KAI Revisited

We celebrated my Mom’s birthday last September and decided to try out an old favorite. Kai recently transferred to the new Greenbelt 5 beside Myron’s with a classy intimidating look. Kai is the japanese word for “gathering” and specializes on Japanese fusion cuisine. It was started by four (4) young filipino chefs Ricky Estrellado, Gilbert Panilinan, Rex Soriano and Pierre Angeli Dee who had extensive experience with Chef Nobu Matshushita’s Nobu Japanese-Peruvian Restaurant in New York.
KAI is known for interesting dishes with a surprising taste. Let me share with you the food that we thought were winners.

Miso Soup (P70+) Simple soup served in a flower shaped bowl. It was a bit cold and too salty. Too bad, it ruined our miso soup experience.

Wasabi Oysters Tempura with Balsamic Dynamite (P250+). I’m not fond of oysters but this one was interesting enough to try.

Age Dashi Tofu (P140+) Soft huge squares of tofu with just the right crunch on the outside with seaweeds as the topping to add flavor.

California Maki “Kani” (P120+). The maki was perfect and it is what you would expect from a good California Maki.

Dragon Roll (P240). The crunchy unagi in these rolls were gone in a jiff. Reminds me of my Omakaze experience.

KAI Neo Japanese Cuisine Menu
Special Sushi Rolls and Vegetarian Sushi Rolls
Cold Appetizers, Salad, Hot Appetizers
Hot Dishes Seafood
Meat, Beef Ishiyaki, Kushiyaki
Vegetarian, Soup, Rice and Noodle, Table Cooking on Paper
Sushi and Sashimi
Flavored Shake & Ice Tea, House Sake, Bottled Sake, and Flavored Sake
Beer, Coffee, Bottled Water, Soda
Liquer, Whisky, Cognac/Brandy, Rhum, Gin, Tequilla, Vodka
Dessert

Portobello Mushroom Confit Salad with Maple Ponzu Vinaigrette (P280+).
We love Kai’s salads. The quality of the Portobello Mushroom and the Maple Ponzu Vinaigrette sauce mades this the bestseller in Kai.

Roasted Grapes and Tomato Salad with Sesame Dressing (P280+).
The simple combination of roasted grapes and juicy cherry tomato worked together with the thinly sliced of shitake mushroom.

10 hours Buta Kakuni “Braised Pork Belly” (P350+).

We can’t resist ordering this and imagining how soft and tasty the pork belly is after 10 hours. It delivered its promise and we savored every slice and partnered it with additional cup of plump white rice.

Banana Nutella Harumaki (P180+) rolled in sesame fillo topped with caramel, chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream. “Kai’s interpretation of banana split”.

If you find yourself looking for a unique dessert to impress your date, order this at KAI and this should give you pogi points. I loved the crunchy sesame coating with a shot of ice cream.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar (P110) with glazed bananas and walnuts

This was a big disappointed but I guess if you like peanut butter so much, you might want to give this a try.

Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake (P220+) with green tea ice cream and vanilla sauce.

I liked the twist of the green tea ice cream on top of this all-time favorite Valrhona cake.

Happy Birthday Momsy! (with Aidan doing the honor of blowing the candle.)

KAI Neo Japanese Cuisine
Unit 1-112 Greenbelt 5
Ayala Center, Makati City
Telephone: +632 75705209 to 10
Email: kairestaurant@yahoo.com

Text and Photos by Anton Diaz. www.OurAwesomePlanet.com Copyright 2008.