Kite Mandarin & Sushi

I’ve walked past this place several times since I’ve eaten here, and I think I die a little inside each time thanks to the memory of the aftermath of this place.
You can see Heather P’s review about the wrong website info regarding their liquor policy, the slow service even though we were one of only two tables in the joint and the food that was just ok.
But I’m the friend that ended up getting sick that night. I know don’t have a stomach of steel, but the aftermath of meal here was enough to put me off sushi, one of my favorites, for a while. I’ll never go back.

It may have just been a bad night to go, but first off I was turned off by the fact that they had listed on the website that they were a BYOB. I went out of my way to pick up a bottle of wine and then got there to find out that wasn’t the case any longer. They had a full bar with not-​so-​good wine with hiked up prices. I would have just rather drank my own and paid the corkage fee. So that was the first problem. If you change something about the restaurant, the website should be updated to reflect that.
The next issue was that there was only one other table in the restaurant, yet our service was rather slow and aloof. The other table had really obnoxious kids; which you can’t blame the restaurant for but it still really brought down my experience.
On top of that, the sushi was nothing spectacular. It was okay, but my friend ended up getting sick that night and I didn’t. So we are only speculating, but it definitely made us cautious about going back. The final straw was the bill, for the two of us the bill came out to more than $ 75 and I just wasn’t impressed enough to go back.

I am giving this place a 3 because we knew what to expect going in… when there are a lot of tables on a Saturday night you need to set realistic expectations. We had searched iphone and said they had a full bar, which they told us they ‘just lost’ once we were seated. So, we didn’t have much needed glass of Sauv Blanc on a Friday night! Brought Green tea out as a tea bag and a hot pot of water? They could have at least put the bag in for us. Service was great however, lady was very attentive (both times we went).
Now on to the food. The first time we were trying to find a specific dish we had just had in Japan. It didn’t quite work but was tasty nonetheless. And the sushi was par — toro notably good. Price was pretty good and we will go back when we need a quick fix. Are there better sushi places around, yes. Across the street from our building on a Saturday night at 7:30? no…

This review is based entirely on their Philadelphia rolls. Salty-​smoky-​cream cheesy deliciousness. Melt-​in-​your-​mouf salmon. Oh, and you can order on their web site AND they have maki specials on Mondays and Tuesdays where you can get either 2 rolls for $ 8.95 or 4 for $ 14.95.

We’ve been to Kite six or seven times now, a short walk away. I started with getting a dinner for PickUp while the wife was out of town, and took her there for dinner when she came back — we’ve been pretty regular ever since. We’re close enough that we haven’t tried delivery.
I like my food on the spicier side, not to burn but to enhance the taste and Kite is great in this regard. The veggies are fresh, cooked so that they’re full of flavor but not so overcooked that they’re limp & tasteless.
The entries that I’ve had, 6 or 7 different ones by now, are well-​balanced — not too many vegetables & generous in portion size. The Crispy Sesame Seed Chicken is my favorite, the Kung Bao (shrimp) is also notable.
I’m still not used to getting sushi at Chinese restaurants, but the spicy salmon skin hand roll (my benchmark) are good as well as a handful of their specialty maki rolls. While Kite is not where I would go for sushi, it has always been a great appetizer when dining there.
I’ve had some issues with the web site, but we go into the restaurant if we can as it is not (yet?) crowded and we can enjoy our dinner.

I’m pretty enamored with all Asian cuisine, but sushi has a special place in my heart. After discovering this new local place (new to me, that is, as I recently relocated within our fair city), I was eager to try it out. So eager that I invited friends along — come hang out with me! In my new ‘hood! It will be awesome!
But it wasn’t.
The menu is rather expansive (encompassing both the «mandarin» and the «sushi» elements in the restaurant name) but, as stated above, I was already pretty sure I was getting sushi before I even opened said menu to peruse. Members of my dining party noted the multitude of vegetarian options (yay!) and other Chinese favorites. In the end, however, I won everyone over to the sushi side.
I started out with Miso soup (a personal favorite) but ended up eating by myself as the appetizer another member of the dinner party ordered did not arrive. I enjoyed the soup, but I generally make sure I’m not the only one doing apps before I order them.
Boyfriend and I split several rolls (Avalanche, Spider, and Portland) and found them all slightly lacking. Not bad, just nothing memorable. Most were loosely packed and quickly fell apart when it encountered soy or wasabi. Aesthetically, the rolls all looked oddly similar despite their varied contents.
The dining room itself was large and dark… and empty. Perhaps this is because it was a Wednesday… or because other diners felt similarly about the food.
I must say, however, that despite our lackluster food, the servers were attentive and friendly throughout. I so desperately wanted to like the food for their sake. [guilt]

