Kanau Sushi & Izakaya "ALL YOU CAN EAT"

First time coming here and I WILL be a regular. The place is small and very cute. The prices aren’t too crazy considering it’s all you can eat. Something I worry about going downtown but I loved being able to watch my car from inside. They don’t offer Wi-Fi so be warned before you go to do work and munch. The hot sake was good and the beer for sake bombs was ice cold. Service was amazing. I love that I can order from my phone don’t have to wait someone to pick up my ticket for next rounds. Highly highly recommend if you love sushi as much as I do. I did try the sashimi tuna and Omg it was so fresh tasting. The wasabi looked to be handmade but I’m not a big fan of it. Didn’t take many pics of the food I got but the rolls aka Maki was amazing. Can’t wait to go back. 🫰🏻 🫰🏻 🫰🏻 🫰🏻

Wanted to try this spot that's really close to the house. Very well decorated, definitely a vibe here. Menu is very confusing. They have lunch and dinner All-you-can-eat, and you have to order through their app, so the server doesn't do any of the order taking. And even tho it's an app, somehow it didn't seem like a good idea for them to make dedicated menus for lunch and dinner so people don't select from a full menu. For those who just want to try the almost $30 lunch menu the app can Easily be adjusted where it shows only appropriate items, or it can show dinner items with a disclaimer of extra cost. Instead, before we can finish our selection, the waiter came by letting us know she'd have to charge us the dinner price if we didn't remove an item off of our selection. So that kind of ruined the vibe. Ended up driving to sushi masa spot and had a wonderful lunch there instead.

My First time here at kanau sushi their ordering was a little difficult as they gave me a menu but needed to order through my phone? Figured it out and it worked OK however sushi nigiri came with too much rice and not enough fish. I also ordered Unagi and it came with no sauce on it. See the picture. But I did order other things they had great shrimp, tempura, french fries and green tea ice cream and they seem to be a bit better. If you’re in this part of town, I would say come but bring your appetite snd time to eat.

My co-workers decided to take me here to this location for sushi all you can eat. The place originally looks so small and Corky little spot. The only downside I had with this place was that they made us wait about an hour and a half almost before they could even give us a table. I ended up getting a few of the tuna and salmon rolls, which were amazing, and I also tried some California rolls, which had crabs in it, and I think overall, this place was very delicious. The selection was a bit small, but the taste made up for sushi that we got. It was a bit pricey per person, but I think it's worth it if you're going to eat a lot of sushi I do recommend this place, and I would consider going back if the line is a bit smaller. Thank You

There was no wait time for me to be seated. My food was brought out very quickly and was absolutely delicious. My favorite rolls were the black dragon roll and shaggy roll. I’d also recommend the strawberry ice cream which I felt had the perfect amount of sweetness.

Food was great compared to other AYCE restaurants, I don’t like having to order through my phone a ton, but overall great place, great food. Would recommend. I took my boyfriend here for his bday and he approved.

My roll was really good and fresh. The verbiage on this menu threw me off I’m really big on vibes. So you’re paying for all you can eat and if you get too full and can’t finish you have to pay full price?? lol I just found that to be really extra and doing a lot. I probably won’t be back for that reason only.

Food was delicious! Recommend the Cajun Shrimp Udon & the Cheese Corn. The rice is small and the fish is big, only 4 pieces for the roll and smaller portions on the apps which makes for a better experience because you can try more! There was nothing that we tried that we didn’t enjoy. The fish was very fresh and flavorful. The place is clean and dim lit making for a nice dining experience. The service was a bit slower than expected for how small the crowd was. But the server (I believe Brian) was very kind, friendly and helpful! We got 3 rounds and it took about 2 hours start to finish which might just be a bit slow for our usual dining expectations. Will be back to try more!

Amazing food and service!! Thanks to our server Ash! Our table really enjoyed the quality of the food for the price is unbeatable. Although a bit on the pricey side, the quality was not disappointing. Would come and recommend!!!

Came in on a Sunday evening and was seated immediately for a party of 4. Dress code: casual, but would fit right in with something a bit more formal given the good ambiance Food 4/5: we had the Ayce experience and tried most things on the menu. Would recommend the takoyaki, the salmon and scallop sashimi and the fried Oreos the most but most of it is great. Rest of the sashimi is just ok, fairly average for ayce. Ambiance 4.5/5: quite beautiful with flowers hanging overhead, definitely the best ambiance for ayce sushi I've had in town Service 5/5: one server for like 10+ tables. Ordering is through a QR code online but still , she was hustling and got us all our food quickly and accurately (quite impressive given how much we ordered) Value buffet/5: 5/5 for me, typically I give 6/5 since I eat a lot but this place is more expensive than most ayces Overall 4.7/5: one of my go to places for ayce sushi, partly because it was one of the first ones to open inside the loop, partly because of the ambiance and quality of certain dishes Parking: street parking is usually available but if not, there is garage parking, entrance on Fannin street.

