My god is this place good. KENAKI uses high quality fish with modern takes, so you get the quality of a high end sushi restaurant with unique flairs. What drew me to this place was that they serve bluefin tuna (not that cheap hot pink looking tuna) — we got otoro and chutoro. Immediately just melts away in your mouth. The quality of their fish is just next level. I barely had any room to finish my tekka bowl too because I was so excited to eat everything.Hamachi crudo was a great appetizer — grapefruit was slightly sweet and refreshing. Hamachi quality was exceptional.Bluefin tuna was worth every dollar. There are so many varieties to choose from and I can’t wait to go back and get the rest of the bluefin menu.Maki were excellent. And tekka don used chili crisp which was a nice touch. Desserts were so decadent.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Spjames Consulting
Horrible service and mediocre
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Crunchy Spicy Tuna
S PR
I just left this place and can’t even find the words to describe my experience . I walked in to grab a quick bite before my next apt and eveyone in there had a nasty attitude . NOBODY IS IN THERE , it’s empty and I ask to sit outside , they have two tops and 4 tops , I automatically gravitate to a 4 top , because again it’s empty …. And the male hotest has an attitude and proceeds to tell me I can only sit a 2 top.. ok cool no biggie. My server had an attitude about me asking for ice water… I go inside and ask for my food to go. Grab my food and proceed to sit outside after paying for my food and the hostest comes outside to tell me I can’t sit there ……. Don’t come here if you want good service
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Alea
My favorite quality sushi spot in gaithersburg.The beets by Ken is my favorite small plate. The sesame sauce works so well with the beats.The blueberry bread pudding dessert with matcha cream is really good.The deep sea sushi is my favorite and has really nice complex flavors.The spicy salmon is a large cut from the belly (best part)And I got the guava drink which surprisingly complemented the flavors of the sushi.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Fabio Echavarria
Delicious specialty sushi rolls! Our go to place for specialty sushi take out!
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Black Magic Roll
Michelle T
I normally don’t leave reviews but this experience left a pretty bad impression so I feel that I must. My partner and I were celebrating a late Valentine’s dinner. We ordered quite a bit of food, and they forgot to make one of our sushi rolls. The waitress was extremely apologetic because, when we alerted her, the kitchen had closed. No problem. We are generally understanding and still generous tippers. When we received our check, we had received a small discount which I believe the waitress gave us because the kitchen forgot to make an order which we did not receive. That was nice! We didn’t even ask for it but we certainly appreciated it and it left an even more favorable impression of the restaurant that we love and chose for our belated Valentine’s dinner. When (what I assume was) the manager came over to take our check, I thanked her for the discount when handing her the card to pay. She looked perplexed and took the check and card away, only to come back and tell us that the discount had been applied to the wrong check and then showed us the new total without the discount. There were no more paying customers in the restaurant at that time. We do not go to restaurants looking for discounts, we didn’t ask for this one but graciously accepted it realizing it was because an error was made that was not fixable. In my opinion, this was incredibly bad form to remove the discount after it had already been applied (for good reason) and generally soured the whole dinner experience. I hope the employee was not scolded for doing the right thing. This definitely left a bad taste in my mouth, and it will be awhile before I want to go back to Kenaki again, if at all.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 3
Vasili P.
I'm still new to sushi, but I have eaten at many locations over the past 6 months. I think the quality of the food here is in my top 2 choices. We ordered 2 rolls each and a pork bun.The pork bun was great. The cut of meat was twice the thickness of what I had at a shop in Pike and Rose. The pork was moist and flavorful and I enjoyed every bite.The sushi was also spot on and filling. They used what appeared to be fresh ground. Got two thumbs up from my wife as well. Will be returning in the future!
I ordered the crispy rice + spicy tuna and let me be the first to say yea it
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kathy Saravia
Placed a togo order, it took about an hour which is fine but once i got into the car, pretty sure my food was sitting there for a bit. I went earlier then the pick up time and they said to come back at the pickup time because it wasn’t ready. I opened up the food and the Duck bao bun were soggy. The 2 rolls, a reg salmon roll & the chutoro negi roll were honestly very below average, didn’t eat even half. The salmon belly ala cart was also not very fresh.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Nigiri, Sushi
MJ H
Inconsistent quality. Sometimes the salmon donburi is amazing sometimes its cooked dry. There is zero quality control. They also love to ask if I'd like to leave a tip for PICK UP orders. Extremely off
The food here was decent. They were pretty empty at lunchtime on the weekday. The roast chicken was amazing but smaller portion size. It does take a while for the food to arrive. The wait staff is polite and helpful in choosing options.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Erin Han
Great food & service. Ingredients are fresh. This place became our favorite local sushi house. All staff are very attentive. It has a relaxing atmosphere as well. We love this place so much!
