Cinkuni is Japanese Italian Fusion restaurant in North Park. This fusion combo is so unique that I had to try these this place.They have a pretty vast menu with delicious flavors that merge both Japanese and Italian cuisines.Some of the dishes that I tried here a-Mixed Tempura, Seaweed Salad, Focaccia Bread with rosemary butter, Vegan San Diego Roll, Sailor Moon, Fried Artichoke Inari, Nigiri, Pappardelle Cinkuni (my favorite), Vegan Tan Tan Ramen & Topo Gigio Pizza (kid friendly)
New addition to the neighborhood and glad they are here ! Love the decor, love the fusion, and of course love the menu ...will be back to try more things . We went for mostly shared plates to get a more thorough tastingShrimp bruschetta, jalapeno poppers to start off with which were solid .Onto the bread bowl with gnocchi, sausage, and shrooms . Damn that sausage was flavorful . The bread was soft but not as pillowy as the gnocchi ... somehow that soft bread held all that goodness without spillingThe affogato was really, really good also and i like their take on that as well .
Its a hidden gem! My friend found this place & sent it over to me to try so I came on by. This menu is HUGE! Maybe a little too huge... lol. I promise you though, whatever mood youre in, youll find something here to eat. They have pastas, pizza, rice, sushi, ramen... list goes on!!! They have it all.I was super impressed at how refreshing the protein sushi roll was. The fried rice was flavorful. The gyoza was alright - I wouldnt get it again. The sashimi was perfection. Large slices of fish that were amazing quality. I dont remember the name of the pasta we got (pictured below) but it was incredible. We added some lemon on top & were in pasta Heaven.Will absolutely come back here to try more items. Prices are worth it & portions are large!
Honestly I was intrigued but skeptical going in… the food was amazing. My family is mostly ethnic Italian, and my partner is half Japanese so we wanted to try it out. They definitely tried a lot of unique combos and bold ideas. Pokemon roll, burrata, and gnocchi urbino where our favorites. But everything was excellent.
Super tasty. We ordered the filet, so yummy. Had some haze beer. Tastyyy
Great place for Italian and Japanese fusion! They open at 4pm Monday to Friday, Ave they have a good happy hourThe food is interesting, but great. They have various takes on pizza, pasta, and ramen
We came on industry Monday so we took advantage of the happy hour until 7p. Food service was very slow but it became busy for a Monday night while we were there. We never received an order so we asked for it to be removed from the bill. The menu sounded intriguing; we ordered the Margherita pizza, chicken Parmesan, and calamari expecting a unique Japanese/Italian fusion flavor but everything tasted like standard Italian fare. We enjoyed the calamari the most out of our order.
This meal was very disappointing. I love Japanese food and Italian food. My small group had high hopes based on reviews and the whole idea of fusing two unique and incredible cuisines.Appetizers were gyoza (decent) and tomato bruschetta (very meh, literally salsa on toast).Two meals (chicken parm & shio koji chicken) came out probably 20-30 mins before the statue of david pizza was at the table.Parm was decent, although not flavored well besides the overly salted potatoes. shio chicken was literally unseasoned/unsauced chicken breast with a few pieces of grilled bok choy. Thats it....Pizza was devoid of flavor and even with a slice folded in half, drooped when you held it and dripped oil. Bland toppings just fell off as each slice was picked up.Its not like these items were particularly inexpensive either like what do you expect?. For the $20+ entrees, we expected... something decent. There was no chili oil/flakes or Parmigiano cheese or salt/pepper at the table to enhance flavor either.The ambiance was sad, the back patio smelt of weed, the restroom was dirty, slippery, and had a trashbag over the urinal.The service was poor as well. The waiter was very aloof and unconcerned with the fact that we had to watch the last person eat after we had already finished our meals. There was no hows your food or i apologize for it being so slow or how can i make this right or checking in with us. It was only theyre working on it. There is no they... dude... you are the face of the restaurant. You are on the same team. This is a customer facing role where people skills are necessary. Why couldnt he at least pretend just a little bit like he cared about our experience?Im honestly shocked at how bad this dining experience was... its probably been 10 years since Ive had such poor service/food. I felt robbed. San Diego has much much better to offer.I dont often write reviews, but I felt obligated to say something after seeing the difference between the typical review and my experience.
