Kai Seafood on Sun Princess

One of the nice experiences on my recent Sun Princess cruise was the Kai Seafood restaurant.

It was nice and quiet and uncrowded. As many of you know, there is a charge for most of the selections.

A tasty crab and oyster bisque was complimentary. It was rich and filling and satisfying:)

The nigiri sushi (salmon) was fantastic! As was the sashimi trio (tuna, yellowtail, and salmon).

There were great Australia/ New Zealand, seafood appropriate wines, available by the glass. I had Macwilliams semillon/sauvignon blanc.

A special ice cream was complimentary for dessert.

Kai Seafood was a wonderful treat:)

I am not into raw fish but my husband definitely loves it. Do they serve anything other than sushi....any fish cooked? You mention crab and oyster bisque which is something I would eat though.

I am not into raw fish but my husband definitely loves it. Do they serve anything other than sushi....any fish cooked? You mention crab and oyster bisque which is something I would eat though.

I found the menu on the Princess specialty restaurant webpage:

http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/Onboard_Experience/KaiSushi_DI_SP_SampleMenu2014.pdf

They try their best to replicate Japanese food. I personally love authentic Japanese sushi and food when I am in Japan and it is prepared by real Japanese chefs who know exactly what they are doing.

The issue with the restaurants on Princess ships is that they tend to change the menu to make it more "enjoyable" for our non Asian tastes. In the opinion of the Japanese this ruins the food entirely. I did speak to Japanese staff this year about eating at the equivalent restaurant on the Diamond Princess and thy said it is getting better but still not precisely like Japanese food they are used to.

I have tried the restaurant on the Diamond Princess and did enjoy it. I would like to see more authentic Asian food on the ships particularly Japanese food as I just love seafood.

They try their best to replicate Japanese food. I personally love authentic Japanese sushi and food when I am in Japan and it is prepared by real Japanese chefs who know exactly what they are doing.

 

The issue with the restaurants on Princess ships is that they tend to change the menu to make it more "enjoyable" for our non Asian tastes. In the opinion of the Japanese this ruins the food entirely. I did speak to Japanese staff this year about eating at the equivalent restaurant on the Diamond Princess and thy said it is getting better but still not precisely like Japanese food they are used to.

 

I have tried the restaurant on the Diamond Princess and did enjoy it. I would like to see more authentic Asian food on the ships particularly Japanese food as I just love seafood.

That explains why I've read that Kai Sushi on the Diamond isn't busy or popular with Asian passengers. Apparently they can get better food at hometown restaurants & it's possibly even less expensive.

I am not into raw fish but my husband definitely loves it. Do they serve anything other than sushi....any fish cooked? You mention crab and oyster bisque which is something I would eat though.

I definitely recommend the crab and oyster bisque:)

They also had oysters, raw and cooked! The cooked oysters were served pan fried. The sushi chef, to my surprise, sent me a sampling of the pan fried oysters, gratis! It was such a nice touch.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kai Seafood.

They didn't offer crab and oyster bisque when we went. :(

The oysters were great, we tried the trio of toppings and they were all good but best to have the spicy Asian one last.

The Ahi Tuna Poke was the highlight of the meal. Apparently this is an Hawaiian/Japanese dish.

We thought the nigiri was disappointing. The rice was well seasoned but neither the salmon, tuna or yellowtail was the best quality. Also the fish was cut extremely thinly, more so than I have ever seen, and that affected the balance of flavour of each piece.

We also had some edamame but didn't bother with the ice-cream.

We were very disappointed that there was no sake to accompany our meal and the wine list by the glass wasn't ideal for seafood. However they did offer to get the pinot grigio from one of the bars for us even though it wasn't on their wine list.

Overall, it's a nice place for a light meal. I wish they had a few more hot dishes - perhaps miso soup and tempura (both fish and vege).

I found the menu on the Princess specialty restaurant webpage:

 

http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/Onboard_Experience/KaiSushi_DI_SP_SampleMenu2014.pdf

This is not the current Kai Seafood menu, it is the old Kai Sushi menu. The current menu is much more restricted but does have a good selection of oysters.

Essentially the menu was:

Edamame (complimentary)

Ahi Tuna Poke

Sashimi - 6-8 selections

Nigiri sushi - 6-8 selections (as per the sashimi)

Freshly shucked oysters with a choice of three dressings.

Pan-fried oysters

Ice-cream (complimentary).

I can't remember the prices unfortunately.

This is not the current Kai Seafood menu, it is the old Kai Sushi menu. The current menu is much more restricted but does have a good selection of oysters.

 

Essentially the menu was:

 

Edamame (complimentary)

 

Ahi Tuna Poke

 

Sashimi - 6-8 selections

 

Nigiri sushi - 6-8 selections (as per the sashimi)

 

Freshly shucked oysters with a choice of three dressings.

 

Pan-fried oysters

 

Ice-cream (complimentary).

 

I can't remember the prices unfortunately.

Thanks...wonder when Princess will update their webpage's Kai Sushi menu.

So they don't have the Udon soup on the old menu? I was thinking of trying that in January lol.