I love sushi and especially all you can eat sushi so I decided to try this place out. There is no parking lot for this place you will have to find metered street parking! I'm giving this place 3 stars for a few reasons. I am a sushi connoisseur and I feel like for the price I had to pay to eat this sushi it wasn't worth it. The sushi was just ok to me. I have definitely had way better sushi before. Which is a little disappointing because the presentation of the sushi looked great. Lunch is $29 and dinner is $36 & it's a 90 minute session. I'm not really a fan of places that time you to eat the sushi because I feel like they don't take into consideration how long the food takes to come out. Luckily it was just my friend and I but imagine if we came with a larger group. Even with us two the sushi after the first round took a while to come out. I just always feel rushed at these types of restaurants. We had to order a bunch of stuff at a time just so we can make the 90 minutes. Now if you can I would start off with the edamame, it was delicious. I will say though that inside the restaurant it's a small medium size and the decor is nice! Also the drinks are priced fairly cheap! I also tried lychee for the second time (the first time I hated it) but this lychee was actually very good!! I was very impressed with the lychee! To be honest if I were to ever come back to this place I would just come for the lychee & edamame !

Came here for dinner one night at a friend's recommendation who loves AYCE sushi spots. The food was ok. We started with the miso soup, calamari, shrimp tempura, takoyaki, and various cuts of sushi. This was after the storm so their computer system was not working. The server who took our order told us that usually we order ourselves but it seemed that he was doing his best being the one taking the orders and bringing the food to all the tables. I think the rolls (maki) were better here than some of the other places that are AYCE inside the loop. The sashimi pieces did not taste good. I think I made the mistake by not ordering the salmon which seems to be what people like based on other reviews and some of the comments that I received after posting on instagram. If I am craving an AYCE spot close to home then I will come back.

First time here was tonight. I arrived at 9pm. They close at 9:30pm. I was welcomed in and not rushed. I placed my order which came out super promptly. I ate some there before leaving at 9:30pm with my to-go containers. Lovely interior with excellent service and excellent food. Definitely going back soon. Highly recommend.

One of the hands down best sushi places I've been to. It was all you can eat and for the price it was fantastic. Service was fast- you order through the mobile website and they come with the food. Ambiance was cute- definitely a really good place to go for a date night. However, it gets really busy certain nights. I waited around 20 minutes for a seat to open.

BEST sushi in Houston! Amazing variety in the menu, great service, pleasant and modern decor. Fantastic value for all you can eat sushi!

All you can eat sushi - decent quality and price, but not overly high end. Recommendations: salmon sashimi scallop sashimi crazy salmon roll rainbow roll pork belly yaki I personally didn't enjoy any of the tempura, beef yaki or the hama yuzu. My partner liked the shrimp tempura however. The eel roll was also okay. Inside was decorated nicely, with cherry blossoms on the walls, could be both a special occasion or casual spot for dinner. For dessert we had the fried oreos which were a bit oily and green tea ice cream which was mild in flavor but okay. The dinner menu has a bit more than lunch - the sashimi / nigiri are only served during dinner. Ordering is through an app and the service is fairly efficient. Overall for the price you can easily order enough rolls to justify the cost but if you're looking for higher end sashimi / nigiri there are other places.

Came here on a whim for lunch one day. Parking was easy, street parking. Restaurant was empty when we got there after 12 and a few more tables came in during our time. The lunch AYCE does not include sashimi or nigiri so that was a bummer. This restaurant is gorgeous inside, staff were nice - left us with a big pitcher of water and really just brought out dishes are they were ready. Food was decent, I wouldn't say it was great and I'm not sure I'd come back? Undecided

As you walk in, you notice the ceiling posts wrapped in flowers and the cleanliness of the restaurant. It's decorated with a modern touch. This place is mostly as "All You Can Eat" sushi place. Each table has a QR code for you to scan and submit your orders which goes directly to the kitchen. The server brings it out to your table once it is ready. So cool! If you don't have an appetite to eat a lot, then you can order al a carte from the server. The sushi is made to order and ingredients are fresh. The crunch shrimp roll was very good. For dessert, you've got to try the fried Oreos with vanilla ice cream. If you haven't been here, you definitely should try it.

The best deal for sushi downtown/midtown. Ask for Ash, she is their absolute best service. Very on point with the menu and serving/clearing. I've been coming here for about a year or so, and tonight really just was wonderful. I'm not a fan of their rice or rolls, but the sashimi is always delicious and the appetizers are great! More izakaya style to the feel of the restaurant, even though it's nice and bright inside during the daytime. AYCE sashimi for $50 after tax and tip is a steal($36.95 pretax), especially since I spend at least double that at any other casual Japanese haunt.

