Magokoro

Authentic Japanese food in ABQ, say what??? This place is awesome — both lunch and dinner. My favorite ABQ establishment.

This place is incredible. We usually order Japanese curry when we go here and it is wonderful every single time. A great thing about this restaurant is that it is consistently phenomenal, and we’ve never had a bad meal. It can take quite a bit of time to actually be served, but it is well worth the wait. I love that they provide everyone with chopsticks, but when I’ve seen others ask for forks, the servers seem to take a offense.

I had a spicy tonkatsu, switched out pork w/​chicken. It’s still in pork broth. Also, added some siracha. It was spicy heaven. Also had a appetizer pork gyozu. Both were really good! Limited seating for bigger families. I like the location. I’ve been to the other ramen shops on central, but a hassle getting down there and parking. Magokoro surprised me.

Split the spicy chicken and the seafood curry. The curry was absolutely delicious. The seafood was pretty good too, the squid being a little tough. The fried chicken was perfect, however, I felt that the remainder of rice/​lettuce was a little dry. I would like them to serve a little bit o’ sauce or have a sauce tray presented by default if you want a little more kick. Will go again!

I wanted to try this place for a while and I am so glad I finally did! I went for dinner when they only serve noodles and Tonkotsu Ramen was amazing! The noodles were chewy and the broth was so delicious and flavorful. I highly recommend giving this place a try.

Magokoro — Albuquerque, NM
Husband and I kinda stumbled across this place by accident. We were doing returns in the Uptown area and we were hungry for dinner. We had tried an amazing ramen place on a vacation up to Pac. NW awhile ago and we loved it so much that we hoped there was something similar back home. Well, six months later we found it!
They only serve ramen at dinner time, and it is fantastic! We tried two different ones out of about six, and they were so tasty! I would even say they were BETTER than the place up in Seattle. That’s a pretty big accomplishment for a tiny hole in the wall Albuquerque restaurant.
They have other stuff for lunch that looks great, so we will likely be back to try out the lunch sometime too. This place is just as good as it gets though! A new favorite!

Hands down, the best authentic Japanese food there is here in ABQ!
I’ve come here quite a bit before their name changed (it was Kokoro before) & I haven’t been in since. The interior now is more modern & simplistic.
For the times that I have been here, I’ve gotten the grilled salmon tencha (grilled salmon on top of rice filled w/​broth), shrimp tempura rice bowl, shrimp tempura bento, etc. I sadly don’t remember everything I’ve ever ordered here.
The amount of food you get for their prices is definitely fulfilling — you’ll never leave the place feeling hungry afterward!
Their food is delicious, flavorful, & filling.
I look forward to coming here to try out their dinner menu sometime!

A few friends and I came here for dinner. I love this little place! The customer service was outstanding, the food is very authentic and delicious. Everything tasted so fresh and had great flavor. My friends and I got the spicy Roman soup and egg rolls… SO good!!! I’m definitely coming back to support this local restaurant.

Great tonkatsu ramen! I had to order an extra helping of noodles to finish the delicious broth.

Went here today for lunch with a friend and it was great. Check out the curry. Saturday they have eel so throw that down on your order cause it’s fantastic.

The egg rolls and edamame were nothing to write home about, but that’s not really a big deal to me. The Tuna Soba was excellent — full of flavor and a good portion. My only real complaint would be that they forgot two seaweed salads (again, it happens so no big deal.) I will definitely enjoy coming back again!
Thanks for the meal!

My wife and I checked this place out for the first time. The place is extremely small, seats around 20 max. Service was pretty bad, did not bring any drinks out until right before the meal, no napkins, no refills. For the food, I had the spicy pork tonkatsu which was packed with a lot of flavor, I really enjoyed it. The noodles were great along with the pork/​egg. My wife had the miso bowl (forget exact name) and substituted chicken for pork. It came out with literally 3 tiny pieces of chicken in it and the noodles were hard (beyond al dente). She got sick that night as well, but I don’t know if it was the food or not. Overall I was not impressed, but would be willing to give it another try.

This place is delicious. Everything is fresh. Small seating area and one server, but worth the wait! You will not regret coming here!

Fresh, good quality food, friendly service. Traditional, home-​cooking style of Japanese food. It is a very small space, do if you have a group plan on coming at the low tomes so you can get seating. Definitely worth the wait though if there is a line!

Really, really… really good ramen. The best in town, quite possibly the best west of the Mississippi and east of the Rio Grande. We came here thinking it was a sushi joint, but come to find out, they don’t have a sushi bar. It was one of those great mess up/​surprisingly awesome moments. I ordered the spicy Tonkatsu while my fiancé had the shio lemon and both were superb. My favorite actually ended up being the lemon, as the broth was out of this world. Looking forward to accidentally coming back.