Staff is super friendly and attentive. I would expect a place like this to be busier considering the variety of options. Pizza, sushi, beer, sake... They have a whole list of vegan rolls and options too. Highly recommend!
We were sad to see Sushi 2 go from the downtown area but CinKuni did not disappoint. Really great atmosphere in there, whether you want to go on a date, nice dinner, or some drinks an apps before going out, it has it for you. Decided to go with the Italian fair given we know that the sushi should be as good as sushi 2. I got the house risotto frito and the GF got the Gnocchi, both were really good with lots of flavor. Will have to be back to try the pizza and the sushi of course.
Parking is a challenge, atmosphere is loud with music that is neither Asian nor Italian, nor good. Think offensive rap with vulgar cursing, blasting. Definitely NOT a family place. Interesting menu, good service. Beer was flat, as noted in some other posts. Prices decent. $50/person without dessert. All in all, its ok, but ease of getting a table is probably strongest benefit.
We stumbled upon this place while out and about and decided to try and it were so glad we did.... it was amazing! They have a huge variety of food and drink and nothing wasnt amazing. The ramen bowls were huge. Highly recommend!
Japanese/Italian fusion, how interesting! Theres a large selection of both. I stuck with the Japanese side of the menu and had a few rolls. The yellowtail carpacchio was excellent! They start you off with complimentary bread with melting butter (has a candle in it) and we also received a complimentary matcha Tiramisu for making a social media post. Definitely try a box of the mochi as well, so good.***There are a lot of vegan options as well if you are so inclined.
I can’t even describe with words how great this food is! There is a huge selection to choose from on their menu, and each item has been crafted with care. They use a true wood fire grill (most places just say they do and use a gas stove). The food here is unmatched and the heart/soul put into it shines above the rest. I could come here every week without getting tired of the taste.
Had the pleasure of installing their kitchen Suppression system and other fire and life safety items. Have to say Kuniko is one of the nicest customers of mine, and I know she is a great owner. Good great! And clean kitchen!
I went here with some friends after Pride, still decked out in our rainbow gear and, and we were treated respectfully. Thats already a big plus in my book! We ordered the Harajuku Girls roll, 2 Vegan Tan Tan ramens, a regular Tan Tan, and a Statue of David Pizza. My friend asked for gluten-free noodles in her Vegan Tan Tan, and the waiter wasnt sure the noodles were gluten-free, so he asked someone from the kitchen to talk to us. That person said he was 90% sure the noodles were gluten-free. In my opinion, this was a big red flag. The restaurant should be absolutely sure what is in their food so that their customers dietary restrictions and allergies can be accommodated.Before our orders arrived, we were served an appetizer of pizza with a butter dipping sauce that doubled as a candle. The pizza was absolutely amazing - salty, umami, delicious. The waiter said that if we posted a picture of it on social media, we would get free tiramisu for dessert - YES PLEASE!My friends thoroughly enjoyed the roll, pizza, and regular ramen. My gluten-free friend received her ramen with fried tofu, which was covered in a gluten-containing batter. I thought the guy from the kitchen should have caught this when my friend requested gluten-free noodles. They tried to make it right by bringing her some fresh tofu. My Vegan Tan Tan was pretty good. The marinated egg was just so-so but the noodles were tasty, the broth was flavorful, and the fermented tofu was delectable! At the end of the meal, we got the tiramisu as promised, which was pretty typical (and not matcha tiramisu, which I was secretly hoping for).Overall, I thought the place was pretty solid. I appreciated their attempts to be fusion-y and innovative.
Pizza and sushi are both delicious here. Plus they offer vegan pizza options. The staff seems to go the extra mile to make you comfortable too.
