Kanpai Izakaya
| Address: | 408 E Chicago St, Milwaukee, WI 53202, USA |
| Phone: | +1 414-220-1155 |
| Site: | kanpaimilwaukee.com |
| Rating: | 4.5 |
| Working: | 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 4–11PM 4–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
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Jessica Dray
I would first like to say that Kanpai has fabulous sushi, and my husband and I have tried to look past the negatives. I also rarely write negative reviews, but enough is enough....My husband and I have ordered from there numerous times because sushi places are far and few between in Milwaukee. If you actually go to the restaurant, the service is fine. Unfortunately, we are unable to do this often, so we started ordering delivery or carry out. However, if you try to order online, chances are the hostess will have forgotten to put paper in the fax machine so your order will have never made it to the actual restaurant. Therefore, you will actually spend more time waiting to go pick up your sushi to find that your order never made it. Then youll have to wait another 30-40 minutes at the restaurant while the hostess tries to figure out how to put paper in the fax so that your order can go through. If you try to call Kanpai to put in a delivery or pick up order, you will spend 30 minutes on the phone with them while they try to figure out who you are, what you want, put you on hold 5 times, forget who they were talking to, need to start your order over again, and then by the end of it forget if you want it delivered or if youre coming to get it. If you do want it delivered, plan to spend another 10 minutes on the phone with them while they retake your order and get your address. The online ordering system is super easy to use on the customers end, but its basically worthless if someone on the receiving end isnt able to put paper in the fax machine. Calling the restaurant seems to be the more reliable option, but when you call and they have no clue what is going on it becomes super frustrating almost to the point of comical. It also seems like the only people who do care about the well being of the customers are the servers who end up doing the hostess job. I have never seen a manager there trying to train anyone or problem solve for them. Like I mentioned at the beginning, the sushi is great, but I do not think that I will be ordering or visiting Kanpai again. The hassle isnt worth it...
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Chia Lee
Truthfully speaking Id only give this place 2.5 stars, but Ill be nice. It actually seems like very quality ingridients, the rolls were rolled tight and perfectly, but the MAJOR flaw was that it was way too over sauced! We each started to get sick after just a few pieces. You literally feel like throwing up. The heavy amount of sauce masked every thing. There was no taste of the fish, no vinegar taste from the rice, etc, theres even no need to use soy sauce and if you did it became way too salty. There was one roll that was amazing, and that happens to be 1 of the 2 "on fire" rolls I have here.. it was the one that was wrapped in foil. This roll, the OhMYGod Roll, has a very awesome grill flavor. Out of all that Ive tried I can only recommend this specific roll. I do want to point out that these were all special Maki rolls, prehaps the more simple rolls (and cheaper) are actually very good, again because the quality was pretty legit and favorably portioned. Im sorry Kenpai, but until you get your Saucing right I cant return or recommend it. Right now youre even worst than Fusinami in my book, and theyre the about worst for sushi!
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Paj Dawb Yaj
From the outside the restaurant was a perfect fit for the charming neighborhood of the third ward. On the inside the charm continued into an elaborate contemporary setting. The receptionist was no where to be found and we were not greeted customarily as you would expect of any restaurant but the bar tender noticed us and quickly got us seated. The welcoming was disappointing, however the server was more than energetic and knowledgeable about the history of the restaurant and its menu. They have a grand menu with more than enough items. Plenty to keep eaters to keep feasting with their eyes, but obviously that was not what we were there for. The menu was a bit much. Eventually we narrowed down our choices and made our decisions. The food came out quick and very fresh. This was the first place that I have tried in all my years that I could eat the raw fish and it was not fishy but sweet. I have to say I was impressed by their food here and really wish the young restaurant a bright future. I can now say they are my new sushi spot in the midwest. I hope everyone else can experience the same food I did. Enjoy!
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Patrick Empey
Ill start by saying the sushi is good here, no complaints about the quality. It is a bit pricey so dont expect to spend less that $70 for 2 but this is fairly typical for sushi restaurants. That said, the service was very slow. We came in for a 6:45 reservation and were seated at 6:40. We werent waited on until 6:50. After taking our drink order we got our drinks at 6:57 and ordered our sushi. We ordered 4 rolls total, two half rolls and two full rolls. We didnt get our first rolls (the two half orders) until 7:35. The waiter said our other two would be right out, we didnt get them until 7:45. Having to make a show at 8 we asked our waiter to bring the bill when our last 2 rolls came out. We finally left at 7:55. So, it took an hour and 15 minutes to get 2 drinks and 4 rolls - there were 2 of us and the restaurant was not busy, it was a Monday. Food is good but dont expect this to be an efficient use of your time. We werent even able to bide our time waiting with a few extra drinks because even the drinks took forever to come.
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Si Tester
I will not go back to that place. Recommend against it. Incompetent server. Ordered a lunch and asked to remove certain items (8 sushi) from the combo. Waiter took the order, we ate, received bill. Waiter did not: 1. take any $ off the bill with items removed from combo (8 sushi is a lot) 2. notified us that the cost would be the same in advance So when I inquired about the price should be adjusted, he said: "You are already getting a deal." Then of course his tip was very little. Food quality was ok. Sashimi tasted very frozen and not fresh (cold and mushy). What you are paying for is the decor and not the quality of food.
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Emery Boyle-Scott
Kanpai is a good Japanese-fusion restaurant with a strong focus on sushi. Im not sure what the Japanese is fused with, but they serve some Korean dishes and some original, house-inspired dishes. They have a large selection of sake, appetizer plates, and house-specialty rolls (maki) as well as sashimi and sushi. My party didnt order any, but there are some noodle (udon) options and tempura entrées as well. The prices were reasonable for the style and neighborhood. (read: Not cheap, but worth it) All in all, check it out!
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Michael Ariotti
My fiancee and I were a bit disappointed with the food here. The sushi pieces had far too much rice, which was mushy and overcooked. The pan-seared scallops were not pan-seared (they looked baked). One of the specialty rolls came with "4 sauces", and two of those were shrimp sauce and Sriracha. These are boring sauces for sushi. The tuna tartare and double tuna roll were good. Overall, there are many better sushi places in Milwaukee, including Screaming Tuna pretty close by.