When I’m feeling bad and I have to remember my favorite things I simply remember how much I love eating at small, ethnic restaurants. Actually, I love eating out and I also love cooking so I’m very pleased that our bodies require us to do so much eating all the time.
Anyway, this place is great, but I’m going to preface this review with this: I have no real experience with Japanese food. My experience extends to sushi (which I love a lot and have eaten a lot of), and a couple of samplings of Ramen. Beyond that, all I know about Japanese restaurants is that I really want to go to Momofuku in NYC. (Also I love drooling over Japanese cooking, cooks, and chefs on TV but I don’t really think that counts, even though I really want it to!)
That said, I think this place seems really legitimate. I should have tried the dinner menu instead, because I think I would have been much more satisfied with their dinner foods. The lunch menu was pretty cool though and I definitely sensed it’s authenticity, though I could not attest to it given the above.
What I can say though is that I’m not really crazy about a lot of this type of food. I had seafood tempura. There were probably other things on the menu I would have liked better but even so, I feel like for all of the calories and general unhealthiness that comes along with what I like to simply call «fried,» that Japanese tempura really is not very flavorful. Crunchy, yes, but that’s about where it ends. So really this was my bad for ordering something that I actually already felt meh about.
I’m still giving this restaurant a high rating, however, because it clearly exudes quality all around. Also, there were all sorts of little things that came with my food which was fun and those things were definitely interesting to my palette.
I can’t wait to go for Ramen!
FYI: this place is sorta cramped, which is nice, but keep that in mind around the lunch hour. You may have to wait for seating.

I’m very pleased to update my previous review with this addition.
I just had what was one of the most pleasant lunch experiences I’ve ever had… from Magokoro. How was this achieved, you ask? Well, it probably has something to do with consuming what was probably the best Tuna Soba I’ve ever had from Kokoro/​Magokoro. This is quite a statement, as the shoes the current proprietor has to fill are not small ones. Kokoro was, by far, one of the most «hygge» and original restaurants Albuquerque has ever offered. Its beauty lay in its simplicity– simplicity of décor, ambiance, and overwhelming quality and consistency of the food being prepared.
Closing the restaurant, then reopening it, and trying to recreate that magic was no small task. But, I’m pleased to say that this has not only been accomplished, but accomplished very very well.
I enjoy writing reviews like this, because it means the proprietor has humility and *listens* to their customers, and has kept their ear to the ground when taking queues of what practices to retain, and which ones to let go of. It’s no easy task trying to please everyone, and in the act of accommodating all parties, not insulting others. But, like a Phoenix from the ashes, Magokoro has risen from what once was Kokoro, keeping true to what made it great in the first place, and very subtly changing details to give the restaurant its own character and identity.
Do yourself a favor and make a point to eat a meal here. The quality, consistency, and presentation are unparalleled with any other Japanese eating establishment in Albuquerque.

My husband has been going to this restaurant for about three months. He raves about it and even took his Japanese business associates here. The Japanese were so impressed with the quality of the food. I’m gluten intolerant and although there are limited gluten free choices, the staff worked with me to have a fantastic meal. Highly recommended.

I have been here once two years ago and I just came back because it’s just that amazing. The portions are big and the food tastes amazing. This place isn’t just a typical restaurant, you can really taste real home Japanese cooking in this small place. Oh, and the rice is AMAZING. The plain white rice is just so sticky, shiny, and glossy — amazing.

Nice little place but don’t know if I buy the hype. It’s an enjoyable meal but did leave it raving like the others.
The menu was kinda limited and the sitting was congested.
BUT the quality of the food was impressive, as well as the quantity.
Pricing was reasonable and the servers were pleasant.

This place is awesome! I’ve eaten at this gem twice already, and once before when it was known as «kokoro». Both of the times I’ve had ordered the same stuff and they do not disappoint! It was as good as the first time! Tonight we ordered the gyoza (dumplings), squid salad, tonkatsu ramen, spicy tonkatsu ramen, and the shoyu ramen… All so mouth savory deliciousness!
The squid salad is delightfully tender!
Each of the ramen was so full of flavor, and oh so delicious! I will never get tired of it! The shoyu ramen is a light soy based broth, and the tonkatsu ramen is a little thicker broth wise. The reason I got the shoyu was because of the «naruto», to make it legit ramen!
They were all so wonderful, and the pork was cooked perfectly! It smelled so tummy. It didn’t get a chance to sit there for more than 10 minutes! If y’all are looking for an awesome place to get your ramen fix then I would highly recommend.

Kokro has decided to change name to Magokoro, Went by yesterday to verify that was the only change (their Facebook and website said so, but had to see with my own eyes/​tastebuds), stopped in for a late lunch, and they were pretty full, only one 4 person table and counter space available, Ordered the Eel Donburi bowl (only Thursdays and Saturday lunches), and was not disappointed. It was a marvelous lunch, and while i miss the old days of free tea, $ 0.50 is not bad at all for a very nice green tea. Saw the same owner lady working in the kitchen, and knew that everything was going to be ok!