For costing nearly $40 after tax for the dinner menu, I had high expectations for this place. In comparison to other AYCE sushi that I had in the past, the restaurant had nice interior decoration. I wish they had food and food presentation to match the interior. The fish cut was small. Majority of the appetizers was mid. The rolls were mediocre. The presentation could use a lot more of color to make their dish pop and look more appealing. One of the cooked shrimp roll with peanut butter really drys out your mouth, making it hard to swallow. I understand I'm really roasting this place, but I had Sushi Masa (Sugar Land Location), Taizzi ( Memorial and Katy Location), Sushi Ichii (Katy), Sushi Hana ( Near the Woodland), and possibly many more than I can remember. They were either cheaper or equal in price without compromising quality and aesthetic like this place. The only few items that I did enjoyed was the miso, seaweed salad, scallop sashimi, salmon sashimi, squid salad, green tea ice cream and takoyaki, Otherwise they would have received a 1 from me. The service was alright, everything was self inputed on the phone using toast tab when scanning the QR on the table. This really helps with tracking what was ordered and who ordered what when in a big group. Highly recommend other AYCE places to adopt this method. They should organize it better in the app, so the customer can find the items easier when punching in the their order. 100% will not return, because I felt it was a waste of money for the limited options of what I enjoyed. My top 2 pick: Sushi Ichii for aesthetic, taste, and quality. (Limited selection, but consistent) Taizzi for quality, taste, and selection. (Personally, I like the Katy location better.)

Our friends decided to take us here after a good Sweat workout, for lunch. The interior of this place is very modern and chic, and beautifully decorated. Because it looked so aesthetic, I was thinking how this place could be serving AYCE sushi since most AYCE sushi places don't look this nice, but I like to think of this as high end, premium quality AYCE sushi spot now. We were the first group in and were promptly seated. Our server was very helpful and explained everything about when the time started for when we put our orders in, we order all through the phone, extras, etc. The menu wasn't very extensive, but they had high quality sushi and for a relatively good price too. Ordering through our phone was also very helpful and convenient, as well. Their selection of sushi rolls and sashimi were all outstanding and just so fresh. I do feel though that my favorite would have to be the grilled skewers. The grilled pork and beef were so tender and flavorful, we couldn't stop ordering those. I also did enjoy their salmon sashimi and I believe they even had a crazy salmon roll or something similar, and that was also just delicious. Overall, I enjoyed everything about this place. The ambiance, the service, and especially the food. I definitely want to come back here for the premium AYCE that they recently just added!

Top tier AYCE sushi!! My wife and I came on a weekday lunch for the AYCE and it was fantastic. The service when I went was a little bit slow because it was so busy but all the workers were super nice. I didn't feel rushed with the time limit. I love the decorations here and it seems like both a nice place for a small group of friends or a date. You order using a QR code site that is linked to your table number and there is no limit to the amount you can order per round as long as you can finish everything. The fact that they have unlimited sashimi is amazing!! So rare for AYCE and the quality for everything including the sashimi, nigiri, rolls, appetizers like hama chili were all amazing. I especially liked the yellowtail nigiri and the salmon sashimi. The quality of the rice was great; well flavored and not overcooked or mushy. I'm absolutely coming back!

I wish they would come to Dallas, Texas because I think this could do so well here where I am!! I came here after seeing some good reviews and Instagram reels that this restaurant started doing ayce. Came around close to 11 or 1130 and made sure to pay at least 2 hrs on our parking meter (there's reviews saying they tow so make sure to add plenty of time). The ordering system is so nice and easy because you do it all on your phone. There's no limit and you can order as many as you'd like as long as you order only what you can eat. The pieces are small and the sashimi is thin so you can order many and try different things. My favorite types had to be the scallop, salmon, and yellowtail nigiri/ sashimi. The apps were hit or miss but the best ones we liked were the hama chili sashimi and the shrimp tempura. The rolls we got were actually pretty good too. Usually some ayce places either have good rolls or good nigiri but this place both are great! The quality of everything was very good and fresh and food came out relatively fast. Although as time passed by and it got closer to the busy lunch rush things did slow down quite a bit. I could also see the sushi chef changing so some of our nigiri rice came out bigger and a little mushy towards the end (prob because it was a newer chef). But overall I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely come back again next time I'm in Houston!

Kanau Sushi is now AYCE! My friend and I were curious how it would compare to their old management so we decided to try it out for dinner! For the location it's a good price for what you get. It would give Sushi Masa a run for their money Dinner: $36.95 (after 2pm) Lunch: $26.95 Ambiance: 5 The restaurant has cute decor and is very clean. It currently doesn't have much foot traffic so it's extremely quite. It would be a perfect place for a date. Service: 4 The server was extremely nice and checked it on us right away when she heard a crash from our table (the baby hit a glass of water). At the beginning of dinner she explained to us that we would use the QR code to order the items we wanted. We could use it as many times as we'd like and it would allow us to order whenever we'd like. The timer would also start when we placed in our first order so she suggested that we take our time looking before putting in our first order. As a result, we didn't have to interact with the server unless if our food was being delivered. The food service is what you'd expect from an AYCE so make sure to come in with a game plan. Food: 4 I was a bit hesitant because I didn't like how the old management prepared their sushi. However, while some of the rolls were a bit experimental they still tasted good. My favorite was the Houston Star roll which tasted good and had a good blend of textures. The sashimi was pretty fresh but the Mackerel had a strong fishiness. I also liked how their appetizers but their yakitori was a bit over cooked so there was a strong charred flavor Hopefully traffic here increased and the quality stays the same! Note: The one down side is parking. Your choices are street or garage. If you park in front of the restaurant it's $2 for 2 hours but if you park behind the restaurant it's free. However, make sure to walk with a buddy when it's dark since this area has a lot of people who are homeless

