N

Located on the historic Manchester town square at 108 W. McLean St., KAMI Sushi and Asian Kitchen is bringing an Asian fusion concept to the city’s restaurant selections.

Officially opened in mid-November, Owner Batara Yudha said the restaurant features a variety of dishes to expand upon what people might think of when they think sushi.

The restaurant has been voted Manchester’s finest Asian Cuisine in the 2024 Manchester’s Finest competition.

“People think that when they see sushi and Asian or sushi restaurants, in their head, they think oh it is a raw fish,” Yudha said. “We are trying to bring something else to the table and open their minds. Sushi doesn’t only mean raw fish, we also have cooked sushi and other options for people that don’t eat sushi at all.”

Some of those other options include Thai curries, hibachi selections as well as Korean and Chinese options.

Yudha said he recently relocated to Tennessee from Florida and believes Manchester is the perfect location for an Asian Fusion restaurant.

“Coming from Florida we love Tennessee and we think Manchester is a growing city with a lot of people moving here because the location is very close to the interstate,” he said.

Yudha said another reason for opening KAMI Sushi and Asian Kitchen in Manchester was the lack of existing authentic Asian restaurants in the community.

“There are no other options here, that is why we want to bring something different to the city additional to what they have already here,” he said.

When it comes to the menu, Yudha said the best-selling item to date is the Bonnaroo Roll. Featuring shrimp tempura, cream cheese and avocado, the roll is topped with crab meat tempura before being finished off with eel sauce and spicy mayo.

When it comes to his personal favorites, Yudha said he enjoys the ramen.

“It is very authentic Japanese Ramen, Spicy Miso Ramen is my favorite,” he said.

Featuring wheat flour noodles, spicy miso pork broth, pork belly chasu, kukirage mushrooms, corn, soft boiled eggs, rayu oil and scallions.

Now open for just over two months, Yudha said the Manchester community has been supportive and welcoming of the restaurant.

“We are getting really good feedback from the community here,” he said. “People are so friendly here and that is why we love Tennessee.”

“Just the town itself really supports us; we have a lot of repeat customers,” Yudha added.

With a team of about 10 employees, Yudha is also joined by his mom Maria Bamggeso, who is currently visiting and helping out with the restaurant.

For those that have never tried Asian food, Yudha encourages people to at least give it a try, but to start out with something more on the basic side.

“I would say try something mild like a very basic shrimp tempura with crunchy flakes on top,” he said. “That one is a really good start and people tend to love that before they jump to a raw fish with salmon on top or yellowtail on top.”

For a complete menu and restaurant hours, visit www.kamimanchester.com.