Robert
Michigan

Sep 05, 2025

Pros: Construction, Design, Durability, Material Quality, Overall Quality, Sharpenability, Sharpness

Cons: None

Nice knife

Nice. Balance Nice sharp Nice stays sharp Nice looking Nice feel Nice knife

Itchy
ut

Jul 13, 2011

Pros: Sharpness, Material Quality, Overall Quality, Construction, Durability

Cons: Sharpenability

one of the most useful knive i own

The shun series are the best kitchen knives I have purchased. The santoku is the best/most useful of my kitchen knives. If I could only own 1 kitchen knife, this would be it. I gave away my french chief knife once i got this one. The shun are made with the top quality steel and the knives stay razor sharp, but they can be a bit difficult to sharpen.

Ry61572
NY

Oct 07, 2021

Pros: Sharpness, Material Quality, Overall Quality, Construction, Durability

Cons: Sharpenability

True, know what you're getting and how to use it

What has been said about blade brittleness is true. But it's only an issue when not used as designed. It is for delicate preparation - not heavy processing. In my opinion those that have issues with fine Japanese knives abuse them or don't know how to use them properly. It is not an all purpose knife and most people should avoid it...not because it's of poor quality but because it has a very specific purpose and will not operate well outside of its design. This scenario can be likened to the person who buys a racecar and expects it to operate the same and be as versatile as a minivan or pickup truck. No, it's a tool for a specific job that it does very well when used by those skilled or trained in it's proper use. That said, like most hard metal knives, these are hard to sharpen. But once sharpened stay so for much longer than others. Also, get the hollow grind version...it's totally worth it in my opinion.

Jim
Odenton, MD

Jan 19, 2010

Pros: Sharpness, Material Quality, Overall Quality, Construction

Cons: None

I do a lot of wok cooking and this knife does the work.

Xhad
Kuala Lumpur

May 13, 2015

Pros: Sharpness, Material Quality, Construction

Cons: Sharpenability

Good for it's price..

•Very sharp blade, cuts and slices with ease •Sharper than my Wüsthof ikons, but doubt the durability compared together •It's vegatable knife, not recommended for Meats with bones dues to thinness of the knifes blade.. I'm satisfied with the knife, just needs proper handling and care to maintain the quality and sharpness.

Fishboy
Riverside, CA

Feb 07, 2016

Pros: Sharpness, Material Quality, Overall Quality, Construction

Cons: Material Quality, Design

Know what you are getting

These Shun knives just aren't as fantastic as the hype. Don't get me wrong, they are nice for what they are. Now that the price is more reasonable, they are getting closer to being worth it, but know what you are getting. People seem to love them until they actually live with them for a while. I think the reviewers here are right on. Your friends will come over and admire them, but you'll probably just leave it on the magnet bar for people to admire and use another knife for daily work. These are Japanese knives from a Japanese company. They are meant for slicing, not chopping down through the material and whacking into your cutting board. If you push straight down through your carrot and it makes a loud grate and then a clack from hitting the cutting board, you are using it wrong. You should pull through gently with control and your slices should be silent. That's separating the cell walls, which is best for high-end preparation, rather than crushing cells (think the perfect surface on a slice of sashimi). You have to treat the edge like some kind of delicate glass. That's the theory, at least, and mine shows no chips after a six or seven years of use. I've chipped other Japanese VG10 knives before I got schooled by a master chef. The tendency to chip comes with this blade material and hardness, just as it would for a high end blue steel knife. That said, yeah, the blade material is hardened to the point of brittleness. Most users should avoid it. One commenter states that this is a vegetable knife, another says it's not for meat, but it's a "san"toku which means "three" jobs: meat, vegetable and fish. It's just not a resilient enough blade to *do* those three jobs fully. It will chip on hard vegetables (like splitting a pumpkin or rutbaga), and it'll chip if you try to part out a leg of lamb when it hits bone. Then you have to pick and choose what you cut, and it's mostly stuff like tofu, soft vegetables, fruit, boned meats, filleted slabs of fish. It seems that the main use is just to own a damascus-clad VG10 blade and show it off on your magnet bar. I find myself grabbing a mid-level Henckels santuko to do almost every job that I should be able to do with this knife. When I'm showing off, I have an Al Mar that's virtually the same in character, but prettier. You'll notice I pick material quality as both a pro and a con. It is. It's both it's signature asset, and the reason that I think these knives don't suit their purpose that well.

Dave
Florida

Jul 31, 2013

Pros: Sharpness

Cons: None

Chips

I have a utility knife and its already chipped. They are very sharp, but a bit thin to handle an accidental cut on a hard surface. They are better used for sushi or fish but not a T bone steak. Also, family members will ensure a chip gets in there.

Brandon C
Westminster, Co

Feb 10, 2012

Pros: Sharpness

Cons: Material Quality

Looks nice, but....

These knives look great, and they're very sharp, but eventually the edge will start chipping, even if you absolutely baby them. If you contact Shun, they'll give you some stock response about not using them for chopping, but that's just a bunch of BS. Search on "Shun edge chipping" online and you'll see what I mean. Long story short, your money is best spent elsewhere.