Fast service , waitress was very helpful as it was our first time. Food was very good and d came in a timely matter

Kanau is super cute sushi spot before you're deep into downtown Houston. The service is fresh, clean, and friendly and they're quick to walk through the menu with you. My husband and I opted for the AYCE Sushi and wanted to try as much of the menu/rolls as possible (we're not big fans of deep fried/baked rolls so we didn't try any of those). All in all - their sashimi, nigiri, and rolls that we did have we're really delicious! IMO, the rice tasted a little old or had been sitting out for a bit but no major complaints - we still cleared our plates :)

Really good quality sushi for AYCE. The scallop sashimi with the lime slices between them were built different The beef tataki and other skewers were really yummy as well. One big con was that the service was reallly slow (food-wait wise and just checking up on our table, etc.). At the rate my table of 4 was eating, we definitely felt limited by the time limit/restaurant close time because of how slow everything was. We didn't get our orders taken until 10 minutes in, no food until 20 minutes in, our bottled/canned drinks until 30 minutes in, this first plate of sashimi in the picture didn't come until 50+ minutes in, and this was on our first order--all of this on a Thursday night. The quality of the food slightly made up for it. Definitely would try this place again since it's the only AYCE place in the area, hope they can improve the service.

All the food was soo good. It's fun to do all you can eat, but I think the place would be better without it. Overall, pretty small place, had to wait a few mins for the table. But friendly and fast paced staff - and the food was well worth it.

I recently visited Kanau Sushi & Izakaya for their "All You Can Eat" option. While the food was good, the service was disappointing. The waitress who served us had a bad attitude throughout the meal, making us feel unwelcome. To make matters worse, she accidentally spilled a dish on my friend's trousers and didn't even bother to apologize. The lack of professionalism and basic courtesy was quite frustrating. I hope the restaurant works on improving their service and staff training, as the poor service overshadowed what could have been an enjoyable dining experience.

Kanau has been on my list of sushi restaurants to try, and I'm so glad I finally visited! It's AYCE sushi, with more options like sashimi and some kebabs available on the dinner menu. We tried several items: - salmon, tuna, white tuna, eel, mackerel, scallop, and escargot sashimi: Favorite was the salmon! Interesting that the salmon sashimi came out a different color each time, but both were good. White tuna and tuna were not as silky but still good. - pepper tuna: not a ton of peppery flavor or spicy, decent - Spicy edamame: had great charred flavor, nice bite in between the sushi - Crispy rice: really liked the crispy rice, had nice crunch and texture contrast to the sushi, spicy tuna topping was just okay - Masago nigiri: good, standard - Miso soup: good, standard miso soup - Seaweed salad: good, standard - Tuna guacamole roll: the guacamole tasted like plain mashed avocado, could taste the truffle soy sauce on top, was okay - Crazy salmon roll: had fried salmon inside which was different. I don't like cream cheese, so this wasn't my favorite. Not spicy - Spicy salmon roll: I liked the seared salmon and sauces on top - Caterpillar roll: good, standard - chicken, beef, and pork belly skewers: all just okay, I wouldn't get these again but the pork belly was the best out of the three - Green tea ice cream: light green tea flavor, refreshing, creamy and not icy - Fried Oreos: crispy light batter on the outside, regular Oreo on the inside, liked that they didn't use double stuff Oreos They did run out of eel which was disappointing. Parking was difficult as well. The restaurant was nicely decorated and clean. The restaurant is not too big, so you might have to wait a bit for a table. You order everything from a QR code on the table; our food was brought out fast and fresh, and I liked that we didn't have to flag down an employee to add more dishes.

This was my first time dining at an AYCE sushi restaurant in over 7 years! The restaurant is fairly small, but it's cute. There's (paid) street parking and a lot across the street that's free. LIKES: -You can order everything from your phone with the QR code and the server brings out your food. -Salmon sashimi was not bad. -I like that all the pieces are small so you can try a little bit of everything. DISLIKES: -The rice was awful. Some parts were overcooked and mushy, and other parts were hard. It definitely ruined the experience. I did not enjoy any of the nigiris or sushi rolls because of this. -The ginger looked dark and old. -Scallop and tuna nigiri did not taste fresh. -Miso soup was too salty. -Beef and pork skewers were chewy. I feel like we all forced ourselves to eat everything so that we wouldn't be charged extra $$ for not finishing our food. I heard that Kanau used to not be an AYCE sushi spot, and apparently tasted better then. Overall, I did not enjoy my experience here.

If you're not sure if taking the drive out to the depths of hell, AKA Downtown Houston is worth trying this place, let me tell you now, it's absolutely worth it if you love quality sushi at killer prices. Kanau is a small yet spacious, beautiful restaurant which offers high quality sushi, in unlimited amounts in their all you can eat deal. I love nigiri and sashimi, however it can be a bit expensive, ordering high quantities of it, with a large appetite. They have an extensive variety of fish, and also offer delicious rolls, appetizers, and desserts. Employees are friendly, however don't assist you much as the order process is made through a tablet, where you order your food on an online menu, and it is brought out by your hostess. My expectations were exceeded, and this is one of my favorite AYCE sushi places now!

