Kanki is one of my favorite hibachi places but this specific location isn't my favorite. I love the experience at Kanki and the food is usually pretty good but sometimes inconsistent. Read my PROS and CONS below. = HIBACHI EXPERIENCE: If you're not familiar with hibachi here's how it works at Kanki: They will sit you at a table (up to 8 people) with a big flat grill in front of you. After bringing your drinks they will take your orders. You pick one of the meat options (Chicken, Steak, Shrimp, Salmon, Scallops, Vegetables) or the specials (Samurai - Filet and shrimp / Banzai - Chicken, steak and shrimp / or the choice of two). Depending if you're there for lunch or dinner you can to pick soup or salad or both. The guy will cook your food over the grill and you'll watch him cooking while being very interactive, playing around, and setting an onion on fire. It's a great and fun experience. = FOOD: SOUP: I love their soup! It's a clear onion broth with some crispy onions in it! It also comes with mushrooms so if you don't like it or you have allergy make sure to let them know. You can also choose the salad instead. I usually get 2 soups with no mushroom when I go there for dinner. SALAD: If you choose the salad I recommend the ginger dressing. The salad is a mix of lettuce, red cabbage and carrots with the dressing on top. HIBACHI: Every hibachi meat comes with a side of rice and a side of veggies (zucchini, onions, mushrooms). If you don't want veggies just say "no veggies, extra rice" they will just give you more rice instead of the veggies and they don't charge extra for it. If you have any allergy make sure to let them know before. The rice is a fried rice with eggs. For the meat, I love their filet mignon cooked medium rare and I always add a side of broccoli! Tip :They have the best broccoli around! The veggies are also amazing! SAUCES: They give you yumyum sauce (a white/pinkish sauce - contains egg) and ginger sauce on the side (this ginger sauce makes you wanna go to the bathroom later, seriously lol ). = LUNCH x DINNER: Lunch prices are cheaper and you get the same amount of food as dinner. The only difference is that for lunch you only get either a soup or a salad and for dinner you get both soup and salad (or 2 soups or 2 salads if you prefer). You also get 2 pieces of shrimp for dinner, which for me is not worth the extra price. I think dinner is overpriced. Chicken Hibachi for lunch is $12.99 and for dinner it's $20.99 ($8 extra for one extra soup or salad and 2 pieces of shrimp). = PROS: - Kanki is the best hibachi place around; - Great for entertainment; - Their fried rice is amazing! - The food is very good and the soup is great. - They have the best yumyum sauce! - Great place to go when you're very hungry. You will get a lot of food! - Great place to go for celebrations; - They give you free sorbet for your birthday or anniversary and sing happy birthday in Japanese. = CONS: - It's reservation only. And if you dare to get there without a reservation they're kinda rude to you. That has happened to me twice at the Crabtree location. - The food isn't always consistent. Sometimes it tastes totally different. Last time I visited it the rice tasted different and the salad was just lettuce and dressing. - You will smell like smoke and food afterwards. - Not the best place to go if you want to have a conversation with someone. It's pretty loud and everyone sit very close together. = TIPS: - Choose the grill over take out. I'm never lucky when I get take out. At the grill you can see them cooking it and it's fresh. - Add a side of broccoli. Their broccoli is amazing!! PS: photos from different visits and locations read more

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I've been eating at Kanki for about 37 years, mostly this location but I've tried the others as well. At times one other has been better or worse but this location has been the most consistent. There was a noticeable drop in quality in both the food and the service during and immediately after the pandemic however and we've been coming here less as a result. However, this visit was absolutely an exception and was the best experience we've had in years. The service is probably the best we've ever had. The server was very attentive and friendly and we were left wanting nothing. In addition, the chef was also friendly and the food was cooked perfectly and was delicious. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that it was my son's 14th birthday and, though the chef did do a little something, I think there could have been a little more show with catching things in his hat or tossing the food pieces into the diner's mouths, etc. All in all a great experience. We will be back more often. read more

My experience was unique I do need today that our chef was very good. he made sure we all in the moment. I like how engaging he was and the shrimp and veggies were amazing. The wait staff should have gloves on when bringing out the food; just incase someone's finger goes I'm the soup and or salad. The sushi was very good fresh and delicious we had the shrimp tempura and the lobster roll both great for beginners, just beware the shrimp tempura is very crunchy. I would have had more pictures but I was having a good amount of fun joking with the chef and others at the table. My only negative was the rice was not done enough for me. read more

