- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Kikis Japanese Casual Dining
Category: Restaurants Japanese Japanese [Edit]
2440 S Colorado BlvdDenver, CO 80222
Neighborhood: Southeast
(303) 504-4043
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Laela J. said: "sooooo. the food was kind of lame. i got the cap hill scramble and it was okay. my breakfast date got some kind of hollandaise and he concluded that his breakfast item was okay. so meh. the donut holes were deeelish. like cater my…" read more »
62 reviews for Kikis Japanese Casual Dining
Review Highlights
"Love their spicy tuna bowl (with kimchi."
(in 5 reviews)
"I always visit kikis to get some ramen."
(in 14 reviews)
"DAYUMMM the sushi is fresh fresh fresh and good."
(in 31 reviews)
Loading...
62 reviews in English
-
Review from Ted C.
11/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
My Fiance and I have been looking for a Ramen place that reminded us of home, San Jose, since we moved to Denver. Kikis fits the bill perfectly. Its small, but not too small, clean, and serves great soup!
I would recommend it to anyone wanting Ramen. The portions were a bit skewed, mine was great. HEAPING portion of noodles and delicious morsels in the broth but my Fiances was pretty lacking on noodles and morsels. We will be back and I will update my review once more..... research has been done. Boy do I love research. :D
Until then, wait for a cold day and go find this place its great! -
Review from Cynthia N.
Denver, CO
11/8/2011
The quick and dirty:
If reviews were just about the food quality, kiki's would be a solid 4, but their other business practices and prices need tweaking for me to have felt totally satisfied. Also, the yelp page is wrong to categorize this as a 10$ meal spot. It was more like 20$ a person, but I know that's not kiki's fault. Finally, bowl for bowl, ramen to ramen, I would say the food here is easily as good as the fancier Domo, but there are little details that keep me from singing it's praises full on.
The details:
On the food:
I am overall happy to have discovered this place. While ramen isn't my thing, my boyfriend loved it. The gyoza were delicious even without sauce and my tuna avocado bowl was perfectly seasoned and totally satisfying. The miso soup and the salad were about what you'd expect: a solid set of basics.
On the prices:
In a few words: they nickel and dime. We had tea, one app share, an entree each and a side salad and our total was just under $50. Most of the entrees were around 8-13 bucks if I remember correctly, so I don't think anyone can get out the door spending less than $10 like the business page implies.
At other restaurants, similar meals have a higher starting sticker price, but include a bunch of sides and substitutions, while kiki's has a menu which is more a la carte. At fist it looks downright cheap, and this is fine if you want a very simple in-and-out meal, but when subbing brown rice adds $2.50 to your ticket, and you notice the entrees don't come with soup or salad, you start to see how quickly their pay-per-item menu racks up the bucks, and not all of the prices for add ons are fair. I mean, $2.50 for rice? That's just crazy, and the tea is just as bad.
Sharing a pot of tea adds another charge, and the pot still had just one tea bag for 2+ cups of water. To make it worse the water has a strong flavor that overpowered the meager helping of tea. It was like drinking hot from the tap.
On the service:
The guy who helped me out was alright, though they forgot my salad at first and were not really on top of clearing things we were obviously done with. I was not upset, but also not impressed.
All in all:
If I am going for a simple no frills lunch, this is the place to fulfill a craving for tuna bowls and gyoza, but if you want anything else aside from the basic entrees, prepare to pay very marked up prices for what should be simple substitutions. If kiki's tones up their menu a bit I think they could easily be a 4 star place for me. Try filtering your water or something. -
Review from Jonnie W.
Bailey, CO
9/24/2011
One of my favorites in Denver, this Japanese restaurant is reasonably priced with generous portions and quick service. The katsudon is highly recommended.
If you are looking for sushi, this is likely not the best place, but most other dishes are great. Very intimate and casual. -
Review from Shannon W.
