They just expanded their menu so I was excited to try some new items tonight-baked mussels, scallops, and Hamachi Kama. The mussels had a little kick but was so good we placed a second order. I was glad they kept some of my favorite items, including the cucumber wrap and dragon egg. Everything was delicious! Service was top notch-food came out quickly and I noticed everyone was helping each other. Great ambience! read more

Very good. Quite large portions. The quality of the fish was above what I was expecting. Definitely a hidden gem for Denver. This place is going to be quite the spot. Heather was great too read more

Great Japanese-inspired food with several scrumptious choices. The owners have done a great job training their employees and slowly developing the menu such that each appetizer, shareable and entree turns into a delicious dish. They also have entertainment later on the weekends. read more

Food was excellent, service was out of this world. Cool atmosphere, nice and relaxing read more

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The food and service were fantastic! Everything was fresh and cooked just right. The drinks were great as well.

First time trying and it was fabulous! The service was awesome. The food was WOW. The presentation was amazing. If you are a sushi and sake lover this is the spot. Impressed! read more

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Man. I had high hopes for this place but was very disappointed. In fact if I could give zero stars for food, I would. The edamame was the only palatable thing ordered today honestly. I ordered a hot green tea, nothing but a small cup of hot water and very mild tasting slight hint of green tea and my friend ordered a hot sake. Hibachi chicken and veggies with fried rice had zero flavor arrive lukewarm at best. Bland bland bland. We paid the extra two dollar up charge for fried rice too and that was pointless. No flavor. No garlic or onion or sesame oil as you'd expect. Chicken was bland with maybe a little soy sauce at bare minimum. The shrimp sauce tastes like mayo that was just colored with some paprika to give it an orangey tint. Usually it has a little bite from rice wine vinegar and a little spice giving it a subtle sweetness. Nope. Tasted like bland mayo from a jar. Everything just hinted of salt and zero flavor. We split one sushi roll. A tempura roll. And added cucumber for crunch. How can you mess that up? Well, apparently you can. Limp cucumber that was almost a gray color. The tempura shrimp was cold and must have been been cooked a long time prior because the shrimp wasn't crunchy at all, just rubbery and the tempura breading was soggy and mushy and tasted like the fryer grease. Straight mush in your mouth. The server was nice and noticed we didn't really care for our food and apologized saying the hibachi chicken was her least favorite too. Bill came to about 70 dollars and my plain green tea rang up for 10 dollars. For hot tea (no. It was not alcoholic. Just Plain tea). I should have just lit a couple 20's on fire right there on the table and the. grabbed some Publix sushi across the street instead. Mind you, it was 6:30 for dinner so it was not an off time to be dining. If you're in your 70/80's and like bland food with money to burn have at it. I won't be back nor will my friend who accompanied me. read more

My husband and I came in for dinner, early on a Saturday evening. First off, it took over 10 minutes to be acknowledged by a waitress after we were seated. No apology or excuse was made and she was rather terse the entire meal. Our food was incredibly bland, dirty plates were not taken from the table and she avoided us for so long my husband could not get a second drink or more water. That was easily the worst $100 meal I have had in a long time. Will not be going back. read more

Finally good sushi in Denver! Everything was fresh and just really really tasty. I was very impressed and can't wait to again.

Loved this place. Got the hibachi steak and it was great. Staff was also very friendly, will certainly be back!

My husband and I had a great experience at Kanpai this evening. Gwen was very attentive and knowledgeable about everything on the menu. I noticed the attention to detail and the presentation. We enjoyed everything we ordered. read more

Great food. Great service and live music. We will be back again and again. Moon was such a gracious host.

Love this addition to Denver's food choices. A nice contemporary menu, with a Japanese, Asian flair. Wagyu beef is the star of the menu and is involved in many of the selections. Unique sushi options as well. Weekends have a lively night life with music and live music. A great choice for a break from the typical menus... definitely worth a try.... read more

The food here is excellent. We have been twice so far and I have gotten the BulGogi both times and it was excellent. Their side salad is huge and the ginger dressing is the best I have ever had. The owner is a sweet man, and the waitresses/waiters are great. We definitely will be back again. Love it. read more

We walked in on a performance night with musicians and they were great the food and sanitation is also great and or waiter was really nice. Inside is very nice read more

Although a little spendy, Kanpai is worth it. The food is delicious. A little surprising to have such great sushi in Denver, NC. The wait staff is friendly and the whole experience is always good. One of our new favorites for a nice meal in a nice atmosphere. read more

Great little secret spot in Denver! The food was amazing and the staff responsive and attentive. I am just mad i didn't find this spot sooner. The owner of this establishment has it figured out. read more