First off, D– for the website. Guess how many clicks it would take to see every item on the menu? 34. Yes – THIRTY-​FOUR! I am a busy person; I don’t have time to make that many clicks.
Secondly, they forgot my sesame calamari appetizer. I had to remind them after they brought our entrees, and then of course it was another ten minutes, so I was eating it long after everyone else had finished their meals.
Thirdly, there was no trace of sesame on the sesame calamari. It was overall rather boring.
Fourthly, the rice in my oshinko maki was hard and chewy. Blech.
Fifthly, there was a single edamame bean on the floor by my chair. Just one, but by this time the little things were really getting under my skin. I glared at it so long that I then noticed a few grains of rice scattered in the vicinity as well.
Sixthly, the bottom of my water glass was slightly convex; I checked the other three at the table but only I had a wobbly water glass. Just my lucky day.
Seventhly, my fortune cookie had two fortunes, while one friend’s had none. So, statistical principles would tell us that half of their fortune cookies are faulty.
Yes, I am definitely nitpicking at this point. Or, the whole time, I guess.
So, was there anything good? Yes… a few things.
1. The place is cute/​cool, and we had it all to ourselves on a Wednesday night.
2. They brought us a bowl of complimentary edamame while we waited for our meals. (I made sure not to drop any beans on the floor.)
3. The La Amazon maki roll was effing delicious.
4. Close to Scooter’s.
5. Plenty of metered parking spaces in front.

I’m going to give Kite 2 stars for their prompt service, and presentation of food.
We initially were going to go to House of Sushi and Noodles and noticed a line out the door, so we went looking for another sushi stop and stumbled across this place.
The hot and sour soup was okay. It was a little bland, but had enough good flavor to make it work.
We ordered 3 maki rolls and asked for sriracha prior to them coming out, and we were offered spicy mayo and chili paste, as the waitress had no idea what we were talking about. Kind of disappointing.
I can’t recall the names of the rolls, but they were not anything to write home about. They were rolled pretty loose, and weren’t that big for the amount of money they each cost. I feel that with the amount of food ordered and for $ 50 we should have been stuffed, but we weren’t even close.
We probably won’t go back.

we were hungry and desperate. we wanted sushi at 730p on a saturday. we didn’t want to wait because we were starvin’. i remembered there was a place on lincoln around where i used to live. it’s always empty = no wait.
my bad. it’s always empty = not so great. i knew this from the start, but my stomach was effing bitching at me.
way over-​priced for what it’s worth. my soft shell crab roll had soft shell crab AND imitation crab in it. wha? the tempura udon = the microwaveable kind.
don’t think i’ll be back. i’d rather wait 45 min for some deece sushi.

I used to live by Kite and walked or drove by quite frequently, but never stopped in. Now that I’ve moved away I finally went there and thought it was decent. I had a hankering for Chinese food and my friends and I settled on Kite. I know they had a ton of options, but I was craving beef friend rice in the worst way. I have to say it was tasty, but I’m not used to all the veggies they had in there. I’m pretty simple. Give me rice, beef, maaaaybe some egg, and those white little thingies (I don’t know what they’re called.)
I felt like it was a bit expensive for beef fried rice (nearly $ 10) and I finished nearly all of it. Now I do eat a lot, so maybe it’s just me.
Also, we shared crab rangoon and it was just okay. Kind of bland IMO.
I probably won’t go back there, since I don’t live in that ‘hood anymore, but if I did I would consider it.