Denver, CO
1/16/2012
I wish there was a way to give Kiki's a 3.5. Their food is pretty good, its convenient, parking is easy, nice casual atmosphere, and if you watch yourself then you can make this a very cheap dinner. I really love their spicy tuna bowl--a big bowl of rice, raw tuna, soy sauce, and avocado. Super yummy and less than $10! However, you have to watch yourself, their sushi is only fair and is way over priced. If you want a nice sushi meal, save some money and get better quality at Japango or Sushi Tazu.
The reason I can't give this four stars (in addition to the overpriced sushi) is poor service. Dinner always seems to take forever, while the wait staff has never been rude, they aren't exactly attentive either. Also, one time I was craving a tuna bowl so we ordered food for pick up and they told us to come by in ONE HOUR. For a pick up. After we grudgingly agreed they called us back and told us that they didn't have two of the items we ordered. Why they didn't advise this of us before we waited 15 minutes into our hour I'll never be certain.
So yes, decent food, but only if you are not in a rush and don't mind dealing with poor service. -
Review from Kim K.
Englewood, CO
7/23/2011
reasonable price, good ramen, but bad service.
I always visit kikis to get some ramen.
they have about 5 different kinds with good prices, but i am always disappointed with their service. -
Review from Allen P.
Aurora, CO
10/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
Kiki's is my favorite Japanese restaurant in Denver. The food is great, the prices are fair, and it's just a comfortable restaurant to be in. "SIr Foodie, if it's SOOOOO great, then why doesn't it get a 4 or 5?" cause they need to fine tune their service! They bring out meals one at a time and its annoying quite frankly! My friend got her tuna bowl first, then came my sukiyaki (which was great), then came my potato pancake(and that was my appetizer) I can over look that, cause the waiters were attentive, just not well trained. And the food is too amazing for me to stay mad long :D
-
Review from Sherri S.
12/3/2010
Wacky little Japanese joint - way too much junk in the "store" so to speak, BUT
DAYUMMM the sushi is fresh fresh fresh and good.
Some of the genuinely best sushi I have had in Denver.
The salad bar is actually a pot of Miso soup, and a bowl of tossed salad (no jokes), but well worth the lunch price.
I will go back for lunch, for dinner, for whatever - GOOD!!
Good service but not overly friendly, almost aloof, but still OK.
There is a parking lot, which is great but I can tell when it gets busy, the lot overfloweth. -
Review from Ashley H.
3/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
It's a cute cozy little hole in the wall place with alright food. A group of friends and I went here for dinner hearing pretty good reviews on the place. I got a teriyaki chicken and beef dish and my other friends got a noodle dish, spicy tuna bowl, and fried chicken in shrimp in sauce dish.
We were seated quickly and our server was very nice. She did however take the tuna bowl order wrong. It wasn't the spicy one but rather another less seasoned one. my friend didn't mind and said the tuna bowl was pretty bland.
My teriyaki dish was pretty boring. Their teriyaki sauce was pretty good for teriyaki sauce. That being said teriyaki dishes are never a punch in the face of flavor.
Our food came out quickly and was decent. The prices were very fair. you can tell they kinda gear the prices to the college students down the street because they're some of the cheapest asian food I've had in a long time for how good it was.
The decor is quaint and yet modern. The workers are nice friendly people and will help you find something you would like if you ask.
The only thing that bothered me was the stuck up ass behind me. I don't need to hear your thoughts on the how gay people are upset about so and so's death and how your last boyfriend was blah blah blah and your views of the artistic beauty of some pop movie. I get it you think you're amazing and what not but i don't need to hear abut your sexual exploitations over dinner in a tiny little hole in the wall place where you're pretty much sitting on top of the person next to you.
I'm going to have to try this place again later and hope that the people eating there don't ruin this cute little place for me. -
Review from Julia K.
Oakland, CA
One of the cutest little mom and pop Japanese restaurants that I have ever been to!
We ordered the Spicy Miso Beef Ramen as well as an order of the Oyako Don. YUM for both dishes! The ramen wasn't spicy at all, which was a disappointment, but it was still delicious nonetheless. The oyako don had to have been my favorite though. Just the right combination of sweet and salty. Who knew that Japanese food could be such a great hangover cure?!
