Kiku Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

Tonight was my third time here and, as always, the food was good and the cook was entertaining. But this was also the third time someone in our party had problems with the check. They always seem to make mistakes. We went at 5:30 pm to take advantage of the combo special that lasts until 6:00 pm. The steak, chicken, and shrimp combo is only $ 13 until 6 and then it goes to $ 17. We had to tell our server that the combo was only $ 13. She would have billed us the $ 17 because she didn’t realize it wasn’t 6 pm yet. Then we we got our check she billed the two of us for three specials. I pointed it out to her and off she went to correct our check along with taking checks from other couples we were with. When we got our corrected check we paid cash. But another couple that we were with had been charged for our meal on their credit card. It was a mess and, like I said, every time we’ve been there they somehow screwed up the check. One of the people we went with tonight was promised a $ 8 credit on his credit card from the last time he was there a month or so ago and has yet to receive it. My advice, CAREFULLY EXAMINE YOUR BILL AND ONLY PAY CASH!

While the food was pretty decent, the service was absolutely horrible. Don’t ‘t dare to walk in an hour before they close. After a half hour, we were basically chased out. The server came with a box, even though I didn’t ask for one and I wasn’t even close to finished. She never asked if we needed another drink and completely ignored us. Then, who I presume was the cook/​owner, came out around the corner towards us to see if I was finished yet. We felt rushed and unwelcome.
I work in the service industry myself and I will never go to a restaurant a few minutes before they close, but an hour is acceptable in my opinion. If they don’t like that, they should change their hours to 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. I will not go back based on the way we were treated.

Love coming here, food is always great especially the white sauce! The drive from apopka is always worth it for me. Recommend doing the early bird because you get chicken, steak and shrimp at a very good price.

This was our first time eating there. It was okay — staff were friendly. I ordered the spicy tuna roll and sashimi style unagi, while my husband had the california roll. They were all good. My husband also ordered the filet mignon dinner, which came with a salad, onion soup, vegetables, noodles and fried rice. My husband didn’t understand why there was fried rice when there was noodles, but we both thought it was very good. We would go back there again.

I came here on a co-worker’s word that this was a great restaurant. I love Asian restaurants, in particular Thai and Japanese. The only reason I didn’t give this place a 1, was because the food was okay, and hey, it’s Mt. Dora. The pickin’s are slim in this part of Florida.
We walk in the door and realize the temperature of the restaurant is stifling. It’s very hot and humid and the hibachi behind us wasn’t helping with the heat. Heat makes me angry, just thinking about the temperature of this place makes me want to give it a one. What makes it worse is they serve Sushi in this swamp-​like environment.
I ordered the salmon and tuna rolls, thinking this was Amura-​style sushi where you actually get a decent sized roll. What I got were tiny little rolls with a bit of fish in them. I ordered the mushroom and onion soup, which by the way is a small bowl of broth, with a piece of mushroom and you might be surprised by the occasional onion. $ 1.50 for what is essentially hot water.
The sushi didn’t taste bad, but for $ 35 I expected to leave feeling the least bit full. Two rolls at other sushi places fill me up. I feel like I’m getting what I pay for. This place felt like the biggest rip off I’ve experienced in a long time.
Even smaller than the portion size was the waitress’s presence throughout the meal. I saw her before we ordered, when we got drinks, when we ordered and when she brought us food. Each time was in 10 minute intervals. After that, she may as well have been a white rhino because she seemed to just disappear for the remainder of my time there until she brought us the check.
The place is also loud, lots of screaming kids, and they don’t seem to separate the hibachi from the rest of the restaurant at all. Will I ever come back? Oh goodness no.

Got the volcano roll, Louisiana roll which both were very good. Got the yellow fish and tuna sashimi, very fresh. Definitely would come back.

Always a favorite place for the family to go… Everyone enjoys themselves adults and kids :)
Waitress staff is not always friendly but food is good prices are good :)

I went here tonight for dinner. I wish that I could rate the cook and the food separate from the waitress, because I would give that 5 stars. However, the waitress, Kathy, made the experience less than enjoyable.
I will start out by saying this: I am not usually one to get offended or complain unless someone completely crosses the line. I was eating dinner tonight with my fraternal twin sister. Some people can tell that we are twins or sisters, and some can’t even tell that we are related. When my sister and I started to order, the first thing that Kathy said was «separate checks.» Not like a question, but like a reassuring statement to herself. My sister, however, wanted to buy my dinner, so my sister told her that we would like the check together. From then on, her attitude completely went south. She didn’t say a single word or crack a single smile to us the rest of the night whenever we said thank you for something (like for bringing the soup and salad), although she was kind and accommodating to the other customers that were dining at our table. She never refilled my coke, but she refilled everyone else’s drinks in a timely manner. She was all-​around quite cold and rude to my sister and I, and we could only come up with the explanation that she was probably profiling us. Either the fact that we are 20 and we look young may have caused her to be rude for thinking that we wouldn’t leave a good tip… Or, the explanation that I find makes more sense is that she may have thought that we were homosexual partners, which is even more hateful of her and completely unacceptable. Either way, no one in the service industry should ever be rude to anyone, despite what their beliefs are, and Kathy needs to learn to change her attitude. We will go to Osaka or Lampu next time for sure.

