Kinkan feels like a love letter to flavor. We came to celebrate a friend’s birthday and left feeling nourished in every way. Each dish was beautifully crafted, delicate yet bold. Perfect for a quiet celebration, a romantic date, or a night to remember. A true neighborhood treasure.
Terrance Yu
The Crab Night menu at Kinkan LA was an exceptional experience. I’m not going to lie—the night started out on the sketchy Virgil St. Despite all the gentrification, the graffiti, scattered trash, and makeshift cardboard tents can make it a rough start for a date night experience. But the moment you step through Kinkan’s door, you’re transported into a cozy, intimate restaurant that feels worlds away.
The night kicked off with the Corn Tofu, Kegani, Hokkaido hairy crab meat, uni, and ikura in a corn dashi. The blend of savory and sweet was unlike anything I’ve had before. Highly recommended. The Kani Croquette was next: a perfectly crisp bite with Hokkaido snow crab claw, scallops, shrimp, and umeboshi.
The Crab Curry with ume blossom somen and blue crab was rich and comforting. The King Crab, Kinmedai, Maki Nabe had that Tom Yum-inspired flavor I love—spicy and tangy. So satisfying! Then came the Zuwaigani Linguini with holy basil sauce and the Whole Dungeness Crab with crab miso and Nan’s seafood sauce—both rich and unforgettable.
The night ended with a crispy Baked Crab Hand Roll, nicknamed the “Happy Ending” and a Belgian chocolate.
Chef Nan was warm, easygoing, and made the whole experience super memorable. Even after dinner, it felt as if the stories and sake were flowing endlessly. She hinted at a new location coming soon. We can’t wait to visit.
Keynessa Nazaire
Best meal I've had in LA YET !
Peter Lowin
KinKan had already been our favorite restaurant in LA and we always enjoyed interacting with Chef Nan each time we ate one of her amazing tasting menus or a birthday lunch at the counter being served amazing fresh seafood accompanied by their unique bloody mary.
And this story will show another special side of Chef Nan. We live in Pasadena and our friends who lost their house in Altadena had been staying with us until they figured out how to put their lives back together. As empty nesters, we all of a sudden had a household of ten people, large dog and large cat. Everything had been going smoothly but by the eighth day, stress and tension was building and everyone was a bit on edge. Until Chef Nan donated ten of her beautifully curated bento boxes arrived.
We all sat together, toasted (with sake Chef also donated) Chef Nan for her generosity. We each opened our bento boxes and all of the stress and tensions started to ease. All of our mouths and eyes opened widely in awe of how beautiful the boxes were. Our friends who picked them up from KinKan said she worked on the boxes herself. By the end of the meal, all of our spirits were rejuvenated and after a month, we’re happy to report that our friends have moved into their newly rented home and are doing well.
Thank you, Chef Nan. You and KinKan are very special and none of use will ever forget you being there during this unique time of our lives.
Uniform Hawk
Was brought here for my birthday dinner and was blown away by the quality of thought and execution in the creation of the unique-tasting Japanese Thai Fusion fare. Chef Nan was friendly and vibed a fun joking manner that only added to the experience. Comparable to many Michelin starred places we've dined at and I honor them for charging very reasonable prices for the quality of the food. My only hesitation in posting this review is that it'll probably be harder for us to get seats there but they deserve it.
Nick Chevalier
Servers took forever and it really just tasted like most Thai restaurants or mid sushi. All the chairs and tables were looked like uber were bought for $5 at a thrift store. Highly recommend somewhere else.
