I rarely update a 5-star review, but Kanpai has changed on quality. So disappointing for a place we usually rave about, I am dropping to a 2.5 star review. The past few visits have a whole new team of chefs, we're just ok. But tonight the sashimi, the rolls, and even the green lip mussels were all bland. We asked for an off-menu chefs choice sashimi, asking for bold spicy flavors, and it was tasteless. When we mentioned this to the server, she took to the chef, and he just squirted a spicy sauce on the side. Again, disappointing. We can no longer recommend Kanpai as the best in town, which makes us sad. So many special occasions were celebrated here over the past 15+ years. Overall the Kanpai energy was off. ********** read more

Kanpai - chopsticks and a bowl of food - Sushi Bars Near Me - Bend, Oregon

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Honestly, some of the best sushi I've had in Bend! This place is quite small. We had a reservation. I would definitely recommend making one. The sake list was quite extensive. We enjoyed a delicious coconut sake. The staff was very attentive. Definitely a great date night spot, but I don't think there's room for a large group as it's quite small inside. read more

Kanpai - Samari roll and saki - Sushi Bars Near Me - Bend, Oregon

I was exited to come here based on the prices posted on website. And what others in town told me. When we got there, the prices was much higher. Soft shell crab is a no go. It was sour and tasted like the crab spoiled. Thank you for taking it off our tab. I also never had miso soup so salty in my life. The tempura was rubber. Tempura is supposed to be crispy. Agadashi tofu didn't have bonito flakes on it and the sauce was really bland. You know what we ate it because knowing we spent 175 for two people on sub par food made us depressed and we didn't want to waste it. Our belly's are not happy. It wasn't Oishii. Our waitress was nice though. I give her 5 stars and we tipped her good cause she was awesome. I'm not going to penalize the wait staff because the food. read more

Had a reservation of 4 at 7:45 and didn't receive all of our mains until 9pm. Wait was way too long for the amount of people in there. They also ran out of 5 different items, some of which after we had ordered them. The food was just mediocre - Fred meyer or winco has better sushi for half the price. Ambiance on the patio was great but crowded. Paying $18 for 6 pieces of mediocre sushi not worth it. Definitely will not be returning read more

So dumb. Two of us went there at 630pm on a Tuesday. 70%+ of the restaurant completely empty. Was told it would be close to two hours before we could get seated. Figure out your system. read more

Top five sushi experience of my life. Absolutely delicious! I was in town for business and my customer suggested this place for sushi but told me I may need a reservation. It was a Wednesday. I went at 5 PM when they open the doors and was lucky to get the last spot at the sushi bar. Prices are higher than other sushi restaurants but you get what you pay for. This place is top shelf! Salmon sashimi was phenomenal as was the Kanpai roll and an unnamed special roll. read more

Kanpai - Salmon sashimi and Kanpai roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Bend, Oregon

Absolutely awful. My friends and I waited over two hours for sushi that never even came out. Meanwhile, people seated after us were already eating while we were still sitting there hungry and frustrated. When I spoke up, instead of apologizing or fixing the situation, the server brushed me off and acted like I was the inconvenience. Completely disrespectful. We finally gave up and left after paying a ridiculous bill of about $120 just for drinks--with no food ever hitting the table. Easily the worst service and experience I've ever had at a restaurant. Save your time, money, and patience -- go literally anywhere else for sushi. read more

Well things change and we notice. Change is not always a bad thing and sometimes required to stay in business and I get that. However great service, more expensive menu, and plated quality nowhere near what it used to be is not a good change. YELP Short Answer: If you're not a longtime patron maybe you won't notice and it will just be expensive ok Japanese food, so Yes. Having been going here since they opened, it is disappointing to see the downgrade in presentation, food quality but more expensive just does not float my boat. Location: Still great, terrible Newport parking but you will figure it out. Menu: Great offering Food Prep: Not what is was. presentation was two rolls ($15 & $20) shoved on a small plate, looked lake a Wasen House cheap plate snarf or grab and go. Food Quality: Was not great, not bad but just stuff wrapped in rice very little actual taste, the rice was done well. Don't like to keep on the past, but their rolls were amazing as was the presentation and the chefs were always the same... now all now faces. Change happens. Waitstaff: Perfect, they are fantastic and service was faster than it has ever been. Overall Value: Yikes, no $130 for two people. Doubt we will be back anytime soon and wish the new owner the best, he is very nice, but Bend Westside deserves a higher-end experience. It is not how much it cost, it is about not caring about how much it cost because it was so incredible. read more

Kanpai - Snow storm sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Bend, Oregon