Kanki - Seating - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Always great food, never disappoints. We go several times a year. I have no problem recommending Kanki to family and friends for a fun and delicious dining experience read more

Visited last night for daughter's 18th birthday, along with 5 friends. After last year's bad experience at the Wake Forest Rd location, we weren't sure what to expect. But we were pleasantly surprised. The wait staff was attentive, constantly refilling drinks. My only complaint would be the salad...definitely had seen better days in its pre-packaging, but everything else was on point. The chef made the experience even better, giving a great show. They also have reservations. We had to get an early one, but they accommodated our late arrivals (about 15 min late). Food was great, huge portions. Prices are the same as last year, so that was helpful for planning. We'd return for another birthday. Oh, and 18% gratuity was included for parties of 6 or more (which was advertised). I was completely fine with this. read more

Kanki - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Waiter was very attentive! The appetizers were amazing! Sushi was delicious! Our meal was delicious also. Clean and nice dining area.

For COVID: The restaurant is currently still open! There's sanitizer stations around the restaurant and everyone is wearing a mask. We received plastic silverware instead of regular silverware as well. You can't go wrong with hibachi, ever. The food here is always super great, hot, and delicious! The service is also great too with not long wait times and friendly servers. I got the hibachi steak and shrimp combo (they accidentally added chicken too but I wasn't mad) and everything was perfect. We also got the volcano roll. Most people know that rolls called volcano, firecracker, dynamite, etc. are good at pretty much every restaurant that sells sushi. We chose to do the volcano which was $12 per roll (or you can do $6 for half) and super delicious and came with a very generous scoop of crab salad in the middle, which is my favorite!!! I'll probably get this roll every time now. read more

Kanki - Chicken, steak, shrimp hibachi - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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The one on Wake Forest road. Slow service. Took over 30 minutes to be seated with reservations. The cook was slow as molasses. Separate people at my table complained of the manager. She was very dismissive. Rice was cold. Proportion sizes limited. Server was slow on refills. read more

We have always loved this place when we go to Raleigh. The entire experience has always been amazing. Well we went yesterday and the host was awesome and the waiter was phenomenal. The chef was very rude and unprofessional. I had to bite my tongue numerous times. He was rolling his eyes and mumbling under his breath. He messed up my daughter's order and acted as though it was our fault. I will go back but will request not to have this particular chef. read more

Great food , service makes a relaxing ambiance makes for a great evening for family and friends gathering

Server and cook were friendly and attentive. Food was cooked in front of us and was plentiful. The veggies were fresh. The only situation that was strange to me was when we walked into the restaurant around 2 PM to make reservations for 6 PM and the young lady said we had to come back at 3 PM and could not call in the reservations. So we came back a couple of minutes before 3 PM and she said we had to wait until exactly 3 PM. When we got there at six we were seated right away and everything else went very smoothly. read more

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Immediately seated. Food was okay. Nice atmosphere and staff. I didn't like the cross contamination of touching the raw chicken with the spatula and then using the same spatula to touch the steak and seafood. Shrimp was over cooked but cook was very entertaining. read more

Sashimi for dinner tonight. The focus here at Kanki is the hibachi grills but yes, they do have a separate sushi bar and dining room area if you're not interested in chefs tossing spatulas and making onion ring stacks that shoot fire. Decent service there and the sushi was good. Nicely presented "sashimi deluxe" which came with the usual fish and then followed by a sunomono bowl that was also well presented and delicious. Very few carbs here, which means this dinner was nearly perfect on my keto diet. Not the greatest sashimi I've had but it was definitely in the A-OK range. [Review 11742 overall, 1524 of 2019.] read more

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Sat down for 20 mins at the bar and not one worker said nothing not hey, how you doing. I had to stop someone just to get a drink. The service sucks terribly at this location if you sitting at the bar. It was no wait but yet had to wait. Should've went elsewhere. read more

I was really craving Kanki, so we decided to splurge for a fun Tuesday night out. No reservation, but we were seated in ten minutes. Such luck! I was prepared to wait for an hour without any complaints. Gyoza app - pan fried - so delicious. I love their ponzu dipping sauce. My boyfriend and I both got the Emperors Delight - filet, chicken, and shrimp. Yum yum! Service was great. Our chef was very nice. Enjoyed the evening. Honestly, I rarely have complaints here. If there is any issue, I've always had it resolved. We shall be back sooon! read more

