Tempura Ice Cream... Oh, and Sushi Too!

Remember the : the Teppanyaki Buffet? Well, here is a restaurant located in Woodbury Lakes that serves quality Asian (specifically Japanese) food.

For our one-year anniversary (the last night out we had at Teppanyaki Buffet was one of our monthly anniversaries), Alex and I planned a big night on the town. Which was eating at an expensive restaurant, going to Barnes n' Noble, and then watching Newsroom on HBO On Demand. (Great show by the way.)

Kenichi is like this little gem of Woodbury that you never have heard of. Or so it seems that way. I've only been there twice, this counting as my second time, and there's hardly anybody ever in there. Which is a shame, since its such a big, beautiful place.

You walk inside and there's a stylish, far eastern theme with a modern twist. A big open bar and the sushi-making station laid out right before you. And the staff are just as nice as the building! Our server that night was a young woman who was very patient and respectful towards us. 

We ordered many things, but we first started out with the edamame and takoyaki. Edamame, for those of you who don't know, is a vegetarian dish consisting of soybeans in their shell salted and boiled. We had no problems with it.

Takoyaki is a dish that is a traditional snack in Japan: it's deep fried balls of dough that contain octopus squirted with a little spicy mayyonaise.  You may think, "Ew, gross, octopus?" But in actuality, it's delicious! Chewy, hot, and spicy, it's one of the best things that's on their menu.

Next we ordered the tako sansai and the miso soup. The miso soup had a hearty helping of seaweed and tofu, and the tako sansai--a cool, refreshing octopus salad served with braken and mushrooms--was a quirky cuisine that we had accidentally ordered thinking it was a soup. But it's not a dish for the timid person. It's quite strange.

The best thing about Kenichi is its happy hour. If you order off of the happy hour menu (from 3-6 pm weekdays) the most expensive sushi is eight dollars. And it's also got a lot of favorities and variety. We ordered the tempura roll, the unagi roll, and the happy number nine roll, as well as anago (salt water eel) and unagi (freshwater eel.)

All were delicious and brilliantly prepared. But one of the most impressive things that we found with Kenichi that you won't find on any website is their donburi. Donburi means "bowl" in Japanese literally, but speaking culinary wise, it means a bowl of rice with veggies and meat served over the top of it. The donburi that we tried was the Beef and Potato Donburi, a traditional Japanese favorite.

The beef, while tender and tasty, wasn't the most impressive part of the dish. Frankly, I and Alex consumed the best potato of our lives there, and I never knew that simple white rice could be so tasty. With what we had previously eaten, we couldn't even finish (note that you get a lot of bang for your buck!) and had to take it home so that we could sample some of the dessert. And here comes the second most astounding part of our meal: the Tempura Ice Cream.

Yes, I've had deep fried ice cream before, but this was superb. We had wanted to order it with green tea, but they were out (probably for good reason) and had it with strawberry instead. It's extremely messy, but every single morsel is worth the calories and is an explosion of cream, crunch, and flavor. For five dollars, it's a great treat to share with two people! 

So, in conclusion, Kenichi is a fabulous restaurant that deserves more fans--even if it is majorly expensive, especially if you don't do the happy hour. But if you go there, you won't regret the outing. 

*cowritten by Alex Ritacca*

(651) 330-2940

9000 Hudson Road S #622  

Woodbury, MN 55125

What We Recommend: 

Takoyaki

Beef and Potatoes Donburi

Tempura Ice Cream (BUT TRY IT WITH GREEN TEA ICE CREAM!)