HAI! AN ALL-JAPANESE FOOD HALL

Dining in a food hall works best when you are dining with a big group and everyone has different cravings and preferences.

- KARLA REYES

There is a wide variety of offerings to choose from. The only downside is the inconvenience of lining up at every stall to order, then going back to pick up the food. In my case, I usually dine out with my mom and uncle who are both senior citizens, so I end up ordering for everyone. That leaves me exhausted even before I take my first bite. Visiting Kiwami for the first time, I realized that it has totally changed the food hall dining experience for me. Kiwami is a food hall featuring food concepts, and it's mastered the different styles of Japanese cuisine, thus catering to everyone. They call themselves a full-service, casual dining restaurant. That means you can sit down at a table and order from a waiter, just like you would at any restaurant, and they will do the rest. It is not self-service, yet has remained very casual. I enjoyed the food and experience so much, I decided to bring back Mom, uncle Gerry, and aunt Rose Pettersson who was visiting from New York.

Each food stall brings its own specialty, technique, and flavor to the main Kiwami menu, so we decided to order from each of them. For appetizers, I would recommend trying Koyo, a hand roll bar, which is the newest food concept at Kiwami.

A traditional hand roll consists of vinegared rice and sashimi on hand-rolled nori. Koyo's version is more contemporary and is shaped like a taco instead of the traditional hand roll called temaki, which is cone-shaped.