Kion Dining Lounge

decided to dine at kion after a friend recommended the restaurant.\r definetly make a reservation on the weekends. \r we ended up there on a friday nite with no reservation, onced sat we quickly ordered cocktails after waiting 20 min for a table.\r great food, \r there were three of us for dinner. we had some sushi and tapas which were outstanding,\r sushi was very fresh and appetizing and \r service was good eventhough restaurant was extremely busy.\r place is definetly worth the time and money. Pros: interesting cocktails,great food Cons: very busy... bar a bit too crowded more

I agree with another posting that mentions, that most of the good reviews are probably written by the restaurant staff. I was at Kion about a week ago. I looked it up on line, checked contradictory reviews, and I figured I should go check it out for myself. I am also Peruvian, and the Japanese- Peruvian fusion just sounded fenomenal. However, the experience was not quite amazing as I have experienced with other restaurants. The service is pretty bad, including a waiter, the hostess and even the manager. I have had better experiences in dinners, than in Kion. We were a group of 5, from different nationalities, and we were also pretty dissapointed at the service. THe East Village is one of my favorites dining areas, but this I would not recommend the restaurant to anyone. Peruvian food may be one of the tasties ones, but there are other places, one can find Peruvian food and a great service, with no attitudes. Sushi- Samba is a great example of what I am referring to. And, Candela, even though is no Peruvian, serves great food, with a great fusion of flavors, and excellent service, from hostesses, barteners to the servers. Pros: DECENT FOOD, NOT BETTER THAN SUSHI SAMBA Cons: AWFUL SERVICE more

Went on a recent Saturday with a date for a late dinner. Very nice spot from a layout perspective. West side $ investment with a LES funky feel. Ceviche was okay but not outstanding. Seemed the chef was a little too adventourous with the fusion style ceviche but I appreciate the effort. Presentation was excellent. Music was mixed genre loud enough to feel but not loud enough to dissuade conversation. Drinks were very reasonable. Crowd was chill and the vibe was about having a good time. The only minus was the staff which was on the inexperienced ""this is a part time job for me"" tip. They were not horrible but they lacked ""this is a customer service biz"" mentality. Give the front line staff a little more polish and u will have a spot that will be a permanent standard. Would definitely go back because the place is an excellent value. more

went recently on a saturday night. the ambience is very nice, but it becomes waaay to crowded here after midnight. you have to literally push & shove just to get to the bar. and forget using the bathroom! there is only one unisex stall in the entire place - ridiculous. the music was random, but at one point some fabulous bellydancers showed up to perform, which was the highlight of the evening. Pros: cool bellydancers, nice decor Cons: too crowded, only one bathroom more

This is definitely my favorite spot in the East Village! I came back for dinner with my boyfriend and we had a wonderful time. The food was great and the service was wonderful....when we were finished with dinner we hung out at the bar til 2. See you soon...Thanks again!! Pros: Food, cocktails, large parties more

party of 8 got there 25 minutes late, hostess told us that since we were late we needed to wait a bit for seating, so she escorted us to bar area,which was very crowded.we waited around 20 min before sitting. drinks were good food was excellent. definetly worth the wait. Pros: great food and service Cons: slightly crowded more

We were a group of 14 people for my fiances birthday. The reservation was for 9:15pm, we did not recieve one appetizer until 11pm. We sat there with empty stomachs with no explaination of WHY the food was not coming. We watched as food by the trayful was brought to other tables. We asked for the manager Mario and he started to yell at US! We ended up leaving and just paying for the few sushi rolls and drinks that we had recieved. The management did nothing to accomadate us, they took what was suppose to be a fun birthdat party and made it the WORST experience in manhattan. Pros: Atmosphere was nice Cons: Service staff was rude and management was unprofessional more

