Tucked away on the ground floor of a large, rather anonymous modern apartment building, Kampai Sushi Bar seems to be a very neighborhood-local place. The only business on the West Pine block between Kingshighway and Euclid, it chugs along quietly, or so it seems. But we suspect they’re hoping for a little late-night action from their mostly young clientele, since there’s a nicely funky-looking flyer posted announcing late-night music on Sunday nights. Meanwhile, the restaurant is dishing up sushi and more.
And the sushi itself is of high quality, with good fresh fish, careful construction (no falling-apart rice) and the expected lovely presentation. Our only serious quibble was that the spider roll (soft-shell crab with its claws representing the spider’s legs) was not nearly crabby enough. The crustacean was crunchy in its tempura batter, but the delicate flavor of the meat was lost in waves of that batter.
Happy dabbling in the appetizers yielded two kinds of squid, a salad that was nicely spicy and a whole grilled squid not, perhaps, for the faint of heart but tasty in its firm texture and careful cooking. Japanese chicken wings were baked to proper crispness, brushed with a teriyaki glaze and served with a shower of green onion rings. Tempura involved several different vegetables and some outstanding shrimp. And best of all, at least for folks like us who love fish that tastes like fish, was what the menu calls hamachi kama. Hamachi is yellowtail, one of our favorite kinds of sushi, high in those (dare we say it?) healthy oils that give us another excuse to dig in. Kama is the jaw, which holds a surprising amount of meat and which is grilled to crispness. There is no polite way to eat this; just think of it as being like ribs and start munching. (See photo below.)
Entrees include miso soup and a salad. The soup, while pleasant, is unremarkable. The salad, a standard iceberg mix, wears a dressing that seems to be based on the red “French” stuff that plagued our younger days. Sweet, with perhaps a very little grated ginger stirred in, it takes up space that could be used instead for fish, and the fish was terrific, headed by a simple, almost boneless fillet of perfectly grilled mackerel, juicy and full of flavor. Almost as good was donkatsu, slices of juicy pork tenderloin (yes, it is possible to keep that cut moist) breaded and deep fried. It’s served with an Asian plum sauce. Niku tofu is a mixture of shredded vegetables, beef and tofu in a slightly thickened soy broth, more of a stew than a stir-fry, the mixture being sweet-salty, bolstered by a little hit of ginger.
Fine service, even when things were busy, and a list of Asian-esque cocktails that can be fun.
Kampai Sushi Bar
4949 W. Pine Blvd.
314-367-2020
Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner nightly
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: No
Entrees: $11-$19
Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner nightly
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: No
Entrees: $11-$19
