Dont get the hype. Place was crowded and not in a good way. Could barely hear my friends or the server despite his best attempts to talk over the noise and music. Cocktails and service was good, and the food was a bit pricey for what it was but not bad. just kinda mid
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 5
David
There are certainly worse places to go out and which is sad since it used to be one of my favorite places, HOWEVER, they have really fallen off since they opened. The music is whack and doesn't fit the vibe, the food seems to get a little worse each time, I was told a lot of it isn't made in house, not to mention not really that Japanese (they even had faux gras on the menu at one point!) The service is the only thing that would keep me coming back as everyone was really attentive and helpful, but even their staff has almost completely turned over at this point. If you do go there, make sure to ask them to take off the "sur-charge" since I've been told that the staff only sees less than 10% of that, which really makes you wonder where the rest of it goes. All and all, it used to feel like a cozy little place with a passionate staff, quality food for a decent price, that got creative every once and while, but not anymore. Don't think we will return anytime soon.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 5
Katie Thompson
Made reservations for lunch for a party of 6. Limited options for kids but some dishes if spicy you can ask for sauce on the side. Best dishes were the cucumbers, broccoli salad and the karaage don.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Karaage Don Rice Bowl, Pork and Garlic Ramen, Szechuan Dumplings
Kate Bross
Loved everything about our first meal here, and can’t wait to return tonight for our anniversary!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Szechuan Dumplings, Hamachi
Jennie C
Our favorite restaurant in CT just opened in CO, and it was an amazing experience. Our server Day introduced us to owner and chef, Bill, who has crafted an incredibly innovative menu. Lupita was also extremely welcoming and helpful. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamachi
Padraic Harty
Absolutely amazing, easily my favorite place in Denver. The food and drinks are perfectly crafted.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Szechuan Dumplings
Monique Carr
The service here is exceptional, and the tuna hand roll is an absolute standout—definitely the best item on the menu. The sake selection is top-notch, and the tofu pocket is absolutely delicious. I’m giving four stars because during my first visit, the matcha tiramisu blew me away—it was phenomenal! However, on my second visit, it felt like a completely different dessert, and I was a bit disappointed. While I had high expectations from my first experience, the inconsistency left me unsure if I would order it again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Matcha Tiramisu, Tofu Pockets
Nate Baumgart
Enjoyed our meal at Kawa Ni and thanks to our server Matt who was a nice balance of relaxed, conscientious and knowledgeable. While I'm not sure all the dishes we ordered were exactly to our taste, nothing was sloppily composed or executed and I feel like I would definitely go back to explore the menu more as there were several things I really liked. Cocktails and the whole beverage menu was great. I had the Green Tea Negroni which had a lovely herbal and menthol ting from the Shiso. My wife had the bullet train which was also great. As always, with mixology getting so sophisticated at most restaurants, I'd love to see more flavor notes provided for cocktails. For people not super familiar with uncommon spirits, it requires a lot of help and good judgement from servers to understand the flavors. Later in the meal I got the Moon Ring Sake and my wife got a Sapporo with a side car sake bomb with blood orange. Both nice accompaniments to the meal. We ordered: Addictive Cabbage, Scallop Temaki, Red Curry Onigiri, Biang Biang Chicken Bao and the Shiso Meatball Chicken Udon. Stand outs for me was the cabbage and the udon. Scallop Temaki has you making your own temaki with a composed scallop, rice and seasoning on the plate. Bites with seasoning were good, but seasoning did not quite go to edges meaning our first rolls made from the edge were buttery from the scallop but lacking any salt or spice. Overall, texturally, I just didn't love this dish as the scallop is extremely soft and seasoning overall is light. My wife liked it better than I did and I would simply say its not for me. I think the Onigiri would be better described as a red curry squash soup with a fried onigiri. My impression from the menu was it was the onigiri and the red curry an accent when I think the opposite was true. Great curry, lovely pumpkin and delicate tofu. I didn't quite get the coconut in the onigiri and overall a good dish, just not what I was expecting based on menu description. Bao buns were pretty standard Bang bang flavoring but really excellently executed: chicken was crisp but still sauce drenched, bao were soft and pillowy. I could have done with more assertive acid on the cucumber salad, but overall these were really good and came out perfectly. They served them with a hot towel which was a really nice touch service wise. My favorites were the addictive cabbage which was punchy and bright with superb texture from the popped sesame. I wouldn't have thought I'd eat an entire bowl of just raw cabbage, but I loved it. We finished our meal with the chicken meatball udon which our waiter said he has moved away from calling a 'gravy' because it has the wrong connotation for most american cuisine. I agree, but this was a really beautiful and balanced dish with a strong gravy vibe. The gravy itself is not overly unctuous or umami like a typical american gravy but instead I tasted bitterness and herbacity with a pleasing creamy texture. This was balanced by the silkiness of the udon which was perfectly al dente and the umami and salt of the meatballs which were split and slightly browned on the flat side adding a bit of crispy texture. I think many creamy sauces can overstay their welcome and you can get worn out on the level of salt and fat. I thought this was great because the sauce had so much more nuance to it and let the other less salient ingredients balance out the flavor. It was a really great dish and one that really seemed to indicate the subtlety the kitchen was capable of bringing out. Decor was simple and nice but not super memorable or design heavy. As I said, I thought service was top notch and if I find myself back here, I will be excited to explore more option on the menu even if I didn't love everything I had on this visit.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
ASH !