A friend of ours that has had the pleasure of eating real ramen from Japan said that theirs was comparable, I find that to be quite a compliment to the authenticity of their food.
4 stars only because the lady working wasn't too friendly, but the food made up for it. -
Review from Heather C.
Denver, CO
4/3/2011
I've driven by this place for years....thought it was a dive and never gave it a second thought. The name and big yellow sign didn't help.
Then one evening on the way to sunflower, my husband and I were starving, not a good idea to go grocery shopping on a growling stomach. Kiki's was the closest thing to us. So we went in and I was flabbergasted! Not at all what I thought I would find. Clean, super cute and a great menu!
Our food was fantastic, fresh, and and the price was decent. I had the teriyaki chicken and my husband had a tempura noodle soup dish. My husband couldn't stop expressing his love for Kiki's. My dish was so yummy and not too salty! This is one of my new haunts. -
Review from Meghan O.
Castle Rock, CO
3/23/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Tried this place out based on Yelp reviews and wasn't expecting anything spectacular. Boy, was I wrong! The place is pretty kitsch heavy but not nightmare inducing like Oshimara so it made for a cozy kind of atmosphere.
We went there for lunch and the place was pretty full but not packed and the staff gave us plenty of time to search through the menu. The menu is pretty intimidating especially if you don't know too much about Japanese cooking style but they offer lots and lots of options and there is something for everyone.
I ordered the Han-Shin Bowl and my friend ordered the Tuna Bowl. Both were very flavorful and expertly prepared. For the price we got much more then we expected and will return of another yummy lunch some day soon. -
Review from Blythe B.
Denver, CO
8/18/2011
I used to go to Kiki's for lunch - and it was great - in, out, fast. You could also help yourself to as much salad as you want (and I have loved that ginger salad dressing since I was a little kid). I so wish there was something simple like this in the Tech Center.
-
Review from Michael A.
Parker, CO
8/31/2011
Being from the LA area Japanese restaurants are plentiful. In Denver it is more of a challenge. Finally Kiki's has popped up and there is at least one place to get a good bowl of udon... I plan on trying everything... Gyoza is good too... The only thing that disappointed me was there was no one yelling "irasshaimase!!!" when I walked in.
-
Review from Valerie M.
Denver, CO
8/10/2011
We stopped in here to try their ramen and were very pleased with it. I had the plain ramen. It had a gentle soy broth flavor and lots of yummy noodles. It also came with a generous portion of pork which I gave to my boyfriend. He ordered the Spicy Beef Ramen which he said he enjoyed. We shared a soft shell crab roll for an appetizer. You get 4 large pieces which were fresh and delicious. The crab was perfectly fried and we did not have any problem with the roll falling apart. In fact, it seemed very expertly made. The sushi came with a jar of wasabi and a jar of pickled ginger which you help yourself from. My boyfriend thinks they make their own ginger. I liked the flavor of it and appreciated not having to eat all that red dye and aspartame you get with commercial pickled ginger.
The interior of the restaurant is very Japanese. The service is quirky and the young servers dont know too much about the menu, but it's not enough of a reason not to stop in here to enjoy some lovely Japanese food. The menu has a wide variety so I plan to go back and try more! -
Review from carbon b.
Denver, CO
Updated - 10/1/2010 2 photos
Somebody's Labor of Love!
I was back there just last night and had an awesome bowl of SukiYaki (Beef, Onion, Shirataki (veggie noodle), Carrot, Tofu, Napa, Shiitake, Green Onion in pot. Cooked Soy Sauce Base Sauce) which is like the Japanese version on Pho. It rocked! Priced at $8.95, it's hard to believe this place isn't swollen with people every night.
As I mentioned before, I love the eel bowl here. My friend last night got a combo plate (Salmon and vegetable tempura) and she loved it.The combo plate allowes you to choose 2 or 3 items from a small plate menu- like tapas! There are alot of great dishes here all for under $10 bucks.
What's their secret? I think it's that this restaurant is someone's labor of love. Although it's in a crappy strip mall, the inside is well appointed, comfy and doesn't feel cheap. You can see in to the kitchen and note there is only one person preparing your meal. The boss also hires really nice wait staff who are eager to help you choose something you will enjoy.