Awsum, friendly, attentive n polite waitress!! My vegan tan tan spicy noodles was delish!!Boyfriend got the yellowtail crudo and vegan crunchy roll!! He said thumbs up to both.Would definitely return n try the pizza!!😃Three stars for atmosphere cuz music was a tad loud!!
Really want to love this place but I’ll give it a zero if possible.Don’t get their Philadelphia roll! It looks like a gas station sushi roll, tastes like a mix of avocado and rice without any sweet taste of salmon (you can’t even really tell if that shredded reddish stuff is real salmon or not), and I had cramps for hours after having it (my bf’s strong stomach was struggling big time after having his roll too) . They didn’t even have eel sauce! (They said it’s not they ran out of it, they just don’t have it 🙃)Not to mention how ridiculously long it took them to realized that their printer was broken and the kitchen didn’t make our food… a friend was sitting there for almost two hours and eventually got her roll when she’s leaving. They apologized and gave us cakes… one cake for three ppl to share without giving us extra plates. It was a large group with a lot of us meeting each other the first time, and it was pretty interesting to share a cake with two strangers lol~
Two orders of wings, and four sushi rolls; plenty of food for four adults. Everything was very outstanding, and we had already decided this was a place we were coming back to. As we were getting ready to leave, one of the owners stopped by to ask if we wanted dessert. My love of cannoli (which is not on the menu) came up, and she informed me that what I really wanted was a profiterole (also not on the regular menu, but was a special). Yes, please, how did I miss that?!?! She also said we needed to try the Macha Tiramisu. Both were absolutely amazing, and were airy, light, perfect desserts after our meal.This is the sort of place where there are so many interesting and yummy things on the menu that you want to go back and try them all, but the things you had the last time were so good, it will be hard to not order them again.
Best food I had in San Diego! Great Italian, amazing Sushi in one place. Relaxed atmosphere, highly recommend.
Comfortable and homey. Food is outstanding!! Great service from friendly staff. Next time need to use patio and bring my dogs.
Let me start off by saying the food is cooked to perfection. Seriously. Amazing. But everything is so bland. Ive never been so confused about a place in my life. The restaurant is gorgeous. The staff are amazing. The location is great. There is always plenty of parking. Their free focaccia appetizer is so good! They even have a bar with a great selection. But its like none of the chefs are tasting anything. Been there 3 or 4 times because Im convinced that maybe Im just coming in on an off day or something, but the food is consistently under seasoned.Im not trying to insult you guys and I really hope you do well.(Just to specify which food items: I tried the ramen, a few of the sushi rolls, a few of the pastas, a few of the pizzas and the bomba.)
Had the statue of David pizza. The flavor was amazing, it totally made up for the fact that the dough was undercooked. Crust turned out well though. Definitely a place worth trying out. Not the best at any one thing, but luckily they have a lot to offer.
This place is amazing! A unique take on Japanese/Italian fusion. We went the Japanese route and enjoyed excellent sashimi, nigiri, and edamame! The coconut mochi was fire. Highly recommend and stoked to see Tiger Tiger replaced by such a dope spot.
This is the only Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant Ive been to and I hope the trend catches on. The food and service here are awesome. We got the Crunchy and Vegan Shauna rolls as well as the Kuni pizza; would order these all again although would like to try other items next time. It looks like they have a great happy hour menu too to try out.
They have found a great balance between two different cuisines (Japanese and Italian). You can get both pizza and Sushi in the same place! As a NYer I can easily say I love the pizza! All the food is delicious though. There are lots of options and the staff is very friendly.
Love this place Pizza, Ramen, Pasta, and Sushi
So good! Decent happy hour and even not on happy hour, the “Sake Bomb”- a big Sapporo plus a big sake- is the best drink deal in north park! Nice rolls- great use of miso in the Italian dishes!