Finding good Chinese in this city is not easy, but this place is totally worthwhile! Even better, iIf one of you feels like Chinese and the other Sushi, it’s a perfect place for both of you. The menu is vast and choosing what to eat is so hard since it’s all so good. They make this sushi roll that has mango in it and it’s awesome!
The only negatives are that the lights are a little too low when going with kids and the place is never busy with diners, so it’s a little weird, but they seem to do a lot of take out.

Really impressed for their late night service.
I ate a late lunch, so I wasn’t hungry on a Saturday night until way after 10 pm. Usually at this time, I’ll throw back drinks, but I needed something with substance. At first, I was worried about being one of those last minute customers, but our waitress didn’t mind at all. She was courteous, nice, and didn’t rush my party at all.
The rolls were good — their spicy tuna is probably one of the best I’ve had. And their selection of hot foods isn’t bad either. Good place to get your grub on.

This rating is based on the sushi and dining service. I haven’t tried their Chinese food yet or their delivery.
If I could rate separately, I would give the service 5 stars. Our server was extremely polite, and attentive. We didn’t have to wait long at all for our drinks or appetizers.
But I have to take away 2 stars for the sushi. We ordered some basic rolls (spicy tuna, philly), and some of the chefs rolls (dragon and top gun). Outside of the spicy tuna rolls, we didn’t love them. I don’t like sushi that tastes too «fishy» and all of them did. My husband took one bite of his «top gun» roll and couldn’t eat the rest of it due to the strong fish taste, so he just ordered more spicy tuna rolls.
So we will probably go back to try their Chinese food because of the good reviews and service, but no sushi for us.

Ordered again recently from Kite, and it was very good! The chicken fried rice was nice and fluffy, not greasy at all. The egg roll was the only disappointment, while fried nicely it had a sweet note to the flavor, ruined it for me. That being said, it was free with $ 20+ order. The pot stickers are some of the best I’ve had, and the wife agreed. Might make it a double order next time!
Beef chow fun was good, nice ratio of beef to noodles. Garlic chicken was good, though nothing special. We ordered it at «medium» spicy, which wasn’t very spicy at all, probably won’t try to go any higher.

The food is rather good for a take out Chinese place. The vegetables are still crisp and tastes fresh (ish). Chinese food is difficult because there is so much sauce and salt that the actual ingredients break down a lot making it hard to tell when it was made. Here, the brocolli is still crisp, in the Mushu (great) the cabbage still has a crunch, and the chicken is not so saturated that it actually… well… tastes like chicken.
I would recommend that on some of the stir fry dishes (beef and brocoli, Sweet and Sour plates etc) that you request the sauce on the side. They tend to over sauce these plates. So save yourself the sodium and calories and put the sauce on yourself in smaller portions. Better for you and tastes the same.

I haven’t been to many sushi places in the city since I moved here last summer, but being from FL I have high standards, and Kite never disappoints. I’ve had various rolls, both delivery and in the restaurant, and everything is always great.

I go here not for the sushi but for their sesame chicken, it’s great, they also have shrimps the size of prawns and they are also quite tasty.
What I like about the place most beside the chicken is the atmosphere of the place, the lights are dimmed appropriately and the restaurant itself is pretty large so seating is accessible and comfortable. The wait staff is great and is attentive.
It is moderately priced, expect to pay atleast 25 a person.

Here’s how it goes…
I call. Some woman answers…“Rachel?” «yes…» «at (my address)?» «yes…» «what would you like today?» Then I ramble off some huge order for my 3 roommates and myself, or a small order just for me, and it never fails, 17 minutes later it is here. That is service.
Now, the price and quality may not align perfectly. But hey! I’m ok with it. Especially b/​c the delivery guy carries it to my apartment door… on the 4^th floor.

Meh…
Sushi is pretty much average for an expensive price. They do deliver and do pick ups. But if I’m spending $ 60 for delivery it better be pretty good. There are better places in the city to get your sushi in my opinion.

Overly priced for portions that are large enough for a tooth filling. And the sushi wasn’t really fresh… not sure how long it might’ve been sitting out… eew… !
I was majorly disappointed.