First time here, totally blown away. Everything I had was incredibly tasty (truly, BRIMMING with flavors)
Cannot wait to come back. Also, charming interior design and nice staff
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Roderick O'Dorisio
One of the best restaurants in Denver, hands down. Very reasonably priced for the incredible quality of food you get. I highly recommend the Addictive Cabbage, Biang Biang Chicken Bao, and Shiso Chicken Meatball Udon. Unbelievable dishes. Also, the HOT TEA is top notch :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Biang Biang Chicken Bao, Pork and Garlic Ramen
Food's decent, the Tuna Sashimi was great. Desserts were not good. Drinks were really good and the service by itself was great.
We were 4 people and had a surprise when we received the check, they charged us a %20 tip, and even had a paragraph on the bill itself "allowing us" to tip even more.
1. It was never mentioned to us in any point during our meal that they automatically add a 20% service fee, this needs to be called upon prior to receiving the check and NOT be a surprise.
2. The prices are relatively high and if I'm being honest, I'd expect that from a place that doesn't charge $12 for adamame :/
All in all this experience left a bitter taste for us and we will not return. Too expensive for what you get and I don't appreciate this manipulative approach with the service charge.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Anjali Patel
Outstanding food. The kung pao lamb and Den gaku tofu were our favourites but all 6 dishes we tried were brilliant.
Mariah was super friendly and gave excellent service. I'd highly recommend!
Vegetarian options: Excellent veg and vegan options. I'm vegan and Mariah clearly labelled which dishes were vegan or could be modified. Would have loved if the baos were vegan, but unfortunately they weren't.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Szechuan Dumplings, Lamb Dan Dan Noodles
Ben Burrowes
Really good dinner with lots of variety. Especially good for a group.
Lawrence Butler
Best date place ever. You like him or her, bring em!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Eddie A. Bitar
Kawa Ni has a nice atmosphere and seating area but the food is decent but unspectacular. The three piece Nama is the best dish on the menu, better than popular items such as the Rangoon or crab fried rice. Don’t expect exceptional dishes but a decent experience overall.
Dont get the hype. Place was crowded and not in a good way. Could barely hear my friends or the server despite his best attempts to talk over the noise and music. Cocktails and service was good, and the food was a bit pricey for what it was but not bad. just kinda mid
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 5
There are certainly worse places to go out and which is sad since it used to be one of my favorite places, HOWEVER, they have really fallen off since they opened. The music is whack and doesn't fit the vibe, the food seems to get a little worse each time, I was told a lot of it isn't made in house, not to mention not really that Japanese (they even had faux gras on the menu at one point!) The service is the only thing that would keep me coming back as everyone was really attentive and helpful, but even their staff has almost completely turned over at this point. If you do go there, make sure to ask them to take off the "sur-charge" since I've been told that the staff only sees less than 10% of that, which really makes you wonder where the rest of it goes. All and all, it used to feel like a cozy little place with a passionate staff, quality food for a decent price, that got creative every once and while, but not anymore. Don't think we will return anytime soon.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 5
Made reservations for lunch for a party of 6. Limited options for kids but some dishes if spicy you can ask for sauce on the side. Best dishes were the cucumbers, broccoli salad and the karaage don.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Karaage Don Rice Bowl, Pork and Garlic Ramen, Szechuan Dumplings
Loved everything about our first meal here, and can’t wait to return tonight for our anniversary!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Szechuan Dumplings, Hamachi
Our favorite restaurant in CT just opened in CO, and it was an amazing experience. Our server Day introduced us to owner and chef, Bill, who has crafted an incredibly innovative menu. Lupita was also extremely welcoming and helpful. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hamachi
Absolutely amazing, easily my favorite place in Denver. The food and drinks are perfectly crafted.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Szechuan Dumplings
The service here is exceptional, and the tuna hand roll is an absolute standout—definitely the best item on the menu. The sake selection is top-notch, and the tofu pocket is absolutely delicious. I’m giving four stars because during my first visit, the matcha tiramisu blew me away—it was phenomenal! However, on my second visit, it felt like a completely different dessert, and I was a bit disappointed. While I had high expectations from my first experience, the inconsistency left me unsure if I would order it again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Matcha Tiramisu, Tofu Pockets