We ate here for lunch and we were disappointed with the food. We ordered calamari, san diego roll and miso salmon (big mistake). The calamari was the only good thing we ate. The chef (I think) did offer to cook the salmon more since it looked undercooked. But we waited 20 mins already and the taste would still be the same.Edit: They refunded one of our orders...
We ended up here randomly after a day visiting local breweries and honestly it was amazing. We loved the melding of Italian and Japanese cuisine and everything we got was great. The staff were wonderful an be attentive, the space was airy and nice, and we enjoyed every part of our meal here.
Our new local spot! The menu is extensive and the combinations work so well together! We got the beef carpaccio, Harajuku Girls roll, statue of David pizza (their dough is the best) and the Fettuccine Tre Grazie (a total must!). Everything was delicious and such a great marriage of the two cuisines. The atmosphere is awesome and hip. I can see us getting just drinks with friends in their lounge area. Will be making this our go to date night spot!
Awesome vegan rolls, cool to see the old tiger! tiger! space being utilized with such a cool/staple sd business. Happy hour here on Mondays all day make life eating sushi regularly a very easy and delicious process 💙 will be visiting again
Outstanding Italian/Japanese infusion dishes! My new favorite restaurant. Food/flavors are simply amazing! Staff super friendly and fabulous service@
Food was good, a little on the salty side but over all ok. Good selection of both Italian and Japanese food. Cute sushi names too
Had a great bowl of Ramen (Godzilla) Staff was Great Fun space Will be back
This is The Place to eat!!! Fabulous in every way 🥰 I been here quite a bit of times since there opening and never ever 1 disappointing meal!! The 2 owners have done an amazing job. I love Cinkunis!!!!
Super fun place! The food is delicious and there are plenty of choices - Japanese or Italian or a fusion of both!The owners are so thoughtful and hands on.Dont miss this place!
Really good deal on bottle service and a fantastic pizza during happy hour. Excited to come back and try the Japanese food! Great date vibes too
The food was unbelievable!!! The staff was truly amazing! I cant wait to go back. Plus, I want to tell everyone about this great spot.
Amazing staff, amazing service and amazing food. One of San Diego s top gems
Great foods, awesome service & hospitality, alluring relaxed decor 🔥🔥🔥 Chef Cynthia is the best!!! Go see her everyday!!!
Great vegan sushi selection! The owner is really sweet and the food is delicious
Awesome food and great art on the walls. You can eat indoors or sit outside as well.
Always a delicious meal in a Magical place
Great neighborhood place. The menu has a great selection, and some really interesting combinations. Give it a try, actually give it a few tries, its all good.
Ordered the Pizza it was great!Best of all their hospitality, C.j and Panda went above and beyond. I will come back because they made us feel special.
Food was amazing ! Had the best pizza ever!! Have to try their margarita Pizza with Truffle. The sauce is incredibly delicious!
The old Sushi 2 from downtown didnt miss a beat. there are some items gone, but new Italian items are on the menu. Pizza and sushi? yes please ☺️☺️
I went Saturday to visit the new location (I used to go to the one in downtown a lot) and it surprised me that they dont have the monthly special sushi anymore that was my to go with miso soup, but they dont have that anymore, in downtown for 2 people I used to pay $40 and I was satisfied and full but here I paid $63 for just 2sushi rolls and 1 small plate and just regular drinks, idk it was better when it used to be in downtown, they missing a lot on so much aspects.
Delicious! We really liked this place. Nice beer selection, and the food was very tasty.
A delicious fusion! Try everything!
Excellent food and excellent service. Highly recommend for anyone looking for great Italian food or bomb sushi.
Amazing place! Francesco, the owner is energetic, and awesome! Check it out!!
The best ramen Ive had so far. Great veg options too.
Pizza has nothing to do with Italian pizza.
Great food even better service! Thank you Emmett so much for the fun night, can’t wait to come back!
This place was very great service food was awesome and the food came out fast so great coming back for sure!
Very expensive sushi rolls for what the place is. Do they think they’re on a beach in La Jolla?
Really great food definitely recommend. Staff were very friendly too.
