Latest Reviews
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Recently went here for lunch and I came away disappointed. I ordered a lunch special and specially asked to make sure that I was not served salmon. Un…
Gaurav Bansal
Kanpai
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Good Japanese restaurant in Rosslyn, and a lot of people don't seem to know about it (because you don't quite see it from Wilson unless you are lookin…
DCFüd
Kanpai
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Sashimi is still quite fresh and the Japanese food is quite authentic.…
Sharon Lim
Kanpai
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Kanpai is open for Casual Dining. Kanpai serves Japanese and Sushi dishes. Incorrect or missing information? Make a report, or claim the restaurant if you own it!Details
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8 Reviews on “Kanpai”
Good Japanese restaurant in Rosslyn, and a lot of people don’t seem to know about it (because you don’t quite see it from Wilson unless you are looking for it). Both the sushi and cooked food (noodles, etc.) are good here. Closed Sundays. dcfud.com
Sashimi is still quite fresh and the Japanese food is quite authentic.
URGENT MESSAGE: Supermarket quality sushi at best. I looked up nice sushi restaurants in the DC/Arlington area and found that Kunpai had a high rating and a well maintained website. What was to happen next would be a nightmare. After ordering 3 orders of sashimi the lady told me that it only comes with 2 pieces instead of the standard 3. I thought to myself that they must be 2 large pieces. When the sashimi came it was an absolute embarrassment. For $18 the woman brought out 6 little balls of dry rice with old fish on it. I ordered white tuna,eel, and smoked salmon. The eel and white tuna was awful, clearly it had been sitting there for days and was almost not edible. The smoked salmon though was on an entirely other level. As soon as the sashimi came I knew how badly we were ripped off. The smoked salmon was just pitiful, it was yellowing on the sides and the color was a white pink that lacked any taste and all freshness. I have never complained at a restaurant but something here needed to be said, I legitimately felt like I was being robbed. Another warning sign that there sushi was awful was they didn’t even feature any of their rolls on their main menu. At this point I’m thinking there is still hope for Kunpai, because I had ordered one more thing the Pork katsu one of their best dishes! When the lady dropped down the Pork katsu at my table I felt my blood begin to boil. The description of the food sounded beautiful, but what was before me was a thinly pounded tasteless FROZEN breaded piece of pork. At this point I thought the restaurant should have been on Gordon Ramsey’s kitchen nightmares, it was actually that bad. What amazes me is this restaurant is in downtown Rosslyn, a nice educated area where people would know good sushi as opposed to not even supermarket grade. This is my first review of any kind, and I felt compelled to write it because dining at Kunpai was my worst dining experience in my life and if one person does not go because of my review then it will have been worth it. At the end of the meal I told the lady as respectfully as I can that the sushi was honestly terrible and that maybe hey ordered bad fish that day. The lady told me that she had no idea what I was talking about and became very defensive and said that their fish is fresh and bought daily. I used to work in 2 Japanese restaurants and I know how fish that is delivered that day tastes or even fish delivered 5 days ago, this place was neither of those, and the fact that she was lying continuously to my face was just too much. I was just coming back from the gym and was wearing my workout gear when I decided to check out Kunpai. The lady looked me up and down and said to me that sushi is expensive suggesting that someone who wears gym clothes has no idea what they are talking about. The entire experience sucked and I felt crummy leaving knowing I spent $40 and had to go to another restaurant immediately because I wasn’t even the least bit full. Hope this helps
Simple, Good Sushi. I’m always leery of writing sushi reviews, because I feel I don’t know much about it. But there are so few reviews for this restaurant I thought I’d give it a go. I enjoyed it–the food was good, the service friendly, the price reasonable (for sushi). We had the assorted vegetable tempura and teriyaki scallops for appetizers. Nothing to complain about, but also nothing to rave about. The sushi I got was flavorful and fresh. The spicy tuna roll was a lot spicier than I’ve had elsewhere, but it was good. They were already out of the fatty tuna, which I thought was surprising on a Saturday evening in Rosslyn (which I assume is pretty slow). Their drink selection was good though: they have a respectable range of wines by the bottle and glass, in addition to the sake and beer offerings. The location in Rosslyn is nice as it’s very metro accessible and has outdoor seating. In fact, we didn’t go inside so I can’t speak to the decor. But it definitely feels like a Rosslyn restaurant–the metal tables blend in with the dark metal of the buildings all around. But despite being just off of Wilson Boulevard, the traffic on the street was light and quiet.
Same Kanpai?. Maybe it was an off night, but this was some of the most limp, tasteless sushi I’ve ever had. The salad was wilted, the miso soup a salt bath, and the sushi looked a good day or two off fresh. Nice folks, but total fail, sushi-wise.
One of the most underrated places in town. Great!
The lunchbox options, which include sushi, soup, salad and tempura, are definately worth coming here for. It’s a small place like most in Rosslyn, so if you show up with the crowd it can take a while. I’ve not had any problems getting in and out for lunch. The sushi is not sliced paper thin and the tempura includa shrimp.