KANKI in Raleigh

On Friday night Adym and I went to have sushi at KANKI.

This restaurant is located inside the Crabtee Valley Mall. I relate this mall very similar to a Galleria you would see in Dallas or Houston.

I was surprised to see how big it was from the inside. The decor was very jap american flashy. Lots of neon lights and a huge sushi bar. They also have a full service liquor bar and another section in the back for steak lovers. They seemed pretty busy, which is always a good sign.

We sat at the bar so we could watch the chefs prepare all the food. I enjoyed watching one chef stress to a trainee how important it is to plate sushi properly.

For starters, we had cold rasberry moonstone sake. The first thing I tasted was a sweet rasberry nectar. As it rolled past the sweet part of my tongue the gentle flavor of sake swept in. A very enjoyable smooth taste.

We had Unagi, Butter fish, Hotategai(scallop), Salmon, Tuna and the KANI roll.

The Kanki roll is there house special made with shrimp and crab. I was let down a little because they used imitation crab meat.
But I did enjoy the sweet and savory flavor of sweet sushi rice with red roe.

Unagi is very similar to Fish in Clay pot (a Vietnamese dish). The sauce on the Unagi was just right. It was also had a lovely fresh charcoal taste that goes really well with the sushi rice. My only issue was that is was hard to eat. It was rather bony. Had it not been bony, it would be just like the unagi Adym and I had in Hawaii (on our honeymoon).

The Hotategai and Tuna was fresh and edible.

The cut of Salmon we had was stringy and firm. It was not the best Salmon we have had. The best Salmon we have had is somtimes fatty, soft, fresh and buttery.

We really enjoyed the Butter Fish. It was something new that I have never had before. The flavor was very delicate and smooth.

This is the best sushi we have had so far in NC. I also felt healthy the next day. Which is always a plus when you take that chance of eating raw foods. LOL.

The service was ok. Our waitress and other staff came by the bar to make sure we were taken care of. However, the sushi chef was not playful like the pros we have met in our years eating at the bar. I would come here again. However, we are still on a search for our favorite place for Nigri and Sashimi. I recommend KANKI with a 4 out of 5.