PinkKU Japanese

Once more, it has taken us ages to get to a new restaurant. PinKU opened in 2016 and we have been in the area fairly often, but never remembered to stop in. It has gotten a lot of positive press in the Twin Cites in the last couple of years.

The concept seems to be quick service Japanese and sushi in a small footprint of a space. I guess they have gone on Shark Tank looking for financing to take the idea to a wider audience.

When you arrive you see a rather concise menu on the wall and you place your order at the register and then take a seat. The food is brought out as it is ready.

We started with the pork gyoza. These were perfect. There was just the right amount of crunch on the side that was seared and the filling had nice flavor.

My plate had the crispy shrimp rice and the yellowtail tuna. The yellowtail tasted very fresh and the sauce added just the right amount of soy flavor. The crispy shrimp rice is lightly breaded shrimp on a bed of rice. The shrimp has a very light breading of potato starch topping.

John’s plate contained the spicy tuna crispy rice, tuna poke and another order of shrimp rice. The spicy tuna crispy rice was unusual and simple, with a bit of crisped rice under the tuna. It was very good. I could have eaten several of these. The tuna poke was very fresh tasting and John also enjoyed the crispy shrimp.

The prices are not too bad, especially when you consider everything has to be flown in fresh daily. The dining room has some fun murals on the wall and feel minimalist and modern. The food was very good and I think this is a nice, quick, casual option for fresh sushi. I only wish we were inside of the delivery area for Doordash or Postmates so we could save a trip downtown.


PinKU Japanese
20 University Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Phone: (612) 584-3167
https://pinkujapanese.com/