AYCE sushi is great! I like that you can just order from your phone. Everything tastes pretty fresh. They don't make their rolls full of rice. Good fish to rice ratios.

I seldom give one star reviews, almost never. Honestly, the quality of sushi here is subpar compared to other AYCE places. The portions are also small, and unsatisfying. I went here with my brother, and I had a stomachache the day after and my brother had a stomach virus. However, this place would have gotten a 3 star review, as service is amazing and the takoyaki is pretty good. Good enough to save the restaurant from other disappointments. Only if it were not for the owner sending violent threats to my brother being honest in his Google review. He threatened to beat my family up and send them to the hospital over a Google review which is just bad business practice, and discourteous. Proof below of the threats, and sushi that I ate here.

Traveled all the way to Houston from San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. The fist time to Texas, My first dinner at Kanau . Tataki is so delicious. I will have to try it again if I back to Houston. And you don't want to miss it. Variety of sushi and nigiris . All looks great, I really want to try all of them . But，the sashimi is thinner and smaller than I expected. Will try again and this place is recommend.

The worst dinning experience I ever had, and the worst Japanese food I ever had in Houston and I eat sashimi/Japanese often. I'm now traumatized... First off, they were out of a lot of things off the menu. I expected some level of descent but no... Second, I ordered sake and the sake cup came dirty, lipstick still on the cup. I sent it back came still dirty. The server looked at me like why are you complaining....he was so rude. Third, the quality food was absolutely terrible, only thing that was decent was yellowtail & eel sashimi. Everything else is like whatever, a day old rolls at a Chinese buffet might taste better than what they serve here. And lastly, Don't bother asking for a manager bcs he will argue on and on and never apologize. Throw courtesy out the window bcs they seem to take false pride in their food as a child takes a pride in his art work as if is Picasso. So if you say it was not edible, he will tell you ask anybody nobody has a problem with his food so far. Ok whatever. So personally, this is when I got so pissed: the server tried to charge xtra for the handroll I didn't eat bcs it was terrible. I took a bite but didn't eat it bcs it was just not edible even if I was starving for days. Spicy tuna handroll came out humongous, already visibly displeasing and it tasted awful. I could have made one better with plain rice and some canned tuna and nori The server never asked how the food or our dinning experience was at the restaurant. When the restaurant manager came out, he was no better. He argued and argued. Even when I said this was upsetting me and I wanted my check so I could leave, he stood there and went on and on how his food was good. How he take pride in shitty quality of food is sad, perhaps he never dined out or never search for good restaurants. How foolish are these folks? It's easy to have one visit but hard to have one coming back day after day, yr after yr. This is how these businesses don't last. Look at Oishi, Teppay. Izakaya wa, you name it. See how they serve food and treat their customers. Worst ever dining experience, total waste of money. I don't recommend if you like Japanese food, go somewhere else. Worst food ever. The worst ever. Fuck this place. Really, FUCK this place Oh and by the way, woke up with cramps & diarrhea. Can't believe I had to pay $45 for this diarrhea food.

We were on our way to a food truck and stopped by Kanau only because I had to use the rest room. We noticed they had happy hour from 4-7pm so we grabbed a seat at the bar and reviewed the menu. They probably have the most extensive happy hour menu I've ever seen and the prices were great. $6 cocktails (and not cheap liquor) and the sushi was delicious. They even have nigiri on the happy hour menu which is insane. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and the staff was super pleasant. The only downside for them is they are situated in the worst location as you'll never notice they are there if you aren't looking for them. This is why they have happy hour all Sunday and 4-7pm every other day. I highly recommend this place and I'll be back on Sunday!

The all you can eat sushi experience is definitely worth it. Loved the Louisiana roll, pork belly, sashimi, maki rolls, and beef carpaccio. That fried ore with ice cream was a perfect ending! It was a slow Monday so service was great the facilities were clean and neat too.

This was my second time ordering via a delivery app. The first time I was really impressed, everything was pretty yum. I really need to make my way there in person, to enjoy this place fresh. I gotta figure out their parking situation. Because I got delivery, I can't comment on service or ambiance, so I'll focus on the food. Food - I'm deep into hand rolls lately, so I ordered the spicy salmon HR, spicy tuna HR, and shrimp tempora HR. I wasn't really a fan of the shrimp tempora HR (but maybe it would taste better fresh?). I really enjoyed the spicy salmon HR. It was my fav out of everything I ordered. They were $6,$7,$8 a piece. For the rolls, I ordered the Fire Mountain Roll - it was fine, there was heat, but no fire, I was fine with that, but I was expecting a bit more. Shaggy Roll- exactly as one would expect, classic/faithful. The TX roll- it was good. The Scallop meets Sake Roll was the most expensive of all the rolls $18, I don't know if it matched my expectations. Honestly, all of the rolls kind of muddled together, flavor-profile & texture wise. Which, maybe I should blame on delivery instead of the product. It was good, I wanted it to be great, but due to my positive first experience, I'm giving it 4/5. I plan to visit in person and update my review, I'm hoping it's way yum. No pics, but it did happen!