I was there for a friend's party, which was supposed to be an amazing night. Our group sat there for close to two hours without one dish coming to our table. After an hour when we asked the manager where our food was she just looked at us with no response. Finally when the food started to come out two hours after our reservation, everything was mixed up to the point where the waiters were yelling at us saying it was our fault that everything was a mess. Then when we asked if we could just pay for what we had, the managers threatened to call the cops on us. We are a group where many of us work in the food service and never in a million years would we have done the same if the situation was reversed. It started to feel as though we were trapped in this hell and the managers were keeping us hostage. If you want to be treated like dirt, yelled at by both the waiters and the managers and have to wait two hours for food that you can get at sushi samba, then this is your place! Pros: Food was unique and what we ate was good. Cons: Waiters and managers are extremely rude and not accomodating! more

we were 25 for dinner ...did a pre fixe menu for the occasion, everything was perfect had a great time ..staff was very accommadating ...food and space spectaculer, reccommend highly\r zappalittos and ceviches are a must try...pisco sours are amazing.\r atmosphere is out of this world.\r no problems....just pure heaven...must try! Pros: great food and cocktails, great party atmosphere Cons: difficult parking more

just thought id write that i had a great time at kion last weekend!! \r great food ....very crowded on weekends i was told sometimes two crowed like this past saturday.\r had to wait 25 minutes for my table ...was told the reason for this is because thier diners seem too arrive late and that they would fix this problem as soon as possible....decided to hang by bar area...beautiful space i thought\r hostess was very warm and pleasant. kept checking on us by bar area....when we were sat pure delight. food is amazing...we definetly were overwhelmed .\r as the night progressed the place was definetly over croweded... we had a blast. live brazilian band on one level... drum and bass on the other\r \r \r Pros: food.. food.. food Cons: little too crowded more

I was eating last saturday with 3 friends..our reservation was at 11pm but we did not sit till 11:30....the place was packed!!always go for my Ceviche Mixto and Fried Oysters I love them.. perfect combo! they were having this latin music live ...loved the vibe this time!!! food was better than ever!my friends were so happy with the entrees...we got lamb shanks ,duck and Parihuela soup perfect with jazmine rice on the side...the chef sent a conch fritter ceviche special for us!! so fresh crispy and tender..picante and limey with this hucatay mayo!!! owesome!! Pros: food!!!!! more

Not worth going. It's way overrated. Took 40 min. for the food to come out. Decor was kinda tacky and wanna-be-hip but sadly not. Service was terrible- I get better service when I go to a 3rd-world country. Stayed after dinner to checkout the lounge downstairs but that was way too crowded with only a handful of people in there, so I gladly left. Two things that I remember about this place is the incredibly rude service and how slow the food came out. Food was okay but it not worth the hassle. Cons: Decor is overrated, food was ok & service sucked more

I'm convinced that some of the reviews here are written by the staffs themselves b/c the couple of ""bad reviews"" on here is exactly the same reason why I would NOT recommed this place to anybody. First of all, this place is really small as a restaurant, so they can't accompany too many medium size party (5-7). So they're screwing themselves by advertising as if they do. They give you 2 hours to eat before they try to kick you out. After I arrived, 20 min. later while waiting for my friends to get there, one of hostesses told me that either my friends would have to come soon or she will have to move me to a ""worse table"" b/c they're expecting a group at 10pm. She said, ""I don't mean to be rude but..."" I was shocked b/c I just told her that I'm throwing a surprise dinner party for my best friend and he was sitting right in front of me!! Around 10pm, she comes again and says ""sorry but there's another group coming."" We were just done w/ dinner and ordered some desserts and told her that. Then a different hostess, more aggressive & hostile, comes and says, ""we need this table."" We told her that we just ordered dessert and drinks. The dessert wouldn't come out for 30 minutes!! After asking out waiter for the 4th time where's our dessert, we knew that it wouldn't. I complained to the manager that you're not servicing us, then came out the dessert that looked like someone sat on it and was of obviously poorer quality before we complained. Our receipts came out and they added 20% gratuity for a party of 5!! I complained to the overall manager this time and he said that they weren't suppose to do that. After I complained to the manager, one of the hostesses heard me and started arguing with me, asking when did I do this and that? I never went to any restaurants in NYC where they kick you out right after dinner and were so rude from the beginning. Pros: Food was good. Cons: Obnoxious and rude hostesses (not the waiters), not worth going. more