Kanki - Gyoza - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Came here on a Friday night and itt was easy to get a seat. Food was excellent and service was top notch. Sit at the bar for the best service! read more

Kanki - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

The food here is delicious! Hibachi here is delicious. My husband and I wanted to sit in a booth and still eat hibachi cooked on the grill. You can do that here! The sushi here is amazing. And Liz/ Lizette our waitress she always made sure our drinks were filled. Liz our waitress she was so nice. 10/10 stars. Will be coming back here again read more

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I've been to this location numerous times. They always give great service. Their servers are amazing. As for the food... always fresh and delicious. read more

This is a very very awesome place to eat. The staff is very friendly and helpful The food was very fresh and warm My favorite thing was the show they do at your table read more

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I usually don't do bad reviews because who needs the bad energy, but this review is for the terrible customer service and lack of communication that I experienced throughout my dinner experience. It all started with the lack of understanding the order, and it's not that I expect all wait staff to write down every item, but with complex orders I seldom trust the key facts will be remembered. Unfortunately, my sisters order was entirely wrong and took multiple times to correct. While we got the first wrong order, I had my food to eat and enjoy and she had to look around in confusion. She decided to dig into the food she had - although wrong- as we continued to wait about 15 minutes until the right items came to our table (literally it was a sushi roll with only salmon in it, so it's beyond me why it took so long unless there was a man-or woman- who just came from fishing that needed to make it). Overall, management was also no help saying that even with the ridiculous wait and the wrong order being made nothing could be done. In essence, every business has a right to do things their way but I won't be back. I will say the walking dead roll was great but my chicken hibachi was the dryest I've had. I hope they get better as the world opens up and wish them the best! ... without me as a guest lol. read more

the staff is amazing, the chef that was making our meal was really great, he made alot of jokes, food is amazing but really overpriced, great for a birthday dinner, the yum yum sauce is so gooddd read more

My sister and I ate here again a week ago. It was so good again. This time I got steak and shrimp. The chef really took so much time to ensure the food and entertainment was good. The drink server also was amazing. I am always impressed when we eat here bc of how fresh the food tastes and the service we get. They are nice. read more

Man during this COVID-19 this kinda made me feel a little normal. Getting some great curbside hibachi. So we ordered online and paid. All you have to do it wait for the email to tell you when to pick it up. Go upstairs though. Right beside the P.F. Chang's. It was cool just sitting in the car waiting and people watching. read more

Kanki - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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The sushi here is to die for. I love the experience this restaurant provides and the bewitching masterpieces they create with their sushi. You can go in and have a wonderful show with your bean as you watch your food crafted right before your eyes. Each chef is skilled and well versed in creating whichever hibachi meal you choose. The do a wonderful job and I've never been disappointed with the food received! Don't want a show? You can sit in the regular dining area so you can just chill and eat or sit at the sushi bar and watch as the chefs create one sushi masterpiece after another! My favorite rolls are the Carolina twister and the Poseideon Roll, which happen to be their two largest as well. Both are unique rolls that are bursting with flavor! Be careful, they are hard to eat due to the size but well worth it! The Japanese soup is something I will always start my meal of with. Light, soul warming, flavorful, you really can't go wrong with a bowl. The only reason they don't get a full 5 stars is because I've gone in numerous times and gotten poor service. It sometimes took a long time for someone to recognize we were seated, the waiter was inattentive, or something if this manner. All this was in the regular dining room, not the hibachi tables. In will forever be a fan of this restaurant. They serve amazing food and drinks, keep up the great work! read more

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We came here for our granddaughters bday with 11 people. We were sat down & were taken care of immediately by the server and then the cook came in & did a great show for us. He was witty, funny & a great cook, everyone had a great time & I can't wait to go back. read more