So when all 4 menus at your table are crusted with food debris and drip stains in peeling leather covers you should probably get up and leave. The sushi matched the menu quality almost exactly. To call it Mediocre is generous. This place used to be in the low-good category now I rate it in the low-average category with prices that would only be justified in a high-good establishment. There's better in this town for sure, get you act together Kanpai read more

My wife and I had a fantastic first visit last night 10/2025. We made a reservation so we were promptly seated at a great table. If you want to have a little more space and they give you the option, take the high tables. My wife and I are both vegan and our server was amazing helping us navigate options on the menu. This is a sushi place so they don't have a ton of vegan options but we know that going to any place these days. The options they had for us were really great and the cocktails were excellent too. The price is a little high but look around, they are high everywhere. Don't let that stop you from giving them a try! We had a wonderful experience and we will definitely be back! read more

Jennifer was an absolute treasure of a person! She was so kind to us and we were a large group with a ton of orders. Then we split our order and made it super complicated. She was patient and figured it out perfectly in the end. Thank you Jennifer for being the best! 5 would 1000% come back read more

We'll get to the delectable food in a moment - first, I'd like to praise the friendly, yet professional, staff we encountered on 8/2/23. Showing up nearly on the dot for our reservation (4 people, 2 first-timers), the hostess promptly showed us to our table inside with a smile... despite being a Wednesday night, Kanpai was utterly packed & loud - with what appeared to be 3 female servers lithely floating among all tables/bar with applaudable composure & grace. As a former service industry professional, this did not go unnoticed! We had the delight of being taken care of by Masha - I can't compliment enough how pleasant, positive, polite, & attentive they were without being overbearing. Masha took the time to discuss & recommend fantastic sake, while Michelle overheard there was a birthday at the table & even brought a taster-round with a birthday candle! The hospitality was truly felt by us & our guests as those two treated the night as special as it felt to us who were celebrating. *bonus points for the cute handmade party hat* The folks preparing our sushi were also impressively stoic throughout the rush (7-9p), turning out gorgeous (and super tasty) plates of food. Kudos for the kindness of keeping fish separate from the vegetarian's dishes! Overall - stoked to have taken my pals in for a mellow celebratory night & to have felt special despite a full house of others who also visibly received excellent service & care. read more

Kanpai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Bend, Oregon

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Imaginative Japanese fusion dishes in a nice atmosphere across from a more popular restaurant that was hard to get into. Service was also excellent read more

Best sushi place in Bend. Well worth the $$$ Ordered too much to describe here, but everything was delicious. Sat at the sushi bar and the chef was preparing our food and giving it to us right at the table while explaining what we were having. Really good experience! read more

Staff and atmosphere are great. Newport markets sushi is significantly better for 1/2 the price.

Might have been the best sushi I've had since Hawaii. I don't know who these troll bad reviewers are, but all 3 of us agreed it was amazing. Fresh, flavorful, and even the Edamame was great. read more

I would say, overall, sushi is good and the rolls were creative. You can tell the fish is a good quality thus 4 stars. The Yakuza roll with seared steak on top was delicious, would recommend that. Where Kanpai didn't shine was in the hot foods. Miso soup was fine but the agedashi tofu wasn't great. I prefer soft tofu vs the firm and the broth was kind of bland and though I'm used subtle broths in this dish, there wasn't much flavor here. The salmon kama was a really generous portion and you could tell that it was good quality but it came out pale. If they had broiled it to give it more color and texture would have tasted much better. Service was good and friendly. read more

Great sushi joint! First rate sushi, w/ an authentic inside decor. The wai staff is a little stiff. They don't seem to like their job (especially the hostess) The food pushed it to four stars. read more

Service was good and our waitress was very nice! Sushi was OK to me but $$$ for OK Sushi...but the thing that burned me was this convenience fee I had to pay! No mention of it on there website and no mention by our server. If someone would have mentioned it then ok but none so that to me is dirty pool. read more

We indulged in Kanpai this past Wednesday and it was fabulous. We ate so much sashimi , spicy tuna rolll abs special of the evening the fish was so fresh and delicious . We ate outside where it was quiet . Everyone who attended to us was friendly and so kind. Special shout out to the manager Martha for helping me on the phone with some questions I needed assistance with . The service was amazing( a bit of a rarity these days ) and food outstanding . Not sure I can have sushi anywhere else now. read more

Sushi is one of those deeply personal experiences. I've seen some bad reviews of Yelp. But those reviews are not consistent with our experience at the restaurant. My wife and I went there for an early dinner last night at about 5pm. We opted for the omakase, which left our selection to the chef. What distinguishes omakase from a pre file menu is omakase is adjusted and improvised according to the chef. Our meal was fabulous. The fish and proteins were great and well respected by the chef. The chef and servers were very attentive to us as well. From course to course, I could see the chef was clearly thinking about the next dish. We appreciate his thoughtfulness. The cost of the omakase is $120 per person. We received 8 separate dishes. There is a sake pairing for an addition $70, which we skipped. The omakase requires a reservation. We made a mistake and didn't have reservations. But because we went early the chef and staff accommodated us. We would definitely go back. read more

