Kanpai is hands down the best sushi restaurant in Pismo Beach. The sushi quality is good, service is strong, and the environment is generally welcoming. I recently visited for the third time. The first two times were with groups of 5 and 6 people on busy nights. On these visits, the food quality was lower, and service was not amazing due to how crowded the restaurant was. I visited again on a Tuesday night to evaluate the qualtiy on a slower night. I ordered the premium omikase nigiri and several other nigiri and rolls. Overall, I left feeling that the quality was good, but not excellent. My server was polite, but indifferent. Kanpai feels like it has soooo much potential, but perhaps the focus is on the tourist crowd and not on exceptional sushi. Whatever the case, the restaurant is always busy, is popular, and doing great. It’s worth a visit if you are in Pismo. Avoid weekend nights, and be sure to make a reservation.
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This past September when my wife and I were vacationing in Avila beach, we were hungry and looking for a reputable sushi spot to satiate our palate. After much back and forth and a lot of hand wringing, we decided to go to dinner at Kanpai. Initially we were going to reserve our table but because of our indecisive delays we ended up missing the window for reservations but decided we'd walk in anyway. When we arrived we were told the wait was approximately forty five minutes which for a weekend night seemed pretty reasonable. So we hit the nearby Depalo & Sons market and shopped for some souvenirs and after dinner libations while waiting. My wife and I walked back into Kanpai with about five or ten minutes to spare and they promptly called us back to our table. Our server, a shorter young lady with a very cheery disposition, was a pleasant and welcome sign of things to come. When we ordered an appetizer (the name of which escapes me for the life of me) that was unavailable, she suggested the pork belly as an alternative and it was insanely good. It was thick, crispy and the sauce paired with it was a fantastic addition that helped cut through some of the richness of the pork. The rolls we ordered were delicious but my favorite was the spicy tuna with yellowtail, jalapeno with sriracha on top. The fish was crisp, fresh and spicy - all the beautiful things I love about properly crafted spicy tuna. So if you’re around the central coast or Pismo Beach and you’re in the mood for good sushi with excellent service and a wonderful ambience, Kanpai is the place to be.
I've been looking forward to dining here, so I was really excited and really wanted to like this place. With that said, the atmosphere and the service was amazing! The food however, was not as good as I was hoping. I ordered the ramen and chirashi. The ramen was okay. A little too spicy and salty, but it was okay. The chirashi was pretty sad. The pieces of Sashimi were barely thicker than paper and definitely was not cut well.
If you know sashimi, it's the quality of the fish, but it's also the skill of the chef and how they cut it. If it's cut well, the pieces will be tender, but if it's not cut well, the pieces could be chewy. It was already sad that the Sashimi was thinly cut, but it was also cut to where the pieces were chewy.
My buddy got a couple of rolls that I was able to try out, and they were pretty good.
I think I would come back for the rules, but not for the ramen and definitely not for the Sashimi or chirashi.
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As Locals normally do around here we try to avoid the more touristy side of the beach. Plus we love sushi and eat a lot so we stick to the more inexpensive joints or all you can eat sushi restaurants.
But we were given a gift card for here for Christmas this year so we decided to give it a shot.
And we both agree that this place is five star worthy! right off the bat the service was fantastic, even the ginger and wasabi was incredible and fresh.
We decided to do the chefs choice Cheers so we could try a variety as well as a few more rolls added on.
Everything came out quickly and well timed, we didn’t have to wait long between courses. The plating was absolutely breathtaking and the portions were surprisingly big. We definitely expected less with such a high price tag.
The fish melted in our mouths and the flavours bursted on our tongues. Everything was fresh and delicious. The vegetable tempura was an incredible surprise! I would definitely come back just for that alone.
This truly was a delightful treat! And we will definitely be coming back for an anniversary or birthday because it is a little out of our budget for our belly’s. But I do recommend trying this at least once!
And don’t forget to tip your wonderful servers who always made sure our water glasses were filled, even as we were waiting for the bill.
I absolutely love Tony (the owner) and I love everything they make. He treats his employees like family and he cares about our community. If you’re craving Roman! this is the place. Oysters so good! And the area isn’t that bad to look at.
We visited Kanpai for the first time this evening to celebrate my fiancé's birthday & had an absolutely exemplary experience. Our server Lucas was unbelievably attentive & made our night so enjoyable, in addition to being extremely knowledgeable about each menu item.
We chose the chef's choice Cheers option, which included miso soup, salads, tempura vegetables, a classic roll, a special roll, sashimi, & nigiri - it was an incredible value for the variety & quality of each dish. Presentation & plating were top notch, & each course arrived perfectly timed.
This was such a special dining experience & we will most certainly return!
Carefully prepared sushi as well as a vast array of traditional Japanese cuisine set this establishment apart from other restaurants in the area. That, combined with the best service imaginable, made for a very sumptuous dining experience. I am somewhat of a local and can say unequivocally that this restaurant, hands down, is the best in the area. Would highly recommend making a reservation well in advance to be seated quickly.
The atmosphere, whether you dine inside or outside, is great. All of the staff were really pleasant and very patient with the customers. The Crunchy Dragon Roll and Diablo Canyon Roll were amazing! Definitely a place to sit and enjoy good food.
Our date night at Kanpai was amazing! A 10 minute wait for an outdoor table gave us time to review the menu. The host was very nice and accommodating. Our waitress was stellar too! Everything we ordered (tempura, clam miso, sukiyaki, sashimi) was perfect temperature & completely delicious. For dessert, we ordered the green tea cheesecake, which was one if the best things I have ever eaten! We will definitely be returning!
Lovely sushi place. Came here on a Sunday night and plenty of seating available. Sushi tasted very fresh. Waiters were attentive and friendly. Would definitely come back.
Fantastic service. Very fresh sushi rolls. And gyoza/ramen (had no idea they did) were phenomenal. Did the spicy tonkatsu with pork belly and an egg and it was incredible. First time visiting and will be coming back. Cool place!
Really great sushi spot near Pismo Beach, and seems to be a popular spot among locals as well! We had a few nigiris, including salmon, freshwater eel, hotate (scallop), ikura (salmon roe), Santa Barbara uni (sea urchin), all of which were really fresh. They seem to really dedicate efforts into sourcing their seasonal fish correctly! We had the California roll and Crunchy Dragon rolls, both of which were great too. And finally, we ordered the Miso Ramen for something hearty — decent broth flavour, but the noodles were slightly overcooked, unfortunately. Otherwise, I would definitely recommend this place if you are looking for some fresh sushi and Japanese food.
One of the best dining experiences of my life. Between my partner and I we have worked in hospitality for 25 years. We went in looking just to have a nice sushi meal and had no idea we were about to have one of the best serving experiences ever. Our waiter’s name was Lucas, he was incredibly attentive to our friend who had a dietary restriction. If you didn’t know the answer to question her to confirm with the chef. He was very eloquently spoken, he even knew the Japanese and English terms for some of the fish, added the personal touch of even comparing his personal favorites. By the end of the experience, we were so excited to tell him. But to our surprise, when we told him, he let us know he had only been serving for two months. If I was a Restaurant owner I would try to steal this person in a heartbeat.
Again, if you were looking for an incredible evening of sushi, an amazing service please ask for Lucas. We can’t wait to go back our next time in town.
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