Enjoyed our meal at Kawa Ni and thanks to our server Matt who was a nice balance of relaxed, conscientious and knowledgeable. While I'm not sure all the dishes we ordered were exactly to our taste, nothing was sloppily composed or executed and I feel like I would definitely go back to explore the menu more as there were several things I really liked. Cocktails and the whole beverage menu was great. I had the Green Tea Negroni which had a lovely herbal and menthol ting from the Shiso. My wife had the bullet train which was also great. As always, with mixology getting so sophisticated at most restaurants, I'd love to see more flavor notes provided for cocktails. For people not super familiar with uncommon spirits, it requires a lot of help and good judgement from servers to understand the flavors. Later in the meal I got the Moon Ring Sake and my wife got a Sapporo with a side car sake bomb with blood orange. Both nice accompaniments to the meal. We ordered: Addictive Cabbage, Scallop Temaki, Red Curry Onigiri, Biang Biang Chicken Bao and the Shiso Meatball Chicken Udon. Stand outs for me was the cabbage and the udon. Scallop Temaki has you making your own temaki with a composed scallop, rice and seasoning on the plate. Bites with seasoning were good, but seasoning did not quite go to edges meaning our first rolls made from the edge were buttery from the scallop but lacking any salt or spice. Overall, texturally, I just didn't love this dish as the scallop is extremely soft and seasoning overall is light. My wife liked it better than I did and I would simply say its not for me. I think the Onigiri would be better described as a red curry squash soup with a fried onigiri. My impression from the menu was it was the onigiri and the red curry an accent when I think the opposite was true. Great curry, lovely pumpkin and delicate tofu. I didn't quite get the coconut in the onigiri and overall a good dish, just not what I was expecting based on menu description. Bao buns were pretty standard Bang bang flavoring but really excellently executed: chicken was crisp but still sauce drenched, bao were soft and pillowy. I could have done with more assertive acid on the cucumber salad, but overall these were really good and came out perfectly. They served them with a hot towel which was a really nice touch service wise. My favorites were the addictive cabbage which was punchy and bright with superb texture from the popped sesame. I wouldn't have thought I'd eat an entire bowl of just raw cabbage, but I loved it. We finished our meal with the chicken meatball udon which our waiter said he has moved away from calling a 'gravy' because it has the wrong connotation for most american cuisine. I agree, but this was a really beautiful and balanced dish with a strong gravy vibe. The gravy itself is not overly unctuous or umami like a typical american gravy but instead I tasted bitterness and herbacity with a pleasing creamy texture. This was balanced by the silkiness of the udon which was perfectly al dente and the umami and salt of the meatballs which were split and slightly browned on the flat side adding a bit of crispy texture. I think many creamy sauces can overstay their welcome and you can get worn out on the level of salt and fat. I thought this was great because the sauce had so much more nuance to it and let the other less salient ingredients balance out the flavor. It was a really great dish and one that really seemed to indicate the subtlety the kitchen was capable of bringing out. Decor was simple and nice but not super memorable or design heavy. As I said, I thought service was top notch and if I find myself back here, I will be excited to explore more option on the menu even if I didn't love everything I had on this visit.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
First time here, totally blown away. Everything I had was incredibly tasty (truly, BRIMMING with flavors)
Red Cabbage w/Subarashii Pear ?
Truffle Edamame ?
Mushroom Dashi Ramen ?
Matcha Tiramisu ?
Cannot wait to come back. Also, charming interior design and nice staff
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the best restaurants in Denver, hands down. Very reasonably priced for the incredible quality of food you get. I highly recommend the Addictive Cabbage, Biang Biang Chicken Bao, and Shiso Chicken Meatball Udon. Unbelievable dishes. Also, the HOT TEA is top notch :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Biang Biang Chicken Bao, Pork and Garlic Ramen
Restaurantji Recommends
Food's decent, the Tuna Sashimi was great. Desserts were not good. Drinks were really good and the service by itself was great.
We were 4 people and had a surprise when we received the check, they charged us a %20 tip, and even had a paragraph on the bill itself "allowing us" to tip even more.
1. It was never mentioned to us in any point during our meal that they automatically add a 20% service fee, this needs to be called upon prior to receiving the check and NOT be a surprise.
2. The prices are relatively high and if I'm being honest, I'd expect that from a place that doesn't charge $12 for adamame :/
All in all this experience left a bitter taste for us and we will not return. Too expensive for what you get and I don't appreciate this manipulative approach with the service charge.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Outstanding food. The kung pao lamb and Den gaku tofu were our favourites but all 6 dishes we tried were brilliant.
Mariah was super friendly and gave excellent service. I'd highly recommend!
Vegetarian options: Excellent veg and vegan options. I'm vegan and Mariah clearly labelled which dishes were vegan or could be modified. Would have loved if the baos were vegan, but unfortunately they weren't.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Szechuan Dumplings, Lamb Dan Dan Noodles
Really good dinner with lots of variety. Especially good for a group.
Best date place ever. You like him or her, bring em!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kawa Ni has a nice atmosphere and seating area but the food is decent but unspectacular. The three piece Nama is the best dish on the menu, better than popular items such as the Rangoon or crab fried rice. Don’t expect exceptional dishes but a decent experience overall.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
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