It's been almost a year since my last visit to KAKA, an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant located at First Markham Place (read about my experience at KAKA here). Since then, KAKA All You Can Eat (Instagram: @kakaallyoucaneat, Facebook: KAKA All You Can Eat) has introduced several new items on their already sizable menu, and I was invited back to the popular AYCE spot to have a taste.
I started the meal with Mio Sparkling Sake, a very light and bubbly sake.
The newly introduced items include three varieties of poke salad bowls and two types of tacos. I applaud KAKA's effort in offering the trendy poke to their menu but I was not crazy about them. In general, the poke bowls were under-seasoned and had too many competing ingredients. In my opinion, the best poke bowls are often the simplest ones with cubed fish seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sweet onions, then finished with a sprinkle of sesame seeds or scallions. That's it. I thought KAKA was overly ambitious with the number of ingredients. The tacos, on the other hand, were quite delicious. I would order them again.
POKE SALAD
JALAPENO POKE
Salmon, avocado, jalapeno, tomato, onion, garlic chips
CITRUS SOY POKE
Salmon, nori, sesame, avocado, cilantro, green onions, tempura bits
YUZU PONZU POKE
Butterfish, cucumber, avocado, sweet egg, green onion, melon, yuzu sauce
TACOS
FISH TACO
Asian slaw, avocado puree, chipotle mayo
SHRIMP TACO
Pico de gallo, avocado puree, wasabi mayo
After the poke and tacos, we continued to make our way through the KAKA menu. Highlights for me were the Ox Tongue Skewer, Chicken Meatball Skewer, the very creamy Bacon and Mushroom Carbonara and the Grilled Okra.
Ox Tongue Skewer
Butternut Squash Soup (new)
Chicken Meatball Skewer (new)
Bacon and Mushroom Carbonara Udon (new)
Octopus Balls
Grilled Okra
Grilled Okra
Baked Mussels
Tempura Shishamo Fish
There's no way around it, sushi remains to be the main attraction at KAKA for me. These nigiri were sent to us by the chef. Sorry, but I don't recall the descriptions for them.
Assorted Torched Sushi and Oshizushi Platter
. We thought the oshizushi pieces went down in size compared to our last visit; they were thinner and smaller in width, which made it harder to pick up with chopsticks.
Even if I'm stuffed, I always end the savoury part of my AYCE Japanese meal with noodle soup. This time I got myself a bowl of beef udon.
The two new desserts were good but nothing amazing. I'll continue to stick to my favourite Mango Lychee Slush and Red Bean Ice Cream at KAKA!
Mango Lychee Slush
Passionfruit Pineapple Yogurt (new)
Lychee Panna Cotta (new)
Red Bean Ice Cream
Although the poke bowls were nothing to write home about, KAKA remains to be a solid option for all-you-can-eat Japanese.
*This meal was complimentary. The opinions and views expressed on this post are my own*