There are very few other restaurants in Denver that exhibit the same grace as this one does. None of those I can think of are in this price range. Simply an excellent deal.1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
5/19/2010
The eel bowl here Rocks! This is the best EEL DEAL in Denver. (And it's hard to find eel deals… Read more »
-
-
Review from B C.
Aurora, CO
5/31/2011
BAD customer service. Never go again.
-
Review from Christine G.
Aurora, CO
8/16/2010
We were shopping at Park Meadows when my sister-in-law and I had a random hankerin' for some ramen and udon. (Weird when it was about 95 degrees out). Being new to the area, we weren't sure where to go, but with the help of the trusty interwebs, we discovered that Kiki's wasn't too far away. Off we went!
The place gets points for decor - it's very kawaii ("cute" in Japanese). I ended up having sushi, sis had ramen, and hubby had nabeyaki udon. The sushi was acceptable - not the best, but not the worst. The ramen and udon passed muster, but nothing to get overly excited about.
I guess the moral of the story is that if you're shopping at Park Meadows and crave hot Japanese soup, this place will scratch that itch. If you're craving high-quality sushi, you're probably better off going elsewhere. -
Review from misha r.
Denver, CO
This is one of my very favorite places. It's simple, yummy, quick and personal. I love the Japanese culture, and this place has modern Japanese down pat. A very simple, yet chic decor, which I really enjoy (it's cozy.) The food and staff are the same- uncomplicated, warm, personable, and likable. The food is plated beautifully (see my photos) and the service is fast and welcoming.
I simply love this place and it's my son's favorite place to eat in Denver. A great place for cheap, yummy and beautiful! -
Review from Dayl E.
Denver, CO
8/4/2008 1 photo
After living in Japan with a host family for four months not too many years ago, I've had a very hard time finding authentic (or even decent tasting) Japanese food in Denver. Only after really good recommendations do I even attempt to eat sushi now, for instance. -And finding a menu with anything except plain tempura and sushi is difficult!
So I opted to try the sukiyaki (classic nabe meal) with tsukemono (pickled vegetables). I was left in that rare food euphoria when I finished the meal. The amount of tsukemono was a bit small, but it was a good addition to the meal. The meat in the sukiyaki was just like gyudon you'd find in a place like Yoshinoya. All of my friends had great dishes, too. Katsu curry, seafood pot, and plain ol' teriyaki chicken or beef. Korroke were also approved by friends who don't have as much of a Japanese palate compared to myself. Portions were perfect, too (if not on the big side for me!).
There is something for everyone, and I was delighted to find a place that felt like "home" at a reasonable price. It /is/ small, though, so I'd stick to smaller groups (our group of six seemed pretty large for the place!).Listed in: Top Restaurants
-
Review from M V.
Golden, CO
6/20/2009
Anyone who criticizes the sushi at Kiki's is barking up the wrong tree.
Kiki's is more of an "izakaya", or as their website puts it, a casual homestyle restaurant. It is not a sushi restaurant.
In Japan, most people know not to have high expectations of sushi served at Kiki's type restaurants.
Kiki's has more of an emphasis on food than your average izakaya. They do have a decent sake and beer selection (but no beer on tap for some reason).
The food is very good. Authentic and well prepared. It is also reasonably priced.
Kiki's has the interior design and ambiance of a typical casual restaurant in Japan, and you almost expect to hear a Tokyo JR-sen train rumble above your head.
The staff is very polite and efficient.
Kiki's is a great asset to Denver. -
Review from Jerad M.
