Kin Izakaya is literally my happy place! I'm really passionate about food and every time I eat here I'm filled with so much absolute pure joy. The best food, amazing flavor combinations beyond my imagination, and the freshest ingredients. So sad to hear it'll be leaving Irvine but I hope they'll consider bringing it back again in the future. So much love for this place! It's easily become my favorite restaurant of all time.
This is our go-to restaurant whenever we are around irvine. The food is so good that everytime we bring our family/ friends here, they always say that the food is so flavorful and appetizing! The servers are accomodating too. Highly recommended!
KIN Izakaya was a great take on elevated Japanese “drinking food.” The dishes were as esthetically beautiful as they were tasty and each offering had that extra ingredient or flavor profile to give it that extra layer of decadence. Fun experience that I would definitely recommend checking out! Dishes I tried: Wagyu with Uni, Hokkaido Scallops, Uni Udon, Chicken Intestine + Unagi Yakatori
kuan Jin (Carey)
Well If you call yourself izakaya, at least you got to sever hot sake right?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Made reservations, we were seated promptly. Server was courteous and patient; most of the food were great, calamari was just OK. UNI Udon could use more Uni, otherwise just call it Masago Udon. Cocktails are $16 ea but very good. Bone Marrow was the best on the table. Izakaya was good too. Please add liver to the selection. C Coconut sago good, but too sweet. Unfortunately, no coffee selection. Crab Salad was better than expected.
Melanie Jordan
Wow, what a beautiful space. Open, modern, intimate, yet intentional. Very clean with a warm ambiance. Quickly greeted, we got checked in. Seated within 5 minutes at 5:30pm on a Friday night without a reservation. I thought the host went to check our table but we were surprised to be seated with a CLEAN high chair, a kid friendly non-breakable bowl and plate, plastic silverware, and a plastic water cup without ice. I said no matter what I’d give this restaurant five stars. But the food was also worth it. It is SO hard to go dine somewhere and they maybe offer 1 of these many things for kids that KIN had all of without even having to ask! Thank you so much for the amazing food and service. Seriously, you’re appreciated, I’m so grateful!
Vegetarian options: Pescatarians would enjoy eating here.
Dietary restrictions: They have an online menu to view with beautiful pictures, descriptions, and dietary restrictions.
Parking: The parking lot can be a bit hectic because of so many shopping / dining options within the shopping center. Several Tesla charging stations. No valet.
Kid-friendliness: Very mindful of the things needed for kids 100/10. A clean high chair nowadays seriously goes such a long ways!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Duck Chawanmushi
LexC
Food was good for asian fusion doesnt feel forced or pretentious. Our server was attentive and all smiles she has a lot of energy. However we werent seated by the hostess right away they said we have to be complete party we want to start ordering drinks while waiting.
Simone Dadsetan
Love this concept by Kei Concepts. Outstanding menu. Went with a large group and got to try almost everything and loved it all.
We had a large sampling of many of the different dishes, each one was excellent. The Miso Cod was particularly delicious. Service was excellent as well. It's a little bit noisy, but wonderful in every other way.
I feel as though the workers were in a rush to close. They had asked us to take some plates away as we had some empty ones. We were still eating at one and they had taken it away too soon. My friend and I were too in shock to say anything as the associate hurried away.
Rachel was a phenomenal server and helped me find a beverage on the menu that I really enjoyed. She was wonderful at suggesting food based on our preferences as well and was a very attentive waitress.Food wise I feel like Kin is a bit sauce heavy as per most of the kei concept restaurants. It also seems to lack a bit of consistency food wise and the menu is always changing. It's a little sad that they removed the impossible vegetarian options from the menu because it allowed my vegetarian family to also come and enjoy the meal.If you're nearby it is worth a drop by for some small bites but I personally wouldn't wait or go out of my way
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Uni Udon, Grilled Mochi, Truffle Salmon Crudo
AnnieR
Although the noise level was “energetic” it was too loud at times to hear any table conversation. I don't think it was the music but the rest of the patrons actually. Perhaps the venues acoustics are too good and need dampening? Overall, however, the quality, balanced tastiness (not too salty), and excellent service outshined the need to hear. :)
What an experience! Every dish was very tasty. Highlights of the night were the miso black cod, Wagyu tartare, and chawanmushi. The bread pudding dessert was also scrumptious. We will definitely return.