Stopped in on a Saturday evening after a bad experience up the road. We were greeted promptly and sat at the sushi bar. Our waitress was very attentive and friendly. The sushi chef was energetic and welcoming and suggested some things based on what we liked. Sushi was very good, best eel I have ever eaten, usually eel is fishy and it was not, it was piping hot as well which was great. We had conch, salmon, eel, masago, a spider roll and a rainbow roll Rolls are a bit small for the price but everything was delicious and fresh. We were checked on regularly for drinks by 2 different waitresses and didn’t feel rushed or like we had to wait for anything. Would definitely visit again.

FOOD ALLERGY? THEY WILL MAKE YOU SICK. Well, when we arrived we were seated without being asked if we’re eating sushi or hibachi which I thought was strange right off. So we are seated at the hibachi (4 of us) in which I order 3 rolls and I specify clearly «gluten free». So about 20 minutes had past before we ordered (as it appears they make you wait as long as needed for the hibachi table to fill) and another 20 minutes before my rolls appear, so my rolls/​dinner have showed up but the other 3 people are supposed to watch me eat until someone else hopefully walks in to sit with us?! Still no one and no food for my family that is with us. So I look at my rolls that are clearly covered with a crispy breading, so my fiancé returns the rolls to the sushi chef and tells him to make it without the breading. A minute later I see the sushi chef getting offended and yelling that it’s not panko/​gluten or whatever. At this point I realize that the sushi chef didn’t care about feeding someone a food they are allergic to or making me sick. I walk over to figure out what’s going on and the sushi chef and a lady working there are screaming «it’s not panko». So I think there must be a misunderstanding so I stop the loud chef and clearly ask him what is the «crispy stuff» made out of and both him and the lady just keep saying flour, so I have to ask them over and over what kind of flour, I mean really you don’t know what flour is, they just keep saying «not gluten, it’s flour» so after asking another 10 times they finally say wheat… ok a sushi chef that doesn’t know what gluten is and would rather argue and make me sick. We all walked out and will never go back. We are locals and they could care less about feeding you with a food allergy. And 40 minutes and my parents were still sitting there with nothing to chew on? There is certainly a reason they are always dead. Still in dis belief at the arrogance!

Great food, Same as Kobe or lampu. The price is more than lampu but cheaper then Kobe.

We drive by this place a lot and recently stop by to see how good the service and food is compared to the other Japanese steakhouses in the area.
We usually go to Lampu and what we found is, both places are pretty much similar, the main difference is the price (This place being more expensive than Lampu).
We placed 3 orders of chicken and steak and two Orders of Sushi. The Sushi came out in a nice timely matter, so I was happy there.
We’re not huge fan of vegetables — I know we should eat them, but we don’t. So we ordered our meals to come with no vegetables — extra rice.
The soup and salad– same as any other place steakhouses– nothing special –I do enjoy it, just saying its common-​.
As for the meal– the guy didn’t bother to put on a show, he quickly put our rice on for cooking; however, I will admit, he was friendly and nice! –however, part of reason take my kids to these places is they love the little show they gave-​.
The food was overall good, portion size is nice; however, my one complaint is they put onion in their rice. When people ask for no vegetables — you’d think they may mention that the rice has onions.
Overall, enjoyed the food — waiter was very friendly as well as the Chef. Also didn’t have to wait on our drinks — kept them refilled which is nice.

Food was okay. Certainly not the best hibachi I’ve ever had. Even if I didnt have a bad experience with the gift certificate I still wouldnt go back.
We visited on March 23 with a few family members. I had received a gift certificate from a co-​worker and when I went to use it the waitress told me it was expired. Shocker, the certificate had no expiration date what-​so-​ever. She told me she had taken it to the owners wife and then to the owner himself. Both refused to take it saying it was expired! How does a business sell a gift certificate and then not honor it saying it was expired?
Paying the tab was no problem but I could imagine someone going in there and racking up a large tab thinking its «paid for» then realize the slime ball owner wont honor the certificate HE issued!
This way of business makes me wonder where they cut corners in the kitchen. If he’s not ashamed to loose a customer then I could only imagine what they do to make their food, drinks, dirty dishwater go further…
I’ll be posting up a photo of the «expired» gift certificate once I have a digital image of it.

Best ever. I live I Indiana and every time I come to FL to visit my parents we always go here.

The most amazing birthday dinner ever! Sushi was wonderful. Very fresh. John Mckinney, the owner, very accommodating, always visible to the dinners, kind man, watched over dinners experience with great care. Outstanding food, FAR better than Kobe. Quite reasonable in price, very generous helpings. Could go here weekly, must visit the Shusi bar. Highly recommend Kiku! You will just love it!!!

Great food, great people. For this area a home run !! I think they have great white sauce !!

This steakhouse is not closed as previously posted. I ate there yesterday. We found the atmosphere very noisy, there were many kids that night and you knew it. I would think this is a better place for families with noisy kids who don’t care about mediocre food rather then older couples. Our cook/​performer was only interested in getting things cooked (overcooked) then eye contact. We actually asked him to check on the lobster as it looked overcooked 5 minutes before he actually served it. I woud not go back.

Kiku moved from the old location (6951 Old Hwy 441) to a little bigger building and right off US Highway 441 in a plaza with lots of other shops. They should have a no problem getting people to stop in as this location. Same great food with 8 cooking stations. Their were 6 of us and 4 of us had the special $ 13 (Chicken, Shrimp and Steak), 1 Steak $ 13, and one person with salad and egg rolls. Total bill was only $ 98 with 18% tip included. Good food, nice show while the cook is cooking. If you are in the mood for some good Japanese, stop by Kiku’s!