This place is very dope and clean! I came here for my first time with my two friends and had a great experience. we made reservations via open table and we were sat within five minutes along with another family. The waiter took our order right away and our appetizers and drinks came out pretty quickly. The service was amazing I really do not have any complaints. I really enjoyed our chef and his performance and even was able to accommodate the fact that I forgot to add teriyaki sauce to my meal. if you're looking for a delicious cocktail that's worth the money then get the strawberry mango mania is extremely delicious and they filled it all the way to the top as you see in the picture. I also ordered shrimp tempura as my appetizer. I did the specialty where you pick two proteins and ordered the salmon and shrimp teriyaki which already comes with vegetables, fried rice, onion soup, and salad. I finished everything but the main entrée which was a lot so I got the rest of my food to go. I will absolutely come back here again with my boyfriend when he comes home from the military. I can't wait until he tries! read more

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This restaurant used to be a great place to go but it's gone down hill a lot. The whole place looks grubby & unkempt & the hosts/hostess' are extremely rude. read more

It's a real shame that the restaurant had a stuck up server named Sandeep serve my table. A bit of attitude from the beginning that was dismissible but noticeable. My partner and I ordered saki. The menu said "6/18" and after asking the server if that meant carafe and bottle. Small & Large, she said yes, we were correct.... The hibachi chef was great, lots of flare and the food was great. After dinner. The check comes and we have been charged for two bottles. So we explained this to the server; Sandeep. I'm over this review. lol Lots of drama, huge ordeal, won't return. read more

Kanki - The elevator down to the Kanki - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Extremely disappointed at dinner Dec 1st! My son and I have been going to Kanki Crabtree for 13 years and we won't be back! $98 for the 2 of us..the chef needs to learn portion control. My aunt, who was with spoke to a manager about our service to simply be told "have a good night". When she turned her back to walk away, the rude "ladies" laughed at her..not good at all. To say the leas, I was mortified at the experience....her birthday dinner! Customer Service has always been fantastic, not sure what happened, you all lost customers! read more

Food was very good, service was good. My main issue was front of house. They wouldn't seat our party until every single member was present. The table was empty so we would have happily ordered appetizers and drinks while waiting. Even when our full party arrived, they literally stood and counted to be sure we weren't lying. It was beyond ridiculous. This really left a bad taste in our mouths. I will not be back. read more

***update. Returned for lunch at later sate and the chef was awesome. Food was great. Unfortunately the waiter was terrible. Aok. The cook was nice but seemed distracted. He did not seem engaged. No tricks just a little fire and then cooking. I enjoy the banter of the hibachi cooks but he was not in the mood so The entertainment portion was lacking. Perhaps he should be the kitchen cook instead of being at a grill? On the flip-side his culinary skills were fine. The steak and chicken was delicious. First time I've seen the chicken not overcooked. No appetizer shrimp at lunch. My steak and shrimp was good. Only 6 shrimp but they were large, firm, sweet and cooked correctly. Vegetables were not over cooked. Rice was dry. It hit the proverbial spot but we like the flavor of Fujisan at Brier Creek better. read more

My favorite place to get sushi when visiting Raleigh! The food is always so fresh and tasty. The rolls are so beautiful until you don't want to eat them. The service/decor is great and the staff is always so friendly. I love the sushi however the hibachi show is pretty fun and entertaining to watch! When visiting Raleigh it's a must go to!! read more

Kanki - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Food and service are always on point highly recommended if you are looking for a night out

So like always l, I thought that I previously reviewed this place. We love Kanki and Jane many an anniversary dinner or other special occasion here. It is always a fun experience. Today, we stopped by to celebrate closing on our house. The food was good and the service was quick. It was our first time there for lunch, but the place was busy, but not crowded. I had the steak and salmon hibachi lunch. No complaints actually my husband swears I got more food with my lunch. He got shrimp and scallops. Sorry, babe next time gotta get the salmons, love hibachi salmon. read more

I was pleasantly surprised by how good this was, considering it's a restaurant in a mall. The presentation was nice, the quality of the fish was good, and the service was friendly. I love that you can get half-size rolls to mix and match. I wouldn't call it traditional at all, but it was definitely good, especially the negihama (yellowtail and scallion) roll. read more

Kanki - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Thank you Maria and everyone who helped serve me and family I brought here to eat from NY. The calamari, sushi rolls and our dinner cooked in front of us was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! Continue to keep the food fresh and cooked to perfection. My uncle Abdel that visited while teaching dance at Duke University for ADF really enjoyed it and wanted to come back and get more. Schedule didn't allow it. But next time he visits to NC for work he will definitely be back. The bar tenders working that day really helped and made the service run smoothly with getting drinks with our meal also! I have to write another review and mention everyone's name to show my appreciation and keep servicing people the way you do! And the manager that use to be one of the chefs for 30 years also greeted us before closing. Everything was great!!! THANK YOU! THE DATE WAS WED JULY 5, 2023. read more

