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| - What do you get when you go to an AYCE Japanese restaurant that attempts to position itself as high-end? Sadly, a mixed bag of emotions.
*** The Menu ***
Karaage Chicken - we started with this. Not sure if it was because we were starving, but this tasting amazing! It was light, crispy, and well-made. I felt it wasn't something that needed to be ordered more than once.
Ox Tongue Skewer - this came out delightfully thin and tasty. We ordered it again and it was completely different (very thick cut and just overall bad). So, we ordered it yet again, and it came out poorly made again. I conclude that our first order of ox tongue was made perfectly as a fluke.
Salmon Teriyaki - we ordered one unit, but two units came. They were huge bricks that couldn't be overcooked more, yet we selected "medium-rare" when ordering from the iPad. What's the point of giving the option of rarity?
Age Tofu - this is usually inedible at most AYCE restaurants, but KAKA made it quite well. It came in a gourmet seafood broth. I give this thumbs up.
Beef Steak - these were huge juicy pieces of "beef". I put that in quotation marks because I am 99% confident that this is meat glue beef. If you don't know what that is, Google it. Let's just say that an AYCE place would go bankrupt by offering this type of beef if it wasn't meat glue. The texture is gummy and just felt overall fake.
Torched sushi and pressed sushi - this is one of their differentiators from other AYCE joints. They were mediocre and I did not place more than one order.
Sashimi - their selection was limited compared to their competitors. If you want a greater variety of fresh sashimi, this isn't the place to go.
short ribs - they were pretty good but over salted.
Ramen - noodles were smooshy (far overcooked) and the soup base was bland as water.
*** desserts ***
mango slushie - their best dessert. It is fresh, tangy, and reminds me a bit of Mango Mix from Destiny's BBT.
creme brule - it was okay for AYCE standard but wayyyyyy too sweet.
ice cream - it was not frozen enough, not sure if intentional. it was almost like milkshake.
*** atmosphere & service ***
Service was friendly. Nice ambiance. Noise level slightly highy. Attractive interior design. My only gripe was that their pot lights produced rays of heat that made the experience uncomfortably warm. Parking is hectic as it's in First Markham Place.
*** verdict ***
All things considered, I would not come back to KAKA. A table for two costed $70 before tax and tip for their weekend dinner. By offering mediocre torched and pressed sushi, they pitch a premium price that I just don't see the value in. At that price point, I would rather go to a fine a la carte Japanese place and be able to eat comfortably full on higher quality items.
The weekend special includes a single order of baked scallop, torched sashimi (salmon and tuna), and a torched citrusy salmon sashimi. Most other AYCE places offer a weekend special of AYCE scallop sashimi and amaebi (sweet shrimp). Though I applaud KAKA for doing things differently, I'd rather have the latter.
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