount! lol. Gives me more of a reason to return i guess =)

This spot used to be Tea Talk 2, which was pretty dead (that could be an understatement). Now it’s Kai Japanese Cuisine, a huge upgrade!
I’ve been anticipating their opening for almost 2 months now, and Kai was well worth the wait. This place is small, not unexpected though for the location. But small as in there’s a sushi bar and all the tables only seat 2 except for one that seats 4. I guess it’s good for dates.
We started off with the salmon tartare ($ 8). It was definitely worth more than the usual $ 5 for what, 2 pieces of sashimi? It was a pretty sizable pile of raw salmon on thinly sliced cucumbers topped with avocado pieces, scallions, and ponzu sauce. Definitely get it. There’s also a tuna tartare option.
We went with the White Tiger and Spider rolls. Each roll was 8 pieces, $ 10 each which I think is a good price for special rolls. The spider roll is pretty standard: soft shell crab, cucumber, etc. The White Tiger contained spicy tuna, cucumber, masago, and was topped with a generous amount of white tuna. Super tasty.
I ordered a chicken katsu bowl ($ 12) for my little brother. When it came out, they didn’t bring any miso soup or salad like the menu said it comes with. But it was whatever, I wouldn’t have had room for it anyway (brother didn’t even finish this dish so I gratefully ate it). The chicken was perfectly crispy and delicious!
Surprisingly, only an appetizer, 2 rolls, and a chicken katsu was enough to fill us! Everything was extremely fresh and tasty! The menu isn’t as extensive as most sushi places, but I don’t mind that really.
The service is good, although it’s nothing particularly exceptional or memorable.
This week they’re doing a grand opening special: 25% off your entire meal! My friend and I only had to pay $ 20 each, including tips! I’ve been looking for a sushi spot in Philly and I think I’ve found it!