Home > Restaurant Reviews > Kyoto Japanese Restaurant SLC
Above photo source: Google Images
I’ve lived close to Kyoto Japanese Restaurant for almost two years and drive by it every day so as someone who loves sushi, I had been dying to try it. The parking lot is always full and I heard that the food is delicious so when I finally had an opportunity to try it I was so excited. My mom and I went here after I had received some good news and we took the chance to celebrate. Kyoto is very popular for celebrations like anniversaries, birthdays, and more. But it’s still casual enough for just a nice dinner out of the house. It gets very busy so make sure you get there early.
To start out we got our go-to appetizers at sushi restaurants, edamame and sunomono salad (cucumber salad). Edamame is simple and hard to mess up so no complaints there. My mom and I LOVE sunomono salad and get it every time so we have (admittedly too) high hopes for a cucumber salad. It’s so simple, cucumber, rice vinegar, soy sauce, a little bit of sugar, and sesame seeds. For something so simple, I was honestly a little disappointed. I love when it has that strong tang from the rice vinegar and this simply lacked that. Because of that, the flavor wasn’t great. Just kind of plain. But the texture of the cucumbers were great and they were cut in a way that they usually aren’t, in strips!
First I started with a sake (salmon roll) (pictured left). So simple but so delicious. The salmon, rice, and nori were all good quality. It was a great starter to the main roll. I got a Mai Zuru roll (pictured below) as my main. Called different things at different restaurants this roll is just a California roll topped with salmon and thin slices of lemon.
I don’t know what it is about this type of roll but I love it. It’s a staple for me at sushi restaurants. Which is why I was bummed when I was ultimately disappointed by this. Something was missing in terms of flavor. Do not get me wrong it was a good roll. I enjoyed each piece but I think at other restaurants they top the roll with ponzu sauce which helps diversify the flavors. The flavors of crab and salmon can get a little muddled, and just the lemon was not enough for me to put this specific roll in my top favorite versions.
To finish we shared the Chocolate Sushi (pictured right). This was my first time getting dessert at a sushi restaurant and with a name like “Chocolate Sushi,” I had no idea what to expect. But this ended up being my favorite thing of the night. It is a chocolate mold filled with cheesecake and topped with raspberries and chocolate sauce. If you love chocolate and cheesecake this is a must-get! It was deliciously rich and flavorful.
Overall I really enjoyed Kyoto and would recommend anyone to try it out for themselves. They have a pretty expansive menu, so even if you don’t like sushi there is something you would like. The restaurant itself has a great ambiance, great service, and delicious food. I’m excited to go there again someday and try more on the menu!