Simply amazing. The food and staff are fantastic. Check it out
Really good Ramen and very friendly service
Went for HH. Place was great.
Great Japanese and Italian fusion!
Best Place in San Diego
Delicious!
I love eating delicious food in various countries, but all the dishes at this restaurant were extremely delicious and I was very satisfied. The pizza baked in the shop was exquisite. The wide variety of sushi was all delicious. The dessert was so delicious that even if you were full, you could eat it in one go. The store is large and very comfortable. It was so good that I wanted to go eat there every day!If I come to San Diego, I will definitely eat there again.
Used for dinner for 6 people.The atmosphere of the restaurant, the pleasant customer service from the staff, and the appearance and taste of the food were both delicious, so I would definitely come back ❤️The menu is extensive, so if you are having trouble choosing, I recommend the Japanese owner. He kindly and carefully explained to me things such as size and volume.The tempura, sushi, pizza, and pasta I ordered were all excellent and I was very satisfied. The fifth dish is a whole baked bread with gnocchi inside.The bread is crispy on the outside and soaked in sauce on the inside.The chewy gnocchi with the rich cream sauce is addictive🫶🏻Well have a different menu next time. I want to try it! Thank you very much ❤️
They are racists, we came in and told us we had to wait 20 minutes, but 4 white women came in and gave them a table immediately after 2 more people arrived and gave them a table, we left we didnt eat there
Total reviews rating 4.5
79 Reviews for CinKuni 2024:
Review №1
2023-11-25 07:46:13The place is okay. Their thing is the Asian/Italian fusion cuisine and a nice variety of drinks (beers, sake, etc.). I enjoyed the spicy garlic edamame appetizer. Tried their Tokotsu Ramen and was okay. The Margherita Pizza with added Italian sausage (they dont have pepperoni) was also okay. Enjoyed a Japanese Lager from a local brewery.
Review №2
2023-05-15 04:23:59Highly recommend this place! Definitely will come back again~ ❤️The food was absolutely delicious with so many yummy options.I wanted to order one of everything, but theres always time to come back and try something different.The interesting thing Ive never seen before is that their Lil pizza appetizer they give you like breadsticks comes with a little butter cup thats lit up like a candle. Youre supposed to wait until the fire goes out to have it melt the butter away, but you could totally just dip the pizza in it if you cant wait to eat it any longer.The pizza you order also comes out on of those wood boards with the handle that you see when moving the pizza in and out of the brick oven!The ramen, especially the Godzilla, is a high recommend. Love the taste of the meat soaked in the tonkotsu soup, and the noodles were so soft and long enough to continuously slurp up~The desserts, absolutely divine. Big fan of their matcha tiramisu with lovely presentation.There were just no complaints at all with the food, Im just sad I dont have enough space to eat it right then and there, but at least I can eat it for leftovers!The servers and staff are all lovely people.One of the owners also came by to check on us and saved a pizza from Falling over! Was all fun 🤭The atmosphere is fun and cozy. Absolutely adore the mural and art on the walls and they have a cozy sitting area in the corner with a big screen TV to watch a football game.You could also see the big brick pizza oven and them making the pizzas from scratch.Just a lovely mix of the Italian Japanese combo~
Review №3
2023-05-13 05:33:55This Japanese Italian fusion was amazing. The menu is overwhelming but there’s a little bit of everything for everyone. We tried their house Sashimi, it was great! Tonkotsu ramen was solid. Loved the egg and broth flavor, the pizza was the start of the show. I wasn’t sure about shrimp on a pizza but the miso marinara sauce thing going on was amazing. Highly recommend you check it out and try whatever you’re in the mood. Some others friends tried the sushi and others pizzas and they all said similar great things!
Review №4
2023-12-07 06:03:58I ordered take out here on a whim as most of my normal spots had closed at 8. I was happy to see so many vegan options and ended up just sticking with the vegan crunchy roll. Overall flavor was great, though I dont think Im personally the biggest fan of heart of palm. That didnt stop me from enjoying the roll, and certainly wont stop me from coming back to try more!