This is a gem of a bistro in little Denver! The decor is chic and the menu is wonderfully extensive with deliciously unusual Korean and other pan Asian dishes besides the standard (but amazing) Japanese sushi. Experienced chefs make sushi, sashimi and maki rolls which are imaginative and made from utterly delicious sushi quality fish. There is an alluring cocktail menu; all of the cocktails are generous and well priced. This is the place to come to for a quick week night meal or special occasion. Stay tuned, they will be opening for lunch soon and I know that entertainment is planned in the not too distant future as well. read more

Kanpai KNOWS sushi! hands down the best Japanese restaurant around - friendly staff & cool ass atmosphere! i'll be back at least once a week :) read more

We went for lunch on Monday and had an awesome experience. The food was top notch and the service from all employees was outstanding! I felt like everyone there checked and made sure we had a great time. It was nice to get good Japanese food without having to drive to the city. We will definitely be back! read more

For a new restaurant they sure have missed the mark. It's a shame because Denver terribly needs better restaurants. My wife and I went for lunch. I got Wagyu fried rice and she got a Bulgogi dish. Both of our vegetables were cold. Not room temp but cold. They had obviously been cooked at one point but were served cold. Probably came in on a truck frozen and precooked but they forgot to microwave them. My Wagyu fried rice was laughable. There was probably less than an ounce of the tiniest pieces of meat sprinkled on top of the rice. We were left not wanting to return. From what I understand, there have been quite a few complaints about this restaurant. Service was good but the server had no idea about the menu or the dishes being served. read more

Kanpai is what? The third Asian-ish restaurant within a mile or so here in little Denver? Someone had a dream and put some passion and bucks into Kanpai, and for that reason, I hope they make it. It's huge for an Asian restaurant here, with contemporary Asian furnishings, an expansive menu, and a long bar I did eye for decidedly un-Asian football reasons. Hoping for the best, I gave them a try for dinner, and ordered the poke bowl and a couple trial pieces each of salmon and unagi sushi, with a $30 bottle of what turned out to be surprisingly tasteless sake. A disclaimer: I am a fan of wonderful raw fish, the kind you eat in Japan or in any large US city. So I'll make this review short and say that if you go to Kanpai, I'd stick to things that are cooked and/or served with a lot of sauces and other ingredients. When a restaurant offering sushi won't tell you which of their raw fish is fresh (or even recently fresh) versus "we keep our fish on ice at 32 degrees," it's always a good idea to head for other ingredients that will compensate for mediocre-tasting (but still healthy) fish. The night I went, my very sweet server was quite honest she didn't know anything about their sushi, sashimi, or sake. But serving in any Asian restaurant is very different, so that may improve with time. In the meantime, you'll be on your own, so go with what appeals to you. Finally, a small warning that Kanpai's dinner pricing is currently pretty aspirational. Again, I hope they make it; just don't expect big-city sushi/sashimi here in Denver. Yet. read more

On the evening of 2/19/2024 a close friend of mine and his family decided to try Kanpai, excited based on the buzz around town about the new restaurant. When having dinner, he and his family were told about 'half-off Monday' where the waitress specified the items on the menu that they could get for half off. Trusting his server for her word, him and his family ordered their food and enjoyed their dinner until it came time to pay. When receiving their checks, they saw the discount was only a few dollars, they asked the server for clarification. It was at this point that she told them that the deal is actually a BOGO type deal taking the cheapest items that are paired to receive the half off. My friend voiced his concern that this was not what they were told, but it wasn't a big deal. One of his family members had a bit more of a problem with this than he did and she told the server as much. The server became irate and pointed at a miniscule sign by the bar that vaguely mentioned the BOGO 1/2 off deal. Not aligning with what the server initially told them. The server gave a $25 discount on one of the checks (which totaled $50), but also gave a $25 discount on a $130 check. The family member of my friend saw that this was not equitable and asked further about it. The manager came to speak with my friend and his family to which she began to verbally berate them. When it was obvious the manager didn't know what she was doing, they asked for the owner. The manager then told them, "You can get the owner yourself." and pointed to where the owner was sitting. She then walked over to the manager and spoke to him for five minutes while looking at my friend and his family, but never making to move to address them. Still not having paid for their food, my friend and his family motioned to the owner for him to come speak to them. When he did, he yelled at his server in front of the entire restaurant, and the proceeded to yell at my friend that he didn't want their money, and didn't want them to ever come back again. Do what you will with this story, but just know that the owner and his manager don't feel they need to be accountable for their words in order to run their business. read more