Excellent service, supremely creative sushi and a comfortable atmosphere makes KENAKI a gem in the Kentlands.Dined her for lunch with my father and they were very kind and accommodating to his needs, very much appreciated that.As for what we enjoyed, we had 3 of their delicious special rolls:BLACK MAGICFORBIDDEN RICE. SPICY TUNA, PICKLED JALAPENO. TRUFFLE OIL TEMPURA FLAKES. BLACK TOBIKO. AVOCADO. CRISPY LEEKS.WHITE TIGERSEARED SCALLOP. SALMON. EEL GRANNY SMITH APPLE. AVOCADO. PUFFED RICE. SWEET SHOYU. CHUNKY RAYU. "CONTAINS NUTS& SHELLFISHOLD BAELUMP CRABMEAT. AVOCADO. SCALLION. OLD BAY CRISPY POTATO.All were delicious, unique blends of flavors and textures.My father also enjoyed a delicious mocktail with tropical flavors, can't recall the name sadly but I trust others are equally as good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Black Magic Roll, White Tiger Roll
Peiling C.
I love this place for a casual sushi fix on a summer night. They have an outdoor patio that is dog friendly! HH is $2 off drinks. Service is good. Always have fresh cuts of fish. Ps you'll get more bang for your buck with the sashimi combo vs the chirashi.
Kateryna Vasinkina
TRUST ME! I consider myself a sushi connoisseur :) This is my favorite dish and I am pretty spoiled after trying sushi by Daisuke Nakazawa who was apprenticed to Jiro Ono. I tried most of the places in MD and I can assure you that Kenaki is the local cream of the crop! The fish is always fresh and the flavors compliment each other exquisitely. Although, the prices are on the higher end than other places around, it’s worth every penny. If you are a sushi aficionado like me, you would definitely appreciate this restaurant.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Black Magic, White Tiger Roll, Sushi, Bluefin Sashimi Tasting
My god is this place good. KENAKI uses high quality fish with modern takes, so you get the quality of a high end sushi restaurant with unique flairs. What drew me to this place was that they serve bluefin tuna (not that cheap hot pink looking tuna) — we got otoro and chutoro. Immediately just melts away in your mouth. The quality of their fish is just next level. I barely had any room to finish my tekka bowl too because I was so excited to eat everything.Hamachi crudo was a great appetizer — grapefruit was slightly sweet and refreshing. Hamachi quality was exceptional.Bluefin tuna was worth every dollar. There are so many varieties to choose from and I can’t wait to go back and get the rest of the bluefin menu.Maki were excellent. And tekka don used chili crisp which was a nice touch. Desserts were so decadent.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Horrible service and mediocre
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Crunchy Spicy Tuna
I just left this place and can’t even find the words to describe my experience . I walked in to grab a quick bite before my next apt and eveyone in there had a nasty attitude . NOBODY IS IN THERE , it’s empty and I ask to sit outside , they have two tops and 4 tops , I automatically gravitate to a 4 top , because again it’s empty …. And the male hotest has an attitude and proceeds to tell me I can only sit a 2 top.. ok cool no biggie. My server had an attitude about me asking for ice water… I go inside and ask for my food to go. Grab my food and proceed to sit outside after paying for my food and the hostest comes outside to tell me I can’t sit there ……. Don’t come here if you want good service
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
My favorite quality sushi spot in gaithersburg.The beets by Ken is my favorite small plate. The sesame sauce works so well with the beats.The blueberry bread pudding dessert with matcha cream is really good.The deep sea sushi is my favorite and has really nice complex flavors.The spicy salmon is a large cut from the belly (best part)And I got the guava drink which surprisingly complemented the flavors of the sushi.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Delicious specialty sushi rolls! Our go to place for specialty sushi take out!
