Kanki Japanese House of Steaks & Sushi - Durham

If you're looking for an extraordinary dining experience, I would recommend Kanki in Durham! From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by an immaculate and inviting atmosphere. The highlight of our night was undoubtedly the incredible performance by our chef, Hector. He masterfully cooked our meal on a massive grill, all while dazzling us with impressive flair and tricks, including spectacular bursts of fire and juggling knives.I brought my parents along, and they had the best time of their lives, thoroughly enjoying every moment. Despite my seafood allergy, the staff went above and beyond to ensure that my food was safely prepared, which truly impressed me. The manager, Laura, even took the time to visit our table and check on our experience.The food was so delicious that I forgot to take pictures of it, but I did manage to capture some snapshots of our fantastic entertainment. If you're looking for a night of entertainment or want to impress someone special, I highly recommend Kanki. This place has it all - amazing food, top-notch service, and an unforgettable show!

It started out good then it went downhill as the evening progressed. We did have a large group but we had a reservation so that was a good thing I thought. They were short staffed and we had to wait for a chef to come over and cook for us. The food was good once we got started 2 hours later (we got there at 7 and left at 10) mind you they close at 9

The only reason they're getting 2 stars is because the chef did a good job and the food was good. I had a reservation at 7:30, we got there around 7:15 and they seated us. We waited about 15 minutes before the waitress even came by to get our drink order. The chef didn't come to cook our food until almost 8:30 pm. It's not his fault, they're shortstaffed, but the level of customer service was less than subpar. Now I remember why I didn't like going there, but we went so my daughter and nephew could see the "show"

The shrimp was amazing. Lemon drop was the best lemon drop I've ever had in my life. Lychee martini was also pretty good. The actual entrees lacked flavor and the salmon did not taste fresh. If i return, I would probably stick with appetizers and drinks.

Service was great, although we couldn't get in to eat at one of the teppanyaki tables. We just ordered from the menu at the bar area seating. Dinner plates were prepared fresh and came with the typical ginger salad and miso soup. Enough to fill most people, but with the presentation of the chef it felt lacking. We (party of 2) had no reservations so we were told it would be 45-60 mins to wait on a chef table. The place felt empty so that was the only disappointment... and that's on us. Four stars instead of five just because the spot had kind of a strange vibe and nothing really blew us away. I'd definitely return next time I'm in the mood for hibachi.

One of my favorite hibachi places. It's also a great place to celebrate birthdays. I love the experience 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 of 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:  - 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

I did a walk in reservation for a party of 11 and was told it could take 1.5Hours. After two hours, they called and said they were ready for us. We went into the restaurant and it took thirty minutes to get drinks, 45mins to get soups/salads and 1.5hours for our food to start cooking. My family was laughing about it taking three hours the last time they came and the joke was on us because it took three hours to finally get our checks, pay and leave. We were served by one of the waiters in training and never met our main waitress. They charged an automatic 18% gratuity and I hope Emma didn't get any of it. 10/10 do NOT recommend!! Food was good, ambiance okay, service is terrible.

Terrible experience! Stay away!!!! We came in at 5:30 pm, restaurant was pretty empty, we registered at the front desk, typical person who is annoyed about doing her job, took our name, she said she would sit us as soon as she sat the party that was ahead of us. Then she walked around the restaurant registered 4 more small parties, came back to us and told us there was a 15-20 min wait, and in the meantime kept sitting people ahead of us, then my daughter asked, another unhappy person said she was getting ready to seat us. Anyway, we waited for over an hour and when we decided to leave and were in the car did they call us! Terrible service! They could have communicated better and they just didn't want to be there! Don't work in customer service, if you are not service oriented!!!

Johnny!! Our chef, made this a great experience for my family and I. The food was good, having conversations with the table mates was nice. This is a place that I would come back to.

Kanki is very strict about being on time for a reservation yet they did not seat us on time, it took 20 min to get a water, 40 min for drinks, and 1 hr before the chef arrived to prepare our food. We complained to two staff members who were completely unapologetic.