Izakaya Restaurant Ko

Good food & pet friendly !!!
Server are all nice!!!

Celebrated a birthday here and everything was awesome, the service and food was amazing. I was a little bummed they did not have sushi because I thought they did! (I asked and they only have it during lunch and it is part of the bento)
My favorite dishes would be the sweet corn and salmon! Even the lotus root manju. I’m not a fan of lotus root or slime-​y texture and I still thought it was good! I would get these three items again!
As for the kamameshis, I thought it was just okay! Well portion between rice and seafood. I think I prefer it on a really hot pot to the point the rice gets crispy!
Miso soup was not on the menu but they have it available and it was different because there was dikon, tofu, carrot, and lettuce. Which I loved!
Parking is in the back. Pretty tight (one way in and out) Also, the restaurant is split in two; indoors and outdoors. We sat indoors and it has a really nice home feel :-)
Complimentary dessert because we were celebrating a birthday! Just let the server know. They are the sweetest people ever~
PS: Every Thursday is 25%off everything!!!

I ordered the steak teishoku and specifically asked for the steak to be medium rare. The steak came out well done. I asked the waiter to redo the steak medium rare. He came back to the table and said that the chef could not cook the steak medium rare because it was too thin. The steak was about a ½″ thick. I decided to try a piece and it was rock hard. I did not eat the steak and sent it back. The waiter said the the manager offered to take my beer off the bill. She should come to the table to apologize and then taken the steak off. I said no to the waiter and insisted that the manager come to the table and take the steak off the bill. After some discussion, the waiter, not manager, agreed to take the steak off. The rest of the food for my family was good, but the whole experience ruined the dinner. Probably will never go back.

I liked everything about this place! Food was high quality and superb tasting, ambiance was modern, comfortable and clean, service was friendly, helpful and fast! The flavors and freshness served was most definite worthy of many more return visits!

Great early bird menu and excellent prices. Good value for the money. Opens late a night but not on Tuesdays.

I just been back to this restaurant after hearing that new owners took over. The menu has completely changed but not for the better. I ordered the Tonkatsu Ramen and shrimp tempura. First of all The noodles were good noodles but it was over cooked which was a shame. The soup was overly salty and they put the fried Tonkatsu on top the soup which made it all soggy. Secondly the Tonkatsu was also over cooked. It was very hard both outside and inside. The pork was tough. Big disappointment for me. Next the shrimp tempura was over fried. The outer fried panko layer was crunchy hard and the inside shrimp was definitely not tender. The only saving grace was good service.

I was pleasantly surprised by the food, portions and service. The kanemeshi was unique and tasty. Mine had a lot of ikura and salmon bits folded in steamed rice. They don’t put condiments out so kinda did not want to insult the chef and ask for some soy sauce which it needed like ikura nigiri sushi. The seafood salad was excellent and I would order again. The mentako spaghetti was good but not as good as Angelo Pietro. Now, when I made reservations they told me it hey we’re too busy and had to make reservations for an hour later. When I showed up for my reservations there was hardly anybody in the restaurant?

oh my goodness, the food here is delicious, but it is smaller portions and prices are a bit higher than it should be; however, Thursday it is 25% off everything on the menu including alcohol.
Excellent food, great ambiance, and very good service. Expect to drop some $ here for smaller portions but I have yet to find anywhere else like this place. Some very interesting items on the menu, this place is unique and worth the visit when you feel like authentic Japanese food.
There are two sides of the restaurant, an outdoor and indoor, the outdoor area is still covered and built around a tree, how neat :)

My first time here and I have to say IT WAS AMAZING! It has a very modern look with a twist of Japanese in it. once you step in, you are greeted by the whole staff.
Our AMAIZING server Rina, was very helpful on what to order. She explained the menu and how it has alot of diffrent Japanese dishes. As the food came, it looked amazing. Big portions for the price. It also tasted amazing and fresh.
They also have a late happy hour after 10 pm with amazing dishes.
I would definitely come back.

This resturant is amazing we went in for a late nite snack after work it was super bowl day so they were slow we were the only ones in the restaurant but I liked it like that the seous chef actually took our order that’s how slow it was he was so nice and explained what we ordered. i started with the shrimp Chawamushi, when he brought it out it had uni on the top I do not like uni! But I thought! okay I’ll try it, it was so good nice and creamy he said he drizzled it with a shoyu dashi sauce that was the best uni I ever had. Then we ordered the pumpkin croquet salad OMG so good! Then the beefsteak with garlic fried rice with a soft boiled egg on top I was in heaven. This will be our favorite place to go from now on after work! Sorry sushi king

The menu has changed, so we’re trying some new items. No more sets, but lots of different menu choices. Service was slow last time we were here, but it was also not as busy, so less staff working. Will continue this post after dinner!