Having tried all the sushi locations in Bend. I think this has the best sushi. Good variety, excellent service. It is a small dining area so I'd recommend reservations during the weekends, holidays and summer. I take my family (4 ppl) here about once a month pr so. Never had a bad experience. Martha makes an excellent Old Fashion so don't hesitate to try to bar cocktails. Parking can get tight if they get busy. read more

- Very good sushi - Yakuza roll was just OK but it probably wasn't what I should have ordered. - Very good seaweed salad apps (they have two varieties). - Great service. - No ramen available on first visit. They screwed up earlier in the week and ran out (it takes over a day to make the broth). We're short on ramen options in this town so I'll definitely try again. - Very small space which gets loud when busy. read more

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We had high hopes of this being our new go-to sushi place but everything we tried was completely underwhelming and we left hungry, $140 later. The rolls came with very little fish and everything we tried just lacked flavor. We ordered a negi-hama roll, the Kanpai roll (zero flavor), the High Roller (one-note, all sweet), Spicy Tuna (not spicy), and the special roll of the evening (green veggies with VERY little albacore on top for $19). The nigiri special "Slammin' Salmon" was a huge disappointment being $16 for two bites (one of which was miniscule) and lacking any kind of noteworthy flavor. Everything lacked seasoning, and no, I don't believe that fancy rolls should need to take a swim in soy sauce in order to taste like something. On the plus side, my cocktail was nice (The Prickly Lady) and the homemade berry ice cream was pretty good, but other than that this meal was disappointing. Two stars because nothing we ate was awful, it was all very fresh... they just skimped on the fish and everything tasted watered-down. read more

Absolutely amazing! The food was incredible, but what I'm really impressed by is the service. We had originally come planning to do a chef's omakase, but I neglected to share im vegetarian beforehand. While we couldn't do omakase, the staff was quick to recommend a lot of alternative rolls and options to have a great time. The atmosphere is so fun -- very small and busy! 10/10 recommend sitting at the counter. We'll be back! read more

Too noisy! Took forever to get our food and the waitress was unapologetic! Not enough salt on the edamame! Rolls only okay! Prices go up, quality goes down! Sigh! read more

Excellent sushi. Good service. We always enjoy going there. Highly recommend. Environment is incurring and not too noisy

After falling off Mount Bachelor five times today, (mountain biking), I need some energy for tomorrow and what better food can you ask for than sushi. So I stopped into Kanpai. I was able to get there just after opening so I asked the chef to prepare what he wanted to create. Yes more toward Japanese style ( American don't like fish taste so most drown sushi in sauces or deep fry it or some part), which is typically basic that says less is more. Charlie is my chef tonight and he has been working there for three nights. Well, this is his return to Kanpia. He has been working in sushi for over ten years. Off the menu dishes he created was jalapeño poppers stuffed with tuna and, yes, tempura dipped and fried. Yep, still good. Next he created what he called Chuck Norris. He would not explain what's in it but it was kick ass. I'm sorry but the next roll he created did not name but it had some mango for sweetness. Maybe that's the name simple sweetness. Charlie, thanks for all the great sushi. ----------------------------------- 2018 I'm still going here for great sushi. I have been reading other reviews and it comes down to love it or hate it. Most haters are take out or tables probably ordering California rolls. I just want to say a few things. The place gets packed almost every night. If you are not early you'll have to wait. If you are not at the sushi bar ordering Omakase then you are not ordering the best they have to offer. But they have limited seating at the sushi bar and it's first come first served. No reservation at the bar. These guys do get very busy. It's a small place for a reason. They want to keep it small in order to serve their customers properly. In most cases they serve them well. Other cases it's a fluffy ruffle from LV with a tiny dog for a picture. A typical tourist. But in their defense, it is a tourist town. They expect the world and if the wait staff was rude, it's probably because you wanted their attention NOW! Over the past 5 years I've been here two to four times a year. Yes. They get very, very busy. Relax, slowdown. Enjoy the company with the person you bring, chat and have fun. Omakase is the only way to go. Don't order stuff like you are at the sushi track. Get there early for a seat at the bar. Last time I was there I was mountain biking with a friend. We went on Friday night and got lucky to get the last two seats at the bar. My buddy loved the Omakase so much we came back the next day. Sushi overload, he called it. Great rides, good friends and great sushi equals a wonderful weekend. read more

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Delicious sushi and a large menu. Lots of creative rolls. Friendly service too. Will definitely come back next time we're in Bend.