Denver, CO
4/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
Where do I start? My girlfriend and I went here for the lunch special. Rates well and was recommended by a Japanese friend of mine. We walk in, and are greeted by a Guy who whispers when he talks, couldn't understand him, and finally ended up just saying "2 for lunch please" got our order in, which came with soup and salad, that was at the buffet... or a 2x2 rolly table. Ok, no biggie. The miso was out so we had to ask for more, again no biggie. The salad was very good, really like the dressing. The miso... not as much. I understand dif restaurants have dif tasting miso and this one really wasn't to my liking. But whatever, where's the sushi? It came and the quality of the ingredients just didn't seem to be there. The avocado in out eel avocado roll, seemed a bit old. The spicy tuna rolls had a weird funky taste to the, usually my girlfriend and I s favorite no matter where we go, we were fight over who didn't want to eat the last one. Our spider roll (soft shelled crab) was ok, but again, a bit of a funky taste, must be a sauce they use.
But one of the biggest disappointment besides taste... the sushi rolls ALL fell apart. They were not rolled well at all. I love sushi, am half Japanese, and have worked in a very nice sushi restaurant before. That's just inexperienced (understandable) or laziness (not excusable)
I had really high hopes for this place, its close to my home. Guess ill be checking out other options next time. -
Review from anhers p.
1/21/2010
Why I gave it 1 star:
1. took 5 mins to get water
2. took another 5 minutes to take our order
3. gave us the wrong order
4. gave our appetizer, soup, salad & meal at the same time
5. it was crowded so we sat at the bar w. ALL OF OUR FOOD
6. after all of our food comes out, the bf gets his beer
7. dehydrated so I had to drink my bf's water because mine is empty
8. miso soup tasted like raw green onions
9. like an idiot, i ordered sushi (tough)
10. I spit up my shrimp shumai in my ONE napkin
That's my top ten...there are more though. -
Review from Warren P.
Aurora, CO
9/4/2007
I eat here at least twice a week. The Hiyashi is a great summer meal. It comes with cold Udon noodles, lettuce, shrimp, chicken, among other ingredients. It is very refreshing. The spicy tuna bowl is also another of my favorites. The Sushi is really good too. I recommend getting some brown rice tea. They have great prices for the quality. The parking lot is small and sometimes it is hard to find a spot during lunch. If you do go there for lunch then you get free Miso soup and salad.
Try the Chicken Katsudon mmmmmmm. -
Review from Brie O.
Lebanon, MO
3/26/2010
This is my favorite Asian place in Denver. The atmosphere is quiet and comfortable, the service is friendly (though inexpert) and the food is great.
The first time I went I ordered the tonkotsu ramen which was porky, peppery, though the broth lacked depth and I would have liked more vegetables.
The second time I ordered the sukiyaki udon which was better. The broth was suprisingly sweet, but very good, the beef was tender and delicious and the veggies were plentiful. I ordered the recommended raw egg (don't freak, the broth is more than hot enough to cook the egg) and I was delighted.
My husband ordered from the sushi menu and the sushi was very good, especially for the price. The tuna was fresh and came in big, creamy slabs atop very passable sushi rice.
I highly recommend Kiki's for a laid back, hearty dinner. -
Review from Chris H.
Denver, CO
9/20/2008
There were two things that I quickly noticed about my situation when I started grad school at DU:
a) I was poor
b) My tastebuds, having advanced past the point of being satisfied with ramen and dominos, had evolved
A fortunate consequence of this situation was that it forced me to find places to eat around Denver that were both good and cheap. KiKis was one of these places.
I am a huge, HUGE fan of KiKis. As the Yelp entry states, it's Japanese casual dining and I think it excels in this area. KiKis consistently delivers simple, tasty Japanese food an affordable price (most entree dishes are between $7 - $12 during dinner and even cheaper during lunch). I've been going there for several years now and some of my personal favs are:
Katsudon - Donkatsu strips over rice with fried egg and onions. This is unbelievably delicious at Kikis. They give you a lot of it too.
Tuna bowl - This is done Japanese style with raw tuna and nori on top of rice with soy sauce and wasabi on the side. Really good.
Unadon - Eel over rice with a teriyaki-ish sauce, awesome if you like eel.
Tempura Udon - A Japanese classic, well executed here
Their sushi and rolls aren't the best you've ever had but they're good for a casual Japanese restaurant (strip mall joint).
