Kintaro Sushi BBQ Hotpot, a hot new restaurant known for its all-you-can-eat-sushi, is located on Chagrin in the same storefront that previously housed Cleveland’s signature deli, Corky and Lenny’s.
The local chain has a few other locations in: Akron, Brooklyn, Eastlake and Fairview Park.
However, the Woodmere location is obviously the closest, only a six-minute drive from BHS.
The restaurant’s main highlight is the all-you-can-eat-sushi that includes but is not limited to: signature soups, salads, sashimi, nigiri, traditional rolls, hand rolls, classic rolls, tempura and desserts.
The all-you-can-eat (AYCE), costs $30 for dinner, or $20 during lunch hours with a slightly subsidized menu of sushi rolls.
The restaurant limits each party to two hours for AYCE, and also has additional rules stating that if you over order and don’t finish what you ordered, they charge extra money for those who violate, to prevent waste.
When dining at Kintaro, I recommend starting light with their miso soup, along with a salad, such as a kani, garden, seaweed or avocado.
Personally, I like the avocado salad that comes topped with eel sauce.
After the first round, I normally move into sashimi and nigiri. Sashimi is thinly sliced fish or other types of Japanese food. Nigiri is fish or other Japanese foods on top of fresh white rice, wrapped with an ultra-thin layer of seaweed.
Both sashimi and nigiri tend to be expensive at other restaurants, so enjoying these options at Kintaro is a great way to feel like you’re getting your money’s worth for the AYCE.
Next, it’s good to start moving into the sushi rolls. Kintaro has both traditional and specialty rolls. One order of a traditional roll comes with six pieces or as a hand roll, while the specialty rolls tend to be bigger, and come with either six, eight or ten rolls per order.
One unique highlight at Kintaro is that all the specialty rolls are named after cars. I personally recommend the deep-fried Nissan roll.
Included with the AYCE is tempura, which are traditional Japanese fried vegetables. They come with a sweet and sour sauce such as broccoli, sweet potato, mushrooms and others.
Another big highlight is the vanilla and strawberry ice cream, which is included in the AYCE and is good to order at the end as dessert.
Overall, the AYCE concept at Kintaro is done very well. The staff are super nice and courteous, which goes a long way.
The restaurant has a nice aesthetic with dim lights and bright-colored furniture and decorations, creating a cozy feel which is both authentic and inviting.
In the end, I would definitely recommend Kintaro. It’s a nice traditional Japanese restaurant that has done a very nice job of incorporating the AYCE concept into its style.
