Review: Kam Pai Restaurant

Originally Posted 09/22/06

Today for lunch Justyn and I went to Kam Pai Restaurant. It's a Japanese Fusion type of dealio. Before Kam Pai, it used to be a Carrows. To my surprise, the inside was gutted out and remodeled. I like the look of the restaurant. It was very modern and had burgundy and black paints. We sat down at a booth near a window. The sushi bar was very open and you could see everything the sushi chefs were doing.

Justyn had already set his mind on the katsudon (fried pork cutlet served over rice and egg). I ordered the katsu with beef curry (one of my absolute favorite Japanese comfort foods). That comes with rice and a side of red pickled turnip bits. We also decided to get an order of Calfornia Rolls. Both our meals came with miso soup.

Before our food arrived, I had to go to the bathroom. I know I'm supposed to be doing a review about food, but the bathroom is noteworthy. Well, at least the sink is. The water came out of a hole in the mirror which was really cool. And the sink itself was a slab of concrete with a rectangular groove cut all around it. The water just ran into the groove. Neat! I should've gotten a picture of it. Oh well..

When I got back to the table the California rolls had arrived along with our miso soups. The miso soup was good, though after a couple sips, it became a little too salty. The soup had enoki mushrooms along with seaweed and tofu which was nice. The sushi rice was a bit more sour than what I normally get at other sushi restuarants, but it was still good. Justyn said he would've preferred that they mixed the imitation crab meat with mayo and added cucumber. While we were eating, a family of three behind us were being really fussy. The mother (who looked like a total crotchety old bitch) was complaining to the waitress that there was no quail egg in her sushi. I believe they ordered the Boomerang sushi or something. She made the waitress take back the sushi and asked for the quail egg to be in it when it came back. Another waiter came by and told her that the quail egg was mixed in with whatever meat came with the sushi. That shut her up for the time being.

Our food then arrived. I had a bite of the fried pork cutlet which was bland. The curry it came with was bland too. So let's just say the whole dish was bland. The rice was cold by the time it got to me since it was served a huge square plate. I added soy sauce which boosted the flavor a little more. Justyn said his was OK. I asked the waitress for some tonkatsu sauce (common sauce that's served with pork cutlet) and she said they didn't carry it. WTF? Oh well..

While we were eating our lunch, the old bitch started her ranting to the waitress telling her that their fish tasted sour. Gee... maybe it's because you ordered it like that? Or maybe it has some citrus mixed in it? Sheesh, I almost wanted to smack her for being so rude to the waitress. Although, I probably can't say much cuz I'm doing the same thing. Heh..

I'm not giving this place a lot of credit though, I loved the decor of the restaurant, though Justyn said that since there was no carpet, the conversation could get really loud. The environment of the restaurant seemed a "cold" to him. If you're going to go to a fusion restaurant for the decor, I would go to Kam Pai. Their food is mediocre, though I'm willing to give their dinner menu a chance before I totally write them off.

Actually now that I'm reading the reviews on Yahoo, it seems we should've ordered the sashimi. Well, that's what I'll get the next time I go for dinner.

KamPai House
595 E. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087