The fireball at Kira Steakhouse and Sushi flares bright, briefly pushing you back in your chair. It’s all part of the show, but your heart skips a beat when the chef pours oil onto the heated grill and ignites it. And yet, you can’t wait to see what comes next.
Kira is a new entry to the Toledo food scene, and offers up what can safely be called a “dinner experience”— hibachi-style entertainment around a communal grill. Seated with strangers, you immediately find yourself part of the
ritual, invited to catch little balls of rice in your mouth, flipped from the steel
spatula of a grillmaster, a maestro of spinning cooking utensils.
Building an empire
Kira, the latest in the burgeoning culinary empire of Jason Lam, Qin Chen and Sky Lin is also the first of a line. Here-to-forth, all of the team’s future hibachi and sushi joints will be known as Kira Steakhouse and Sushi, but the chain got its start as Yamato, with restaurants in Lima and Columbus. With other
restaurants using the name Yamoto, Lam decided on the switch.
Now Toledo has Kira, part of the new “destination of cool” that has sprung up in our transitioning town. “We looked into Toledo for a long time, but went into Columbus first. [Secor Rd.] started to develop and we decided to move in here once a space became available,” Lam says. “Our parents owned restaurants in the Boston area. They were Chinese restaurants and we kind of went the route of Japanese restaurants. People can see how fresh the food is when it is being cooked in front of them.”
Ambiance is key
Kira evokes a tranquility from the moment you step inside. You feel as if you’re in a postmodern fish tank of sorts, the room basked in calm blue lighting and bubbles climbing the aquarium wall behind the bar.
For a quiet meal, sit at one of the high-backed booths on the bar side to
enjoy your meal in relative anonymity, but if you’re there for the show — cross over to the grill side for some fun conversation with fellow diners while being dazzled by a skilled chef.
To grill or not to grill
Despite a diverse menu that offers plenty of options, the key choice is the hibachi grill.
If you go hibachi, this choice can be made with clarity: get the ribeye. Nothing against any other protein, but when the slab of ribeye went on the grill, those who didn’t order one grew jealous. A beautiful well-marbled cut, skillfully prepared by a chef who experienced a year of training before beginning to serve guests. To be sure, you’ll be content with whatever hibachi fare you select — as all the diners seated around the grill with us were— but Kira’s ribeye is king.
One guest forgoes the hibachi grill, ordering sushi, which arrives plated, resembling an ornate art display, not just lunch. How could something so beautifully presented be so flavorful and filling?
“It’s all fresh, we don’t use anything frozen. Everything we make is in-house, we don’t source anything pre-made, down to the sauce,” Chen explains, referring to their menu which includes soups, wontons, bento boxes, noodle dishes along with the seafood, sushi and grill options.
Bottom line
There are a lot of excellent dining
decisions you can make here and don’t be afraid to explore. But also, get the
ribeye.
11am-2:30pm, 4pm-10pm,
Monday-Thursday.
11am-11pm, Friday-Saturday.
Noon-10pm, Sunday.
3324 Secor Rd. 419-517-8283.
kirasteakhouse.com
