Kanpai BBQ & Shabu

My wife and I tried this place after reading a few reviews and Kanpai did not disappoint. I always like my bad new first. Bad news: parking sucks. But thats Convoy for you. Good news: we were greeting and seated in a timely manner which is huge for us because we also have a 9 month old. Once we got seated, our server went over our options and we both decided to get hotpot. The fact that you get 2 broths of your choice is fantastic. My wife was able to spice hers out while I opted for more of the plain options. We started with the wagyu and just went for it. No diddy but all the meat looked amazing. The marble almost looked too good to eat. I love that the plates were stackable. It saved us room. I also appreciate that the slices came in 3 for the most part. It made our meal manageable. Sometimes in other a,y.c.e they give too much and then expect you to pay for the left overs. But I thought this place gave decent meat sizes that you could always ask for more. Their self serve seafood, veggies, drink, sauces and dessert/fruit really put this place above others. Not only that but the music made this place a vibe. Our baby had so much tofu, noodle and rice. We will definitely be back.

*SHABU specific Review* At first I felt some type of way cause this place took over Boiling Passion which the fam and I used to frequent. But after swallowing my pride and giving it a shot, my feelings have changed.I think we have enough visits under our belts (been 1 day a week for 15 straight weeks lol) to finally give this place a well deserved review. We really really really like this spot. Like Fr Fr.My go-to broths are curry (without butter) and tonkotsu. I usually grab a bowl and mix both broths together, solid combo. The curry broth is the main reason my fiancé and I go here. The curry flavor is on the lighter side and isn't overbearing at all. My lady always gets sukiyaki for her 2nd broth option. The fact that everyone gets their own pot with up to 2 broth choices is a huge W. No more having to share with people who steal your meats / veggies!Meat quality is up there. Probably the best meat quality compared to all the other hotpot spots in SD. A5 wagyu, MS-8 brisket, MS-9 wagyu, wagyu chuck eye, pork belly are usually what we tend to order. 1 order per person limit on the premium meats so we usually try to max those out first. I'm sad the A5 wagyu promotion will be ending soon (if the owner is reading this, please keep it because we love it)Sauce bar has pretty much all the necessities as most hotpot spots (sesame sauce, cilantro, thai chilis, etc). Drinks are located on the BBQ side and they have a really good fruit tea on tap as well as calpico if you're into that.The veggie / side bar has solid variety, offering many different options. Personally I would love them to add king oyster mushrooms, fresh noodles, and a noodle strainer but that's just me nitpicking.We love that they have complimentary ice cream. Nothing like a cold dessert after burning your mouth with hot lava for an hour straight.The staff is very friendly and shout out to our server Kait for always taking care of us. She has always been a highlight whenever we come by and always makes our visits that more enjoyable. Such a dope human being and she provides excellent service A+++Maybe one day we will muster the courage to try the BBQ, but the hotpot is too fire to pass up.

My friends been raving about this place so much, I had to try it. Japanese bbq but similar to kbbq, the meat quality is way better. Half the restaurant is set up for shabu shabu and the other half is grill. Your party must all agree to either one if you want to sit and eat together. The grill side, you are able to grab food from the walk up bar they have. Sauce bar, veggie/seafood bar. The only thing we had to do was order meat from the server but everything else is self serve including rice, soup and beverages! I really enjoyed this place and enjoyed the quality of the meats. It was so good!!

We came in on a Tuesday for a casual dinner and were seated right away. You choose between ayce shabu or ayce bbq. We decided on shabu.Each person gets their own hot pot with choice of two soup bases. I went with the tomato and golden chicken. Both were great! I think at the end I preferred the golden chicken as it was the lighter of the two. The meat selection was pretty good, with several wagyu options, lamb, chicken, fish, pork belly, etc. Depending on what you order, some single orders came as 3 thin slices, while other single orders came as a big plate with over 12 pieces. They suggest you order 2 meat orders per person at a time to prevent waste (they do charge you if you have leftovers). There was a pretty large selection at the bar filled with assorted vegetables, tofu, seafood (clams, mussels, scallops, crawfish...), noodles, assorted seaweed apps, lots of sauces. It doesn't end there. The soft drinks, miso soup, beef curry, karaage, rice , and ice cream were also included in the ayce cost. Alcohol does cost extra. Service was quick and professional. They do offer refills on the soup base from time to time. Overall I am impressed by the quality and fairly large selection of items.The YELP check-in offered a "10% discount off of your meal", is applicable to per check-in per guest, and not on the overall paycheck (unless every person in your table checks in on yelp). This was not clearly stated on the discount details. Most of the time, I would have assumed "off your meal" means off the whole check, but it does not.