I should have looked at their website and also read more of the Unilocal reviews before going. They serve curry for lunch and ramen for dinner. I wanted ramen but I went there at lunch time so I ended up getting the Vegetable Tempura curry. I’m not a big fan of curry but I’ll eat it if there is nothing else I want to eat. I stayed because I didn’t want to walk out because I would have to look for a new place to eat. What I ordered was good but if I go back again, I will know to go for dinner. BTW, bring your own water or buy a soda. Their water had a strong taste and order of bleach

Heaven is a noodle, and you can eat a million heavens at Kokoro. The ramen makes me want to live the fullest life possible. I love this place. The spicy tonkotsu is massively delicious and, oh my gosh, the Ramune soda bottle has a marble in it! As if that isn’t enough, the vegetarian curry at lunch is also a delight of textures and flavor. If this is your choice, you have chosen wisely.

I was going to give this place a 4 star rating… but I’ll give it a 3 star rating. Why because one there was a dead fly in my water! So make sure there is nothing floating around your food and drinks! Before you consume! Lol
Into the review of this ramen place its nice to know Albuquerque has a ramen place! It’s a hole in the wall type of restaurant hidden around various shops. The ramen comes in a good size bowl to fill you up just right and the place could have more variety with their broths, etc. Shu Mai was ok wasn’t anything too special. If you ever had the Shu Mai dim sum, you’ll know the difference.
Perhaps I’m being a little hard on this place only because I’m used to the ramen places out in LA with the huge variety and cost difference they out there. Overall I’m neutral about this place.

Pork Katsu curry was awesome. Wish they would have had ramen available for lunch, but the food was still good, so I’m happy with this place. Get the chicken karage as an appetizer, they’re delicious!

Delicious, authentic Japanese ramen in Albuquerque, say what? I sometimes refer to myself as a noodle-​fiend. I love noodles. Korean noodles. Chinese noodles. Italian noodles. Japanese noodles. Every noodle. And Kokoro feeds my noodle cravings.
Once we figured out that Kokoro had re-​opened, the hubster and I have been back on a regular basis. I am working my way through the entire menu, and so far, I have had the kara miso, shiro goma, and shoyu versions. My favorite is the shoyu. The kara miso had too much green onion for my taste. All of the soup bases are flavorful and the noodle are perfectly cooked with a slightly chewy texture.
I have also had the gyoza and seaweed salad, which were both good but not stellar.
I would like to add that I have only visited Kokoro for dinner. They have an entirely different menu for lunch, featuring donburi, curry and fried items like tempura and katsu.
There is usually only one person working in the front of the restaurant so service can be slow when the place is packed. Otherwise, the service is quick, friendly and efficient.

I don’t think there’s a need for another 5-​Star rating here. We were here shortly after 5:30 on a Friday, before we got our food, there were people waiting alongside the entrance wall already.
Thanks to other reviews which helped me to bookmark and visit this lovely place with a friend on a rainy, chilly day, can’t be better fit for bowls of sensational ramen soups that only appear on dinner menu.
My friend ordered Tonkotsu ramen and I picked Kara Miso based on reviews and pictures. After first swallow of the richly flavored broth, we both let out a content «ooohhhhh»! The layered miso, green onion, slow roasted pork and bone broth had subtle but unmistakable sweetness and garlicy taste, they soaked my taste buds like a symphony in my mouth. How can a bowl of noodle soup contain so much flavor!
The portion was generous, I left some noodles but finished the broth and other goodies. If I came wolf hungry, I could finish the whole thang.
We went to shopping and movie afterwards… by the time I went to bed at midnight, I was still full… Note to self: come here early Friday eve for dinner!

Oh Kokoro, Oh Kokoro,
My love will turn you on.
Yeah, that’s my take on Oh Yoko!, forget the syllable count.
Oh, Kokoro, how thou hath scorned thee, dump-​ethed thee to thine non-​existence and suddenly thou found resurrection in the 505. For those not in-​the-​know, about one year ago Kokoro was the número uno rated restaurant on Unilocal.The best. All of a sudden they closed, no explanation, no word on whether they might return. About four months ago, they came back. Such are the dramatic turns of the Days of our Burque Lives.
I’ve never visited Japan, thus I can’t begin to officially license these plates as authentic, but I’ll state this: adventurous palates will find solace. I had the seafood teishoku, nothin’ fancy, just a bowl of tempura bites that included mussels, shrimp and scallops. Rice. Veggies. It’s the little stuff, here, that make the plates special. The Japanese pickles, the sauces, and the friendly staff make this place exceptional.
It’s just as tiny as it was when it shut down and killed the New Mexican support. I like it that way. Come back to Kokoro.