My only regret about Kanpai is not having eaten here sooner! We came in for date night and sat at the sushi bar. The entire experience was fantastic. The rolls were flavorful but delicate, the atmosphere was quaint and lovely, and all of the staff had great energy. Definitely our new go-to sushi restaurant in Bend and I can't wait to go back! read more

Kanpai - Tsunami roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Bend, Oregon

If I could give this restaurant 10000 stars I would! We sat at the sushi bar and had the best time. Our cocktails (pink lady and the Kanpai punch) were delicious. We had the pleasure of chatting with the executive chef who was so funny and charming, he gave us phenomenal recommendations. The fish was SO fresh (the uni is a must!!) and they have super creative rolls you won't see anywhere else. If you don't order the collar (we had the sea bream) you will live to regret it - we were licking the plate. You also can't leave without a scoop of their homemade ice cream. We had the burnt honey miso and our eyes were in the back of our heads. YUM! It's a toss up which was better - the food or the staff. We will be back again!!!!! read more

Ate there last week. It was just OK. Our server was nice but the food delivery was slow. Especially our rolls, after edamame and mussels, which were good but just two mussels per order surprised us. And the rolls were disappointing. One of them was a "specialty" roll which sounded really good on the menu but was just meh. Nothing special about it. read more

server was pleasant..BUT wait for main order was excessive. as I was about to go inside, hostess come out to ask how things were.. I asked did you forget about us?... food came out minute later!!! I eat Sushi OFTEN...NEVER a wait like this!!! fishwas fine, BUT certainly overpriced for the quantity. PS. visitor from NY..don't characterize me please...But I do eat out A LOT; and I don't think I have ever reviewed any restaurant before..But this needed it !!! read more

Came to Bend mountain biking. After a super fun ride came here for dinner. All the sushi miso soap and salad was yummy. Service was warm and friendly. Nice outdoor dining. My wife is Japanese and she enjoyed everything. oishī! read more

If atmosphere and service were edible, I'd give this 5 stars. But on food alone - 2 stars at best. We were really hoping that this place would be better and kinda hoped that the low average rating was more about how expensive it was rather than the food itself, but honestly this place is just not good. Bland appetizers (I mean come on - not even enough salt on the edamame and the agedashi tofu was completely flavorless), the sashimi special was really fishy (weird for a supposedly "fresh" special) and the two special rolls we had (samurai and tsunami) were just not special at all. So sad because the place is so cute but we will definitely not be back though the staff was really sweet. And, while I hate to add this because I hate places getting bad reviews just because they are expensive, $150 for 2 apps, 2 rolls, and a couple beers is crazy expensive for what we got. read more

Delicious sushi, great service, every time over the last 19 years. Large menu selection, specials to tantalize your taste buds. My kids and I have enjoyed this Bend locally owned and operated restaurant since it has opened. My now "adult" children continue to go and enjoy all they have to offer, and when they visit, they want to go! Depending on the night of the week, you might find yourself able to sit at the sushi bar, which is fun to watch the chefs do their thing. Beautiful and thoughtful presentation. We recommend to all of friends and family, and guests as well. Check it out, your taste buds will thank you! read more

Came here last night with my husband and daughter and spent over $120 and we all left hungry. The food took so long, at least an hour. We all ordered the special roll, which turned out to be pretty bad. I'm not very picky with sushi but the sauce ruined the roll, I had to try to dab it off with a napkin. The other rolls we ordered were also sub par. We ate the sushi because we were so hungry and left to go straight to the grocery store for more food because no one was full. The only good part about the meal was the service, our waitress was great. But would never recommend this restaurant. It was so frustrating to be waiting an hour for food and then to look over and see the man rolling sushi chatting and laughing with his friends sitting at the bar while we sat and waited. Overall, horrible experience. Bad sushi. Extremely long wait times with a half full restaurant. Don't come here. read more

Wish i could give 0 stars. rude staff, the photo i posted is of a roll advertised to also have tuna and goat cheese in it. they were cheap about ingredients and acted annoyed whenever we asked for anything. had to soak everything we ordered in soy sauce because it had no flavor. my friend ordered the poke bowl and for $30 dollars got 1/8 of a bowl full of food. read more

Kanpai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Bend, Oregon

I really feel like this is the definitive sushi spot in Bend, all others fall very short. This is a neighborhood place, and you will meet some great people here, both staff and guests. I am a "fish snob" for sure, they won't let ya down! read more

Husband and I reserved the Omakase dinner, and it was well worth the price. Every course was delicious and it is fun to watch all of the other rolls being made. Ambiance and service are top notch. Note: this is not an experience to try to rush. We were there for almost 2.5 hours, and would have been happy to stay longer. The head chef is super fun to talk to. Top 3 life meal. read more