Never came here before last night. Doesn’t seem like they have any set menu at all anymore but they do have a good selection of izakaya style items including a lot of clever and tasty dishes. The serving sizes for the plates varied pretty widely so might be good to ask your server for some advice.
We had six plates & two cocktails for $ 60 out the door. Couldn’t finish all of our food.
Four early bird teishoku specials are offered from 5 – 6 pm starting at around $ 14 or so.

Great food, service, and the atmosphere was very nice. Waiter was always on it. Everything was clean.
Food has Japanese food (of course) and also some fusion items. My date and I partook in the following items (and lovedddd each of them!):
*Prices listed are by memory, so yeah, not very accurate*
–Snow crab gratin, with some macaroni inside. Was great! ($ 13 ish)
–Mentaiko tempura, mentaiko filled mozarella, fried tempura style. Oishikatta~ ($ 8ish)
–Pumpkin salad croquette, perfect texture, with great taste! Surprisingly good! (In my opinion, as I am typically not a fan of kabocha) ($ 7ish)
–Kimchee Seafood Nabe, this was pretty good! A little on the spicier side, but if you eat spicy, this is a satisfying level in my opinion. The variety and amount of the oyster, salmon, scallop, and tofu were a generous amount!($ 12ish)
Total came out to $ 42 is what I know for sure. Not sure why Unilocal has them listed as $$$, seems more $$ to me. But the decorum and service reminds me of $$$ though!!!
All in all, seriously satisfied with this place, and I’d give them another visit.

Glad we tried out this new place! Love its open late. Prices are reasonable and cant wait to go back and try more stuff off their menu. Owners are the same as Rinka so there were some of the same items. (Thats not a bad thing though…)

Great fresh food and all the drinks I could ever need.
Clean, pretty atmosphere, friendly staff.
It’s a must go!

They used to have sets and there’s NO MORE. It’s just an expensive Izakaya now. Not even sashimi. We were very disappointed. Plus they didn’t let us use the stamp card that I collected $ 30 worth and only took $ 10 off saying they don’t honor it any longer.
I won’t be back for sure!!!

The second time around I’m a bit disappointed that they decided to streamline their menu for their Kaiseki meal. My wife and I was hoping for an encore to their Kaiseki meal but instead we ended up ordering from the menu and got a decent meal but was not mind blown or excited to return. Back in 2013 Ko offered three levels of Kaiseki meals, this time they only offered one. It seemed like they stopped innovating. One reviewer stated that Ko is similar to Nanazan Giro Giro. This may have been true in 2013 but this is no longer the case. At NGG they change their menu every month, at Ko the Kaiseki menu is not special since a lot of the entrees on the Kaiseki menu can be ordered a-​la-​carte off the main menu. When I order a pre-​fix meal I want something specially created that can’t be ordered off the regular menu.
The meal was not bad, but the selection on the menu is lacking. If I were a local, based on the meal I had tonight, there’s not much to come back to the next time around. They now provide a frequent diner card where you receive one star for every $ 10 spent and get a $ 10 GC after 15 stars or $ 30 GC after 30 stars. I ordered based on the popular photos posted on Unilocal.I ordered 10 dishes including dessert. The most innovative and best deal was the dessert item.
Nasu Dengaku (Grilled eggplant with Miso): 8″ eggplant split in half, grilled till soft and topped off with miso sauce. The eggplant was good but there was too much miso sauce. Works better with a side of rice as the miso sauce was on the salty/​sweet side. This was a rich appetizer. (⁸⁄₁₀)
Tako Karaage (Deep fried octopus): Tiny cut up pieces of octopus tentacles. Lightly battered and seasoned. Tender for the most part but still slightly chewy. (⁸⁄₁₀)
Ahi Carpaccio: Lightly marinated ahi tuna with slices of tomatoes and avocado. Refreshing course. (¹⁰⁄₁₀)
Summer Roll (salmon and shrimp): Another light and refreshing course. Not as great as the Ahi Carpaccio but still a good appetizer sushi entrée. Salmon roll with fish eggs, and shrimp on the inside of the roll. (⁹⁄₁₀)
Oyster fry: Five small oysters battered and fried. Comes with a dipping sauce and a side of egg salad. (⁸⁄₁₀)
Shrimp and scallop in a garlic butter sauce: Another heavy dish due to the butter sauce under the shrimp and scallops. The dish seems to be stir fried in a butter sauce. Great garlic butter flavor. About five medium sized shrimps and three smallish scallops. (⁸⁄₁₀)
Yuzu Pork (Grilled pork loin): A one sized serving of pork grilled on a sizzling cast iron plate. The pork tasted like it was seasoned with black pepper. About five or six bite sized pre-​sliced pieces of pork. Tender but black pepper marinate was on the strong side. (⁷⁄₁₀)
Pork Belly Kamameshi (pork belly cooked in rice): A must get dish. About two full bowl worth of rice. First had this in their Kaiseki meal back in 2013 so we had to come back to get this again. Chopped up pork belly cooked with the rice so all the flavor of the pork and fat is infused with the rice. Lightly sauced. (¹⁰⁄₁₀)
Mochi Miso Pizza: Basically a small pizza with gooey rich cheese, thinly slices mochi on each slice, and a drizzle of black miso sauce that was used in the eggplant dish. Nothing special. Could have skipped this item. Must eat while hot since once the mochi hardens it’s no longer as good. (⁶⁄₁₀)
Green Tea Sundae: Corn flakes on the bottom, followed by a scoop of vanilla ice cream, then a scoop of green tea ice cream, fresh whip cream around the outer edge, red bean topping. Best deal for $ 5, enough for two to share. (¹⁰⁄₁₀)
Total with left overs came out to be cheaper than their Kaiseki meal price for two. Available parking behind the restaurant but because of how tight the parking spaces are, it’s advisable to back into the parking spot. Service was attentive, warm and friendly.