I like to employ the Roger Ebert "rate it for what it is" method when I'm reviewing anything (i.e. I'm not going to rate Fazoli's on the same scale that I would rate a classy Italian restaurant) and for that reason I give KiKis 5 stars. They do a great job serving up simple, delicious, Japanese food in a casual atmosphere. -
Review from D A.
Denver, CO
8/17/2007
Strip mall??? WHAT THE HELL! Still a really nice little place to eat.
I really only trust asian resturants if there is a fortune kitty in plain display, if not, that's at least 1 star off the review no matter what the outcome. This one had a fortune kitty and we were on our way...
Don't be put off by the strip mall location as I was. I saw the exterior and was like "OH HELL NO" but I was reassured that it was good.
I had the chicken curry, I forget the name because, well, it didn't really concern me at the time. Curry Katsu? Is that it? I don't know, anyway, I sampled that and the tuna bowl, the food was delicious! The place is super small and I wondered if it had ever been full because it was so clean and nice.
I had some beer that was called "The Official State Beer of China". I don't remember the name, but it was pretty much the best beer I'd tasted in a long while. I'm sure it's flavored with lead paint and sodium bromide... Whatever! Tastes great! Less....fill....ing...... a.ad..ere..&*$#e.rer@#$hh.r...... -
Review from Ben B.
Phoenix, AZ
10/4/2010
Quite little place. Friendly staff. Thick cuts of fish and just a little rice. Decent combo meals that fill you right up. Most meals incluse soup and salad as well.
Been here 2x based on Yelp feedback. I'll continue to go when I travel to Denver. -
Review from Joji M.
San Francisco, CA
5/27/2008
The reviewers for Kikis accurately describe the casual ambiance, reasonable pricing, and good service. The restaurant reminded me of a few places I've been to in Japan where the warm service and wholesome food make your dining experience satisfying. My rating stops at the third star because there was nothing in particular that stood out as being exceptionally good.
Not sure about the rest of the menu, but if you're a sashimi fan, go for the "sashimi 12." Rather fresh and thickly cut, the dish comes with an assortment of maguro, sake (salmon), hamachi (yellow tail), and something else that I forget (but was tasty).
Kampai!Listed in: Denver - great times
-
Review from Susie T.
Denver, CO
6/7/2011
Favorite Japanese place in Denver. Try the Negitoro Don bowl with Avocado and start with the broiled mackeral. Cheap sake and good service. This place is the best for a reason!
-
Review from Da C.
Denver, CO
5/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Best value home style Japanese restaurant!!!! Its my canteen!!!
-
Review from Erica A.
Arvada, CO
10/27/2008
Great low key place that serves good sushi and traditional Japanese food. Great place for lunch.
Also great for kids.
You will find lots of Asians eating at this place. -
Review from Greg T.
Updated - 12/24/2008 5 photos
I feel obligated to be very unbiased in my reviews, so after a recent visit I have to downgrade my rating *cringe*... since everytime I'm back in CO, I hit up Kiki's, and I do love to talk to one of the owners of the restaurant (I was a regular, and my parents still are).
I have to downgrade because the haphazard way the 3 combo (veg tempura, chicken teriyaki, and tonkatsu) was scattered about my plate wasn't too appetizing, and the chicken teriyaki was definitely sub-par. The skinless pale white a-cup chicken breast had been pre-cooked (no tan lines), and the teriyaki sauce was just squeezed on like some sun tan lotion on a pale breast... blaaah! I also had to ask about the soup and salad for my sister, so the service is still spotty.
The side of curry was also sub-parr ($5). I wished it was pre-packaged S&B curry, instead it was just a huge disappointment of brown goo (seemed like they thickened it up with too much corn starch).
The only thing that Kiki's still has going for itself, is that I still love the warm, homey feeling that Kiki's has. Most likely because of the wife of the owner... good job!!Listed in: I think I'm turning…, Go-Sen Ni-Hyaku Hachi-Ju, Dumb Dumb like Yum Yum
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
1/26/2008
Second to none is how I'd describe this place, and I've been coming here for the last several years… Read more »
-
-
Review from Justin W.
