Karen C.
Yelp
Had a 6:30 reservation on a Wednesday night, so parking and a table were not a problem. It is a little hard to find, though, using Waze because it is tucked in the corner of Bridge Square (in the Dunkin plaza) and the name of the restaurant is not in English. The interior is elegant and the tables nicely spaced. The restaurant was full by 7-7:30. Service was excellent, with several servers working together and providing helpful information about the dishes. We started with Kani Salad while waiting for a friend who was stuck in traffic. It was delicious, creamy and a nice mix of crab and vegetables. We later got an order of the Addictive Cabbage, which is made up of crunchy cabbage dressed with a flavorful vinegary dressing. The menu has a lot of Japanese names for the food and ingredients, so it was hard to know what was what! We spent a little time googling ingredients and finally had to trust the kitchen. Have no fear, they do a wonderful job here with their dishes - so creative and delicious. I ordered the Pork & Garlic Ramen. I was told by the server that the noodles come separately as they are "dipping noodles," and are meant to be dipped into the soup, which is thicker than a ramen broth. I don't know if I was doing it right, but I ended up spooning this thick, rich "broth" which was more like a sauce right onto the noodles. It was amazing! The "broth" came with black garlic, crispy pork belly, bok choy and half a softish boiled egg. The entire dish was so delicious - I will be dreaming about it for a very long time. My friend ordered the Spicy Lamb Dan Dan, which I tasted. It was flavorful and spicy. My other friend ordered the Pork Belly Bahn Mi, which the kitchen cut into 3 pieces to allow for sharing. None of the dishes are large, but there was enough to share if you wanted to, and there were no leftovers for any of us. To finish the night, we ordered the Matcha Tiramisu, which was composed of matcha soaked ladyfingers lining a small glass then filled with plain, fresh whipped cream. It was light and the flavors were not overwhelming, just as Matcha is supposed to taste.
Since another reviewer mentioned it, I am also going to note that the non-gender bathroom is its own adventure. The toilet seat is heated and there is a panel with buttons which, if you care to explore, triggers the bidet features of the toilet. I share it just to give fair warning to the unsuspecting!
All in all, Kawa Ni is a great restaurant with innovative food choices, great service and a cool toilet! I would definitely go back if I was in the area!