Kinjo Sushi & Izakaya

Absolutely loved this meal! Secret Menu from the chef. Everything was beautifully presented on a wooden tray — the grilled salmon over rice was flavorful and comforting, perfectly balanced with the crunchy pickled cucumbers and red pickled ginger. The small bowl of crispy rice puffs added a fun texture, and pouring the hot tea from the cast iron teapot over the rice brought everything together in the most satisfying way. It felt like a warm hug in a bowl. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a comforting and authentic Japanese dining experience!

Came for a quick dinner. The food in general is good, will definitely come back. The only thing I didn’t like is you can see feathers on their crispy chicken skin and the seasoning is pretty salty.

The yakitori here is absolutely delicious — perfectly portioned and not greasy at all. The sashimi was super fresh and tasted amazing! The staff were all very friendly and attentive, which made the whole experience even better. The dining area is spacious and comfortable, making it a great spot for catching up with friends or a casual weekend date. I’ll definitely be coming back again! :)

Visited Kinjo during their soft opening and was really impressed by both the quality of the food and the excellent service. The scallop appetizer was incredibly fresh and beautifully presented. I also loved the Kinjo Chef’s Special — a luxurious bite with uni, caviar, and gold leaf. The sashimi was fresh and flavorful, and another standout was the steamed seafood soup, served in a teapot and full of rich, delicate flavor. Every dish felt thoughtful and well-executed.

This is definitely going to be contender for the best japanese restaurant in Milpitas! They're only in their soft opening so every bill is 20% off. But from what they have so far on their soft menu is really good with their kinjo rolls and tempura hand rolls and their beef izakaya skewers! Everything feels really fresh and seasoned really well! They may seem a little bit more pricier than average around $19 per entree but two sushi rolls should be able to feed the table as well as whatever other small dishes you would like to order such as chicken karrage, tempura that just has the right amount of breading and more! I was A little bit worried about the portion sizes of the skewers but I think the quality could justify it... Maybe... $8 for 2 beef skewers is something to think of... The tempura hand roll I had also had a lot of different toppings on it, including crab and avocado and the tempura all working well together in the taste! We also haven't even mentioned that every single table gets their own garlic baked edamame! It's probably the best I've ever eaten and the fact that it's included at every single table goes to show how serious they are! The decorations also look really nice as well, combining a modern look with a Japanese feel to it. Service was also very attentive to as they came around often filling water even if you just only drink a sip out of it. You can see sushi chefs working in the front as well as the kitchen being open. Hopefully this is a restaurant that can stick around for a long time as this spot replaces both of vegan restaurant and even a Japanese/Korean restaurant before!

As a late-night eater, I’m always searching for quality food that goes beyond typical fast food to satisfy my taste buds. I discovered Kinjo Sushi as a true hidden gem. The décor has authentic Japanese vibes that instantly lift your mood – it feels like a cozy izakaya bar where you can hang out and share snacks with friends. The staff here is incredibly helpful, caring, and friendly. We ordered a sushi platter, Kinjo hand rolls, chicken cartilage, and truffle hamachi. Since they’re in their soft opening phase, we received complimentary garlic edamame, which was absolutely perfect and bursting with flavor. The fish is remarkably fresh and beautifully presented, with all the toppings combining harmoniously. The prices are comparable to other Japanese restaurants in the Bay Area, which I think is reasonable for late-night dining. The drink selection is somewhat limited, mostly featuring teas and sodas. The atmosphere is pleasant and clean, making it great for groups as well. Parking is abundant and convenient, located in the same plaza as other restaurants and boba shops.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Went for their soft opening over the weekend and had mixed feelings. Would've given 3.5 stars if that was an option, but rounded up to 4 since it's their soft opening and I know things take time to smooth out. we got 4 rolls, miso cod, Kinjo appetizer, pork belly mochi skewer, and chicken skin. I'll start with the good: The rolls were surprisingly delicate, neatly assembled, and well flavoured. The scallop Hokkaido roll was our favourite with fresh lemon slices and raw scallop across the top of the roll, was a great combo! The pork belly mochi skewer was also yummy with a soft mochi wrapped with crispy pork belly. A bit pricey at $6 a skewer, but yummy! Then onto the disappointing: - all the food ran quite sweet - the appetisers and specials were all a bit of a miss - The cod was the best of the 3, but it had a lot of fish bones and the miso flavor wasn't that strong - the crispy chicken skin came cold, which is a bit off putting bc cold chicken skin is not it. It was crispy and interestingly season (had sugar?), but think it would've been much better hot - then the kinjo special appetizer: this was absolutely not worth it at all. At $18 for a tiny bite, it should be perfection. But the tofu was too firm, the jelly wasn't flavourful enough, and the uni/ caviar was surprisingly bland. On this appetizer in particular, we also had an AWFUL customer service experience: The server delivered the dish to the wrong table. I saw the other guest reach for it with their chopsticks before everyone realising it's not for their table, then the server took it away to the counter. I watched them verify a whole bunch, leave the item on the counter to go check on some other tables, then a different server came and brought that same dish to us. I asked if she was sure it wasn't touched by the other table, and she said yes...I mentioned I saw the other table reach for it but idk if they touched it... and she said oh do you want a new one? I said it's fine as long as they don't think it was touched.. and then the server passive aggressively insisted on bringing a new one, but DUMPED the old one?! It was so incredibly WASTEFUL. Most other great dining experiences I've had usually just give them the dish if there was an error, since it would be wasted if taken away anyway, and bring a new one just to be sure everything was all good. So we were really shocked when we saw the server just dump such expensive ingredients away... The service (esp the guy, not the girl) was otherwise slow but friendly. The atmosphere was fine, music a little loud. At soft opening prices it's possibly worth a try, but think I'll wait a long while for their operations, flavours, and customer service standards to stabilise before trying again!

I came here 3 times already the past week. It's really the place for authentic Japanese Izakaya experience. The food are really delicious and they are really nice. With the 20% discount during the soft opening, the price is also pretty reasonable. Will definitely come back!