San Francisco, CA
11/28/2007
FINALLY, an unpretentious, friendly, affordable, quality Japanese restaurant you don't have to wait an hour wading through a sea of people-watchers to get into. It was also recommended to me through a Japanese friend, and that always speaks well for a place.
It's got an extensive menu and we enjoyed every offering we sampled. The sushi is most definitely fresh, and the udon was outstanding.
Hey, you KNOW it's authentic when the restaurant doesn't even have a website! -
Review from AfterMidnight E.
Denver, CO
2/28/2007
Great authentic Japanese Food!!!
This is one of my favorite places to go for lunch. The staff is friendly and very welcoming. The menu has a wide variety of Japanese entrees and appetizers. Try the combo entree to get a variety of smaller things. They also have quality sushi for reasonable prices. With any entree of 6.50, they inlcude miso soup (add your own fresh seaweed!) and a garden salad.
My top three dishes as follows:
1. Chicken Katsudon (Chicken Tempura over hot rice bowl, topped with a hot egg-soy broth -- I get mine without onions).
2. Spicy Tuna Bowl (Sashimi grade tuna over rice with dried seaweed and spicy-creamy soy....yum yum)
3. Hot Udon Noodles with Tempura Shrimp and Veggies. -
Review from Jelena W.
Lakewood, CO
9/9/2007
I'm not even a sushi person, but my significant other is- so, a cheap but authentic-looking Japanese restaurant in a strip mall caught his eye for dinner. The $20 sushi plate special is plenty of dinner for two to split if you order individual appetizers like the delicious miso soup, which grew on me despite my loathing of miso soup after a bad takeout experience.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend Kiki's to someone looking for gourmet Japanese food- the prices and the fact that some of the dishes don't really seem very Japanese would probably turn someone off who was looking for serious Japanese cuisine- and if that didn't, the strip mall exterior would. However, if you're simply an American craving some miso or sushi, stop by and rave over the great food and LOW prices- skip the Sushi Den experience and come here, where you can get in wearing jeans and get a great sushi platter for less than half what it would cost you at Sushi Den. -
Review from Alex H.
Brooklyn, NY
3/12/2009
Kiki's ranks in my top three favorite restaurants. I've been going there since high school -- somewhere in the late 90s -- and I've always left happy. A Kikis visit is usually in order whenever I'm back in Denver.
Reading through the other reviews here, there seems to be a consensus on what makes it so good. It's unpretentious, it's affordable and most importantly, it's tasty.
A lot of the entrees come a tangy salad and a decent bowl of miso soup, along with a massive helping of side order goodness. Last time, I got some kind of fancy pants tonkatsu with pork loin rather than a cutlet -- it came with a large pile of veggies and was delicious.
My buddy swears by the beef mar-bo-tofu, which consists of beef, rice, tofu and spicy sauce. Being a pork lover myself, I tend to go for the katsudon or the combo plates. As other reviewers have said, the combos are a great way to go. I usually go for either tonkatsu or teriyaki salmon plus gyoza and tempura vegetables.
The tempura veggies deserve special mention for being, well, perfect, and also unique. The tempura jalapeno is a nice touch -- kind of a light jalapeno popper to go with the asparagus and onion.
The sushi isn't the best in town, but it's certainly good. If you like Japanese food, Kiki's is a must in Denver. Throw down $15 and you can pick and choose your favorites, and get enough food to make you hurt in a good way. -
Review from Julie K.
Denver, CO
2/27/2010
This is one of those restaurants you can go to get a Japanese/Korean home-cooking style of food! I look over this menu and it's all the foods that I grew up eating as a child. I go to eat here at least 3-4 times a month, if not more and I try to get something different each time. I have yet to get something that didn't remind of my grandma's cooking. I haven't been disappointed with anything that I've ordered.
A few of my favorites are the Katsudon(pork cutlet rice bowl w/ a special sauce), Sukiyaki(sweet noodle soup w/ veggies and tofu), Akaman(Unagi w/ Kimchi rice bowl) and Galbi(Korean bbq short ribs). I'm not prone to ordering sushi here, but the Tuna bowls are tasty! :) I wish they were open on Sundays!!! -
Review from Jeff V.
