Kai PRO 3.5" Paring Knife, Hand Sharpened Vegetable & Fruit Knife, Japanese AUS6M Stainless Steel Blade, Full-Tang POM Handle, NSF Certified, Small Kitchen Tool for Peeling, Coring & Cutting

My initial impression is good but not great. Given the price, good = very good. The blade stock is a little thicker than I hoped for. I didn't measure it but can do so. The balance on the knife is couple of inches forward of the handle, which is not ideal for me. Not terrible, but I'd like it back more toward the handle. The grind on the blade looks excellent. I could do without the faux hammering on the top half of the blade, but I'm sure most people think it looks cool. It won't hurt anything. The steel is not great, but I knew this going into the purchase. For the price, a big piece of AUS-6 does not seem unreasonable. Given that I'll use this knife only a few times a year the steel is fine. Again, given the price it seems quite good. Sharpness was fine. I cut printer paper easily and cleanly and newsprint if i try hard (this requires more sharpness). This is not bad for a factory edge and certainly sharp enough to cut some protein. The first thing I did was sharpen it. As expected it takes an edge quickly and fairly easily. No issues at all. And it's sharper now. The handle is small and simple. It works surprisingly well. I'll know more when I go to cut meat for 20 people. I suspect it's going to slice very well. I would like to see KAI: 1. Thin the stock a little more, and taper it slightly more toward the tip. 2. Taper the tang in the handle wider toward the back. 3. Maybe make the handle a little longer. These three things would make for a nicer handling knife and get the balance back toward toward the handle. Of course, doing these things probably also makes this as $120 knife rather than a $70 knife. Considering the cost this looks like a very nice knife. Just set your expectations accordingly if you're a knife snob. Update: used this knife to make about 40 prime rib cuts. It works perfectly fine. For the money it's a nice knife. As I mentioned above I would prefer something with different balance, but it cuts fine. It was nice to have a longer knife for making cuts in big piece of meat.

Price compared to other Japanese metal knives had me skeptical. Maybe I have never had a truly sharp knife before but right out of the package it was sharp and ready to cut. I've already cut my finger open one time as well it is that sharp! This knife worked great for me on cutting around bone on my steaks or reducing the thickness of fat caps for smoked meats and even for doing butterfly cuts. I will happily buy from this brand again and for the price I haven't had any complaints.

This knife is amazing. It is extremely sharp, very easy to hold, enough weight to cut easily. Big but not too big. It should last me a long time.

Last Black Friday I bought a set of Wusthof Classic knives on sale and they've basically ruined me as far as knives go - I really like them...but I'm also not willing to pay for them all the time haha. But they have set the bar I measure other knives against. So in summary = this Kai Pro Chef's knife is a good knife...but it's not a great knife. I do feel it's a great buy for the price. PROS: Reasonably sharp out of the box Well balanced (balance point is right at the front edge of the handle) It's a good looking knife with the polished and hammered finish CONS: Not as sharp as my (much more) expensive knives The hammered finish doesn't actually do anything to prevent sticking The curve isn't super smooth, there's a spot near the tip that isn't quite right. It has a fine edge on it, just the curve radius changes The blade is fairly thick, so it doesn't go through things as easily as a thinner blade. It maintains full thickness from the spine down most of the way towards the cutting edge, and maintains full thickness most of the way from the handle to the tip. I haven't tried sharpening it yet, so I can't comment on that. And I haven't had it that long either, only used it a dozen times or so, so can't say much on durability. It's a decent knife for the money, but I suspect the Victorinox 5" chef's knife is better as they generally have a nice thin blade.

If you’ve ever cut bread with a “regular” kitchen knife, you know the struggle. Get a purpose built knife, this one does that job, it it very, VERY sharp, trust me, my index finger knows all about it. Excellent bread knife.

Bought as a present. Looks very good and works great.

I have been using this knife for a month now. I work full time as a cutter at a processing facility, so I use my knife for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Pros. Aesthetic, sharpness, lightweight Cons. build quality, handle, edge retention This is not a flexible blade AT ALL, when used for deboning as this is advertised to be for it is definitely a struggle. Catches on bones and tendons versus deflecting off and around. For the same reasons it would be a difficult fileting knife. It has a very fine sharp edge, but as with most Asian style knives, it loses it quickly. The handle is just plastic, and is smooth so it is hard to keep a grip on when dealing with fat at all. On mine the one pin in the handle shifts after a day or two of use and I have to pound it back into place. It would serve as a great slicing knife or long paring knife. in a normal home kitchen it would make a nice addition.

So far I am very impressed with this knife. I bought the Asian multi prep knife and it performs very well. With a 1000 and 5000 grit water stone I quickly achieved an extremely sharp edge, scary sharp, in fact. Although I am not a huge fan of cosmetic texturing, like on this knife, I really can't fault the overall look and the finish of it. It's really pretty. It works great. What's not to like? At less than $30.00, it's a steal.