Kihachi
Limited evening hours
2667 Federated Boulevard Columbus, OH 43235 - (614) 764-9040
So as my inaugural food post, I want to talk about where I went to dinner last night. Kihachi is a Japanese restaurant in the truest sense of the word. I been to Japan, I have seen and eaten at the real deal, this is it in Columbus. The chef was amazing; he and his staff are food artists.
OK…so let’s get into the details. This is not a quick meal. It was three hours for us, but we enjoyed it! I went with a friend, Cynthia, who also seeks out good food. This way we split appetizers so we can get many different things instead of one main dish and one or two appetizers. Well, by the end of the meal we had split 11 of them. No pictures this time as this was my first visit. The breakdown of the review will be as follows;
Kihachi
- Food presentation is beautiful
- Flavors and textures are amazing
- Service was really good
- Price wise it’s up there
I feel when you get food the first taste is with your eyes. Ok, maybe sometimes it’s with your nose, but even good smelling food that looks bad can be quickly put in the ‘ick’ category. Everything we ordered was truly beautiful. We sat at the counter so we could watch the preparation. Each dish was meticulously put together and doted over…not offered for service until it was perfect. It was not about just getting the food out, it was about getting it right.
We had eleven appetizers and I want to touch on each one.
It’s hard to pick a favorite.
The first round we picked Sea Urchin with
Yuzu.
It was, as described by my friend, little pillows of the sea.
Next we had Monkfish liver rolls.
Now this was amazing and among one of my highlight of the evening.
It sounds yucky but was pleasing to the eye.
They are the fois gras of the fish world.
It was light; texture was amazingly smooth and was served on a bed of sashimi and ponzu.
After the Monkfish liver was the Chef’s choice.
I love asking for a surprise from the chef as this is his show!
He chose a Brookshire marinated pork cheek.
That was one happy pig passing on his happiness to me!
Great texture, flavor was blooming as you ate and perfectly cooked.
Toro Tuna with onion rolls…..enough said there.
Always a treat.
The last item for round one was lotus root stuffed with a shrimp and white fish paste then fried.
Wow.
It was crunchy and light and the perfect finish to the first set.
And now a moment to Sake…lovely rice wine. I had some with dinner and it was a very good one. I took the suggestion of the wait as there where many I did not recognize on the menu. Again, not cheap but worth the price of admission. It was called Onikoroshi. This is a dry, sweeter sake and was an easy drink to drink. It bloomed continuously after you took a drink and married with all the different dishes we tried. A very versatile sake and one I will seek out!
On to round two! Again, five appetizers we chose one chef choice. Chef’s choice was first and was simple but delicious. It was a cooked Burdock that had been chilled, the fried and server with sea salt on the side. Next was Saga Tofu. We originally had chosen Agedashi Tofu but after we put in our order the wait came to us and said that the chef suggested we choose this tofu instead. At this point I different to the chef, gotta love suggestions!! And it was spot on, the tofu was a tofu treat ball in a simple broth with baby shitake mushrooms….drool. After that we had the braised baby octopus. I have to say it was good but as amazing as everything else was, this was just ok in comparison. The fourth selection was shitake mushrooms stuffed with the same shrimp / whitefish paste that the lotus root had been stuffed with, then fried. It was tasty and hot, this was a bit chewy for me. Following the stuffed mushrooms, fried soft shell crab. Yummy soft shell crab! The final item in the appetizers was shitake mushroom and shrimp tempura. I liked this as well, but again was not the ‘wow’ I had with the rest of the meal.
Desert…oh god yes I had to. I had -0- room for it….but I HAD to. Poached asian pear with a simple syrup, hint, no whisper or cinnamon with apricots, blackberries and fresh mint leaves. **FOOD COMA NOW ENSUES*** I was a happy girl.
The service was good and really only had one lull. The food was well timed. I am not sure if that would have made a difference if we where at a table or not but food such as this does take time to prepare. If you don’t have that expectation going in, you will be disappointed with the service. Our wait was helpful with the menu, very cordial and even helped when I asked about the music playing.
The price range is moderate to expensive on what you order. Appetizer specials will have to be explained as they are hand written on the menu in Japanese. I hear there is a ‘chef special dinner’ you can order but you have to call two days ahead and it is about $100 per person…..I think that might be my next trip…gotta save up for it!
Totally recommended!