I came on a Thursday for dinner and they were packed. I definitely recommend making reservations. We sat in the sushi area and ordered from the menu, we did not get the hibachi grill experience. I enjoyed my food, it was seasoned well and the steak was tender. My friend said her steak was over cooked and very dry. I'd recommend them 7/10 experience. read more

Kanki - Emperor's Delight*...... after I had started eating - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Went on a Monday night and did not sit in front of the chef for an authentic experience. The area only had one bartender as waitress but it was busy (we were sitting in the mall hallway/entrance area). Food was cold and the chicken hibachi was terrible. The chicken had terrible texture and flavor was off. I have heated up chicken in the microwave with much better texture and flavor. The fried rice was good but again cold. I thought this was a safe pick with all of the good reviews but should've known better. Elect for a table in-front of the cook if you decide to give this a try. At least you know it was cooked within the last few hours or days. PS: forgot to mention the bus boy was serving food between tables. read more

Horrible wait time for the chef to come once seated, one hour with wining hungry kids! Management doesn't care

Dear Lord in heaven, where do I start with this terrible experience? We arrived on a Sunday night before Christmas, around 7:30. We were told by the host, who didn't smile once and sounded as robotic as Al Gore on sedatives, that there would be a 4- minute wait. It was a long time to wait, but we were in the mood for teppanyaki, so we agreed, took a pager, and took two stools at the adjoining bar. The bar area floor was dirty with straw wrappers scattered on the ground. How difficult is it for a manager or busser or server to walk by and pick stuff up. It just shows a lack of pride and caring. We ordered a couple of mojitos, they tasted fine. They were made with sake as well as white rum, so they had a little extra punch. Pretty good mojito, but one was enough for me. After 15 minutes, the pager buzzed. So they overdelivered, which sounds good. But the amount of time they quoted was so long that we nearly left, when in reality, it only took a third of that time for us to get a table. We got sat with six other folks, took waters to go with our mojitos, and then waited to place our order. And we waited. And waited. It took about 10-12 minutes for the server to be ready to take our orders. The thing with the server is she didn't even smile. Maybe it was stress, or the end of a long day, but my goodness, can't you try to create a happy and positive atmosphere for your guests? We're spending a lot of money to eat here, make it feel like a worthwhile investment! The waits weren't over yet though. The first course was, of course, miso soup. And from the time we sat down to the time the soup arrived, we waited 33 minutes, and yes we checked the clock. We had not eaten in nine hours, so that time felt even longer. She did apologize to the table, but couldn't she have asked a manager or someone to assist her? We also noticed a table that got sat after us had their chef start to prepare their dinner even before we received our salads. At this point, we were considering leaving, but decided to hang on. Our chef, Lucas, came over just before the salads were brought out. The timing was so off and I don't know if that's on management or the wait staff. Anyway, the salads were very enjoyable, and I liked the ginger dressing very much. And thankfully, Lucas was an entertaining chef between the onion flame and making the girl who was celebrating her birthday feel welcome (although she had less emotion and personality than the host at the stand) by giving her first dibs on the food and extra portions. The vegetables, fried rice, and shrimp appetizer all tasted great. I did get a huge amount of rice though, but I was able to finish it; I guess that's what nine of hours of waiting can do. For the entrée, I ordered the filet mignon and salmon. I ordered it medium, and while it tasted really tender and juicy, There was very little char on the steak. Mom complained of too much garlic on hers, so I wound up eating her portion. The salmon was ok, but nothing special. I poured a good amount of yum yum sauce on top for some more flavor. About halfway through the dinner, I asked for a refill on my water and a girl next to me asked for a refill on her Dr. Pepper. Fifteen minutes later, nothing had arrived. At that point, we just looked at each other and exchanged that head shake as if to say, "Yeah we ain't getting this drinks are we?" The drinks never did arrive. Once we finished, we paid cash and just got out of there. The meal tasted just fine; I appreciate Lucas' charisma and skills. But that wasn't enough to salvage our time at this establishment. The overall experience can best be described as disappointing and substandard. That's not due to poor food, it's about deficient customer service and and lack of customer care. read more