Review: Kanji Japanese Restaurant in Phnom Penh
Review: Kanji Japanese Restaurant in Phnom Penh
One of the very few areas in which Phnom Penh has not lived up to my outlandish expectations has been in its sushi and sashimi offerings. While there are many excellent homestyle Japanese restaurants, few of Phnom Penh’s sushi restaurants have as much to offer as what you’re probably gotten used to at home (as long as home isn’t a landlocked developing country). And while Kanji, the latest addition to to Phnom Penh’s Japanese food scene, probably isn’t going to give London or New York a run for their money anytime soon, it outshines the other sushi offerings in Phnom Penh.
Kanji: the newest chi chi Japanese restaurant in Phnom Penh.
Not being in possession of a bodyguard or a gun or a bodyguard with a gun, I had to content myself with eating at a regular table. Allegedly there are also special rooms for teppanyaki as well as a tempura counter, but I didn’t notice, and the staff didn’t mention anything about it when we sat down.

Take a seat at Kanji’s sushi bar, one one the tables available to mere mortals (as opposed to VIPs)
Having heard that they were having fish flown in once per week from Japan, I was pretty skeptical. I’m fairly sure that raw fish cannot last a full week, so I wouldn’t want to belly up to the sushi bar on day six. That said, the dish I ordered, chirashi — a sushi bowl filled with vinegared rice and raw fish– was delicious and great value. Perhaps because they don’t have to bother wrestling the ingredients into nigiri or maki, chirashi is almost always the best way to stretch your sushi dollar at Japanese restaurants. The Kanji chirashi was no exception, being both (relatively) inexpensive at $15 and filled with six or seven types of (relatively) fresh fish.

Chirashi — the best bang for your sushi buck.
Compared to other places in town, Kanji offers a similar experience to Origami but with larger portions and a more stylish atmosphere. Expect to spend $20-30 per person, which is slightly offset by a free amuse bouche and a nibble of ice cream for dessert (they also have deep-fried ice cream on the menu if that’s not enough to satisfy your sweet tooth).
Kanji Japanese Restaurant
128F Sothearos Blvd (next to the Almond Hotel), Phnom PenhT: 023 220 822
http://www.movetocambodia.com/food/review-kanji-japanese-restaurant-in-phnom-penh/
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