Had eaten here once before and was very impressed with the food and decor and more private ""basement room"" for large groups and decided to throw a friend's 30th birthday dinner there last night...\r \r Needless to say, we were all blown away by the food, decor and service. Staff here really goes out of their way to make your night memorable...they accidentally sat us at the wrong table, but then compensated by bringing us 2 bottles of champagne on the house. We also got 2 complimentary dessert samplers, one of which had a candle for my friend:) \r \r Food and cocktails are innovative, REASONABLY PRICED and amazing...highly recommend the ceviche sampler, salmon and tuna entrees, as well as the flirtini cocktail and sushi rolls.\r \r Something to please every palette and an aesthetically pleasing setting:) Pros: Beautiful decor, reasonable prices, Flirtini cocktail Cons: Service a bit slow at times. more

I took my fiancé here for his 30th birthday dinner. It was one of the few nicer sushi restaurants that were actually open on a Sunday night. I would rank the sushi comparable to other well-known sushi establishments. However, we also tried the tapas and cevichi, which I would not recommend. They were not my favorite! There was also a mysterious alien -like fly on the wall. It took us all through dinner to figure out that it was real and not plastic. Nevertheless, the ambiance was romantic and trendy. The only reason I would return to this restaurant would be for the sushi and cocktails. Pros: Good Sushi Cons: Stay away from the tapas more

Kion is one of my favorite restaurants that I like to take out of towners to. It has innovative food that is delicious and eclectic modern latin decor, loud and colorful but stylish. I used the downstairs metal tatami room for my birthday and everyone had a blast. The food was great and all the drinks were great. Especially the Pisco Sour. The waiters were very attentive even for a Friday night. Definitely order the Ceviche tasting plates and the dessert tasting plates. The prices are medium range but the drinks are a great value, around $8 or so. The sushi rolls were good and I love the tuna tartare. Everyone had a great time and several people said they are going to use it for their events as well. Pros: Delicious fusion and great Pisco sours Cons: They added a weird room upstairs at the back that ruins the flow of decor a bit more

Its pretty and the food is tasty. It gets high marks for its presentation and fusion quality menu. The service is a bit spotty at times and can really use some work. Ambiance, like the food is trendy and pleasing to look at. Pros: Ambience, Food, Presentation Cons: Prices, Service more

Kion is an experience no one should pass up! The atmosphere is very relaxed and trendy (but not pretentious), and it turns into a great hang out spot after you've finished your DELICIOUS meal! It's very rare to find a place in the city where you love to hang out and also love the food. Every dish I've tried is extremely tasty and they put just the right mix of Japanese and Peruvian flavor into each meal. The music is great, the lighting and overall design is fabulous and to top it off, the Pisco tastes like it's straight from Peru (trust me, I've been)! If you haven't been, hurry up and go, you won't be disappointed! more

I really wanted to like this restaurant - I love sushi, ceviche and tapas, so how wrong could you go with a fusion of all three? Well, start with messing up the reservation (""yes, we have your reservation, but we don't have anywhere to seat you""). Had to sit at the bar, where half the seats were broken and uncomfortable to sit on. They were out of some of the menu items, and the ones that were available were a mixed bag: some were very good, some were merely OK. Service was patchy, too: some staff members were great, others were indifferent bordering on hostile. Not one to rush back to. more

Found out about this restaurant on Zagat by searching for places that could handle groups - picked it because of the diverse menu and because of the tatami room downstairs. We got there at 8 on a Wednesday, when the restaurant was pretty empty, which was great because our waiter gave us his full attention for seating, moving around, etc. All the employees were extremely nice and helpful, from the bartender to the bussers/food runners that were helping our waiter. I cannot stress enough how great the setting was for a birthday dinner! The lighting was fun, the size of the tatami room really encouraged conversation between all the guests (we had 13, and everyone had plenty of room), and there was a variety of drinks and food to please everyone's different tastes. I asked our waiter to pick a selection of tapas and ceviche, and he did a great job - all the appetizers came out staggered so we got to nibble with our drinks and get into the party spirit. I love ceviche and the selection of ceviches was delicious and creative. The entrees were satisfying (I had the sea bass, which was perfectly cooked) and the servers were wonderfully attentive and accomodating. At the end of the meal I had brought a cake which they served to us on a pretty platter, with the candles even arranged and lit as I had asked... the birthday guest said it was ""a perfect evening,"" and several people said they'd like to return to the restaurant on their own to explore the menu more. In all, it was a great experience and I'm glad I chose this place for our party. Pros: atmosphere, service, community-style food Cons: live band at 10:30 made things pretty loud more