Arrived early for dinner this evening at 5pm. Before being seated, we were asked if we wanted to do BBQ or Shabu. Idk why I was under the impression that you could do both... but after some consideration, we decided to go with BBQ. Everything is self-served besides the meats and side dishes, which is ordered with the servers. There's a self-serve bar consisting of veggies, noodles and seafood for those who are having Shabu; a self-serve bar for sides consisting of kim chi, seaweed salad, cucumber salad, fruits, make your own dipping sauces, etc... There's also a self-serve ice cream area where they had 4 ice cream flavors to choose from. I enjoyed washing down all the meats with their Cookies N Cream ice cream at the end. There's a self-serve beverage area where they had a fridge stocked with canned sodas (coke, sprite, Sunkist) and beverage dispensers containing teas and milk teas. They also had miso soup and curry, but I didn't try these, so can't speak on it. We enjoyed the following meats: Wagyu Cubes, Wagyu Rib Fingers, Wagyu Brisket, and Beef Tongue. The meats were pretty quality. The sides, on the other hand, were not. The house salad was sad looking. And the kim chi, among other sides, were awful. Their kim chi was quite bland. Overall I give it a 3.5 star but rounding up. Cost pp is $39.95. Check in on Yelp for 10% off (per person per check in).

The meat quality was pretty good for an AYCE. The brisket was a little tough but the variety of different types of meat was pretty good. I really enjoyed the wagyu steak and the chuck eye, it was quite tender and yummy. Some of the servers were really great, attentive and sweet and some made us feel rushed and limiting. Overall, not bad for AYCE and for $34-36 (there was a 10% discount if you check in on yelp) There were complimentary drinks and rice. Wish they had pickled radish or something to cut the meat a little.

This location is fairly small so very limited space so expect a wait if you go at a certain time. When you put your name down for the waitlist it will ask if you here for the hot pot part of the restaurant or the bbq, you can't do both because they are two different rooms. I did the ayce bbq and it was a really good experience. The menu is fairly smallcompare to other places but the quality of the meat was really good especially the wagu steak. The service were really friendly and helpful, they catered to every need. The speed from when you order the meat and the time it comes out was pretty much instant, that was good selling point for me. I would surely go back and hopefully the it will be the same experience.

It was my first time at Kanpai and I'll definitely return! They have two sections, one side for KBBQ and one side for shabu, you're asked to choose one or the other to be seated. We chose KBBQ. I was pleasantly surprised at all that was included in the price. You get unlimited sodas/drinks, beef curry, miso soup, and rice all self service. You also had full access to the shabu side with their salad/seafood bar and sauce bar. Service was good, you're able to order up to 4 meats at a time and they're very attentive with ordering more and replacing your grill. Ambiance wise, the room was full of laughter and it was well ventilated. No flashy lights or loud music but I went around 4pm so not sure if the ambiance changes for their late nights. As for food quality, you get generous cuts and none of the meat was frozen so that's already a great start. Not too fatty either. No marinated meats but they do have some spicy options. No banchans either but they do have some sides you can order. My only beef was that the rice paper wasn't prepared well so it was clumped and crunchy but I'm sure they would've fixed it if I had asked so I'll try again next time! Overall, highly recommend giving them a try!

love this place! great set up. Quality food and the service is quick and friendly. Def recommend to take the little ones to. They loved "cooking" their own food

3.5 starsNow both BBQ grill and Shabu shabu (hot pot) sides are open. The restaurant is divided into 2 sides BBQ and hot pot, so you have to decide which your whole group wants or sit separately. I was here previously for the hot pot side which was cool that you have your own personal pot. I know some people who'd like their own personal pot so they don't have to eat from a communal pot where everyone stick there chopsticks in to grab food. The hot pot was good, I preferred the Angus beef to the Wagyu. The veggie, noodle, and seafood bar was somewhat limited compared to others, but adequate enough.The BBQ side was nice in that they also had a few Wagyu cuts but was limited to 1 per person. I liked the M8 wagyu sirloin steak the best, it was rather large and very tender. I also liked the M8 Wagyu cubes it was cut a little thicker than the sirloin steak so you could get it more rare if that's how you like it. I also liked the pork back rib but it took awhile to cook, so I ordered it early to let it cook for longer while other things were cooking.I also liked that the prime short rib was unlimited, wow! The flavor was there but it was a little salty as it cooked, the owner came by and asked how everything was and if he should change anything, he was very receptive to our comments on it being salty and said they had other comments about that too so they were tweaking the recipe.I also liked the pork belly and the wagyu brisket. The brisket was cut thin and flamed up a lot because all of the fat, I liked that it cooked up so crispy, its like beef bacon! The prime cut steak was also a good choice. My friend liked the M6 rib fingers the bestService on point, they offered to change the grill out multiple times but we declined as we had the more open grate grill, which nothing really sticks to. The table next to us had a different type of more closed grill. They have a trey that holds multiple condiments, salt, spicy chili mix, sweet soy, and sesame oil. You can also choose cooked items from the kitchen; Edamame, corn cheese, Karaage, soy garlic karaage, and volcano karaage. There's also a pot of rice that's self serve.The selection may not be as extensive as other KBBQ places but their meats are quality and I think better than other places. You also have access to the veggie and seafood bar in the hot pot area if you want veggies and other sauces.Regarless of which side you choose, theres a refrigerator full of caned sodas and teas from a drink dispenser. Theres also Thrifty ice cream for dessert if you've left yourself room.The BBQ side is a little more than that shabu side and is also limited to 90 minutes. Service is very attentive and on point. I wish I would have tried the chicken wing but was too full.. Good food, great service.