Been wanting to check this place and finally gave it a go last night. The interior looked really nice, looking almost like a fancy hotel lounge with some nice semi-​private booths and a weird sofa in the middle of the dining room.
I asked the waitress what a certain Japanese word on the menu meant and she said she wasn’t sure and had to go ask. Ugh. I hate that. The wait staff should be knowledgeable of all the items on the menu. Oh well.
Here’s what we ordered:
Deep fried chicken gizzards — It’s such a shame that the deep fried gizzards were drowned in some sort of ponzu, mashed daikon sauce. The batter on the gizzards was really good and it would have been much better naked than with all of that goop poured all over it.
Pork belly — Nicely tender and flavorful. Good size portion for the price. Nothing spectacular but good. I’d order it again.
Wagyu steak with foie gras — This was the winner of the night. The steak was grilled perfectly and super tender. The foie gras added a nice touch to the steak and was also very good. This dish was a little pricey at $ 28 but it was our favorite of the night.
Pork belly miso pizza — Pretty much the pork belly dish described earlier but on some pizza dough. Very cheesy.
Chocolate sundae — This was the big surprise. Listed at just $ 5 on the menu, we were expecting a nice little dessert. What we got was a huge sundae that was more than enough for two. It included a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a scoop of chocolate ice cream, both sitting on a layer of chocolate covered frosted flakes cereal and topped with sliced strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Wow!
Overall, it was a good dining experience. I wouldn’t be in a rush to go back but also wouldn’t mind either.
Price was okay. All the dishes above plus 3 glass of wine came out to just under $ 100 with tax and tip.

Always a enjoyable perfect time eating diner here! The new happy hour menu is super and very reasonable considering how great the preparation, flair, taste and over all dishes are! There is new management and the staff are very polite, attentive and knowledgeable! For well
Price authentic Japanese dishes with a flair, Ko is a must! They have great hours and a really comfortable ambience! Highly recommend the Stewed pork belly w/​sweet shoyu! Also when they have it, the Wagyu special menu section is amamzing!

The restaurant, located on Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki, is definitely a neighborhood gem. The place is extremely clean and spacious (think minimalist décor) and the employees are friendly. My parents and I ordered a mixture of things and shared everything.
The only downfall: the parking lot. there is a small parking lot behind the building (can fit I think about 4 –5 cars but you can hardly move your car around to begin with). There is one handicapped stall in the front as soon as you pull into the lane to park.
I would come back but not on a regular basis as the parking lot can be a beaer to deal with.