We love everything about Kei Concepts!! Every food has a story! i love how they concentrate on the quality of their food. It truly shows because you can taste it! Absolutely delicious!
I placed a reservation for Kin Izakaya Irvine days before going yesterday. I went with my boyfriend to celebrate his birthday. We drove from San Diego. We are loyal customers to Kei Concepts restaurants and this WOULD HAVE been our first time at Kin Izakaya. Our reservation was for 8:30 and we entered the restaurant around 8:15 as I got the notification that our table was ready. We entered, the host confirmed our reservation and sat us down. Our table was located at the front of the restaurant , left side corner right above the window. My boyfriend and I were choosing what to order on the menu with the pencil. We PLANNED to order: Truffle Uni Wagyu, Torotaku Bone Marrow, Duck Chawamushi, Honey Ponzu Tomato, and the Wagyu Loco Moco. We were so excited as we were waiting for this special birthday dinner. We started to think if we were supposed to go up to the host to order our food. However, time kept going by, and not a single employee came up to us to greet us, give us any water, simply did not check up on us at ALL. I was trying to be patient as I know how hard Kei Concept employees work. We understand the restaurants are busy and hectic. So we waited patiently. But as time went on, we spent over 30 minutes waiting for any employee to come up to our table. What makes it even more disappointing is that employees were catering to two tables near us and didn't once think to check up on us. This is when we decided to leave. The hostess saw us leave as our table was noticeably in the front of the restaurant and then she turned her back away. My boyfriend and I were very disappointed as we are, again, huge fans of Kei Concepts restaurants and drove from San Diego just to try your amazing food. We never had this kind of service in any of the other Kei Concepts restaurants we been to. So this was a HUGE shocker.
Kin Izakaya is literally my happy place! I'm really passionate about food and every time I eat here I'm filled with so much absolute pure joy. The best food, amazing flavor combinations beyond my imagination, and the freshest ingredients. So sad to hear it'll be leaving Irvine but I hope they'll consider bringing it back again in the future. So much love for this place! It's easily become my favorite restaurant of all time.
This is our go-to restaurant whenever we are around irvine. The food is so good that everytime we bring our family/ friends here, they always say that the food is so flavorful and appetizing! The servers are accomodating too. Highly recommended!
KIN Izakaya was a great take on elevated Japanese “drinking food.” The dishes were as esthetically beautiful as they were tasty and each offering had that extra ingredient or flavor profile to give it that extra layer of decadence. Fun experience that I would definitely recommend checking out! Dishes I tried: Wagyu with Uni, Hokkaido Scallops, Uni Udon, Chicken Intestine + Unagi Yakatori
Well If you call yourself izakaya, at least you got to sever hot sake right?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Made reservations, we were seated promptly. Server was courteous and patient; most of the food were great, calamari was just OK. UNI Udon could use more Uni, otherwise just call it Masago Udon. Cocktails are $16 ea but very good. Bone Marrow was the best on the table. Izakaya was good too. Please add liver to the selection. C Coconut sago good, but too sweet. Unfortunately, no coffee selection. Crab Salad was better than expected.
Wow, what a beautiful space. Open, modern, intimate, yet intentional. Very clean with a warm ambiance. Quickly greeted, we got checked in. Seated within 5 minutes at 5:30pm on a Friday night without a reservation. I thought the host went to check our table but we were surprised to be seated with a CLEAN high chair, a kid friendly non-breakable bowl and plate, plastic silverware, and a plastic water cup without ice. I said no matter what I’d give this restaurant five stars. But the food was also worth it. It is SO hard to go dine somewhere and they maybe offer 1 of these many things for kids that KIN had all of without even having to ask! Thank you so much for the amazing food and service. Seriously, you’re appreciated, I’m so grateful!
Vegetarian options: Pescatarians would enjoy eating here.
