Eating dinner at Kihachi is not a one-or-two course meal in the traditional sense—rather, it is a multi-course meal with many small (yet extremely delicious) diverse portions, such as sautéed vegetables to grilled and fried meats of every sort to even a sweet rice cake.

The first course is a luscious spinach, lightly cooked and beautifully salty-sweet. The crunch comes first, followed by a brief, deep sweetness, and then a burst of brine that all vanishes as quick as it came.The second course is chicken, shrimp, and fish in different preparations. The chicken is lightly grilled and seasoned, but it is unbelievably tender and succulent, while the fish is fried so perfectly that melts in the mouth. The shrimp is covered in a crunchy lotus root, which gives a wonderful contrast to the briny tang of the meat inside.  The dish only gets better when combined with a thin, amber-colored sweet sauce.

The courses quickly become a blur of deliciousness. One minute, there is something like a fancy Japanese high-quality pork McNugget with a delightful honey-lime sauce sitting in front of me. The next minute, there is a vinegary Red Snapper Sushi, and then some delectable Buckwheat noodles with a coffee-colored, salty-sweet dipping sauce.

The final course was dessert: two different kinds of mochi, or a sugary, glutinous rice cake. The mochi is two layered, with a jelly on the outside, and a deep purple inside with a texture that is strange, yet endearing. The second kind is wrapped in a leaf and pleasantly warm. When it is unwrapped and eaten, it gives off notes of a woody caramel.

Although Kihachi is not at all easy on the wallet (the check may elicit sounds from you that cause people to come from other rooms to see if you’re okay), there is a reason Anthony Bourdain visited it. The food at Kihachi is insanely great.

Written by Sid Menon ’17

Address: 2667 Federated Blvd, Columbus, OH 43235

Phone:(614) 764-9040

Prices:

$$$$

Menu: gayot.com

Daily. 11:00AM-11:PM