Kinoto Japanese Restaurant

Located in Robina, just amongst the couple of shops outstide the train station and next to the Caltex petrol station, Kinoto is a relatively new little Japanese restaurant, open since May 2012.

The size of the restaurant is quite small, so there are only about 9-10 tables inside, each seating 2-4 people. The decor is simple and clean, creating a relaxed and casual atmosphere for diners.

I have visited this place twice so far, once for lunch and another time for dinner.  During lunch time, they have a special lunch menu with meals between $8.90 - $9.90 (usually with a type of meat, for example teriyaki chicken with vegetables, salad, rice and miso soup). It's pretty good for $9.90! The serving size is pretty good too!

Dinner price is more than lunch, but still quite reasonable. With entrees below $10 and mains between $12-$25 depending on what you order. Items like wagyu beef and teriyaki salmon are in the $20 something dollar range. But all meat/seafood hot dishes come with vegetables, rice, salad and chips (yes, that's right chips! I was surprised too, but who wouldn't want chips!).

Besides the hot dishes, there are also sushi rolls on the menu.

These are the things I've tried....

Gyoza (Japanese Dumplings)

 The gyozas had a juicy pork filling, with ginger and chives. This was quite tasty, costing around $6-7

Salmon, Prawn & Avocado Sushi Rolls

Next we had the sushi rolls ($11.90). There was another version of the same sushi rolls, with the salmon on top being 'grilled'.

Yakisoba

The yakisoba was so so so so good! I ordered the chicken yakisoba and it was just delicious! This was one of the lunch specials and cost only $8.90. It also came with a miso soup.  I liked this yakisoba so much, I ordered it again when I went there for dinner! (Of course, the price was more when I ordered it during dinner time). But it was worth it!

Agedashi Tofu

We ordered this agedashi tofu for entree when we went for dinner. There were 3 pieces of lightly fried tofu inside the sweet broth. Tasted nice, as you would expect agedashi tofu to taste. This serving cost $6.50.

Grilled Salmon with Garlic Butter & Soy 

The salmon was flavoured well with the garlic butter soy sauce. The vegetables underneath the salmon absorbed all the sauces and tasted fantastic. Chips were golden, although not too crunchy, but not soft. The salad had a nice tangy dressing which was appetising. This meal cost $23, if I remember correctly, so I thought it was pretty good value.

I quite enjoyed my dining experience at Kinoto. The staff were friendly and attentive and the meals arrived very quickly. I will definitely be visiting this place again.

Re-visit last week (11/08/12 & 13/08/12)

I just keep coming back because it's sooo good! I pretty much went to Kinoto twice within 3 days! Once for lunch and again for dinner a day after.

Yakiniku Don (Dinner) - $12.90

 The yakiniku don was a served in a large bowl, filled with steamed rice. On top of the steamed rice were vegetables cooked in teriyaki sauce, then a layer of salad greens. Thin slices of succulent beef marinated in Japanese BBQ sauce, were grilled and placed on top. The serving was huge I had trouble finishing all the rice! Everything about this dish was good! Delicious and filling!

Ginger Pork (Blackboard special-Dinner) - $13.90

 The ginger pork wasn't the usual 'Shougayaki' - (thinly sliced pork belly cooked in ginger and soy sauce). It was actually quite sweet, tasted more like teriyaki. I actually couldn't taste the ginger at all. But it was still a very nice dish.

Chicket Cutlet with Curry Sauce (Lunch Special) - $8.90

 I didn't try the chicken cutlet with curry sauce. I'm not a big fan of Japanese curry and usually won't order curry at a Japanese restaurant, simply because I know it's made from those curry blocks you can buy from asian/Japanese grocery stores. And I can easily cook this at home. The curry sauce was poured over the chicken cutlet, which I thought would have made the crispy breadcrumb go soggy.

Chicken Nanban (Lunch special) - $8.90

The chicken nanban was a very popular dish. The chicken is lightly fried and then cooked in a sweet and sour sauce. The white sauce on top is similar to tartare sauce, which compliments the chicken quite well.

Then lastly we had the garlic chicken. This was very nice! Full of garlic flavour and the chicken used was actually chicken thigh instead of breast, so it was nice and tender, just the way I like it!

Garlic Chicken (Lunch special) - $8.90