The decor inside Kanau is so aesthetic! The restaurant itself is pretty small and I think the tables are a little close together. We also felt as if it might have been a little short staffed as the waiters were constantly running around and things seemed like they kept piling on dirty tables. AYCE was roughly $40 a person which seemed a little expensive but it was convenient to be able to use your phone to order by scanning a QR code so you don't have to flag down a waiter. We loved the appetizers! Calamari looked like onion rings lol but they had a nice crunch to it. Crispy rice & takoyaki were flavorful. Beef skewer was good. The quality of the sashimi omg melts in your mouth. Although it was a little disappointing because when we tried to order some more tuna & pepper tuna sashimi on the second round, it wouldn't let us because apparently the kitchen was running low on stock. It was only 8:30 PM at the time and there were still lots of people coming in through the doors to eat dinner. So that affected the experience a little for us. The specialty rolls came out together and were arranged nicely on a huge plate but they were just okay, I would say I've had better rolls at a different AYCE sushi place my family frequents. The ice cream at the end was good and my parents who ate a la carte surprisingly got ice cream for free so that was a nice touch.

Ambiance: This location is located in the corner of a mid rise apartment complex. The interior is decorated very well and it seems they have used the maximum capacity of space with dining area. Service: Deep breath... while I want to give this place a higher review, I am not able to do so. We witnessed two new employees walk in and without formal training, they were out straight to work. The kitchen staff and the servers seemed to have major disconnect with communication. Multiple customers walked out on their tab due to the wait. I ordered food and the table next to us received it and they were sat 45 minutes after we arrived. The cost of an all you can eat was $73.90 with a discount of $11.08 after presenting a yelp review which is why I am writing one to be honest. We felt bad to walk out of the restaurant because that is not who we are as people. Others had no issues in doing so. While I wish I could post a positive experience, I do hope the best for the new owners. They seemed to be very kind people who just need to figure out how to properly manage an all you can eat restaurant. Disclaimer this restaurant just opened up a few days ago. Food: The food was pretty good considering the service. We ordered more but I lost interest in taking more photos due to the wait in between the food being delivered.

The first time I visited Kanau was for drinks only. I was in need of a Lychee Martini. Since I was on that side of town, I decided to check the place out. The ambience was so cute! The host was very welcoming. I was shocked to see how empty it was. However, I did arrive around 4-4:15. Lychee Martini- was very refreshing. It's more on the sweeter side but I enjoyed my drink. Although, I only had drinks, the service from the staff was amazing. I went back the next day to try the food and it did not disappoint. The fish and hot grilled items all tasted fresh and prepared nicely. They have many options to choose from on the all you can eat menu. They drinks are inexpensive but they do include a few drinks in the AYCE menu. I opted for the Lychee Martini which only costed around $8-9. I will most definitely be returning again very soon!

I got a Lychee martini and tried the salmon nigiri, yellowtail sashimi, tuna crispy rice and a few other things which were all really good. I will be back hungrier next time because it's a such a good deal and great quality for all you can eat sushi I went in the middle of the afternoon so it wasn't packed but things picked up as I was leaving. Our waiter did well with suggestions and the restaurant was beautiful.

I really like this place. They've added an all you can eat menu for $35 per person. The food is always good, the place is cute, parking is a bit crowded but I mean it's Houston. What's new! Service was ok. It's on and off every time I come here.

Came here for the opening weekend of AYCE at this location- weekends are dinner price all day. The food is really nicely plated, perfect for photos, and the restaurant itself is very modern looking. This location is inside the loop, so parking is a bit tight, but there is paid street parking available. The service was not bad, they are a bit slow, and our server missed a few nigiri items that we ordered. They do have a 90 mins time limit, so hopefully service picks up when they get busier cause we waited probably 10 mins to order and another 30 before the bulk of our food came. I would recommend sticking to the rolls and hand rolls for raw fish. The nigiri wasn't bad, but the rice at times was a bit hard and that's less noticeable when it's in a roll. The appetizers all came out hot, and were tasty. I would also recommend bringing a jacket if you run cold because I had goosebumps at the end of my meal. They do give you 15% off if you leave a Yelp review.

The service and host were great, but the nigiri and sashimi took 50 minutes to come out. The skewers were cold. Food taste okay. It's unfortunately the best items were the chicken nuggets and takoyaki. Yes... I said the nuggets. Everything else was meh. Definitely not going to crave this place. Pro: the inter

We tried the six course tasting at Kanau last night and were absolutely delighted with the experience. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and has a very tranquil feel to it, and the owner was warm and attentive. All the food was delicious, but the standouts to me were the sushi course and the mussels. The broth for the mussels was so good that I could have picked up the bowl and drank it. I can't wait to come back and try some of the flights. I also really liked that even on Saturday night in Midtown, it wasn't too loud inside the restaurant and I could easily hear the person I was with. Highly recommend this place for a nice date!