Linda Petch
The food here was overall good, high quality ingredients and thoughtfully prepared, but the waiter made the experience uncomfortable, especially for such an expensive celebration dinner. The chef was nowhere to be seen either on a Friday night. Because it's meant to cater to the general palate, the Thai food wasn't very spicy, so when I asked for significantly more chili sauce on one of the rice dishes the food preparer (he wasn't cooking, just assembling) was very adamant that I don't add too much instead of letting me enjoy my $300 rice to my liking 🫠
We weren't allowed to sit anywhere but the bar and it was uncomfortable and unpleasant to do so for the 2-3 hour dinner as we felt like there was no way to have a private conversation. In the middle of the meal the waiter/drinks guy came by and offered everyone sake and I said I had an alcohol intolerance and it would make me feel sick and pass out. He kept insisting, then said he "hangs out with a lot of Asians and none of them get sick so I assure you you'll be fine," (he was white, I'm Asian). After that it was just extra uncomfortable to be there and I wanted to leave very badly
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
laynee
Here there is an interesting mix of Japanese & Thai fusion flavors. We came for the tasting menu. Fresh herbs & foods were used. 3 out of the 8 dishes i wasn't a fan of but my friend loved all of them. To each is own palette. Small & quaint place. Staff were all very approachable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
T.J. Morales
This is one of the most unique and delicious dining experiences I’ve ever had! Chef Nan and her team prepare incredibly creative and sumptuous food, and pair it with premium sake and wine, and fascinating stories about the inspiration behind the cuisine. It’s magical! And the staff are very good looking too. Just sayin’. Also, if you hang back afterwards you can drink and chill out with Chef Nan and her team.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Christian Pino
Incredible food. Incredible staff. Incredible Chef
Chill atmosphere, fresh ingredients, crab rice was great. Highly recommend btw there is parking in the back but it can fill up. For gluten free they do sub stuff for you to make it gluten free but most of the menu is naturally GF anyway excluding soy sauce I believe
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
La Baik
Food is amazing and so is chef Nan ❤️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Katie Leonard
This was the top dining experience of my year so far. The perfect combination of fresh, delicious food in a personal, unpretentious atmosphere. The restaurant is Nan’s passion-project and you can feel her thoughtfulness and enthusiasm in the unique concept and intricate flavors and textures of the food. Our group shared two bottles of natural wine as well that paired perfectly with the food. I also loved the bespoke handmade stoneware, delicate glassware, and mismatched vintage furniture. Would absolutely recommend sitting at the bar to see the process and incredible attention to detail. We came for the “lunchtime indulgence” for Sunday lunch, but will definitely be back for the tasting menu in the future.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Gabriel Martini
Unforgettable dinner and service. Their attention to detail is impressive, and every dish was well thought out, delicious, and memorable. A+. I'll be back soon!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Michele Shi
Fun time at kinkan! We had the where are we going tasting menu which was cool to experience and learn anout each dish and how the chef came up with it. The head chef was not in town that day so the sous was serving us. The best dishes were the ama ebi, tuna tartare, and ceviche! All of the staff was very kind tooUnfortunately one of the items was substituted with bolognese which was disappointing (supposed to be uni pasta). And the fish and chips (amaida, matsutake) and crab fried rice was not impressive for this price point. I think it was great experience but food didn’t feel worth it in the end so I would not go back a second time.
Kinkan feels like a love letter to flavor. We came to celebrate a friend’s birthday and left feeling nourished in every way. Each dish was beautifully crafted, delicate yet bold. Perfect for a quiet celebration, a romantic date, or a night to remember. A true neighborhood treasure.
The Crab Night menu at Kinkan LA was an exceptional experience. I’m not going to lie—the night started out on the sketchy Virgil St. Despite all the gentrification, the graffiti, scattered trash, and makeshift cardboard tents can make it a rough start for a date night experience. But the moment you step through Kinkan’s door, you’re transported into a cozy, intimate restaurant that feels worlds away.
The night kicked off with the Corn Tofu, Kegani, Hokkaido hairy crab meat, uni, and ikura in a corn dashi. The blend of savory and sweet was unlike anything I’ve had before. Highly recommended. The Kani Croquette was next: a perfectly crisp bite with Hokkaido snow crab claw, scallops, shrimp, and umeboshi.
The Crab Curry with ume blossom somen and blue crab was rich and comforting. The King Crab, Kinmedai, Maki Nabe had that Tom Yum-inspired flavor I love—spicy and tangy. So satisfying! Then came the Zuwaigani Linguini with holy basil sauce and the Whole Dungeness Crab with crab miso and Nan’s seafood sauce—both rich and unforgettable.
The night ended with a crispy Baked Crab Hand Roll, nicknamed the “Happy Ending” and a Belgian chocolate.
Chef Nan was warm, easygoing, and made the whole experience super memorable. Even after dinner, it felt as if the stories and sake were flowing endlessly. She hinted at a new location coming soon. We can’t wait to visit.
Best meal I've had in LA YET !
KinKan had already been our favorite restaurant in LA and we always enjoyed interacting with Chef Nan each time we ate one of her amazing tasting menus or a birthday lunch at the counter being served amazing fresh seafood accompanied by their unique bloody mary.
And this story will show another special side of Chef Nan. We live in Pasadena and our friends who lost their house in Altadena had been staying with us until they figured out how to put their lives back together. As empty nesters, we all of a sudden had a household of ten people, large dog and large cat. Everything had been going smoothly but by the eighth day, stress and tension was building and everyone was a bit on edge. Until Chef Nan donated ten of her beautifully curated bento boxes arrived.
