A new restaurant will finally open inside the former Kanai space at 12111 W. Maple St.
Lilikoi Asian Bistro is the latest eatery to open in Wichita featuring Pacific Rim/Asian Fusion cuisines. The restaurant is being opened by Greg Cook, who most recently spent time as the executive chef at the Hyatt along with other stops at restaurants in Colorado Springs and Las Vegas. If you’ve never been to the old Kanai space, it’s located right around the strip center which houses Felipe’s and Twelve Restaurant at the corner of 119th and Maple.
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12111 W Maple St. Suite 131
Wichita, KS 67235
316-352-7090
Tuesday – Thursday: 5pm – 10pm
Friday – Saturday: 5pm – 11pm
Closed on Sunday and Monday
Cash/Card Accepted
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Lilikoi translates to passion fruit and the restaurant which will have a full bar and feature many passion fruit themed cocktails on the menu. As for the food, Lilikoi Asian Bistro has many different fusion style creations like Mahi Mahi, short ribs, stir-fry and ramen. There’s also a Build-Your-Own ramen bar where you can construct your own ramen from your choice of broth, protein and roughly 12 other ingredients.
I was invited out to a soft opening the day before opening. Sometimes in those instances, the service is very personal, the food can be free/discounted, and it is used as a training day which could skew the whole experience for any diner. In these cases, I opt to avoid giving a full-blown review with opinions and focus on the more informational aspect of it. Then once the newness has died down, I’ll go back in at an unannounced time for a revisited review to get a different perspective.
I took a few pictures of the interior and the space looks relatively similar to Kanai. The restaurant holds roughly fifty people which includes seating at the bar and build-your-own-ramen bar section.
Here are some pictures of what’s available on the appetizer side of the menu:
The entrée side of the menu featured roughly six dishes then there was the Build-Your-Own-Ramen section on the menu:
Lilikoi Asian Bistro is a nice addition to an area of town that’s short of casual sit-down Asian dining. Most of the options in the area seem to consist of quick-service Chinese. Lilikoi Asian Bistro hopes to change all that with some inventive and well-constructed dishes that are made with a chef’s touch.
I’m excited to see how the neighborhood receives them. If you go, be sure to leave a note in the comments below.
Here’s the menu:
Happy Dining,
Eddy
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