This is probably one of the worse dining experiences I have had. None of the nigiri's, flights, foie gras or any premium sushi was available. Even the calamari was different from the photos. It was like calamari you find at buffets lol. 1. Half or more of the food items you see on yelp is not available. 2. They are extremely short staffed so the service was poor. 3. I was looking forward to the items I saw on here and none of them were available, so we ended up getting the AYCE which was pretty uneventful. We ordered 10 items to start and half of them came out in 20 minutes. 40 minutes went by, so I just canceled the rest of the order. Went ahead and paid the bill for AYCE, when we really didn't do ayce. I hate to write bad reviews but I feel like people should be aware of what they are getting themselves into. The bar tender was nice but he definitely needed help. So I still left him a good tip. Running a restaurant is not easy. My family owns one but you have to be able to provide not only good and consistent food but good service as well. Both of these were lacking. A reflection of poor leadership and management Just know if you are coming here looking for premium sushi, it ain't it.

What a delightful dinner - so glad we tried this out during HRW. The place is small, as other reviewers have said, but it didn't feel crammed. The service was first class - Alyssa was knowledgeable about the menu and spoke to it like a true foodie. Yes, the portions are small, so it is pricy, but I thought it was worth it. Parking was not difficult - you can valet in covered parking or street park (metered or unmetered). I recommend the metered - the unmetered side looked shady. Onto the food! High level - there was nothing I did not like. The only thing I would pass on next time is the roll - it was good but I'd rather try something else. Every sushi place tries to put their own spin on things, but often I feel like it's just slight variations of the same thing. Kanau was different. I saw things I hadn't seen before and the flavor combinations were on point. Everything was beautifully plated too, which is always nice. Mori Sake 5/5: There are only 3 pieces of lightly seared salmon in this dish, but there was something about the combination of the roe and the yuzu soy dip that made it so good. And yes, the salmon melted in my mouth. It was darn good. Diced Shrimp Tempura 5/5: This was the surprise of the night for me. I was expecting glorified popcorn shrimp, but it was so much better than that. It was actual big shrimp cut up into pieces and fried delicately to perfection. Sprinkled with togarashi (just a hint of spicy), the shrimp were tender and I would actually order this again. The chili aioli was nothing I haven't seen before, but it was a nice tough for the shrimp. 9 pc sashimi (chef's selection) 5/5: We ended up with salmon, escolar, and albacore. Both the escolar and albacore were lightly seared on the outside, which was interesting. But what made this stand out from other quality fish was that each set was sprinkled with some sort of zest. The salmon had an orange zest and the citrus note was wonderful on the palate. I don't remember what the other zests were, but the orange paired with the salmon was the best in my opinion. I did think the sashimi slices could have been a wee thicker. Summer roll 3/5: This was just a regular roll to me. Nothing special, but the fish to rice ratio was good. It wasn't just a giant ball of rice. Crab noodles 5/5: This was another nice surprise. The flavor was rich and complex. There was a smokiness to it and the seafood broth at the bottom was just enough to moisten the noodles. I could probably eat a big bowl of this. Chicken & mochi 4/5: I'm always wary of dry chicken, but this was perfectly cooked and the mochi waffle definitely had that mochi chew to it, which was interesting. Another surprise for the night! White chocolate raspberry cake 4/5 and Tiramisu 4/5: Both were solid desserts - delicate and not overly sweet. But it was even better when you combined a slice of each into one bite. The lemon mousse from the raspberry cake and the coffee/dark chocolate all mixed together was yum. I'm sure this is not what the chef intended, but we had some fun with our dessert and it panned out. Off the HRW menu, we also ordered some other items just to get a better feel of the place: Venus 5+/5: My favorite of the night!! The scallop just melted in my mouth. The richness of the uni on top was so good. I am still thinking about this. If you get nothing else, get this one. Uni Toast 4/5: I love anything with uni, so I can't really complain about this guy, but it is just one piece $16 - two small bites if you want. Although it was good, I wouldn't get it again at that price. Serrano Hamachi 5+/5: Something I have never seen anywhere else. The ponzu dipping sauce is actually a gelatin at the bottom of the plate. So you can scoop up as much as you want and customize how much ponzu you get with each hamachi slice. The hamachi are also topped with squid ink chips for a nice crunch with each bite. I spent about 15 min eating my 3 slices (comes with 6) because I was savoring each bite. Second favorite! Drinks 4/5: We got the Life is Good and some kind of Mango drink. Both were okay - what I really liked was the giant tower of ice in the glass so that the ice doesn't melt too quickly and when it doesn't it isn't disproportionate on top. We are looking forward to coming back for the omakase!

A great all you can eat sushi that's worth the price. There was a good selection of tasty and fresh sashimi that you could order as much as you wanted. The specialty sushi was also very delicious. They also had other kinds of typical Japanese restaurants such as crab rangoon and tempura.