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Black Magic Roll
I normally don’t leave reviews but this experience left a pretty bad impression so I feel that I must. My partner and I were celebrating a late Valentine’s dinner. We ordered quite a bit of food, and they forgot to make one of our sushi rolls. The waitress was extremely apologetic because, when we alerted her, the kitchen had closed. No problem. We are generally understanding and still generous tippers. When we received our check, we had received a small discount which I believe the waitress gave us because the kitchen forgot to make an order which we did not receive. That was nice! We didn’t even ask for it but we certainly appreciated it and it left an even more favorable impression of the restaurant that we love and chose for our belated Valentine’s dinner. When (what I assume was) the manager came over to take our check, I thanked her for the discount when handing her the card to pay. She looked perplexed and took the check and card away, only to come back and tell us that the discount had been applied to the wrong check and then showed us the new total without the discount. There were no more paying customers in the restaurant at that time. We do not go to restaurants looking for discounts, we didn’t ask for this one but graciously accepted it realizing it was because an error was made that was not fixable. In my opinion, this was incredibly bad form to remove the discount after it had already been applied (for good reason) and generally soured the whole dinner experience. I hope the employee was not scolded for doing the right thing. This definitely left a bad taste in my mouth, and it will be awhile before I want to go back to Kenaki again, if at all.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 3
I'm still new to sushi, but I have eaten at many locations over the past 6 months. I think the quality of the food here is in my top 2 choices. We ordered 2 rolls each and a pork bun.The pork bun was great. The cut of meat was twice the thickness of what I had at a shop in Pike and Rose. The pork was moist and flavorful and I enjoyed every bite.The sushi was also spot on and filling. They used what appeared to be fresh ground. Got two thumbs up from my wife as well. Will be returning in the future!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Kenaki Sushi Assortment & Rolls
I ordered the crispy rice + spicy tuna and let me be the first to say yea it
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Placed a togo order, it took about an hour which is fine but once i got into the car, pretty sure my food was sitting there for a bit. I went earlier then the pick up time and they said to come back at the pickup time because it wasn’t ready. I opened up the food and the Duck bao bun were soggy. The 2 rolls, a reg salmon roll & the chutoro negi roll were honestly very below average, didn’t eat even half. The salmon belly ala cart was also not very fresh.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Nigiri, Sushi
Inconsistent quality. Sometimes the salmon donburi is amazing sometimes its cooked dry. There is zero quality control. They also love to ask if I'd like to leave a tip for PICK UP orders. Extremely off
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Kenaki Sushi Assortment & Rolls
Restaurantji Recommends
The food here was decent. They were pretty empty at lunchtime on the weekday. The roast chicken was amazing but smaller portion size. It does take a while for the food to arrive. The wait staff is polite and helpful in choosing options.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Great food & service. Ingredients are fresh. This place became our favorite local sushi house. All staff are very attentive. It has a relaxing atmosphere as well. We love this place so much!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blistered Shishito Peppers, Nigiri, Tuna, Sushi, Kenaki Sushi Assortment & Rolls
Excellent service, supremely creative sushi and a comfortable atmosphere makes KENAKI a gem in the Kentlands.Dined her for lunch with my father and they were very kind and accommodating to his needs, very much appreciated that.As for what we enjoyed, we had 3 of their delicious special rolls:BLACK MAGICFORBIDDEN RICE. SPICY TUNA, PICKLED JALAPENO. TRUFFLE OIL TEMPURA FLAKES. BLACK TOBIKO. AVOCADO. CRISPY LEEKS.WHITE TIGERSEARED SCALLOP. SALMON. EEL GRANNY SMITH APPLE. AVOCADO. PUFFED RICE. SWEET SHOYU. CHUNKY RAYU. "CONTAINS NUTS& SHELLFISHOLD BAELUMP CRABMEAT. AVOCADO. SCALLION. OLD BAY CRISPY POTATO.All were delicious, unique blends of flavors and textures.My father also enjoyed a delicious mocktail with tropical flavors, can't recall the name sadly but I trust others are equally as good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Black Magic Roll, White Tiger Roll
I love this place for a casual sushi fix on a summer night. They have an outdoor patio that is dog friendly! HH is $2 off drinks. Service is good. Always have fresh cuts of fish. Ps you'll get more bang for your buck with the sashimi combo vs the chirashi.
TRUST ME! I consider myself a sushi connoisseur :) This is my favorite dish and I am pretty spoiled after trying sushi by Daisuke Nakazawa who was apprenticed to Jiro Ono. I tried most of the places in MD and I can assure you that Kenaki is the local cream of the crop! The fish is always fresh and the flavors compliment each other exquisitely. Although, the prices are on the higher end than other places around, it’s worth every penny. If you are a sushi aficionado like me, you would definitely appreciate this restaurant.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Black Magic, White Tiger Roll, Sushi, Bluefin Sashimi Tasting