Review №5
2023-02-16 15:35:39:::: FOOD ::::This is a good place to have ramen and and a variety of sushi rolls. Theyre good at doing good unique combinations and the pasta is ok too.:::: DRINKS ::::I really like the drinks here. They have a good variety of beers. I tried a rose beer and it was really good.::: SERVICE ::::The service is excellent. The waiters are doing a great job here. Always taking care of you and checking how are you doing.:::: PLACE ::::The decoration is ok. Reason for just liking this place it has to do with the amount of flies here. There are so many, the place looks clean but it impresses me every time that I go for the amount of mosquitoes or flies that are flying over your food. This last time one got stucked in my red wine. This is probably something very personal but I cant stand those mosquitoes. I find them truly disgusting. If you seat there an take a look at the wall you can see how many of them are, waiting to get to your food. A shame, cause I really like this place.
Review №6
2023-10-24 15:03:54Incredible. I love both Japanese and Italian food. To be perfectly honest I was not interested in trying this place. Typically when I hear “fusion” I assume it’s a gimmick. Well, I was soooo wrong. After a few clients telling me about it i thought to myself it was time to let that silliness go. I am so glad I did. It’s wonderful. One of the best restaurants I’ve ate at in San Diego. I hope this place stays for a long time. People need to try this place.
Review №7
2023-01-22 04:57:05When you see “Italian and Japanese fusion,” a fair amount of trepidation is understandable. We avoided trying this place for months, not understanding how sushi, ramen, pizza, and pasta could occupy the same menu. But honest to God, it works! And it’s all quite good.Don’t be afraid to try items with red sauce, as the miso is really subtle. It’s a great tomato sauce. The pasta and gnocchi is all handmade, fresh, and delicious.Starters: recommend the garlic edamame, calamari, and mixed tempura. I’d order them all again.We visited with a party of 7 and everyone loved their entrees.
Review №8
2022-08-15 17:32:53Very interesting place with combination Japanese and Italian dishes. The restaurant is a great place to hang out with friends, nice, chill atmosphere.The staff are very friendly and helpful.Food was a surprise, everything we tried was very well done and delicious.Tuna jalapeño poppers are a must, the sushi rolls have interesting combinations and were very good. The ramen was another big surprise, broth was awesome.Definitely a place to visit several times as you have a wide selection on the menu.
Review №9
2022-08-09 23:25:36I love Italian food and I love Japanese food ... so a Japanese - Italian fusion restaurant is kind of like heaven to me ! The bruschetta was so fresh and delicious - 5 star! I had the Rachele pizza and it was likewise delicious! We also had the Godzilla ramen and the Pappardelle CinKuni .... next time we visit, we are definitely going to experience some Italian style sushi via the house special rolls! Come check this place out.
Review №10
2022-09-10 01:00:25This place is a great addition to the El Cajon Blvd scene. I have been waiting for a local sushi place that has vegan options. The fact that there’s also vegan pizza, ramen and pasta is cool too. My wife keeps vegan and she told me when this gem was coming in.Vibes are fun, and the three eating areas are different. The back patio is quiet and has tasteful plants and decor. The main dining room is festively decorated with a mural containing lucky cats, darumas, the colliseo and a sumo on a Vespa. I haven’t eaten in the front patio due to road noise, but I imagine it may be quieter than the other two areas at peak hours.All one floor, appears handicap accessible, and has a lounge area up front.For us our favorites are:Both vegan ramen (hold potatoes and be sure to have the karage tofu)Vegan rolls all good, vegan Shauna is the best imho.Pizza has an up charge to make vegan, so I found it pricey for the portion size relative to other vegan pizza options in the neighborhood.Beer taps make this place worthwhile when I just would like a drink in the neighborhood.The restrooms are gender inclusive and themed “Italy” and “Japan” with cool murals from Nicholas Danger same artist as throughout the interior.