Trio adds Asian fusion to KCK culinary cluster; new BYO ramen, poke spot opens by May

This little strip in Kansas City, Kansas, boasts some of the metro’s favorite restaurants: Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, 1889 Pizza Napoletana, and Gus’s World Famous Chicken. 

Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop is just down the street in Westwood.

Now an Asian fusion restaurant is joining the mix.

The former Kind Food space at 2820 W. 47th St., the future home of Sannin; photo by Joyce Smith

Sannin — poke, sushi and ramen — plans to open by early May at 2820 W. 47th St., in the Northwood shopping center (across from Walmart Neighborhood Market). Ginger Sue’s and Kind Food formerly operated in the space. 

The business is being launched by three partners — Chenni “C.J.” Juanda, Ket Kiun Lo and Lo’s brother, Christian Sen.

Lo is from Indonesia and was a partner in the Hokibar Poke & Sushi BBQ on the Country Club Plaza. It opened in late 2022 at 100 Ward Parkway, but closed in February when the lease expired. He also sold his interest in the Overland Park location.

Many of Lo’s Plaza customers are closer to the NorthWood location, he said. The center also has parking in front of the businesses, and it will have more prominence, whereas his Plaza location was tucked away on the Plaza’s east side.

Menu items at Sannin are expected to include:

• Appetizers: Chicken Karaage (Japanese marinated fried chicken thighs in bite-size pieces), jalapeno poppers, crispy calamari and pork egg rolls.
• Soups: Miso, and egg drop.
• Build-your-own bowls: Built from a variety of ingredients including sushi rice, spinach, sweet onions, seaweed, seared tuna, scallops, spicy salmon, pickled radish, mango salsa, and spicy crab, and sauces such as wasabi mayo, eel, cilantro lime, and orange miso.
• Signature bowls: The Sannin Bowl comes with matcha rice, seaweed, scallions, cucumber, poke shoyu, salmon, ahi tuna, sweet corn, seaweed salad, crab, masago, ginger, fried garlic, crispy onion and sesame seeds. The Unagi Don has sushi rice, scallions, pickled radish, seaweed salad, avocado, eel, eel sauce and furikake.
• Under ‘Special Kitchen’: A variety of entrees including chicken teriyaki, pork cutlet curry, barbecue chicken, fried rice, and chicken katsu.
• Build-your-own ramen and specialty ramen dishes: Miso Ramen with ground pork, tofu, seasoned egg, spinach, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and sesame seeds.

The restaurant also will have a wide variety of sushi from the KC Chiefs’ Roll (with shrimp tempura and crab) to baked lobster rolls to the Heart Attack Roll (with spicy tuna and deep-fried jalapeno).

Sannin is expected to hire a half-dozen employees, with customers ordering at a kiosk, then served at a table for those dining in.

Chase Glaeser of Lane4 Property Group handled the lease negotiations for Northwood. Northwood is now 100-percent occupied.

Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follow her on Bluesky, here for X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.