Aurora, CO
6/7/2009
While not the best japanese food in Denver, Kiki's does provide Denver with a more affordable option for casual japanese dining that I can appreciate. Though I'm not a fan of absolutely everything on the menu, their menu is so large that I often have trouble deciding on something. The size of their menu will have you coming back to try different things.
The food overall is good, there are a few things that are simply not to my taste but that shouldn't stop you from trying one of the many dishes they serve here.
The service is decent, they used to have this awesome waiter but I believe he was part of the family and now resides once again in Japan to pursue his career.
Overall it's always a good experience dropping in. There are favorites on the menu that I can't get away from and there are also some dishes I simply don't have a taste for. -
Review from Mia F.
Denver, CO
5/2/2011
This cozy little restaurant has become a regular eatery for me. It's unpretentious and has tons of deliciousness. I love the Champon (seafood spicy noodles bowl), it's so yummy but huge! One day I will be able to finish one by myself. All the ramen and noodle bowls are great, I don't usually get sushi here because it's more of a Japanese home cooking kind of place. I dig this place!
-
Review from cindy b.
11/12/2009
My daughter and I went here tonight. The last time we tried to do this, it was closed, so don't know what happened. I have been here before and loved it. It was originally recommended to me by a Korean American I work with who had been here with family. He's hip in a lot of interesting ways and always brings good lunch, so I knew it had to be a good tip.
Kiki has sushi and what I would call Japanese noodle and country cooking. Many of the dishes are similar to Domo but the place is a simple Japanese style eatery, not an atmospheric event.
I don't know any Japanese and struggle with the menus. This one has a lot of items and I felt the style of the writing was hard to read. I helped my daughter order sushi (she knows what she likes which is shrimp and squid) and I got her some of those small crab because I love them.
The Japanese style of fish and seafood tempura rocks. I am constantly on the lookout for it. Here, though, I was going to have to ask which dishes featured cooked versus raw because the menu did not say and they were sort of intermingled. Although I like both, I was not in the mood for Q and A before dinner and wanted cooked food and not a leisurely selection.
So I ordered the Wakame Soup "seaweed, sesame seed, clear broth" and I randomly pointed to the first Tofu dish I found, which was Tofu-Katsudon, or Katsudon style, which as far as I can tell is sauted onions and soft fried eggs cooked with soy and mixed with your protein of choice and put over rice.
The soup came first in a deep bowl on a lovely tray, and the waiter served it with a flair as though not everyone ordered it. It was very good, as hot as a New York cup of coffee, and very flavorful. Perfect.
The Tofu came next in a huge hotpot sort of bowl. It was enough for two. In this case, the tofu was a soft style but firm enough to be breaded and fried like a piece of fish. It even looked like pieces of fishsticks. At first I wasn't sure about it from the way it looked. I was hungry and it looked filling so I dug in. For a minute, I wondered if I got tofu. It had a definite fish flavor and I realized it had fish sauce and it was a very clever dish--Tofu in the style of fish you might say.
I watched her eat the sushi and had a few tastes. To me it tasted good because I liked what we ordered also. The crab was a large sashimi style piece stuffed with chopped up smaller bits. Really tasty but the large piece was a bit chewy for its size. The shrimp I didn't eat but she liked it, it was the raw kind around rice. The squid was tempura'd and then put in the rice and seaweed rolls. They fell apart, either too big or too loosely rolled. The pieces were also quite chunky. So shoot me, I don't like stuffing huge falling apart chunks in my mouth in a restaurant. They were big to a fault.
Clearly, I am pretty picky about the assembly. The rolls should be tight, the seaweed should be elastic but you should also be able to bite it in two and that is where a lot of places fail. If you can't bite the wrapper then it better be tightly rolled and small enough for an average mouth. This sushi might have been a single bite for a guy who was 6 feet tall but for us it was just hard to eat.
For myself, I thought the food was good. I want to go back and take a friend and try the full deal for a more expanded dinner. I can see this place has the potential for a lot of satisfying meals.
