Koi Japanese Restaurant

Phone: (604) 945-6866
Address :  2573 Shaughnessy St, Port Coquitlam, BC V3C3G3
Hours:  N/A
Website:  N/A
Date of Visit:  Jan. 8, 2013
Parking: Free 2-hour Street Parking

Koi Japanese Restaurant is an mid-sized restaurant serving quality food at reasonable prices. An all-you-can-eat menu is available past 5:00pm. Take-out is also available.

I ordered from the all-you-can-eat menu. Based from my previous experience at other all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurants, my expectations weren't too high. I was very impressed when the quality of the food turned out to be very good. Due the greater variety of foods sampled, my review of the food items will be more brief and less in depth than usual in the following sections

A copy of the all-you-can-eat menu follows:

Appetizers

Goma-Ae: The boiled spinach salad was served in a very well-done sesame-based dressing and topped with roasted sesame. Likely pre-made ahead of time, however, the dressing was absolutely delicious. I'm unsure whether or not it is store bought, I haven't tasted sesame dressing like that before. It may have been supplemented with additional seasonings such as sugar if so.

Basa Fish Katsu:  Basa is a white cat-fish. Deep-fried in panko bread crumbs, topped with Kewpie mayonnaise and katsu sauce, and served on a bed of lettuce. This dish was done well. The fish is not dry and the coating was crunchy.

Salmon Katsu: Salmon coated in break crumbs and deep-fried. This dish was rather weak, the salmon was overcooked and very dry.

Tonkatsu: This is your standard deep fried pork-chop. Arrive hot and crispy. The pork was not overcooked nor dry.

Korroge: This is a starch based (potato I believe) croquette filled with bits of vegetables served similarly the aforementioned katsu dishes. The croquette was served hot and its soft texture complemented the crunch exterior very nicely.

App Tempura: The App Tempura was served as a set containing a piece of yam, zucchini, carrot, and prawn tempura with a tentsuyu dipping sauce. The tempura arrived hot and was coated lightly with a crispy batter. Unfortunately, prawn tempura on its own is unavailable on the all-you-can-eat menu.

Takoyaki: Takoyaki is a ball-shaped appetizer containing chucks of octopus meat coated in a wheat-based batter. This dish was topped with nori flakes and green onions and served with mayonaises and I believe katsu sauce instead of proper takoyaki sauce, nonetheless, it was delicious.  I highly recommend this dish. It was one of the better takoyaki dishes I have had in Canada. The takoyaki arrived hot, contained a generous ammount of octoupus chucks, the batter was firm and not too overwhelming, and the takoyaki had a nice round shape

Chicken Karrage (Wings): This was your standard deep fried chicken wing. The wings were not overcooked and still moist on the inside.

Sushi and Sashimi

To be completed on a later date.

Service

• Service was overall good. Note we were there were only two tables present including my table while I was dining. Service did not noticeably slow down when more people arrived.
• Our food came fast, and everything that we ordered arrived.
• Our tea was refilled regularly
• Only one waitstaff was present on the floor.

Atmosphere

• Dining area was clean, and well lit. However, despite the decorations the place still appeared plain.
• Shoji screens were put up as dividers between tables.
• Restrooms were clean

Verdict

My at Koi Japanese Restaurant was overall very good. The quality of the food and service was very good for an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant, perhaps, one of the best (and I have quite a few) leaving me no room to criticize. I would recommend sticking with the hot food and the sashimi. The nigiri sushi wasn't great. I would definitely return to this establishment in the future.