The Squid Deep-fried at Kinki in Ottawa would have been good, but the Squid was less than fresh. It only earned a Rating of 2 out of 5.
I am not sure if Kinki is still operating anymore. It still appears to have a Facebook Page, but links to the website and its menu are broken. I am not sure I shall mourn it over much, though, as I gave it a number of tries and was disappointed on each occasion. Indeed, the appetizer you see pictured above was one of its better creations and even that left rather a lot to be desired.
The dish appeared on the appetizer menu as Fuji Calamari. Kinki is (or was) self-advertised as an Asian fusion establishment, and so the juxtaposition of the Italian word for Squid with the name of Japan’s most famous mountain seemed vaguely appropriate. I am not entirely what the Japanese connection was supposed to be, exactly, other than the dipping sauce was a Wasabi-Lime Juice blend.
The execution of this dish was actually not that bad. The batter used was very thin, almost to the point of being translucent, and was nicely seasoned with salt, pepper, and just a pinch or so of powdered chili. I didn’t care for the dipping sauce much as I am just not a fan of Lime juice. The Wasabi was actually a pretty good idea, but the Lime Juice, for me at least, rather ruined it.
Anyway, the real problem with this dish was the Squid really wasn’t all that fresh. I don’t mean to say it was rotten, or anything, but it was clearly on its last legs and had a stale taste, and a slightly flabby texture. This was a shame, really, as the dish was otherwise executed very well. The Lime Juice issue lies with me, rather than the restaurant, of course, but the quality control over the kitchen ingredients made the Squid Deep-fried at Kinki a bit of a failure overall.