Kimono’s for 2

[Leota]

After Party for the Senses and Gary’s binging on sausages during the day, his gall bladder started to act up. We decided it would be a good idea to cancel Shulas & eat something a little lighter to let his body rest. (I can’t wait til he has his surgery!) Anyways, after trying to get last minute reservations for 2 at Teppenyaki, Kona or Alfredo’s, we headed down to Kimono’s Personally, I was pleased with this turn of events, I love Kimono’s.

I talked to the concierge & she recommended we arrive before 7 to beat the crowd. So we went about 6:30 pm, a little earlier than we like to eat on vacation. Good thing we did! Soon after we were seated, the line began to form at the door.

One thing I was surprised about was how many children were there. I have only been later in the evening, grabbing takeout & never seen any kids there before. We had a table of particularly rowdy little girls who used their Princess Wands as drumsticks thru their entire meal. The parents were completely zoned out and oblivious to the fact that other people might not find this behavior endearing. Even the host commented on it directly to the parents and the parents remained ineffective and the 2 girls continued to bang their way thru the night. Ah well, it is Disney, right?

Anyways, I decided to live it up & have a cocktail. I had been reserving alcohol for just tastings thus far. But, finding out that I like Plum Wine & I like Sake, a Tokyo Rose combining the 2 sounded perfect. It was delicious, but a bit stronger than I am used to, so I sipped very slowly. Gary had a couple sips too.

For starters, we ordered soup. I had the Miso (I love that stuff) Gary had the Spicy Thai Egg Drop. If we had known that Gary’s serving was for 2, I would have skipped the Miso. Both were delicious. I loved Gary’s spicy Thai with it’s bit of zing & the fresh cilantro brightness.

Next came the Kobe Beef & Duck Satay. OMG! This was amazing. Two tender, succulent skewers of Kobe beef, done medium and the same for duck with a wonderful satay sauce for dipping. That’s a new must-do for us, I’m sure. We also had one of my favorites, the Lollipop roll assortment. This night’s rolls were Tuna, Cucumber, Mexican, Kimono & Rainbow.

Next came the Nigiri – We had an order (2 pcs) each of White Tuna, Salmon & Smoked Salmon. The smoked salmon was an accident, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It had a very light smoked flavor, not like the heavy smoked salmons I have had elsewhere. The fresh salmon was buttery smooth as always. But the stand-out for me was the amazingly wonderful White Tuna. It put the white tuna I am used to here at home to shame. It was so fresh, so smooth, it was just a Happy Dance for the taste buds.

The last thing we ordered was something completely new to us. It was called the Surf & Turf: Surf & Turf - Kobe Beef & Alaskan King Crab, Hibiscus Salt & Bee Pollen Crunch. This was a roll of cooked King Crab, wrapped in Bee Pollen Crunch, in raw Kobe Beef, served on a plate sprinkled with hibiscus salt. I loved the beef, liked the bee pollen crunch even tho it was a bit soggy & enjoyed the pretty pink Hibiscus salt. The crab, however, didn’t taste super fresh to me & put me off enjoying this dish. Gary & I decided it was not a repeat for us.


Kimono’s has been a favorite of mine for take out to enjoy in bed with a movie, but I think it’s a new must-do for dinner. Even tho we aren’t much into the Karaoke thing, I think we’ll try to eat later, even with the wait. Those little drummer girls really detracted from the experience. If they hadn’t been at the table right next to us, I’m sure we wouldn’t have been bothered by them. It was just bad luck. Don’t get me wrong, they were cute kids, I love kids, I just wished their parents had thought that there were other people in the restaurant who might not like continual banging. It wasn’t the kids fault, but the parents for not teaching them how to act in a restaurant.

After dinner, we strolled the Boardwalk & stopped into Seashore Sweets. Gary had his Chocolate Ice Cream while I had my Dark Chocolate covered Marshmallow & Caramel square. We enjoyed some Streetmosphere & the dancing at Atlantic Dance before heading off to a good night’s sleep. Even tho the night was different than we planned, it turned out to be a really wonderful evening.

 

[solotraveler]

Oh my goodness.... I must do this next trip.

How do you arrainge take-out? I think it would be wonderful to enjoy a little sushi on the balcony after a long day at the parks.

Thanks for posting this!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your review ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Leota]

I have done take out a couple of ways. The concierge will send up a menu if you call down. Then you can call & place an order for room service if you are in the Swan. Or you can call in an order & then pick it up. If you know what you like ahead of time or have a menu from allears, you can skip calling for a menu.

What I usually do tho is stop at Kimonos on your way in & go to the bar & place your take-out order there.

I love the sushi there. It's always so fresh & delicious. I enjoyed trying some of their other offerings.

 

[Cap'n Jack's Hat]

I knoow this is an older post, but I was wondering if I needed to make reservations for Kimono's? I spent my summer in Japan and could really use some good Japanese food. It took some doing but I finally convinced my brother to go with me and I'd hate to show up and have them say I needed to make plans with them. When I called to reservations for the character meals we're planning they said that they don't take the reservations over the phone, so I'm left wondering if they need me to make them in person?

Thanks so much!!!

 

[oybolshoi]

I knoow this is an older post, but I was wondering if I needed to make reservations for Kimono's? I spent my summer in Japan and could really use some good Japanese food. It took some doing but I finally convinced my brother to go with me and I'd hate to show up and have them say I needed to make plans with them. When I called to reservations for the character meals we're planning they said that they don't take the reservations over the phone, so I'm left wondering if they need me to make them in person?

Thanks so much!!!

As far as I know Kimonos does not take reservations. We really enjoyed our experience there when we tried it in Ocotber 2007.

 

[jfinke]

We have always just walked in.

In our opinion, it is the best sushi on location at WDW. It is far better than the mass prepared stuff at CG.

 

[i_heart_disney85]

We just returned from Disney, and we had really wanted to eat at Kimonos, but it isn't on the DDP, so we missed it this time. I think next time we are going to go one night without the DDP so that we can stay in the Swan or Dolphin & eat where ever we would like! Thanks for the review! But the question is, is the sushi really better than California Grill?

 

[jfinke]

In my opinion it is better than CG. It is a true sushi bar. It is what they do. Vs. CG having sushi because it is hip or whatever. I just was not impressed with CG's sushi the last time I was there. We had our reception there several years ago and we have felt that it has gone down hill over the last 4-5 years. It was our favorite restaurant for a while at WDW. I don't understand having a dress code when you don't enforce it.

The last time I was at CG, they basically had three or four sushi "dishes". They were all lined up on the counter looking exactly the same. Now, it is certainly better than any sushi you can get at a grocery store, which I fear is a lot of people's sushi experience.

At the same point, I go to a hole in the wall place in KC that competes in quality of food with much nicer sushi restaurants. Now that fish can be overnighted to basically anywhere, you can get quality sushi in a lot of places.