We all sat together, toasted (with sake Chef also donated) Chef Nan for her generosity. We each opened our bento boxes and all of the stress and tensions started to ease. All of our mouths and eyes opened widely in awe of how beautiful the boxes were. Our friends who picked them up from KinKan said she worked on the boxes herself. By the end of the meal, all of our spirits were rejuvenated and after a month, we’re happy to report that our friends have moved into their newly rented home and are doing well.
Thank you, Chef Nan. You and KinKan are very special and none of use will ever forget you being there during this unique time of our lives.
Was brought here for my birthday dinner and was blown away by the quality of thought and execution in the creation of the unique-tasting Japanese Thai Fusion fare.
Chef Nan was friendly and vibed a fun joking manner that only added to the experience. Comparable to many Michelin starred places we've dined at and I honor them for charging very reasonable prices for the quality of the food.
My only hesitation in posting this review is that it'll probably be harder for us to get seats there but they deserve it.
Servers took forever and it really just tasted like most Thai restaurants or mid sushi. All the chairs and tables were looked like uber were bought for $5 at a thrift store. Highly recommend somewhere else.
The food here was overall good, high quality ingredients and thoughtfully prepared, but the waiter made the experience uncomfortable, especially for such an expensive celebration dinner. The chef was nowhere to be seen either on a Friday night. Because it's meant to cater to the general palate, the Thai food wasn't very spicy, so when I asked for significantly more chili sauce on one of the rice dishes the food preparer (he wasn't cooking, just assembling) was very adamant that I don't add too much instead of letting me enjoy my $300 rice to my liking 🫠
We weren't allowed to sit anywhere but the bar and it was uncomfortable and unpleasant to do so for the 2-3 hour dinner as we felt like there was no way to have a private conversation. In the middle of the meal the waiter/drinks guy came by and offered everyone sake and I said I had an alcohol intolerance and it would make me feel sick and pass out. He kept insisting, then said he "hangs out with a lot of Asians and none of them get sick so I assure you you'll be fine," (he was white, I'm Asian). After that it was just extra uncomfortable to be there and I wanted to leave very badly
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Here there is an interesting mix of Japanese & Thai fusion flavors. We came for the tasting menu. Fresh herbs & foods were used. 3 out of the 8 dishes i wasn't a fan of but my friend loved all of them. To each is own palette. Small & quaint place. Staff were all very approachable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
This is one of the most unique and delicious dining experiences I’ve ever had! Chef Nan and her team prepare incredibly creative and sumptuous food, and pair it with premium sake and wine, and fascinating stories about the inspiration behind the cuisine. It’s magical! And the staff are very good looking too. Just sayin’. Also, if you hang back afterwards you can drink and chill out with Chef Nan and her team.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Incredible food. Incredible staff. Incredible Chef
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Chill atmosphere, fresh ingredients, crab rice was great. Highly recommend btw there is parking in the back but it can fill up. For gluten free they do sub stuff for you to make it gluten free but most of the menu is naturally GF anyway excluding soy sauce I believe
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food is amazing and so is chef Nan ❤️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was the top dining experience of my year so far. The perfect combination of fresh, delicious food in a personal, unpretentious atmosphere. The restaurant is Nan’s passion-project and you can feel her thoughtfulness and enthusiasm in the unique concept and intricate flavors and textures of the food. Our group shared two bottles of natural wine as well that paired perfectly with the food. I also loved the bespoke handmade stoneware, delicate glassware, and mismatched vintage furniture. Would absolutely recommend sitting at the bar to see the process and incredible attention to detail. We came for the “lunchtime indulgence” for Sunday lunch, but will definitely be back for the tasting menu in the future.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Unforgettable dinner and service. Their attention to detail is impressive, and every dish was well thought out, delicious, and memorable. A+. I'll be back soon!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fun time at kinkan! We had the where are we going tasting menu which was cool to experience and learn anout each dish and how the chef came up with it. The head chef was not in town that day so the sous was serving us. The best dishes were the ama ebi, tuna tartare, and ceviche! All of the staff was very kind tooUnfortunately one of the items was substituted with bolognese which was disappointing (supposed to be uni pasta). And the fish and chips (amaida, matsutake) and crab fried rice was not impressive for this price point. I think it was great experience but food didn’t feel worth it in the end so I would not go back a second time.
Parking: Small parking lot, handful of spaces
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Loading...