This place is pretty good considering that they just started doing the "All you can eat" The menu has decent variety with lots of fresh sashimi (fish)! Even though it's a bit pricey, you do get what you paid for, meaning amazing service, and beautiful restaurant with such a nice vibe. Worth trying for sure

i've dined here for the ayce dinner a few times now. i enjoy the food here, but the wait time is frustrating and sometimes unbearable. they have many menu items to choose from. the sashimi for the most part is good quality and has a good variety! the rolls are well made and i liked the hand rolls and nigiri as well. i actually really enjoy the eel nigiri and salmon nigiri here. the fried calamari was pleasantly light and crispy. dessert was good but nothing noteworthy. we tried the kebabs but it was very chewy and overcooked and i wasn't a fan of the takoyaki here . i love the interior furnishing and lighting, and the floral decorations are so pretty! however, the loud edm music blasting in the background ruins the atmosphere. when we addressed our complaints, staff said they couldn't do anything as it is the volume the manager has mandated. i understand this, but unfortunately the loudness puts me off from wanting to return again. they also seem very understaffed with wait staff noticeably stressed and having to be everywhere at once.

If looks could kill Kanau Sushi would be on an FBI wanted poster. They've put thought into their presentation and everything was beautiful. Each dish lead you to believe that something magical was afoot. Then, we took a bite and the illusion was shattered. While the sashimi was fresh, most everything else was lacking any kind of personality or memorable flavor. The exception to the overall subpar experience was the Chicken and Mochi. The honey is subtly sweet and added complexity to an otherwise uneventful flavor profile. To be fair, their cocktails are exceptional. I would comment on their desserts, but I'm bored by my own review and won't trouble you further. (Okay, I lied: dessert review) if you are coming to Kanau, skip the sushi, grab the desserts. Their green tea ice cream was a perfect way to end my night. The white chocolate raspberry cake was also pretty tasty.

Still a five star experience! Leon was a great help with everything during my last visit and he provided plenty of information and suggestions regarding the menu. I particularly liked the Belly Flight and Smoking Ghost this time around, but I will always recommend the Truffle Egg Confit. Also, the Thai Cowboy was amazing! I'm not usually big on rolls, but I will always order that when I come back. I hope more people eat at Kanau because they have a lot to offer with their food and drinks. I also really like the overall atmosphere, which is perfect for a date night!

A small group of us came by for dinner on a week night. We asked for a reservation at the sushi bar to have more interaction with the chef and it was a great idea (shoutout to Chef Andy!). Located in the first floor of what looks like a luxury high rise, the outside and inside are very nicely designed and portray a very modern and clean aesthetic. The interior is especially impressive, especially compared to its peers (high end sushi spots in Houston). Parking can be a slight pain; there are free street parking but spots are limited and you better be good at parallel parking. There's also paid parking on the closer side of the street; same deal, you better parallel park. We got seated quickly and it was fun to watch the staff in action. We got started with a beautiful dish; uni/hotatekai/ikura (our favs). It tasted great and was almost too pretty to eat. Chef Andy got us into his omakase and we tried everything from spanish mackeral to otoro along with some interesting concept dishes such as this macaroon / foie combo. The dishes were elegantly prepared and the fish is top notch compared to Kata/ Uchi/ Tobiuo to name a few peers. Service is tops and Andy is fantastic behind the sushi bar. There's also a good liquor selection and we enjoyed our white wines to pair with the sushi as well as some matcha beers. All in all, quality of the food and preparation is top notch. Price point is obviously at a premium; this is a fancy date spot and it's a nice choice for a special occasion especially. You get what you pay for without overpaying (looking at you Uchi..) The interior is beautiful and very much aligns with the popular aesthetic of yuppies. Parking can be a pain but there is always the choice of Uber. This is a top spot in Houston for sushi that is high quality and non pretentious.

Came with a friend for happy hour on a weekday. First impressions were that while it doesn't look like much from the outside, ambience inside is really great. Happy hour menu was pretty extensive - I had a glass of wine and my friend enjoyed her cocktail. We ordered an assortment of happy hour rolls to start. Initial thoughts were that the rolls looked a bit messy. Most of them were decent, nothing special. I'm a fan of more simple rolls and did enjoy the spicy salmon roll. The poke roll tasted a bit off, very fishy and seemed like the fish wasn't fresh. My friend enjoyed the fire mountain and shaggy rolls. While the sushi was a bit hit or miss, the non-sushi items were great! We ordered chicken karaage, chicken yakitori and the fried gyoza (not pictured). All of these items came piping hot and fresh, all very delicious. The chicken yakitori had a fantastic chargrilled flavor and we ended up asking for a second order because we enjoyed it so much. We ended with the green tea ice cream for dessert which came with some type of strawberry puree and was decent. Overall is a cute, decent spot with reasonable prices.

This place is super nice!! Ambiance is CUTE!! You can dress up or down, doesn't matter, all are welcome!!! You just scan the QR code for the menu and order away... my husband and I tried it out for dinner on a Saturday and it was great! For the price and being all you can eat, you really won't be disappointed. The food comes out PROMPTLY!! Like super quick and everything is plated nicely. We came here with a raging appetite and there was no way we could do a second round! The quality of the sushi and sashimi is great too. You can tell the difference of you eat sushi as much as we do. Compared to other sushi places in Houston this place is top tier considering e turning that comes with it. Clean, quick and friendly service, easy ordering, attentive wait staff, fun and you'll definitely leave happy and full!!