Ahhh sookie sookie, now! After reading Jason J and Lurine F's reviews on Koze, I knew we had to get the crew together for dinner and this place did not disappoint. I live on the Westside and we do have a Koze in the neighborhood, but I had never been to it. Now I'm kicking myself in the butt for not checking out either one of these Koze's sooner.
It's easy to see from the highway so you won't miss it at night and it's a pretty good size. There's maybe eight teppanyaki grills, a section with just tables, and a bar. Plenty of room and very accommodating to any size party. Since our party was shy of ten people, I called a reservation in ahead. I know they'd still have taken just as good care of had I not made a reservation, but they really went above and beyond. If you do want to be seated at the teppanyaki grill, I'd say call ahead no matter how many people are in your group because those tables filled up fast while we were there.
A few of us waited at the bar until everyone else showed up, but the host allowed us to take a seat at the grill even though our party wasn't complete yet. Obviously that might not always be an option and probably not the policy, but I appreciate that they made the exception without me asking. Really, everyone we interacted with was just generally awesome.
The table shared calamari tempura, gyoza, a salmon roll, a dragon roll, and a crunchy shrimp roll. The sushi was so yum! I'd go back just for sushi. The prices on the sushi were really good for the area and I didn't feel like any of them had unnecessary fillers. The appetizers were both under $10 each. Great prices again and I loved both of them. The gyoza made me realize that Koze is a little bit more than Japanese food, but more so a fusion of the locals taste and Japanese. The gyoza had melted cheese on top... I've never seen that before, but I fricken' loved it. The calamari tempura was delicious, big pieces of calamari with plenty of veggies. Everything was so dang good.
The steak and shrimp were the go-to's of the night, but since I had never had swordfish before I decided to go for it. The chef came out and put on the food show that one can expect with a teppanyaki grill. There were lot's of laughs and some pieces of egg thrown around. As he cooked we had miso soup and a ginger salad. The ginger salad was good, nothing out of the ordinary. The miso soup was very different than what is typically served in EP. Big pieces of mushroom, green onions, and noodles (very similar to a very thin spaghetti). The broth was so tasty. Koze serves some of the best miso soup in the city. I really liked the fried rice which is crazy because I'm normally not a fan. The swordfish was so yummy. Of course teppanyaki grills are a tad pricey, but it was totally worth it. Not fishy in flavor, very meaty, smooth... really good.
By the time everyone was done eating I knew I was way too full for any dessert, but from what I saw... this is the place for some decadent desserts. Sakino T's tempura ice cream was the best looking I've ever seen and Amos S' cheesecake looked perfect. I definitely will be trying the dessert next time. read more