Dietary restrictions: They have an online menu to view with beautiful pictures, descriptions, and dietary restrictions.
Parking: The parking lot can be a bit hectic because of so many shopping / dining options within the shopping center. Several Tesla charging stations. No valet.
Kid-friendliness: Very mindful of the things needed for kids 100/10. A clean high chair nowadays seriously goes such a long ways!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Duck Chawanmushi
Food was good for asian fusion doesnt feel forced or pretentious. Our server was attentive and all smiles she has a lot of energy. However we werent seated by the hostess right away they said we have to be complete party we want to start ordering drinks while waiting.
Love this concept by Kei Concepts. Outstanding menu. Went with a large group and got to try almost everything and loved it all.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Grilled Mochi, Yakitori, Truffle Salmon Crudo, Hamachi Collar
We had a large sampling of many of the different dishes, each one was excellent. The Miso Cod was particularly delicious. Service was excellent as well. It's a little bit noisy, but wonderful in every other way.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Uni Udon, Stir Fried Seafood Udon, Chicken Karaage, Chirashi
I feel as though the workers were in a rush to close. They had asked us to take some plates away as we had some empty ones. We were still eating at one and they had taken it away too soon. My friend and I were too in shock to say anything as the associate hurried away.
Restaurantji Recommends
Rachel was a phenomenal server and helped me find a beverage on the menu that I really enjoyed. She was wonderful at suggesting food based on our preferences as well and was a very attentive waitress.Food wise I feel like Kin is a bit sauce heavy as per most of the kei concept restaurants. It also seems to lack a bit of consistency food wise and the menu is always changing. It's a little sad that they removed the impossible vegetarian options from the menu because it allowed my vegetarian family to also come and enjoy the meal.If you're nearby it is worth a drop by for some small bites but I personally wouldn't wait or go out of my way
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Uni Udon, Grilled Mochi, Truffle Salmon Crudo
Although the noise level was “energetic” it was too loud at times to hear any table conversation. I don't think it was the music but the rest of the patrons actually. Perhaps the venues acoustics are too good and need dampening? Overall, however, the quality, balanced tastiness (not too salty), and excellent service outshined the need to hear. :)
What an experience! Every dish was very tasty. Highlights of the night were the miso black cod, Wagyu tartare, and chawanmushi. The bread pudding dessert was also scrumptious. We will definitely return.
We love everything about Kei Concepts!! Every food has a story! i love how they concentrate on the quality of their food. It truly shows because you can taste it! Absolutely delicious!
I placed a reservation for Kin Izakaya Irvine days before going yesterday. I went with my boyfriend to celebrate his birthday. We drove from San Diego. We are loyal customers to Kei Concepts restaurants and this WOULD HAVE been our first time at Kin Izakaya. Our reservation was for 8:30 and we entered the restaurant around 8:15 as I got the notification that our table was ready. We entered, the host confirmed our reservation and sat us down. Our table was located at the front of the restaurant , left side corner right above the window. My boyfriend and I were choosing what to order on the menu with the pencil. We PLANNED to order: Truffle Uni Wagyu, Torotaku Bone Marrow, Duck Chawamushi, Honey Ponzu Tomato, and the Wagyu Loco Moco. We were so excited as we were waiting for this special birthday dinner. We started to think if we were supposed to go up to the host to order our food. However, time kept going by, and not a single employee came up to us to greet us, give us any water, simply did not check up on us at ALL. I was trying to be patient as I know how hard Kei Concept employees work. We understand the restaurants are busy and hectic. So we waited patiently. But as time went on, we spent over 30 minutes waiting for any employee to come up to our table. What makes it even more disappointing is that employees were catering to two tables near us and didn't once think to check up on us. This is when we decided to leave. The hostess saw us leave as our table was noticeably in the front of the restaurant and then she turned her back away. My boyfriend and I were very disappointed as we are, again, huge fans of Kei Concepts restaurants and drove from San Diego just to try your amazing food. We never had this kind of service in any of the other Kei Concepts restaurants we been to. So this was a HUGE shocker.
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