That explains why I've read that Kai Sushi on the Diamond isn't busy or popular with Asian passengers. Apparently they can get better food at hometown restaurants & it's possibly even less expensive.

Not real busy on the Aussie cruises either.

On Diamond last year 34 days, NEVER EVER saw a single person in Kai.

So they don't have the Udon soup on the old menu? I was thinking of trying that in January lol.

No, thank goodness. We tried it in Dec 2014 and it was dreadful. All the seafood in it was overcooked and rubbery.

Not real busy on the Aussie cruises either.

 

On Diamond last year 34 days, NEVER EVER saw a single person in Kai.

The night we went there was no-one else there. Admittedly we like to dine late so there may have been people there earlier.

I heard a couple of people say that they liked to drop in there for some oysters early in the evening, as they were on the late dinner sitting. That wouldn't be a bad idea but they actually don't have any decent wines by the glass to have with oysters. Their riesling is lolly-water sweet, very nasty. :(

Given that Kai Seafood is in the Kai Sushi's old space, there is no real cooking facilities as such so anything hot has to be brought in. This means the menu is really limited and so to call is a seafood restaurant is really something of a misnomer.

The soup was OK - a bit watery in my opinion, the oysters were excellent but the prawns were very poor, almost tasteless and certainly not fresh or even freshly defrosted! They were the kind that you see in rounds in the supermarket at times. At about $18 they were an absolute rip off.

The green tea ice cream which was provided was quite bitter I thought.

We didn't try the sushi but suspect it would have been bette than the prawns though I don't think it could be compared with what we can get at a good restaurant.

No wonder hardly anyone was there when we visited.

They've got more space in the Kai Seafood "kitchen" area than many small Japanese restaurants. OK, I wouldn't expect hibachi grills but there appeared to be plenty of space for electric hotplates and electric deep fryers so soups, noodle dishes, and tempura should be possible.

OK, we know that food is subjective.

No kidding, though, it really was pretty good on my October Around New Zealand cruise.

The nigiri sushi and also the sashimi were pretty darned good, comparable to sushi I have had at Japanese restaurants in the US. Admittedly, it was not in Japan. People have told me that the sushi and sashimi in port, on Japan cruises, are better. But really, the Sun Princess was pretty good.

I wonder if maybe they had just picked up fresh fish, just as we departed Sydney? I visited Kai Seafood early in the cruise. Or maybe there was also a different chef? The chef seemed knowledgeable and authentic, to me:)

No kidding, the Macwilliams semillon/sauvignon blanc blend, by the glass, was perfect:)

As mentioned, this is all subjective, but my experience, this October, was a good one.

No arguments, no worries... Hakuna Matata! :)

Oh! I should mention that I liked the ice cream, too:). It was something different, and not something everyone would like. I did:)

Again, no worries! :)

Oh! I should mention that I liked the ice cream' date=' too:). It was something different, and not something everyone would like. I did:)

 

Again, no worries! :)[/quote']

 

Do they let you order the ice-cream without buying anything else there (the old menu said it was no extra charge)? I quite like Matcha products. :D

OK' date=' we know that food is subjective.

 

No kidding, though, it really was pretty good on my October Around New Zealand cruise.

 

The nigiri sushi and also the sashimi were pretty darned good, comparable to sushi I have had at Japanese restaurants in the US. Admittedly, it was not in Japan. People have told me that the sushi and sashimi in port, on Japan cruises, are better. But really, the Sun Princess was pretty good.

 

I wonder if maybe they had just picked up fresh fish, just as we departed Sydney? I visited Kai Seafood early in the cruise. Or maybe there was also a different chef? The chef seemed knowledgeable and authentic, to me:)

 

No kidding, the Macwilliams semillon/sauvignon blanc blend, by the glass, was perfect:)

 

As mentioned, this is all subjective, but my experience, this October, was a good one.

 

No arguments, no worries... Hakuna Matata! :)[/quote']

 

Yes, it is subjective. You may have been luckier than us with the fish. The fish we had probably would not have been graded as sashimi quality at the Sydney Fish markets. It certainly wasn't the quality I've come to expect from eating sushi in Australia and in Japan.

 

Unfortunately I can't drink sauvignon blancs, they give me serious reflux. I think the wine list had two or three sauvignon blancs and not a lot else that went with the seafood.

 

It may have been a different chef, hard to know.

 

We didn't have a bad experience, just not as good as it should have been.

Oh! I should mention that I liked the ice cream' date=' too:). It was something different, and not something everyone would like. I did:)

 

Again, no worries! :)[/quote']

 

Normally I love matcha ice cream, but that night we didn't feel like having ice cream and that was the only dessert option, I think.

 

There is a place in a food court near where I live that has matcha fries - french fries sprinkled with matcha powder. They are served with an unusual mayonaise - I haven't worked out exactly what it is though. The same place makes ramen burgers which are to die for.

Do they let you order the ice-cream without buying anything else there (the old menu said it was no extra charge)? I quite like Matcha products. :D

I would think if you went in and ordered it, they would serve it to you.

Especially considering the small number of clientele.

Enjoy! :)